Possibly the best team-up since Riggs and Murtaugh
To whom it may concern at Marvel: we need an immediate ongoing Scarlet Spider and Wolverine title. I know, I know, Wolverine has about 10 books already, but seriously these two characters need it. Yost does a great job once again with Scarlet Spider 19, with this third installment of Kaine and Logan pairing up to take on the Assassin's Guild and the Red Death. This issue is almost entirely action packed, with Kaine's internal monologue providing most of the book's dialogue, and man I love Kaine's attitude and sarcasm ("she's some kind of immortal death-eating telekinetic zombie..."). Yost let's the action and artwork drive the ship with this one, and instead focuses on Kaine and Logan's personalities and business partnership (for lack of a better term). Their exchanges are once again humorous, as they have since last issue. What's really surprising here is how Kaine decides to handle the Assassin's Guild in the end. Kaine is to me what Peter would have likely been if not for Aunt May and Uncle Ben, a streetwise kid whose intellect isn't involved in science but in street-smarts. Kaine has a certain attitude of "let's get done what is right in front of us" and deals with the consequences later. I'm curious how Yost will, if he chooses to, have this arrangement come back to haunt Kaine. After all, his arrangement with the Assassin's Guild did, and it almost got him and Wolverine killed. The most interesting character this issue, for me, was Belladonna. I thought I knew what made this woman tick, but she seemed more a frightened little girl than the dangerous businesswoman she's been portrayed as. I hope her character will continue to be expanded upon as Scarlet Spider continues.
Carlo Barberi's artwork is really good for this. Very animated and while colorful, accentuates dark colors. Perfect, I find, for Kaine's personality and the predicament he and Wolverine are in. My only complaint is there are a few, two or three at most, panels where it takes a moment to understand what happened. One involves one of the higher ranked Assassin's Guild members after he's lunged at the Red Death and somehow gets his neck broken (I assume some sort of telekinetic barrier?) and Wolverine cutting off Red Death's arm and it is miraculously back two panels later. With no explanation. It's just there. That bothered me.
Other than those few artistic hiccups I thoroughly enjoyed this issue, and thought it was a great way to wrap up Kaine's debacle with the Assassin's Guild. The end was a bit obscure and I don't really like when off-panel, non-hinted at events effect the outcome of a problem or battle. It seems like the writers get lazy and don't know what to do, so they just make something up.
Overall this issue more than earns 4 out of 5 stars. Scarlet Spider is, right now, what I consider the #2 spider-book on the market right now, #1 of course being Venom. Kaine is a great character, and I never get tired of his supreme lack of desire to be a hero. Yet, he does it anyway, and complains the whole time. I find it charming. Check it out for yourself.
