So Glad I Didn't Have to Read Spider-Island for This
Wasting no time, Nick Spencer and Emma Rios dive right into the characters of Cloak and Dagger and kick off what could very well become one of the best stories in the duo's history. Admittedly, there's not a huge amount of competition with these two rarely spotlighted characters. but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is a very strong started to their limited series.
Characterization is where it's at with this story. Spencer has a very firm grasp on who Cloak and Dagger are, or at least who he wants them to be in this story. Through their interactions with each other and their own internal narrations, Spencer really gives you a solid feel for who they are and how they are distinct from each other. They are the opposites of each other in some ways, which is thematically appropriate, and it seems like this story is setting itself up to explore whether they are opposites in ways that still complement each other or not.
We catch up with our pair of heroes just as their lives are changing. The status quo they have settled into over the past several years is no longer possible, and both have their own ideas about where they should go moving forward. Their aspirations for the future is at the personal heart of the conflict brewing. What one wants is in almost complete contrast to what the other has in mind.
The best thing about this conflict so far is how easy it is not to take sides. We want to like both of these characters, and we are allowed to because one is not clearly in the wrong or in the right. Any accusation that Cloak is being too controlling can be met with an equally valid accusation that Dagger is being self-centered. What this means is that it is easy to see where both characters are coming from, because of that, we can root for them to work things out rather than one to win over the other.
Setting up a more external conflict with Mr. Negative is done pretty perfectly, largely because Mr. Negative is such a natural candidate to clash with Cloak and Dagger. He shares an origin with them, and his status as a crime lord makes him exactly the kind of villain they tend to face.
There is definitely a stylized quality to Rios' art that not everyone may enjoy, but for my part, I found it surprisingly appealing. It should be noted that you can easily see where she's put more effort in, though. Her Cloak and Dagger are very strongly realized, as are some other characters like Mr. Negative. But it does feel like there is a rushed quality to all of the other characters who do not have prominent roles in the story, as if she really did not spend much time considering how she wanted to portray these characters.
The handling of continuity here is actually rather impressive. Spencer references quite a few things that have gone on with Cloak and Dagger and does so without it feeling like exposition. He touches on everything from their roles in Civil War to Dark Reign with no real expectation that you have to have read those appearances. They are just references that make sense in the context they are delivered in. Basically, it is continuity done right.
This is a Spider-Island tie-in, though, and I am not reading the Spider-Island event. I really do not want to, because everything I have seen about it seems really ridiculous and unappealing. But to be fair, I did say I haven't actually read it. The point is that I am reading this tie-in with no real knowledge of the core event, and I am able to do so without any problem at all. The first page recap tells me much more than I really need to know, leaving no confusion. The Spider-Island event is just background noise for this story. It is happening at the same time and giving some easy excuses to have certain characters appear and some action.
So while this does not seem like a tie-in that is particularly relevant to its event, this is definitely a book worth reading for the pure reason that it is just a well done first issue. It should be a must for anyone who is a fan in any degree of Cloak and Dagger, and it is a recommendation for those who aren't but are willing to give characters a try as it could easily make new fans. There is no reason to be scared off by its tie-in nature if you aren't reading the event. Marvel is just using Spider-Island as an excuse to produce a good Cloak and Dagger limited series.
