Spiderman and New York: a story of love and action
Batman defended Gotham City. Superman, Metropolis. Both cities drawn in the image and likeness of the most comic city in the world: New York. But that was in DC. For two proud New Yorkers like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby , being based in his city was not enough. Both of them, from Marvel, in the 60s, revolutionized modern comics by bringing their superheroes into a real world, with real problems, real feelings and, of course, real cities. And, of course, above all there was a city for superheroes: New York. If you want to follow in the footsteps of some of New York's most iconic heroes around town, here are some important addresses.
SPIDER MAN, NEIGHBOR TO QUEENS
He was born and raised in Forest Hills. According to the comics, the Aunt May house Peter Parker grew up in was at 20 Ingram Street. In the movies, the exterior was shot on 69th Road (between Metropolitan Avenue and Sybilla Street). In his youth, Peter studied at Midtown High School, based on the Forest Hills Public Institute (6701 110th Street). From which we will see him graduate in the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man.
Upon finishing high school, Peter attended Empire State University which was based, Marvel discovered, on NYU. (New York University) and its main campus located around fun Washington Square . There he perfected his superhero skills and learned those of a journalist that he would later apply to the Daily Bugle, the only newspaper that exclusively publishes photos of Spider-Man, how curious. In the comics, the Bugle's newsroom was on 39th Street and Second Avenue. The brick buildings in this part of Murray Hill were not convincing for the movies where a much more iconic location was chosen: the Flat Iron Building. Though Spider-Man has fought his enemies all over New York (the Statue of Liberty, the subway, the Roosevelt Island cable car, the Brooklyn Bridge …), we are left with two events in his life and two covers: his wedding with Mary Jane Watson on the steps of City Hall and the tears he shed after 9/11 at the World Trade Center. Fade to black.
Map of New York according to Spiderman
DAREDEVIL, THE SOUL OF HELL'S KITCHEN
Few will be more proud of their neighborhood than Daredevil. It was Frank Miller who placed the neighborhood on the real map of New York, the area through which the superhero moved since Stan Lee and Bill Everett created it in the 60s. Matt Murdock was born there and grew up with his father, boxer Jack Murdock. who trained at the fictional (and uninspired) Fogwell's Gym. After the murder of his father, Matt became Daredevil, 'The Man Without Fear', the defender of Hell's Kitchen, one of the last gentrified neighborhoods in Manhattan , today full of bars and restaurants. Although there is no sign of Josie's Bar & Grill that the superhero frequently visited to extract information from his criminal clientele. In the comics (or in the terrible movie) it was never very clear where the bar was located. Nick Fury was also originally from Hell's Kitchen, where he was born and raised with his mother and his sister. But he never felt the union with the neighborhood like Daredevil.
Daredevil, the soul of Hell's Kitchen
THE FANTASTIC FOUR, OWNERS OF MIDTOWN
They were the first to settle in New York. Already in the third comic, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby established the headquarters of this fantastic quartet, the Baxter Building, at 42nd Street and Madison Avenue , the next block from Grand Central Station. The Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic operate from the top five floors of this skyscraper fictitious that went from 35 to 100 floors. According to the comics, on the ground floor there would be the Fantastic Four museum and souvenir shop, which has its own elevator to go up to their offices, where you will be greeted by Roberta, the robot receptionist. Although they lived and worked in the Baxter Building, some of the Fantastic Four they were also very close to the Lower East Side. Ben Grimm (The Thing) was born on Yancy Street , street inspired by Delancey Street (near where Stan Lee himself was born) and where the Yancy Street gang moved. And Human Torch in one of his tantrums, went to live in a seedy boarding house in Bowery.
The Baxter Building, headquarters of Fantastic Four
THE AVENGERS, KINGS OF FIFTH AVENUE
At number 890 Fifth Avenue, right in front of Central Park, would be one of the most important buildings in Marvel's New York: the Avengers mansion. In that same place is in reality The Frick Collection, the palace museum of the steel tycoon Henry Clay Frick. Stan Lee walked by there often and decided to take it as inspiration for the headquarters of his superhero association. It had a library, a gym, a meeting room, a press conference room, dormitories for the avengers... A place so well known that, when it was destroyed for the umpteenth time, Tony Stark, the richest avenger, refused to rebuild it again and took them away. everyone to its modern Stark Tower, located on Columbus Circle.
The Avengers, together or separately, have fought, like the rest of the superheroes, throughout New York (the battle from the top of Grand Central in the 2012 film is epic), even in **Harlem (Captain America against the African-American villain, Morgan , ahem, topicazo) **, in Brooklyn (where Thor lived under his human identity) or in the Bronx (She-Hulk or in the horrible female version, the She-Hulk, against the Elephant Man) . Neighborhoods usually forgotten by comics. Only Coney Island, in Brooklyn, due to the possibilities offered by the Cyclone, its famous roller coaster, has been a regular battlefield (Daredevil, The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man).
Hulk in the Empire State
X-MEN, EXTRARADIO NEW YORKERS
They moved around New York, but the mutants were commuters (people who commute between work and home): the X-Mansion, run by Professor Xavier, is located in the comics at 1407 Graymalkin Lane in the town of Salem Center in Westchester County, about 90 kilometers from the city. If they came to Manhattan like normal human beings, by train, it would take about 45 minutes. From his trips to the city we are left with a recent one: the marriage proposal of North Star, the first openly gay superhero, to her boyfriend, Kyle Jinadu in a beautiful place, the Bryant Park fountain. In number 51 (2012) they got married in another park, Central Park , with all his mutant friends and New York superheroes as witnesses.
Practical information for superheroes:
- Marvel Offices They are at number 135 on Calle 50 (between 6th and 7th avenues).
- Some of the best comic shops in New York are Forbidden Planet (832 Broadway); Midtown Comics (200 W 40th Street); Jim Hanley's Universe (32 E 32th Street); Bergen Street Comics (470 Bergen Street), Desert Island (540 Metropolitan Avenue)
- The comic book bar: the over look It was in the 60s, one of the most frequented by cartoonists, they still have a wall full of characters, caricatures...