History
El Clarín (literally "the bugle") is a newspaper active in New York City, led[1] and managed by J. Jonah Jameson. Peter Parker worked there as a photographer, providing images to illustrate stories,[2] and he also wrote several articles.[1] Secretly, Parker was also superhero el Hombre Araña.[2] Jameson famously had little respect for el Hombre Araña, accusing the later of being a coward[2] and even a criminal.[3][4] These opinions were not particularly reflected by the general population of New York City, who generally hailed el Hombre Araña with awe, as el Hombre Araña frequently defeated superpowered villains in public situation and saved the people.[5][6] Jameson was also known as a tightwad person, paying his employees the minimum possible amount,[4] although he allowed for expenditures for the sake of a good report.[7]
At one point, the city was attacked by giant monsters that destroyed buildings. El Hombre Araña was busy trying to fight these creatures, and was captured by their secret leader. Unaware of this, Jameson complained that Parker had not provided El Clarín with photographs for the news, and ordered Robertson to write a story, specifying in the headlines that el Hombre Araña has cowardly disappeared when he was needed.[2]
Soon afterward, the city was shaken by a raise in criminality, due to the organization of local gangs under the leadership of Las Satánicas. Jameson approached the police, who had arrested a number of criminals, and demanded that the authorities look after the involvement of el Hombre Araña in the crime wave - but he was dismissed, as the police supported el Hombre Araña. Jameson returned to El Clarín offices and ordered Robertson to write a series of article claiming that el Hombre Araña was protecting Las Satánicas. Even knowing that it was false and damaging to the paper's reputation, Robertson obeyed.[3]
When Productores Unidos began filming a movie about el Hombre Araña, starring el Hombre Araña himself, Jameson sent Parker to take photos of the set to publish those in the Clarín (something that Parker had hoped for, so as to have an excuse to go there). Brant congratulated Parker, as he had been chosen to represent the newspaper. As Parker's photos were delayed, Jameson flied into a rage through the building and threatened to fire Parker.[8]
El Clarín also reported that Klaus Kruger, ruler and Duke of the small country Lichtenbad, was visiting New York City but refused to give any interview.[9]
Soon afterward, Jameson discreetly left his office to buy a treasure map in the docks. Finding that he'd need to go to a mysterious island, he chartered a boat, hired the crew, then decided to recruit two of his employees, Robertson and Parker, claiming that the job was a photographic report. Parker's girlfriend Gwen Stacy piggybacked; Jameson agreed to add her as a journalism unpaid intern. However, the operation was not really related to Clarín news, as Jameson did not intend to publish the results.[7]
When several airplanes exploded mid-air, all of them carrying secret information or government scientists, Jameson demanded a close, emotional report. Parker suggested that Clarín employees joined a plane flight that was likely to be attacked, so they'd be there to write a reportage. Jameson agreed, but only Parker volunteered (even if the planes had extra protection). This allowed Parker to find a conspiracy of the Piratas del Aire and, as el Hombre Araña, stop the criminals. Parker provided Jameson with a report and very good photographies, but Jameson insisted on paying only half their value, because he had invested money in the plane ticket.[1]
Later, a repentant drug dealer and former Mafia member, walked into Jameson's office to give him a letter. The Mafia had killed the son of that criminal, and he intended to expose them with a detailed note for the FBI; but he only dared trust a reputable journalist like Jameson. Jameson intended to break the news before the police knew the details - however, before he could put the letter in his safe, the Clarín was visited by Senator Roger Steves, who pretended to have entered to throw off some criminals who were following him. They all heard a shootout, in which the Mafia possibly killed the repentant drug trafficker; and Steves withdrew, ignoring Jameson's warnings. Jameson, distrusting Steves, summoned Parker and Brant to instruct them to take the envelope together to the FBI the next day, with Parker keeping it at his house in the meantime; Jameson feared that the Mafia might try to steal his safe. He was right: The next day, Jameson saw that his office had been searched. Parker kept the envelope at his house, at Jameson's request, awaiting further instructions - but Parker was kidnapped by the Mafia soon afterward. Meanwhile, El Clarín was then visited by a lawyer, Matthew Murdock, who wanted the envelope back, claiming it belonged to Murdock's client. Jameson, even more wary and fearing that Murdock was another Mafioso, falsely said that the envelope was already in the hands of the FBI, thus scaring off the lawyer. Murdock was actually the superhero Diabólico, who tracked the envelope to Parker's house and followed the lead to stop the gang of mafiosi drug dealers led by Steves, turning them over to the police and rescuing Parker in the process. Jameson, discovering what happened, drove by in his car through the area and reproached Parker for his decisions because now all the newspapers would discover what happened at the same time, depriving Clarín of any advantage. Jameson claimed to fire Parker, and was really upset that he didn't get any photos; however, Jameson was secretly relieved that he and Parker were no longer Mafia targets.[10]
Jameson was on a holiday when criminal Hidra unleashed a wave of crimes on the city, something that every newspaper but El Clarín had published on the front page. Typically enraged, Jameson sent Parker for photos - then Hidra herself visited Jameson's office in person. Hidra, who wanted revenge against el Hombre Araña asked Jameson to publish a note in his newspaper to summon her enemy; and Jameson agreed to do it in a mid-day edition.[11]
A criminal impersonated el Hombre Araña to rob banks. Jameson was happy to see his point finally proven and apparently wrote about it in El Clarín. However, the real Hombre Araña apprehended the impostor and cleared his name; Parker later claimed that Jameson was probably upset at that point.[4]Notes
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El Clarín rooftop sign.
- On Earth-TRN911, the building of El Clarín has a huge sign on the rooftop reading Daily Bugle (strangely not El Clarín), and without the iconic bugle symbol that the newspaper has on Earth-616.[10]
- El Clarín seems to have at least two daily editions: Morning and midday.[11]
- Anyone can approach El Clarín to post a note, as long as the message is not illegal in and by itself.[11]
- Jameson's office has a safe[10] and he keeps a hidden gun apparently in his desk.[11]
- In El Sorprendente Hombre Araña #163, we can see a page of the Clarín with several readable headlines: "Catastrófica Inundación" ("Catastrophic Flood"). "Interés del Papa hacia los niños" ("The Pope's interest in children"). "Vuelo espacial soviético con 2 astronautas" ("Soviet space flight with 2 astronauts"). The last one is particularly strange: Astronauts were NASA agents, while the Russian Space Agency called his team cosmonauts. The headline may refer to a Soviet flight where, in a collaboration with America, NASA astronauts were involved; but this is unlikely in the 1970s, when the story takes place, due to the Cold War.
See Also
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #159
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #137
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #148
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #180
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #129
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #135
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #154
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #149
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #153
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #163
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Amazing Spider-Man (MX) #165