The Amazing Spider-Man [2015] #21 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 21, January 2017

Considering that this book’s principle protagonist “is usually ranked as one of the greatest comic book characters of all time alongside DC Comics characters such as Batman and Superman”, it may have been hard for some to believe that Issue Twenty-One of “The Amazing Spider-Man” was only the twenty-third best-selling title in November 2016. For whilst Dan Slott’s script for “Live Another Day” arguably contains more than its fair share of lengthy flashback sequences and the occasional unfollowable piece of ‘timey wimey’ explanation, “The Clone Conspiracy” tie-in does feature “an alternate San Francisco” which has become overrun with decaying ‘New U Technologies’ zombies, an autopsy scene that is “pretty gnarly stuff”, and the prominent return of Karn, the “protector and prisoner of the Web of Life and Destiny”.

Unfortunately for this twenty-page publication’s 63,052 readers however, what the Berkeley-born writer’s narrative doesn’t surprisingly contain, is neither hide nor hair of its titular character. In fact, even the wall-crawler’s alter-ego, Peter Parker, only makes the briefest of appearances, and that’s just so the different universe’s version can be ‘degenerated’ by a mindless hordes of Carrions when his world’s generators are breached; “It’s too late for them. But maybe their work can still save other worlds. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

As a result, the Eisner Award-Winner’s narrative instead exclusively follows the exploits of the Jackal’s first clone of “the crime-fighting super-hero”, Kaine, and “the second greatest alternate version of Spider-Man”, Spider-Gwen. This remarkable coupling does admittedly prove to be a somewhat interesting team-up once the pair identify that the epicentre of the master geneticist’s plague “always starts in a city with a major Parker Industries” research center, and battle “the most advanced Carrion-state” the Scarlet Spider has ever seen. But even the dynamic action just such a punch-up portrays was surely never going to be enough to satisfy an audience presumably purchasing a comic in order to enjoy an adventure featuring Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s “flawed superhero with everyday problems".

Judging by his inconsistent pencilling, such a dialogue-heavy story-line certainly seems to have caused Giuseppe Camuncoli a few problems, particularly when the artist is drawing the “near-irreparably mutated” Scarlet Spider. Indeed, despite seemingly being perfectly capable of imbuing Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy with plenty of dynamic life, the Italian visibly struggles to do the same for Kaine’s costumed alternative personality.

The variant cover art of "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" No. 21 by Paolo Rivera

Moon Knight [2016] #10 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 10, March 2017

Impressively acquiring an additional four thousand readers in January 2017, quite possibly because of the “Death And Birth starts now!” eye-catching advertisement on its front cover, Issue Ten of “Moon Knight” certainly provided its 33,395-strong audience with an insightful portrayal into Marc Spector’s first meeting with his schizophrenic persona Steven Grant on the streets of Chicago, Illinois. But whilst this touchingly sentimental ‘flashback’ to the crime-fighter’s past proves both highly nostalgic, on account of its frequent references to films such “Star Wars”, “Conan The Barbarian”, “Gremlins” and “Raiders Of The Lost Ark”, as well as disconcertingly sad, when the boy’s dad finds him talking to himself rather than an actual “new friend, Steven”, its narrative doesn’t really take this title’s increasingly bizarre overall storyline much farther forward.

In fact, in many ways this attempt by Jeff Lemire’s to “redefine the history of Moon Knight” by exploring the titular character’s first symptoms of mental illness is rather ponderously paced, and arguably becomes precisely the sort of “pedantic” penmanship the Canadian cartoonist stated he expressly wanted to avoid when “Marvel Worldwide” first announced he was to be the comic’s regular writer. It’s certainly hard for this twenty-page periodical to break any new ground when the ex-mercenary simply re-visits Crawley and Annubis on the Overvoid, and Gena in her diner so he can enjoy “a cup of good hot coffee and pancakes”; even if waitress’ “flapjacks are to die for.”

Disconcertingly, this book’s only saving grace is its outstanding breakdowns by Greg Smallwood and color artist Jordie Bellaire. The creative duo really do create some incredibly captivating panels, whether they be a young Spector simply chalking space werewolves on his local street’s sidewalk, or the boy’s phenomenally detailed bedroom full of period pieces like an A-Team poster, cuddly toy Alf or MASK sideboard stickers. Indeed, what with this magazine’s amazing cliff-hanger splash page depicting Mister Knight facing an insectoid-riding Egyptian warrior, and the super-hero’s dive through the celestial waters of his childhood madness, it is very easy to see why Editor Jake Thomas ‘nearly fell out of his chair’ whenever ‘Greg turned in his sketches’.

Writer: Jeff Lemire, Artist: Greg Smallwood, and Color Artist: Jordie Bellaire

Nemesis The Warlock #2 - Eagle Comics

NEMESIS THE WARLOCK No. 2, October 1984

Predominantly dedicated to the titular character’s rescue of Purity Brown during the Feast of Zamarkand, Issue Two of “Nemesis The Warlock” provides its audience with both a tantalising glimpse of the “fire-breathing demonic” alien’s family, in the shape of his “Great Uncle Baal”, and “the subterranean city that lies, deep within the Central Abyss of the Earth” called Necropolis. Indeed, the thirty-one page anthology genuinely seems to expand the anti-hero’s universe exponentially as Pat Mills’ narrative progresses, with its inclusion of the short-story “The Origin Of The Excessus” proving particularly broadening, on account of “a simple varkherd called Olric” travelling the Fringe Worlds in search of the sword sinister and encountering all manner of exotic planets and savage beasts at the cost of a couple of his limbs.

The British editor’s exploration of the Termight Empire fairs equally as well however, with Nemesis’ infiltration of the “vast Temple of Terminus” not only providing a wickedly detailed glimpse of the Headquarters of the Terminators, complete with its swinging Pandemonium. But also a mesmerising look at the Inquisition’s Aliens’ Cells, which are packed full of all manner of extra-terrestrial prisoners and the outlandish-looking torture devices designed to make their incarceration as unpleasant an experience as possible. The sorcerer’s co-creator even manages to find the time to pen a thoroughly charming scene depicting the relationship between the Torturer General and his new inefficient apprentice; “It’ll be out of my hands, Son! I can’t keep dead wood! I’ll have to let you go!” 

Perhaps this enthrallingly coloured tome’s greatest sub-plot though, besides the introduction of the familiar Grobbendonk and his Gibberish Fringe World dialect, is the very sudden ‘fall from grace’ of the Executioner of Terminus. Known as “the Scourge of the Alien”, Brother Gogol’s discovery that his “mother was an alien” and “she killed my father” soon turns “Torquemada’s right hand man” into quite the pitiable figure, especially when the Mandrake is forced to aid “The Lord of The Flies” murder Brother Hades, the Pandemonium player, and help “every prisoner in Terminus escape!”

Kevin O'Neill's “imaginative, grotesque art” undeniably assists Mills with this saga’s storytelling, and the London-born illustrator’s attention to detail is absolutely phenomenal. In fact, it soon becomes abundantly clear, when one considers the numerous vehicles which are pencilled traversing The Abyss alone, just why the “efforts he put in to creating” his artwork “led to a low rate of productivity.”

Script: Pat Mills, Artist: Kev O'Neill, and Colors: Kev O'Neill

The Clone Conspiracy #2 - Marvel Comics

THE CLONE CONSPIRACY No. 2, January 2017

There surely must have only been a few of this mini-series’ 58,921 readers, who found Dan Slott’s script for Issue Two of “The Clone Conspiracy” an entertaining read. For whilst the twenty-page periodical does contain the return of two Warriors of the Great Web in the shape of the Scarlet Spider and Spider-Woman (Gwen Stacy), as well as an entire Rogue’s Gallery featuring the likes of Spider-Slayer, Massacre, Mirage, Big Man, Stilt-Man, Tarantula, Mysterio, Rose and the Green Goblin, to name just a few, it does so as a result of one of the most preposterous and unbelievable plot-twists possible…They’ve all returned as “a force for good” and want simply to help Peter Parker’s alter-ego.

Considering just how truly evil and formidable some of these underworld villains have been in the past, such errant nonsense as them no longer wanting to do any “bank jobs, muggings, or even jaywalking” really is ‘hard to swallow’, even if the “reborn” clones “can’t leave or skip” the Jackal’s chemical treatments without their new bodies fatally failing. It’s certainly difficult to see a maniac like the Red Skull’s employee Jack O'Lantern, humorously suggesting that “someone needs to take their pill” when the Web-Slinger first confronts his deadliest enemies and looks set to battle them all. Did the Berkeley-born writer forget this incarnation of the pumpkin-headed professional criminal was a member of the Skeleton Crew, and later an enforcer of the gangster the Golem? 

Equally as galling is the Eisner Award-winner’s mistreatment of the Wall-crawler’s arch-nemesis Otto Octavius, who is one moment clearly handing out to Spider-Man the beating of his crime-fighting career and then in the next simply skulking back to “the lab” where he’s meant to be working, at the mere snap of the Jackal’s fingers; “Don’t forget we’re all one big, happy family here.” Such evident subservience to another is utterly alien to someone as ‘superior’ as Doctor Octopus, and smacks of Slott simply wanting to start the publication with a thrilling fight-scene underneath New U Headquarters, rather than actually pen an opening which tied in to the rest of his disconcerting narrative. As the stocky multiple-limbed homicidal genius states himself “I am not your lackey”…

The variant cover art of "THE CLONE CONSPIRACY" No. 2 by Mark Bagley

Hulk [2016] #3 - Marvel Comics

HULK No. 3, April 2017

Despite its narrative predominantly concentrating upon Miss Walters and her working life within the offices of Ryu, Barber, Zucker and Scott, Issue Three of “Hulk” rather cleverly additionally shifts a good deal of attention onto Jen’s “first client, Maise Brewn” who “is fighting eviction and trauma of her own.” Indeed, in many ways the most enthralling parts of Mariko Tamaki’s script for “Deconstructed” are when the “reclusive woman” is either shown hiding inside her dark flat ‘sobbing’ to the former yoga instructor’s unseen guardian, or being quizzed by two police detectives who are investigating her landlord’s recent, gruesome murder. The Ontario-born writer additionally manages to intermittently pique the reader’s interest by having the titular character’s alter-ego scour a selection of magazines detailing the fall of the podcaster “on wellness in the modern world” from normalcy, courtesy of her business partner paying a few men to try and kill her “because he wanted to sell the business.”

This slow, potentially ponderous exploration of the young girl’s mysteriously sinister existence is well-timed by the Canadian graphic novelist, as it arrives just as the comic’s storyline concerning the lawyer’s unwavering unhappiness, and constant battle to refrain from ‘turning green’, was arguably just starting to become a little tiring for the title’s audience. In fact, if it wasn’t for the softly spoken Brewn and her silent, formidably deadly flat-mate, it’s hard to think how much longer the twenty-page publication could continue to simply bemoan the day-to-day plight of Bruce Banner’s cousin without becoming a genuinely tedious bore. It would definitely take more than a brief cameo by Hellcat, especially if the pair's somewhat overlong conversation simply focuses upon “one of the world’s canniest lawyers” just wanting her “best friend” to ‘give her space.’

Somewhat disappointingly, Nico Leon’s breakdowns for this periodical are just as inconsistent as some of this comic’s written content, with the Argentinian artist’s drawings of the seemingly ever-weary Walters proving just as draining upon the eyes as the woman’s emotional fatigue. Fortunately however, the freelancer’s ability to capture all the atmosphere of a ‘by the book’ police investigation is incredible, and the two detectives' journey through “the creepiest building you’ve ever been in” proves so entertaining that its genuinely heart-breaking when they both meet a presumably grisly demise at the end of the book; “What the -- Aaaaaahhhhh!”

Writer: Mariko Tamaki, Artist: Nico Leon, and Color Artist: Matt Milla

Hook Jaw #3 - Titan Comics

HOOK JAW No. 3, March 2017

As re-imaginings go, Si Spurrier’s atrocious script for Issue Three of “Hook Jaw” must have horrified its ashen audience in much the same vein as the original “Action Comics” moral-corrupting creation terrified its young readership’s parents. For whilst this twenty-two page periodical does contain a passing resemblance to its Seventies forefather, by depicting a team of US special operatives being savaged whilst investigating a wrecked container ship deep underwater, the rest of its narrative is woefully dissimilar to Pat Mills’ vision of a single-minded predatory great white shark, and disconcertingly, seems far more interested in the blatant sexual harassment of scientist Mag.

Indeed, for vast swathes of the former BBC art director’s storyline, the dialogue is worryingly focused solely upon the dislikeable Captain Klay’s maddening attempts to have some “basic action” with the “Hot latte”, and even goes so far as to require him to be beaten off by the “feisty” woman with a jawbone when his supposed amorous intentions get the better of him on a deserted beach; “I figure you’re definitely the Bond girl in this here drama… Can we get back to you succumbing to my seduction, and --” Such a disagreeable sub-plot is hardly the sort of subject one would expect from a comic book supposedly based upon “the near-legendary Hook Jaw”, even if its cover does carry the tiniest of “suggested for mature readers” warnings…

Fortunately, when the British author does finally centre his writing upon the titular character, the excitement and fear of the divers is perfectly palpable the moment the oversized shark suddenly appears to knock away the heroine’s “damn torch” and plunge the already unnerved team into total darkness. In fact, it’s easy to imagine the terrified screams of Perry as Mag ignites a magnesium flare and the already partially-mutilated frogman realises his arm and foot are trapped “in its mouth…”   

Infinitely less successful than this publication’s momentary ‘flash of frightening fun’ are Conor Boyle’s increasingly erratic breakdowns. The London-located illustrator can clearly draw a fantastically menacing Carcharodon Carcharias when he has to, but the rest of his pencilling, especially that of the repeatedly misshapen Mag, Jasper and Klay, arguably leaves an awful lot to be desired.

The variant cover art of "HOOK JAW" No. 3 by Tom Mandrake

The Amazing Spider-Man [2015] #20 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 20, December 2016

Brazenly advertised on its Alex Ross cover as being “a Clone Conspiracy tie-in”, and then, upon opening, immediately warning its 67,530 strong audience that they must “proceed at your own risk” if “you haven’t read” the opening instalment of the “Spider-Man event of 2016”, it is hard not to view Issue Twenty of “The Amazing Spider-Man” as little more than a frustratingly cynical ‘cash-cow’ comic. In fact, it’s actually awkward to reconcile this twenty-page periodical’s narrative, which focuses purely upon the cloning of Doctor Octopus and subsequently only just scraped into the top thirty best-selling titles of October 2016, with one belonging to the New York City-based publisher’s “popular and commercially successful” “flagship character”.

Foremost of its problems is that anyone who had previously read Dan Slott’s accompanying mini-series would already know the outcome of Otto’s mental battle with Peter Parker, thereby making Octavius’ ridiculous efforts to retrieve his long dead and emaciated corpse in "Spider-Man's Superior" a rather redundant storyline before even a single panel’s dialogue bubble was perused. It certainly strikes as disappointing that rather than bring any conclusion to the current machinations of “Tubby McPsycho”, as he increasingly constricts his wall-crawling foe with his famous mechanical limbs, the American author (along with Christos Gage) instead once again regurgitates Doc Ock’s demise as the “truly superior Spider-Man” before unsurprisingly restoring the super-villain to his “prime.”

Sadly, even this series’ current lead antagonist, the Jackal, suffers from an acute lack of menace, on account of the Berkeley-born writer seemingly depriving the dog-headed scientist of his usual sinister power to manipulate events in his favour. Indeed, the “mysterious” red-suited Machiavellian man appears perfectly happy to ‘simply let things slide’ by paying the considerable cost for Otto’s cadaver, even though he previously never wanted to, and placidly allowing an octobot to penetrate his cloning technology simply to establish “what our little uninvited guest wants”; The biologist even comically stands by and watches Doctor Octopus ‘kill the heck out of’ whatever “you were fighting against” whilst cheerfully eating a box of popcorn…

Equally as disheartening is Giuseppe Camuncoli’s unusually inconsistent breakdowns. Whether or not the Italian comic book penciller’s artwork was detrimentally affected by Cam Smith assisting him on inking his illustrations is unclear. But a number of panels, especially those concerning Doctor Octopus and Anna making “use of that workman’s phone to access the web”, are disquietingly distracting, and not helped by colourist Jason Keith’s garishly red palette either.

The variant cover art of "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" No. 20 by Simone Bianchi