Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #18

March 6, 2007

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Sandblasted Part 2 (Back in Black)
Rating: A

Spidey and the Sandman seek out the man with Ben Parker’s face!

Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Todd Nauck
Inks: Robert Campanella
Colors: John Kalisz
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Cover Art: Mike Wieringo
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Last issue, the Sandman tracked down his old enemy Spider-Man, not for a fight, but because he needed help. Flint Marko’s father is on death row, about to be executed for the murder of Ben Parker, and he needs Peter to help him clear dear old dad’s name. Meanwhile, someone who looks disturbingly like Ben has shown up in New York, and gunned down Spider-Man… 2211.

Only Peter David could take the utterly bleak “Back in Black” storyline and find a way to tell a story that’s actually fun. Although Peter isn’t making light of the situation, the classic Spider-Man sense of humor is evident in the fight scenes. Plus, for fans (like myself) who have always been mad about the arbitrary decision to make Sandman into a bad guy again after his reformation, seeing him and Peter fight side-by-side again is very entertaining. The scene with the two of them talking at Ben’s grave is absolutely great.

The only real problem with the issue is through no fault of the writer – the “Back in Black” delay clearly impacted the story, as there’s no mention of how or why Peter is in his black costume again anywhere in the issue. Now that Amazing Spider-Man #538 has finally come out, we get a quick mention on the “previously” page, but it was too late to work it into the story. As such, we’ve got a deep, brooding Spider-Man who can’t quite talk about why he’s deep and brooding, which makes for awkward reading.

Todd Nauck has long been a favorite artist of mine, and his style fits this story perfectly. He’s wonderful with any Spider-Man, but his cleaner, more classic style fits the black costume far better than more hyperdetailed styles used in some of the other titles. He helps make this a fun book, the best of “Back in Black” so far. Hopefully by next issue they’ll have caught up enough to get into the actual reasons for the black suit in the story.

Rating: 8/10

Sensational Spider-Man (2006 Series) #36

March 26, 2007

Quick Rating: Good
Title: The Strange Case Of… Part Two (Back in Black)
Rating: A

Someone is creating fake Spider-Men – can the real one round them up in time to save their lives?

Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Pencils: Ramon Bachs
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Warren Simons
Cover Art: Clayton Crain
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Freed from the shackles of not talking about why Spider-Man is in his black costume again, part two of “The Strange Case Of…” is considerably better than part one. Still waiting for word on whether or not May is going to survive being shot by one of the Kingpin’s snipers, Peter is confronted with another bizarre threat. Someone is kidnapping teenage boys, granting them approximations of his powers, putting them in versions of the costumes he’s worn over the years and sending them out into the city. As Peter rounds them up, he finds out that some of them are transforming even further, becoming more spider than man, and unless he and his big brained friends can figure out what’s happening to them and how it’s happening, they may all die.

It’s amazing, but just being able to say “Aunt May has been shot” is remarkably freeing to this comic book. No more pretending we don’t know why he’s in black, no more avoiding the subject of why he’s so gloomy – not only can Aguirre-Sacasa say it, but he can deal with it, and that small thing is remarkably freeing. The villain’s plot in and of itself is fairly interesting – it plays off the unmasking fairly well, but still remains a solid old-school mad scientist story.

I’m also a much bigger fan of the art this issue. I know a lot of people were in love with the Todd McFarlane-style art that Angel Medina brought to the book last issue, but this issue Ramon Bachs comes to the plate with a style that very much evokes Mike Zeck and Kraven’s Last Hunt. When reading this story in collected form, the shift in style will likely be quite jarring, but looking at this issue in and of itself, I consider it a significant improvement.

This is a pretty good issue. Unfortunately, three of the four in-continuity Spider-Man titles are unable to really develop the character right now – they’re all marking time to see what happens in Amazing, but Aquirre-Sacasa is taking the circumstances handed to him to tell a story that, while it probably won’t turn out to have any lasting importance, is at least interesting.

Rating: 7/10

Amazing Spider-Man #539

March 19, 2007

Quick Rating: A Qualified Good
Title: Back in Black Part 1
Rating: A

As May Parker clings to death’s door, Spider-Man goes on a rampage.

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Ron Garney
Inks: Bob Reinhold
Colors: Mat Milla
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Axel Alonso
Cover Art: Ron Garney
Publisher: Marvel Comics

So “Back in Black” finally begins (nearly two months after it started in the other titles) right on the heels of last issue. May Parker has been shot, and Peter understandably goes a little nuts. After tearing through the city to get her to a hospital, he goes on another tear – sans any costume at all – on a bloody path to find out who shot her.

This book is hard to gauge. On a surface scan, it’s done quite well. This all takes place within the hour or so after May is shot, and Peter’s reactions of panic and rage are perfectly understandable and even in character. The reason this book gets a “qualified” good from me is really a matter of nerves about where the storyline in general is going. The return of the black costume is handled quite well, but the issue ends with a proclamation that has me quite nervous. A few years ago, I would have thought it pure bluster that would ultimately leave the character surrendering to his better nature, but the way Marvel’s stories have played out lately, I’m genuinely afraid that the story may be heading towards a real betrayal of the character’s values, and that frightens me. As for May herself – well, you don’t want to get too spoileriffic, but it seems that this won’t be quick, whatever happens… and that, at least, is as it should be.

Ron Garney’s artwork is still quite impressive to me. I know a lot of fans haven’t been happy with his work on Amazing Spider-Man, but I’ve been a fan of his since his magnificent Captain America run, and his work here is just as solid. His storytelling skills are good, and the emotion on the characters’ faces (Peter and Mary Jane, predominantly) is quite compelling.

So basically, this is a good issue. I just hope that by the time we get to the end of the story, opinions haven’t changed retroactively.

Rating: 7/10

Marvel Holiday Special 2006

December 3, 2006

Quick Rating: Good
Title: A.I.M. Lang Syne and other stories
Rating: A

A look at Christmas in the Marvel Universe.

Writer: Andrew Farago, Shaenon K. Garrity, Scott Gray, Mike Carey, Jeff Christiansen
Art: Ron Lim, Roger Langridge, Mike Perkins
Colors: A. Street, J. Brown, A. Crossley
Letters: Dave Lanphear
Editor: John Barber
Cover Art: Frazer Irving
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics once again delves into its rich history and pulls out a handful of Holiday tales for 2006. While not quite as good as last year’s special, there are a few good stories here, and a special bonus treat – the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entry for Santa Claus.

The book starts (and middles and ends) with “A.I.M. Lang Syne,” a perplexing story about an A.I.M. New Year’s Eve party gone wrong. This is really the only clunker in the book, which leaves you wondering why it’s even here. The story is presented in short segments, one or two pages at a time, scattered in-between the other features. And it doesn’t work. It isn’t a framing sequence for the other stories, it’s not a story that is strengthened by showing the other tales in the interim, it’s as if the editor simply decided to cut it up for no reason. And even that wouldn’t be so bad if it were a good story, but it’s pretty boring.

“How Fin Fang Foom Save Christmas” is far better. Picking up on the Fin Fang Four special from last year, Scott Gray and Roger Langridge show us a down-on-his-luck dragon wandering the streets of New York, only to stumble headlong into a new bizarre attack by the forces of Hydra. This is a funny story, well worth the read, that actually draws out some real sympathy for Fin Fang Foom, which is a sentence I never thought I would type.

“A is For Annihilus” is next. Home alone while the rest of the Fantastic Four is out Christmas shopping and making merry, Ben Grimm gets bored (which is a terminally bad thing at the Baxter Building” and winds up accidentally freeing Annihilus from the Negative Zone. The story is told in an alphabetical rhyme scheme by Mike Carey, which occasionally feels forced, but overall works for the purposes of the comic book. Mike Perkins’ artwork, with colors by A. Crossley, is quite good, and the story is given a sort of brownish wash that makes it feel like you’re reading out of an old book.

There are a few more features in the book, most notably the OHOTMU page for Santa Claus himself. Jeff Christiansen does an especially good job with this entry, blending in the historical life of St. Nicholas, myths of Father Christmas from around the world and Santa’s appearances in Marvel comics throughout the years (even appearances in the old parody comic, What The?!) to give us a nice, cohesive history for the character as he exists on Earth 616. We also get three “cut-out” ornaments celebrating Civil War, Planet Hulk and Spider-Man: Back in Black, which are nice enough except that no one would ever cut them out and, even if they did, the paper is too flimsy to really hang them from anything. The book concludes with a cover gallery of other Marvel Holiday Special editions over the years.

It’s a pretty good package, with only the A.I.M. story falling flat, and something that Marvel fans will enjoy for the holidays.

Rating: 7/10

Sensational Spider-Man (2006 Series) #35

February 11, 2007

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: The Strange Case Of… Part One (Back in Black)
Rating: A

Fake Spider-Men are showing up all over the city. How does the real deal feel?

Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Pencils: Angel Medina
Inks: Scott Hanna
Colors: Dan Kemp
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Warren Simons
Cover Art: Angel Medina
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Someone is creating fake Spider-Men in New York – giving them approximations of Peter Parker’s powers and sending them out into the streets, making things tougher on the real Spider-Man, as well as the cops out to get him. Fortunately, Peter still has a few allies out there.

It’s really difficult to give this story a fair rating, because it’s pretty well neutered by the fact that Civil War still hasn’t ended. As a result, the writer has to spend virtually every page tap-dancing around what the entire “Back in Black” event should be focusing on – what’s happened in Peter Parker’s life to make him put the black suit back on after all these years. (You know, aside from the fact that there’s a movie coming out.) What’s more, it’s painfully obvious that he’s dancing around the issue. It’s like watching a magician desperately trying to draw your attention to his hand motions while you can see the silk handkerchief sticking out of his cuff. We aren’t allowed to know what emotions our main character is feeling, and as a result, the story has no emotional resonance whatsoever.

The artwork is okay, but Angel Medina is trying too hard to look like Todd McFarlane, and honestly, that style doesn’t work as well with the black costume. What makes that costume work is the stealth potential, the way all you see sometimes are the eyes and the big white spider. In today’s hyper-detailed styles, you see blue highlights every three micrometers, and the suit stands out too much. Just look in the “Back in Black” logo on the cover, that’s what makes this look work.

I’m giving this issue a fair not so much because I think it’s a fair read, but because I don’t really think the big problems are the fault of the creative team – they did the best they could do with what editorial handed them.

Rating: 6/10