The Web (comics)
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The Web is a
fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...
, a superhero created by
MLJ Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Zip Comics ''Zip Comics'' was the name of an American anthology comic book series published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, for 47 issues between February 1940 and Summer 1944. It featured a number of adventure, humor and costumed h ...
'' 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

The Web debuted in issue #27 of ''
Zip Comics ''Zip Comics'' was the name of an American anthology comic book series published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, for 47 issues between February 1940 and Summer 1944. It featured a number of adventure, humor and costumed h ...
'' in July 1942, having originally been intended for ''
Top-Notch Comics ''Top-Notch Comics'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. From issue #28 it was re-titled ...
'', 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. His origin was recounted in the second story, in issue #28. The Web's secret identity was John Raymond, a college professor of criminology, and mystery writer. 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. 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.


1960s

The Web came out of retirement in March 1966 in '' Fly-Man'' #36, written by
Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, i ...
and drawn by
Paul Reinman Paul J. Reinman (; born Joseph Paul Reinmann, ; 2 September 1910 – 27 September 1988)Paul J. Reinmen
to combat the antics of an impostor. 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. In ''
Mighty Crusaders The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics. The team originally appeared in ''Fly-Man'' No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, ''Mighty Crusaders''. Written by Superman co-creator Jerry ...
'' #4 (April 1966), he joins with the Fox and
Captain Flag Captain Flag is a superhero created by MLJ Comics' writer Joe Blair and artist Lin Streeter. He first appeared in September 1941, in issue #16 of '' Blue Ribbon Comics''. He continued until the last issue, ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' #22 (March 1942). ...
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.Web
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on April 14, 2012.
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. It was later revealed that Rose was the younger sister of another Archie superhero, The Jaguar.


Reception

The 60s version of the Web with a nagging wife and mother-in-law was intended to copy the then-popular
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
style, in which superhero characters are seen coping with conflicts in their personal lives. 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 ''Amazing Heroes'' was a magazine about the comic book medium published by American company Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, ''The Comics Journal'', ''Amazing Heroes'' was a hobbyist magazine rather than an anal ...
'' that "The Web was reduced to playing straight man to mother-in-law jokes". 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".


Later appearances

The Web returned in Archie's ''
Red Circle Comics Dark Circle Comics is an imprint of Archie Comics Publications, Inc. Under its previous name, Red Circle Comics, it published non-humor characters, particularly superheroes in the 1970s and 1980s, and was a digital imprint from 2012 to 2014. In ...
'' superhero revival of the 1980s. He made several appearances alongside the company's heroes. In 2006, he made a
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
in ''Archie and Friends'' #101, in the
Katy Keene Katy Keene is a character created by Bill Woggon that has appeared in several comic book series published by Archie Comics since 1945. She is a model/actress/singer marketed by the publisher as "America's Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions". In the bo ...
story. In 2007, he appeared again in the Katy Keene story in ''Archie and Friends'' #107.


''New Crusaders''

In ''
New Crusaders The New Crusaders is a fictional superhero team and their eponymous title published by Archie Comics' imprint Red Circle Comics. A revamp of the previously published '' Mighty Crusaders'' title, ''New Crusaders'' follows the sons and daughters of ...
'', 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.


DC Comics


Impact Comics

In 1991 the Archie superhero characters were re-imagined in the
Impact Comics Impact Comics was an imprint of DC Comics that was aimed at younger audiences. It began in 1991 and ended in 1993. The initial "I" in the logo was stylized as an exclamation point, but the official name of the imprint was not ''!mpact''. Impac ...
line. Here the Web is portrayed as a group of secret agents who wore powered armor.


2009 revival

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
' 2009 revival of the Red Circle characters included the Web. 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 The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through 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. 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 ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt pol ...
, superhero on his own and a potential ally in John's quest. 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 Impact Comics was an imprint of DC Comics that was aimed at younger audiences. It began in 1991 and ended in 1993. The initial "I" in the logo was stylized as an exclamation point, but the official name of the imprint was not ''!mpact''. Impac ...
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.''The Web'' (vol. 3) #1 (November 2009)''The Web'' (vol. 3) #2 (December 2009) 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 The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceive ...
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 Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mu ...
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 Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
featured into the ''Final Crisis: Dance'' miniseries), granting the Host a private
social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
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 Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their priva ...
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.''The Web'' (vol. 3) #3 (January 2010) 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 The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics. The team originally appeared in ''Fly-Man'' No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, ''Mighty Crusaders''. Written by Superman co-creator Jerry ...
'', along with The Comet,
Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...
, The Shield and War Eagle.


Powers

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. John Raymond has fully functional copies of his suit, with every power of his original one, used by willing followers of ''summontheweb.com'', along with an instruction manual and 120 days of
tech support Technical support (abbreviated as tech support) is a call centre type customer service provided by companies to advise and assist registered users with issues concerning their technical products. Traditionally done on the phone, technical suppor ...
, creating a super-hero
franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
named the "Web Hosts" (obvious pun over the
webhost A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that hosts websites for clients, i.e. it offers the facilities required for them to create and maintain a site and makes it accessible on the World Wide Web. Companies providing web h ...
concept, consistent with the image of the Web as an accessibile,
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
-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 Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
-derived
social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
, 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 Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mu ...
system linked to the Hosts, making Raymond (and Oracle) able to remotely disable the Hosts Suits.


Jane Raymond

In July 2015, Archie Comics announced that its imprint
Dark Circle Comics Dark Circle Comics is an imprint of Archie Comics Publications, Inc. Under its previous name, Red Circle Comics, it published non-humor characters, particularly superheroes in the 1970s and 1980s, and was a digital imprint from 2012 to 2014. In ...
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. The announced series never materialized.


References


External links

*
Offenberger, Rik Rik Offenberger (born January 30, 1964) is an American comic book journalist and publicity agent, an early utilizer of the Internet for distributing comics news, and the public relations coordinator of Archie Comics. Career Offenberger started ...
, ed
Web I
at MightyCrusaders.net *
Offenberger, Rik Rik Offenberger (born January 30, 1964) is an American comic book journalist and publicity agent, an early utilizer of the Internet for distributing comics news, and the public relations coordinator of Archie Comics. Career Offenberger started ...
, ed
Web II
at MightyCrusaders.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Web (comics) Golden Age superheroes Web, The Comics characters introduced in 1942 DC Comics superheroes Male characters in comics Vigilante characters in comics