The Gotham Times
OPINION: ALONG CAME A SPIDER? New Friend or Foe for Gotham Streets Another Halloween, another tragedy — or near enough. This year was marked by a new face on the block: Spider-Man. While most reports range from neutral to positive, his dealings with Professor Pyg in the early hours of Halloween Eve may weave a different tale.
Emmanuel Davidi and Cindi Lawrence
Sunday October 30th 2016 3:15 PM EST
Gotham City is no stranger to vigilante justice. The Batman has called Gotham home for more than twenty years; the Robin and Batgirl mantles are almost as old. Other heroes have joined the roster of 'classics' throughout that time. Some to stay, such as Spoiler, Huntress and our most recent addition: the Signal. Others, like Orphan and Bluebird were more ephemeral. And of course, we cannot discount the various anti-heroes that have staked a claim in the city, such as the Red Hood, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn.
So to say there is a new player in Gotham should not be a surprise. Accounts of someone — presumed male — swinging through the streets of Park Row and Burley began appearing on social media on Thursday (October 27th), however there are some who claim they saw him as early as Wednesday night. Slow on the uptake however, photographic evidence did not appear until Saturday, revealing a character thematically more in line with the likes of the Signal and the many iterations of Robin, than the standard Gotham 'Bats'.
With the cheerful colours of red and blue — perhaps drawing upon the classic iconography of Metropolis's Superman — one may not be wrong in assuming Spider-Man is another friendly face to care for streets in dire need of love and care. Spider-Man has not been spotted anywhere but Gotham's most deprived districts: particularly Park Row, a district infamously ruled by the recently returned Red Hood. But it would be unwise to assume too swiftly that Spider-Man will be a force for good.
For one, there is precious little known about him. Thursday the 27th boasts a handful of stories reporting interactions with a "man in a blue and red suit with a spider on his chest". His most notable interaction of the evening was with eight-year-old Maria Ordoñez (name changed for privacy), who had been missing for four hours before she was found by Spider-Man. "He was nice and stayed with me until [my father] came" she said.
Her father, Rafael Ordoñez, claims he did not see Spider-Man when he collected his daughter. "I spoke with him on his cell," said Ordoñez. "I wasn't the nicest to him, but he seemed a friendly guy." Ordoñez refused to comment when asked if Spider-Man's voice had any identifiable characteristics, saying simply: "We take care of our own. I can't be more grateful he found my baby. He's got a friend in us, no matter who or what he is."
There is little to criticise here. Spider-Man found a lost child. Spider-Man ensured the lost child was returned to her family. It's a clear-cut case.
What is less clear cut are his activities on Halloween eve (see page 1-3), where Spider-Man and the Red Hood brought down the rogue Lazlo Valentin (known commonly as Professor Pyg). Valentin had evaded police custody since his escape from Arkham Asylum on August 24th. The two vigilantes discovered Valentin's hidden base, including twenty-nine paid men and five of Valentin's 'dollotrons' (victims whom Valentin surgically alters and lobotomises to serve his every whim) before authorities arrived on scene.
The two vigilantes also recovered the bodies of three more of Valentin's victims; the two gray seals declared missing from Gotham City Zoo on October 15th; and a single survivor who had yet to fall under the knife.
Gotham City Police Department has kept the identity of the lone survivor anonymous for their protection, however a confidential source told The Gotham Times the survivor is a minor. Of the rescue, Commissioner Gordon said: "Spider-Man quickly and non-lethally restrained Lazlo Valentin and took his to-be victim to safety before they could be further harmed. Myself and the victim's family can only thank Spider-Man for his swift actions that prevented an even greater tragedy."
A ringing endorsement from the police commissioner. However, upon questioning the first responders on scene, a less-comforting story began to take shape. Officer Santos, the first to begin arresting Valentin's 'employees', said: "Spider-Man used some kinda glue substance to restrain Pyg and his goons. It dried solid and was real hard to remove. In a couple of cases, we literally had to pry them off the floor with a knife. Would've been nice if he'd left us something to do that with."
A non-lethal form of restraint is practically a breath of fresh air in a city where the standard preference of vigilantes comes in the form of broken bones. But Inspector Singh, who questioned suspects after their arrest, noted to one of our reporters: "We've had one of the [followers] claim Spider-Man attacked Pyg before he was stopped by Red Hood. They said he was brutal. Like he wanted to kill [Pyg]."
A vigilante being stopped by the Red Hood? It's not every day we hear a story like that.
That was not the only point of concern to Inspector Singh: "The scene has signs this guy's got strength beyond baseline human. Broken tiles and torn off doors... We're talking about a guy with superpowers, swinging around the streets like the law's his to make and defend. It's bad enough when we're talking a baseline human playing superhero. But when it's a meta? The scale for failure suddenly becomes a whole lot worse. Gotham doesn't need a knock-off Superman."
Valentin's injuries were severe enough that he was admitted to Gotham General under armed guard. Inspector Singh did acknowledge that a significant number of Valentin's injuries could be attributed to the Red Hood, who attacked him almost immediately after stopping Spider-Man. Was this an attempted cover-up on the part of the Red Hood? Or are these two men birds of a feather? Regardless of their success thwarting Valentin, one cannot claim that the assault was 'incidental' when Spider-Man had already restrained the rogue.
Another officer noted: "although Batman, Robin, Batgirl and the Red Hood were present when we arrived, Spider-Man had already left the scene." Why the sudden disappearance? Was it a desire to stay off the GCPD's radar? An inability to remain at the scene of the crime once his job was 'done'?
Or is this, perhaps, a sign that Spider-Man's alignment remains firmly with the contentious Red Hood, rather than the Batman? The same officer claimed they thought they had heard "Red Hood and Batman arguing over someone being dangerous". Though they could not confirm who this person was, a reasoned speculation would be they were speaking of Spider-Man. The Batman's apparent disapproval of him does not bode well for Gotham.
There appears to be a commonly held misunderstanding that the Batman disapproves of metahumans, despite his clear acceptance of the Signal whose own meta-abilities are known but poorly documented. Therefore, it is not enough to say that the Batman disapproves of Spider-Man purely because he is super-powered. Not when there are more immediate reasons that may explain it, such as his association with the Red Hood: a man who needs little explanation since his meteoric and bloody rise to power in Gotham's underground four years ago.
Of course, Batman is also famously territorial and has been known to chase out members of the Justice League on occasion. Perhaps his disapproval merely stems from his dislike of a newcomer encroaching upon 'his city'. At present, we have no way of knowing the true reason: the Batman was approached for comment, but did not respond.
Regardless of Spider-man's less than savoury actions with Valentin, word on the streets — particularly Park Row, Burnley and the Narrows — is largely positive. "If he's here for Crime Alley, I say let him stay," said one young woman. "We're lucky if we see a cop car drive through once a week! Hood does good work, but he's still got that crime lord rep[utation]."
A similar story rings through most of Gotham's north. While there are some who protest the addition of "some new idiot who thinks he's better suited for the job than the boys in blue, who are actually trained to deal with Gotham", most seem inclined to disagree with such sentiments.
"The guy's saving kids and you want us to act like he's the bad guy?" said one impassioned man in Burnley. "You think we care that he got a little violent? I lost a nephew to Pyg seven years ago. The things that monster did to him… he's never recovered! If this Spider-Man managed to not kill him for what that bastard's done, he's a better man than most of us."
For some, Spider-Man's presence is merely a new symptom of the troubled times Gotham continues to live in: "If the authorities did their job and protected us from the crazies, we wouldn't need them. But they don't, so we do," a local from Park Row said.
Perhaps it is too early to decide what Spider-Man's impact will be. So far, despite his assault of Valentin and his connection to the Red Hood — who admittedly is seen as a force for good by the majority of Park Row residents — he has produced a net positive. Only time will tell if Spider-Man will continue to make a positive change in Gotham.
In the meantime, as always: be alert, be wary, and most importantly, be prepared.