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Rating: 
Summary: The comic book adaptation of the movie based on comic books
Review: "Spider-Man 2: The Official Comic Adaptation" includes not only the same story can get in the comic book version, but also reprints some other Marvel stories that help to put the summer blockbuster in context. Of course the idea of a comic book adaptation of a comic inspired by comic books is a rather odd one, but it is an easy way of recalling your favorite parts of the film without going back to see it (go ahead, you know you want to) or having to wait months and months for "Spider-Man 2" to come out on DVD.
The adaptation is by writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, with pencils by Staz Johnson, Rom Lim, & Pat Olliffe, inks by Scott Kolish & Rodney Ramis, and colors by Chris Sotomayor. That seems like a lot of people involved, but then it took four people to come up with the story and screenplay for the movie. The emphasis is more on the dialogue that the action through the story. For example, at the beginning when Spider-Man has to deliver the pizzas, we get one shot of Spidey engaging in web-slinging and more panels devoted to the set up and payoff for Peter Parker losing his delivery job. Time and time again the fight sequences are reduced to barebones and I get the decided feeling that they ran out of space at the end, especially when we get a caption to explain why two panels later Mary Jane shows up in a wedding dress. Peter and MJ sort of look like Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, but Doctor Octopus looks more like the comic book version than Alfred Molina.
Also included is a reprint of "The Amazing Spider-Man" #50, which is the original "Spider-Man No More" story by Stan Lee and John Romita (the British version of this trade paperback substitutes the first Doctor Octopus story from "The Amazing Spider-Man" #3 for this one). I am sure everybody that had that comic either in the original or a reprinted version checked out the infamous full-page panel showing Peter Parker walking away from his costume in a trash can in the rain to compare it with the same short in the film seen in the trailer.
Then we also have reprints of "Ultimate Spider-Man" #14-15 by wrier Brian Michael Bendis, penciler Mark Bagley, and inker Art Thibert (with Erik Benson). This alternative version of Doc Ock's origin exists in a world where MJ already knows that Peter is Spider-Man. The problem is that these are just the first two issues in an eight issue story arc, so if you need to find out about the rest of the story you need to check out the third volume of "Ultimate Spider-Man" reprints, "Double Trouble."
What we have here is more of a promo for the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic book and trade paperbacks than anything that really provides insights into the background of the characters. If you think about it this would have been of more value in providing background if it had include reprints of #3, #12 and #50 of "The Amazing Spider-Man." But I bet they think that Steve Ditko's artwork on those first two would have been way too old-fashioned for the sensibilities of kid's today and that is why they went with "Ultimate Spider-Man" reprints instead.
Rating:
Summary: Adapt To Any Situation
Review: As a film, one of the reasons Spider-Man 2 succeeds in my opinion, is because director Sam Raimi and his crew didn't stray too far from the comic book lore. I wasn't sure though, if the movie's packed script could be translated properly for the medium, that gave birth to the Wallcrawler in the first place.The official comic book adaptation of the sequel, not only contains the story of the film, but a trio of additional Spidey tales that worked as an inspiration to the filmmakers. The film was adapted by Roberto Agguire Sacasa, with art from Staz Johnson, Ron Lim and Pat Olliffe. To be honest, I'm not familiar with any of the team's prior work for comparision. I think the biggest problem here is the space that's alloted for the book's main attraction. Things felt a bit disjointed, and as far as the art is concerned, the character likenesses are OK at best. I wish the powers that be didn't include 2 parts of an Ultimate Spider-Man story, written by Brian Michael Bendis, (who also consulted on the all too brief MTV animated series) only to have it continue in another book---frustrating. That said I did enjoy revisiting Spider-Man No More, from The Amazing Spider-Man #50, written by creator Stan Lee with art by John Romita--great stuff. If the Bendis tales weren't included, more pages could been used for the film adaptation, possibly making it better, than it turned out. Fans of the movie can still take something away from the entire book. But I think things could have been even better. The book has a total of 120 pages
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