Edge of Spider-Verse 003

Edge of Spider-verse 003

Dustin Weaver

This Comic by Marvel features Dr. Aaron Aikman, who is the Spider-Man for this city.  He turned himself into the Spider-Man one night in the genetics lab.  His suit is equipped with some robotic technology.  He faces the villainous Red Eye and Naahmurah.  The villains here have adapted robotics and genetic technology. 

As Thierry Groensteen points out, the base unit of the comic is the paneling.  I think that in this comic, the panel layouts are really interesting.  They do not follow and formal panel layout, but instead almost merge into each other making one picture in some places.  In certain incidences you have to really look at the picture to notice where the gutters are. 

Similarly, Duncan and Smith point out that the gutters can be conceptual, I think that the reverse is done here.  Through the images the gutters almost disappear.  They all blend into each other.  You have to actively sit back and remind yourself that there is a gutter; this for me makes the immersion into the story more complete in these instances.  What is happening on the page becomes more about action, and less about following the paneling.  This may be because I read this issue in electronic form, but I found that I did not pay attention so much to the gutter, as the events as they were playing out. 

There are various instances of Authorial Awareness within this piece with the reference to other media within it, such as the data cards on the various villains, and the newspaper article.   As this is a constructed universe, it is all right to have authorial awareness here.  Duncan and Smith talks about the diegetic world, through symbol being similar to what we have come to expect from other Marvel comics, this piece is easy for the reader to place within the Marvel universe.  They even keep the creation story of Spider-Man in this case similar to the original creation story.  This use of braiding is important in creating meaning for the reader in many cases.