in further spidey developments . . .

I was talking to a friend tonight and she mentioned having to have blood tests this morning, and noted that she didn't even really know why they needed to be taken. Which of course reminded me immediately of the current plight of Peter Parker, who in today's strip (which I would post, but my digital photo downloading and posting abilities are limited right now) is being subjected to yet ANOTHER blood sample, and still worrying about his SECRET IDENTITY.

Flash back to September 1st:



Yes. It's been six weeks since he entered that doctor's office for that physical. In six weeks, we have learned precisely this: that Peter Parker's blood is somehow mystical, and that the (evil?) doctor wants to use it as a miracle drug and make money from it, and Peter is afraid of being outed as Spider-Man. The entirety of September and half of October have been spent in the Doctor's office and the hospital, all watching Peter writhe about his spider DNA. This is the equivalent of a psychological thriller movie that lasts eight hours.

My best guess is that perhaps Stan Lee has gotten himself into the ultimate cartoonist's predicament: he's created a dilemma for his character WITHOUT PLANNING HOW HE WOULD PULL THROUGH IT. And now he's stalling, trying to figure out how Peter can get past this (especially since in the newspaper comic he's not even a scientist! What's a photographer to do when faced with an evil doctor?)

Good luck, Stan Lee and/or his band of underlings. Good luck.