Superior Spider-Man #13 – Review

Dan Slott, Christos Gage (Writers), Giuseppe Camuncoli, John Dell, Terry Pallot (Artists), Antonio Fabela (Colorist)

The Story: Spider-Ock deals with the Spider-Slayer once and for all as the chaos at the Raft ends.

The Review: It can be hard to have a fitting and decent conclusion to any arc, however long it may be. Most of what is written, be it the action, the conversation, the exposition and so on usually leads to a finale that leads to the next arc or set up something else for the title in question, which is per course for pretty much every superhero books published nowadays. As we have seen Spider-Ock fight a big crisis at the Raft caused by the Spider-Slayer, many other elements went into the situation, as we are now in the very end of the whole deal. Does Slott and Gage manage to give us something exciting in the process of closing that chapter, however?

In many ways, they do succeed admirably in making the most of what Slott had set up in his early run with Peter Parker and with the new character that is Otto. The action is still pretty good, the character work that is to be found here is entertaining and solid and we do get some big surprises along the way. Both writers do a lot of good there, despite some minor fumbles here and there.

One of the most preeminent piece of the story is the action, as we get to see Otto trying to accomplish what he had promised in the previous issue: kill Alistair Smythe, the Spider-Slayer. The confrontation between these two, taking places two times in this issue, reads very well as it is, after all, a villain fight. As Alistair tries to play the nobility and heroism that was more akin to Peter Parker, it is always fun to see just how Otto differentiates from what was previously established. The fight between those two is brutal in some ways and it does show some surprising twist in the second and final encounter between the two. There’s also some other action scenes featuring some of the other characters, like the Lizard, which are actually pretty fun to read too, as the writers uses this character that had been teased during the whole arc. In short, the action is fun and it does play up to may things introduced before in smart ways.

The Punisher #3 – Review

by Greg Rucka (writing), Marco Checchetto (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Frank grapples with the Vulture in a fight to the death over the skies of New York City.

The Review:  Given how much of this issue is consumed by a sprawling action scene, it seems fitting to start out with a discussion of Marco Checchetto’s artwork.  Simply put, it’s really, really good and it’s becoming increasingly surprising how Checchetto has flown under the radar for so long.  Once again, Checchetto draws a dark, gritty, and mysterious New York City, but it’s the action that he shines at this month.

A long, aerial grappling session is no easy feat in comics and could have easily been disastrous.  I was fearing that we’d get an incomprehensible jumble of bodies and storytelling gone out the window, but somehow, Rucka and Checchetto manage to make it all completely understandable and, in fact, they even manage to make it beautiful, creating a fight scene that, while primal, tells a story in its own right.  It’s intense, elegant, and an experience that’s unique to the medium.

The fight’s ending also shows some serious balls on Rucka’s part and should go a long way in answering the complaints of those who question how Frank Castle can operate in the Marvel U.  Rucka shows that he has no qualms about having Frank run amok in New York and making sizable impacts.  I can’t go any further without major spoilers, unfortunately, but let’s just say that this fight doesn’t end how most superhero/villain fights end and that the conclusion is very appropriate for Frank.  There’s no equivocation here.

But it’s not only in the villain-fighting that Rucka’s Punisher impacts the Marvel Universe.  Rucka seems to want to establish Norah Winters as a major supporting character for this series, which is fine by me.  Norah is a brilliant addition to the cast, as I could not imagine a more polar opposite to Frank Castle.  I’ve always loved the character, who’s unfortunately often been thrown to the periphery due to Spider-Man’s massive cast.  Seeing her in this dark and very different context is wonderful and her mouthy, energetic character is a fantastic counterpoint.

The Punisher #2 – Review

by Greg Rucka (writer), Marco Checchetto (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: The Punisher has marked his prey, tracking a poor, hapless goon back to his masters while Bolt and Clemons are left to pick up the bodies.

What’s Good:  For the second issue in a row, the Punisher doesn’t utter a word, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  This silent Frank Castle is as fresh as the first issue and his silence makes him all the more monstrous and inhuman, if not mythical.  In many ways, Frank’s silence actually opens opportunities for Rucka to make him even scarier, particularly in one scene, where Rucka perfectly illustrates the Punisher’s uncompromising mercilessness.  The Punisher has never been more predatory.

The result is a comic where Frank hunts this thug and follows him, always just in the corner of the poor guy’s eye, haunting him like a vengeful spirit.   The Punisher plays the hunter through and through, the thug in question the hapless deer.  Franks silence and the way he manipulates his unwitting prey to run from safehouse to safehouse, allowing the Punisher to rack up the bodies, is utterly brilliant and makes Frank appear to, on some primitive level, possess an awareness, calm, and intellect that his prey lacks.  He leads the guy, tracks him, nudges him, all without saying a word.  Frank is so menacing and so coolly calculating that in many ways, as this unrelatable hunter of people, we come to experience “the Punisher” legend just as the criminal underworld does.

Spider-Man Noir #1 – Review

By Fabrice Sapolsky (writer), David Hine (writer), and  Carmine Di Giandomenico (art)

The Story: Welcome to the Great Depression, Peter Parker. In this alternate, hard-broiled mystery (whatever that means) themed version of Spider-Man, Peter and his Aunt May are socialist rabble-rousers who run a soup kitchen during the greatest economic collapse of modern history. Peter’s world is ruled by a mysterious criminal called the Goblin and his crew of henchmen which include alternate takes of the Vulture and Kraven. True to his origin’s, Peter’s motivation for justice is fueled by the murder of his Uncle Ben. However, his youthful idealism is poised to lead him to a premature reunion with his Uncle until Ben Ulrich steps rescues him from Goblin’s gang and then takes him under his wing.

What’s Good: The pacing of the story is really well done by the introduction of an eclectic cast of characters through tight dialogue and an interesting interocular in Ben Ulrich. The character designs are mostly great. For example, the Vulture, who looks like the silent film era Dracula, is down right horrifying. Also, Spider-Man’s costume is both novel and cool.

I’m a fan of Carmine Di Giandomenico’s art from his work on Magneto: Testament and he doesn’t disappoint in this series. I guess his art excels in poverty and harsh settings as both these series offer similar atmospheres. His work appeals me to not for his technical prowess, but rather for his unique, indie feel towards setting and characters while retaining traditional structure.

What’s Not So Good: Peter Parker comes across one dimensional and that one dimension is constipational grumpiness. I guess the idea here is to get rid of the sweet, good-natured Peter Parker and replace him with an edgy and angry teen. The problem with this substitution is that it’s hard to actually like this series’ Peter as he is not at all endearing, but rather very annoying.  His facial expression is the same snarl in almost every panel that features only him.

My other chief complaint is that there is not enough Spider-Man in this issue. This is a Spider-Man title, right? How come we only get like three pages of ol’ Spidey and only one line from him where he uses the word “fellers”?

Conclusion: Overall, this is a good start to an interesting series.  However, I don’t see how this Noir series will appeal to anyone save the die-hard Spider-Man fans. At the same time, I’m sufficiently drawn enough to want to see where a few plot lines go, which is more than I was expecting when I bought this issue.

Grade: B

-Rob G