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| SPYDER SPEAK Review - Jan-Mar 2008 | 26th April 2008 |
| by Adam Rivett |
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A low-down of Spider-Man
This review covers the following titles:
Amazing Spider-Man #546-554
Amazing Spider-Man: Swing Shift Director’s Cut
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #35-7
New Avengers Annual #2
New Avengers #38-9
Spider-Man Family #7
Ultimate Spider-Man #118-120
What If…? Spider-Man vs. Wolverine
With Great Power… #1-3
Let’s start with the most important first shall we? Amazing Spider-Man. Brand New Day. It is definitely “new”, whether it is “brand new” is up for debate, but it starts a completely new chapter in Spider-Man history. This new chapter has been accepted, welcomed, rejected, force-fed and shrugged at by fans but this fan can firmly say that if you ignore One More Day hard enough there is potential for this to be exciting and fresh. The arcs seen so far have introduced countless new characters and some different scenarios and have been delivered to a good standard. The highlight so far has been Dan Slott and Marc Guggenheim, whom I expected strong showings from anyway. Their issues are both paced to perfection and lay groundwork for the future. I can’t say the same for Bob Gale’s introduction of Freak but I’m going to hold judgement slightly because Round Two happens in April. The return of John Romita Jr to Spider-Man, albeit two pages, is welcome and reminds us just how Spider-Man should be. Amazing Spider-Man is still the premiere Spider-title and still deserves that title. It is seriously worth keeping tabs on regardless of the creative decisions that came before this and if only for the love of the character which is written very well by two out of the three writers that have had a stab so far.
Following hot on the heels of this is Amazing Spider-Man: Swing Shift: Director’s Cut which is worth surfing through if you want a slight back story to Mr Negative but more interesting are almost juicy Director’s Cut bits which offer an insight into the creative and editorial manifesto behind the new changes.
To try to get a weekly dose of Spider-Man, With Great Power… has been published. Creatively the book has a strong team but so far I’m not convinced on the necessity or purpose of this series. There are some nice edges to Peter’s character and I find him more annoying than Freak’s filthy mouth (see Amazing Spider-Man #553 for the overused c*ss*ng!) which is some doing on David Lapham’s part. Tony Harris drawing Spider-Man was always going to be a winner with me so I’m sticking this through to see what the whole looks like and whether it had a point.
On the quieter front, Marvel released What If…? Spider-Man vs. Wolverine. This isn’t a gem of a one-shot and, as all What If…?s are is fairly pointless but it showcases a stunning cover from Romita Jr (again) and sticks in my memory for combining these characters well and in a completely new environment. If you can find it cheap, it’s probably worth it.
Ultimate Spider-Man has taken a dip recently with the Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends arc. There seemed little build-up, no tension and whilst Bendis and Immonen capture the various talking panels and mini-action sequences well, like With Great Power… I don’t really know where it’s going. Unfortunately for me it’s pencilled by Stuart Immonen who is brilliant so I am always going to have something positive to rave on about!
In other business, Marvel Adventures continues to produce some nice little stories (featuring Green Goblin, Taskmaster & Swarm) with some excellent in art in particular from one-to-watch-out-for Ale Garza, New Avengers builds up Secret Invasion in an so-so manner but there’s very little Spidey and New Avenger’s Annual #2 is pretty much the same; it has affects on other things but nothing too involved with Spidey as he’s busy dealing with his Brand New Day.
I wanted to finish on a highlight, quite possibly the highlight of the month – Spider-Man Family #7 which features a tribute story to the late great Mike Wieringo. Some of Mike’s co-creators and close friends have collaborated together to create this romp through characters, settings and utterly hilarious scenarios and it is an utter delight to read, if only for the fact that you are remembering someone who was an excellent Spider-Man artist. The rest of the issue is instantly forgettable against this tribute story but I urge anyone who is anyone to go and read it.
Adam Rivett |
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