Polite Dissent

If you think the title of this comic sounds familiar, you’d be correct. This comic is simply a reprint of Adventures in Reading starring the Amazing Spider-Man with a new cover slapped on it.

This time the comic is sponsored by Marvel Comics and the soft drink Squirt. The interior consists of the same 32 pages (34 counting the inside covers) and the same lame story: Spider-Man and three inner-city kids are zapped from one book to another without ever being clever enough to realize what’s going on. For a better description of the story, check out my review of the original comic. And yes, the strange Interlac puzzle is in this edition too.

The most notable thing about this reprint is the back cover, which contains one of the more egregious examples of crass marketing I’ve ever seen in a PSA comic. Kudos to Squirt for sponsoring this comic, but shame on them for slapping this on its back cover and turning Spider-Man into a commercial pitch man:

Take it from Spidey and Squirt – – reading is a lot more than a school subject. Reading lets you meet new people, go places you’ve never been before. and think things you’ve never thought before. Just open a book and a can of Squirt and find out. Hey, here’s an idea…why not start with the book you’re holding?