The Good
Let's get this out of the way. When Alpha first appeared, no one liked him. I think that's pretty safe to say. NO ONE liked him. He was an annoying kid with way too much power. He was forced upon Spider-Man as his possible sidekick but he refused to listen to anything he had to say. His tenure was cut short when his powers were removed.
Someone at Marvel decided to give Alpha his own comic. It was an odd decision but of course having Joshua Hale Fialkov as the writer was intriguing. And now Fialkov is doing something pretty spectacular. He's making us actually like Alpha a little bit.
In the first issue, Peter Parker, who we know is under the influence of Doc Ock, decided to give Andy some of his powers back. His first night out, he came across a mugger and his attempt to stop him didn't go quite the way he planned. That's what makes this book interesting.
Fialkov has the Herculean task of trying to make this seemingly unlikable character the opposite. And he's succeeding. We can now actually start to feel sorry for him. Seeing a young hero make big mistakes is a different take on the teen hero story. There is a big sense of the unknown as we have no idea what might happen next.
The Bad
The art continues to be a mixed bag. It does still take a little getting used to. It's definitely a unique style and further separates the character from what we saw before. There are also some moments the backgrounds feel a little sterile. A tiny bit more detail rather than plan walls could be used to mix up the scenes. One scene with Andy in a diner has a background full of parallel and perpendicular lines. There should be a little more variation.
As we see Andy adapt to his new situation, you have to wonder who or what his nemesis will be here. In some ways it's like he's fighting himself in trying to control his ability. In other ways, there's the possibility that 'Spider-Man' may have ulterior motives. But there is a nice twist at the end.
The Verdict
Joshua Hale Fialkov continues to make an unlikable character interesting. Alpha is becoming an interesting character as we see how he continues to grow and each situation he ends up in. It's a little hard to say what will happen next for Alpha. Part of the charm in this title is the fact that he doesn't fully know what he's doing and is capable of making huge mistakes. The art shines at times but others it takes a little while to get used to. We get an interesting twist at the end that continues to add to the suspense Fialkov is creating. I never thought I'd want to read more ALPHA but it's all Fialkov's fault for making him interesting.
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