Comics character
The Web
is a
superhero
created by
MLJ Comics
in 1942 by artist John Cassone and an unknown writer. The character was published in
Zip Comics
until 1943, and was later brought back in 1966 to appear in Archie's revived superhero line. DC Comics licensed Archie's superhero characters in 1991, and brought a new revival of the character to life in 2009.
1940s
[
edit
]
The Web debuted in issue #27 of
Zip Comics
in July 1942, having originally been intended for
Top-Notch Comics
, the change occurring due to a decision to emphasize the humour of
Top-Notch
. In that first issue, he rescues a woman named Rose Wayne from a Japanese terrorist, the Black Dragon of Death. Rose discovers his secret identity.
[1]
His origin was recounted in the second story, in issue #28.
[2]
The Web's secret identity was John Raymond, a college professor of
criminology
, and mystery writer.
[3]
Raymond's interest in studying the motives and behavior of criminals harked back to his youth, and the criminal leanings of his brother Tom.
The Web's enemies include Captain Berlin, and other Nazis.
[2]
The character was the lead story in
Zip
for a while, but lost the cover spot to
Steel Sterling
. His last appearance in
Zip
was in issue #38, in July 1943.
[2]
1960s
[
edit
]
The Web came out of retirement in March 1966 in
Fly-Man
#36, written by
Jerry Siegel
and drawn by
Paul Reinman
to combat the antics of an impostor.
[4]
By this time, he was retired and married to Rose, who doesn't want him to be a superhero anymore. He convinces her to let him go out once and fight a character who'd stolen his name and costume, but after one fight, he decided to stay in the superhero game, and lie to his wife.
[4]
In
Mighty Crusaders
#4 (April
1966
), he joins with
the Fox
and
Captain Flag
to form the Ultra-Men. In
Mighty Comics
#40 (November 1966), he is chastised by his wife, who no longer wanted him to be a superhero.
[5]
Despite this criticism, Raymond continues his crimefighting, while becoming increasingly
hen-pecked
domestically. His wife ultimately trains and dons her own costume: as "Pow-Girl" (appearing in
Mighty Comics
#43) she fights crime alongside her husband, who is unaware of her real identity. The Web had several more issues' worth of appearances, before disappearing again.
[6]
It was later revealed that Rose was the younger sister of another Archie superhero,
The Jaguar
.
[7]
Reception
[
edit
]
The 60s version of the Web with a nagging wife and mother-in-law was intended to copy the then-popular
Marvel Comics
style, in which superhero characters are seen coping with conflicts in their personal lives.
[4]
This was not well-received by fans.
The MLJ Companion
describes it as "a conceit lifted straight out of the day's inane TV situation comedies" and Dwight R. Decker wrote in
Amazing Heroes
that "The Web was reduced to playing straight man to mother-in-law jokes".
[8]
John Wells in
American Comic Book Chronicles
writes that "the ongoing nagging of Rose Raymond was more shrill than funny", although "that's not to say the feature didn't have its moments".
[4]
Later appearances
[
edit
]
The Web returned in Archie's
Red Circle Comics
superhero revival of the 1980s. He made several appearances alongside the company's heroes.
In 2006, he made a
cameo appearance
in
Archie and Friends
#101, in the
Katy Keene
story. In 2007, he appeared again in the Katy Keene story in
Archie and Friends
#107.
New Crusaders
[
edit
]
In
New Crusaders
, John Raymond/Web and Rose Raymond/Pow-Girl had a son, Wyatt, who has been given a super suit that enhances his physical skills and assumes his father's role of the Web.
[
citation needed
]
DC Comics
[
edit
]
Impact Comics
[
edit
]
In 1991 the Archie superhero characters were re-imagined in the
Impact Comics
line. Here the Web is portrayed as a group of secret agents who wore powered armor.
2009 revival
[
edit
]
DC Comics
' 2009 revival of the Red Circle characters included the Web.
[9]
The new incarnation of John Raymond is a spoiled, slacker womanizer, fancying himself a
socialite
. His brother David, a social worker, has distanced himself from his family, choosing to help the poorer as a social worker. Despite their differences, John always admired David. John was made the heir of the family fortune by his father, who reasoned that John's cold, privileged mindset would make him a better businessman. John, who believed his brother to be the better man and rightful heir, decided to balance business needs with humanitarian goals. To those ends, John maintained his profile as a spoiled socialite while using part of his five-billion dollar fortune to set up a superpowered persona as the Web, a
common people
superhero who derived his name from the
World Wide Web
. John developed an advanced supercomputer to select the most urgent or worthy of numerous requests for help submitted his website
summontheweb.com
.
John later discovers that David has fallen in debt to loansharks, who later murder David. David explains with his last breath that he didn't want to ask John for help because he was too proud. David's death causes John to reevaluate his activities as the Web, and decides that he will no longer aid those who have the resources to help themselves, or who have friends and family they can turn to. Instead, the Web will assist only those who have no one else to turn to.
[10]
The first beneficiary of his "new deal" is Lieutenant Joseph Higgins, stationed in Afghanistan and looking for his missing father. However, waiting for the Web reply, Higgins is grievously wounded while in a mission, and saved by an experimental warsuit: by the time the Web reviews email, and gives him a positive reply, Higgins has become
The Shield
, superhero on his own and a potential ally in John's quest.
[11]
John eventually discovers that the man responsible for David's murder is a renowned scientist named
Dr. Archer
, who is using his knowledge of chemistry to create addictive recreational drugs which he then distributes through violent street gangs. Unable to hold off Archer and fight him actively alone the Web resorts, like the previous
Impact Comics
character, to turn the Web identity into an organization of equally empowered crime fighters, a small army of
Web Hosts
, receiving functional copies of his suit in exchange for enacting justice in his name.
[12]
[13]
After a brief period of unrests and anarchy,
Oracle
and
Batgirl
offer an upgrade to the
Web Hosts
, in exchange for them pledging alliance to the
Justice League of America
rather than acting independently and thinning their number to expel the more rambunctious and rebellious members. The
Web Hosts
now receive their powers from a
cloud computing
server in the
Web Lair
, making the Web able to shut their suits down remotely. Furthermore, every suit is fitted with an access to
Twitterati
(the DCU equivalent of
Twitter
featured into the
Final Crisis: Dance
miniseries), granting the Host a private
social network
to use for personal interactions and crimefighting as well, and John Raymond himself, as the current administrator, a permanent link to his
Hosts
and simple supporters (and a
spyware
implanted program to gain Oracle absolute control over the aptly named
Interweb
).
With the help of his new hosts and his supporters the Web finally tracks down Dr. Archer, finally handing him down to the police with enough proof to get him put on trial. However Alice, girlfriend of the late David, warns John of another hidden instigator behind Archer's actions, the mysterious Deuces Wilde.
[14]
When a technological-savvy villain, Doctor Zadar, manages to mainline the remote link, effectively capturing and controlling the entire Web Hosts population, Raymond meets Kim Brand, the current incarnation of the
Flygirl
, in this continuity no longer a magic user but a former
Web Host
wearing an enhanced, illegally modified and souped-up
Web Host
suit with greater proficiency. Raymond enlists her for the rescue mission, offering her the enhanced suit in exchange, this time as her personal property.
Raymond handles the crisis selflessly, deliberately risking his life to keep Fly Girl out of harm, but highlighting his lack of teamplay abilities: however, he manages to impress the U.S. Army to warrant for Kim and himself an induction into the newly formed
Mighty Crusaders
, along with
The Comet
,
Inferno
, The Shield and War Eagle.
[15]
Powers
[
edit
]
The DC Comics incarnation of the Web has no superpowers, having in his John Raymond persona the strength of a man in his prime engaging in moderate physical exercise. Instead, he relies on an overtly technological suit, granting him several abilities, including but not limited to flight, bullet-proof armor, HUD interface connected to a GPS tracker and enhanced strength. However, his most prized asset is his
Lair
, similar to the
Batcave
in containing his weaponry and a supercomputer, always connected to the website
summontheweb.com
and feeding him the data of people desperate enough to get help from outside sources.
[12]
John Raymond has fully functional copies of his suit, with every power of his original one, used by willing followers of
summontheweb.com
,
[13]
along with an instruction manual and 120 days of
tech support
, creating a super-hero
franchise
named the "Web Hosts" (obvious pun over the
webhost
concept, consistent with the image of the Web as an accessibile,
Internet
-savvy hero). When Oracle and Batgirl confront him about his lack of control over the Hosts, John Raymond agrees to enforce a stricter charter on his users in exchange for upgrades provided by Oracle herself.
The Web Hosts are now permanently connected to the Interwebs, a
Twitter
-derived
social network
, fully accessible from the suits, that constantly feeds in John Raymond's administrator account and suit all information the Hosts are willing to share about crime fighting, or simple socialization. As a programmed side-effect, however, everything the Web does is out on the display on the Interwebs, for everyone to view or comment upon. As a security measure, the Web Lair is upgraded with a
cloud computing
system linked to the Hosts, making Raymond (and Oracle) able to remotely disable the Hosts Suits.
[14]
Jane Raymond
[
edit
]
In July 2015,
Archie Comics
announced that its imprint
Dark Circle Comics
would introduce a new version of the Web the following year: Jane Raymond, a 14-year old
Korean-American
high school student who becomes a costumed hero after gaining powers from an accident.
[16]
The announced series never materialized.
[17]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019).
American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944
. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 156.
ISBN
978-1605490892
.
- ^
a
b
c
Mougin, Lou (2020).
Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics
. McFarland & Co. pp. 135?137.
ISBN
9781476638607
.
- ^
Nevins, Jess (2013).
Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes
. High Rock Press. p. 289.
ISBN
978-1-61318-023-5
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Wells, John (2014).
American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969
. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 78.
ISBN
978-1605490557
.
- ^
Web
at
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
.
Archived
from the original on April 14, 2012.
- ^
"The Mighty Crusaders Handbook"
.
mightycrusaders.net
.
- ^
Timmons, Stan
(
w
),
Manna, Lou
(
p
),
Linsdley, Rex
,
Stone, Chic
(
i
). "The Killing Hour"
Blue Ribbon Comics
, no. 14 (December 1984).
- ^
Offenberger, Rik; Castiglia, Paul (2016).
The MLJ Companion: The Complete History of the Archie Super-Heroes
. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 143.
ISBN
978-1605490670
.
- ^
"Completing the Red Circle: Talking to JMS"
. Newsarama.com
. Retrieved
2010-12-27
.
- ^
The Red Circle: The Web
(October 2009)
- ^
The Red Circle: The Shield
(October 2009)
- ^
a
b
The Web
(vol. 3) #1 (November 2009)
- ^
a
b
The Web
(vol. 3) #2 (December 2009)
- ^
a
b
The Web
(vol. 3) #3 (January 2010)
- ^
The Web
(vol. 3) #10 (August 2010)
- ^
Phegley, Kiel (July 2, 2015).
"Archie's Dark Circle Introduced Teen Hero in
The Web
"
.
Comic Book Resources
.
Archived
from the original on August 14, 2015
. Retrieved
August 31,
2015
.
- ^
"Szymon Kudranski's Twitter"
. May 24, 2020
. Retrieved
November 21,
2020
.
External links
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]
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