Grow
That cover.... is pretty messed up, but I certainly love it. I don't think there's going to be a lot of parents buying it for their kids because of the new Spider-Man movie, despite the tie-in of having the same villain, but DAMN do I love it. It's a powerful powerful image, and it's visceral but not grotesque. And in the issue, the use of Lizard doesn't feel forced in the least, it genuinely feels like a coincidence that the movie with the Lizard is coming out right next to this.
For starters, this issue uses one of my normally pet peeves the right way. No false tension is attempted by starting right in the climax. Certain lines that can be misinterpreted are used to full advantage to temporarily mislead us about certain character's intentions. Not only that, but the flashbacked section has no true action sequences to fall flat by knowing Spider-Man's survival.
A lot of nice storylines are tying together here, and a lot of the exposition is well utilized. It was so long ago that Spider-Man last fought the Lizard, that for a moment he was confused by Lizard's accusations. The click in his head is perfect justification to explain the previous scenario to newer readers like myself. (I began at Spider-Island.) From serious plotlines like Morbius in Lab 6, and Lizard in the sewers; to more day life social aspects like Horizon's role as heroes and MJ buying a nightclub; Slott has an incredibly organic approach to writing. So many things come and go with fantastic uncertainty, it really keeps this series in a fun unpredictable place. Peter's sad over letting Silver Sable die, a few minutes later he's flabbergasted that MJ and Carlie have a 'two woman Spider-Man ex-girlfriend support group.'
I haven't been reviewing this series, but I absolutely adore it. Dan Slott writes Spider-Man as if he created him. He's taken all the core roots of the character's origin and really evolved them. Sure, Spider-Man's one of Marvel's most popular characters, if not THE most, but he's still essentially been a street level hero. And then he was a young man who invented organic web shooters, but could only get a job as a photographer? But under Slott's pen, there have continually been such smooth, yet big, changes to Spider-Man's world, and it's refreshing to see such a major character actually grow so much. Being able to actually SEE his growth in progress.
This issue takes one big change from... I think back in The Gauntlet? and uses it to create a whole other change. Slott never lets this series stay n one place for too long, Spider-Man, and the readers, must always stay on their toes.
Aha! So THAT'S why Camuncoli can't do Hellblazer fully regularly. I'm not a big fan of the way Camuncoli draws Peter Parker, but everyone else is pretty solidly illustrated. Camuncoli is an artist who I can see not being everyone's cup of tea, but I think he's certainly fantastic. I think Humberto Ramos brings the most synchronized sense of style to this series, but of the three regular artists, Camuncoli is probably second. Nothing wrong with Caselli at all though.
I do have one MASSIVE complaint with this series overall. WHY THE HELL IS IT $3.99? This is pretty much my biggest problem with Marvel in general. Sure I've complained that the co-feature in Action Comics is only good half the time, and rarely really ties in with anything in the main book, AND that it's probably only there to add an extra dollar to a series they KNOW people will buy but AT LEAST THEY'RE GIVING US SOMETHING FOR THAT EXTRA DOLLAR. Marvel's approach seems to be 'Hey, this book is selling well..... INCREASE THE PRICE!' And then adding nothing to justify it. It's worse when I WANT to keep up with this series, but keep falling behind because the cost isn't justified AND it comes out twice a freaking month. Awesome in terms of story, absolutely sinister and heinous in terms of cost.
In Conclusion: 5/5
This is an excellent issue, and I have pretty much nothing to complain about. My usual pet peeve is only one when it's used the traditional lazy and stupid way, but when its used properly I love it. This score might also be a bit biased to reflect my overall opinion of the series, having just stepping in now to start reviewing it regularly, but whatever. This was a super solid issue and the only real problem is one that comes straight from the Marvel executives in general.
