When Marvel created one of their most moving issues, that of Amazing Spider-Man #36, it had nothing to do with the Green Goblin or the Kingpin’s nefarious plans to exterminate Peter Parker. Nor could Spider-Man or the other super heroes of the Marvel Universe do anything to stop the cataclysm unfolding by the end of thirty two pages.

The details of this day, most are familiar with. Nineteen terrorists of Arab-Muslim ethnicity hijacked four aircraft in the United States with the intention of using them as weapons to wreak devastation upon their targets. These targets included, but were not limited to the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. The attacks directly killed 2996 people and injured over 6000 more.

These details are simply the facts of an atrocity. What is of importance are those lives. The faces, smiles, handshakes, and embraces that filled the days of the victims became only memories of the living as they had their lives taken away without their consent.

The first double spread on pages 2-3 does everything it needs to. It’s got Romita Jr. drawn all over it.

John Romita Jr. is one of my favourite comic artists. His style has appealed to my eye since I first became seriously interested in comics at the age of thirteen. Although Romita Jr. decided to draw a perfectly represented landscape of the destroyed city block where the Twin Towers once stood, it’s Spider-Man’s pose that says everything you need to know (despite a single word, “…God...” uttered from beneath his mask). The wall-crawler is atop a nearby building watching it all unfold. Spider-Man is bent over, his fists clutching his head in horror and disbelief.

SM 36.jpg

The entire issue is filled with images of the citizens of New York City. Firefighters, medical teams, the police and anyone with the ability to help. Among those citizens are the super heroes. Thor, Cap, Daredevil and Cyclops exist in this issue to aid the hard work of the people. With the pairing of Straczynski’s writing, what’s achieved is the coming together of everyone – the people, the heroes and the villains – uniting as one against a foe so evil as to be incomprehensible in its wickedness.

I applaud the writing of J. Michael Straczynski and the art of John Romita Jr in capturing the event and those at ground zero with a touching crossing over of the Marvel Universe into our very own reality.

While I had no personal connection to the event, fellow Australians were lost in this tragedy.

I remember I was in my final year of high school. I woke up to news of what had happened in New York City (the events unfolded as I slept during the evening). During the following day at school it was all anyone was talking about.

In 2015, fourteen years later, Hayley and I visited the exact location of where the Towers once stood. We looked over at a metal mural a block across from the memorial of cascading water, where we watched a man still in mourning, remembering friends he had lost in the catastrophe.

We truly became a part of the event when we walked through the 9/11 Museum.

Seeing the twisted metal first hand and hearing the audio of calls to loved ones from passengers on the doomed aircraft still sends shivers down my spine and goosebumps across my arms. When you visit New York City, this is a place you must spend a day.

Timing to Remember

This article was scheduled for release at 8.14am (UTC -4 time) with the help of Streamian. I chose 8.14am as it was the exact time of the hijacking of American Airlines flight 11 which ultimately struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Sit Down Quietly and Read Amazing Spider-Man #36

If you’re interested in reading this issue, I’ve included links in the acknowledgements. As I have written in my article singing the praises of “I Hate Fairyland”, if you happen to read the FREE version of this issue and enjoyed it, digital copies can be bought through Comixology or Marvel Digital Comics for a small fee.

All the best,
Nick