There is a lot to cover on Wednesdays. We should know, as collectively, we read an insane amount of comics. Even with a large review staff, it’s hard to get to everything. With that in mind, we’re back with Wrapping Wednesday, where we look at some of the books we missed in what was another great week of comics.
Let’s get this party started.
Amazing Spider-Man #10
Written by Dan Slott
Illustrated by Olivier Coipel
Review by Vince Ostrowski
Dan Slott’s time as head Spider-Man honcho has been long and storied, filled with events both controversial (“Superior Spider-Man”) and crowd-pleasing (‘Spider-Island’). And yet even after all this time, Slott is finding ways to top himself both for better and for worse. “Spider-Island” saw the extended cast of “Amazing Spider-Man” gaining the powers that Peter Parker has been privy to for decades. “Spider-Verse” attempts to one-up that several times over by re-introducing every alternate universe, alternate media Spider-Man tie-in that Marvel legally could get their hands on and bring them into the fold. As a result, “Spider-Verse” has been a fan service dream for longtime Spidey enthusiasts (a demographic of which Dan Slott is no doubt chiefly among, himself), but it’s overindulgence has stymied the narrative a bit. Well, in the early issues, at least.
That includes “Amazing Spider-Man” #10, which is the 2nd issue of “Amazing” that takes place within the “Spider-Verse” event in earnest. The problem is that we also spent a fair amount of time on pre-event build up stories, something that seems to be an unfortunate mainstay of all modern comic events these days. It feels like we’ve been building to “Spider-Verse” for a while now, yet half of issue #10 feels like the same recruitment buildup we’ve already been reading. “Spider-Verse” has started, but there was no clear delineation point. No “shot heard round the world.” And while it’s immensely entertaining – and laugh-out-loud funny – to watch the various Spider-Men bounce off of one another, there’s somehow not enough time for us to get enough of the overstuffed cast – yet not enough time to keep the inertia of the plot going. And even when the story gets going at the halfway point, we begin to see characters literally leap off of “Amazing” #10 and into the various Spider-Family spinoff titles – not exactly a satisfying use of narrative time. I have a feeling that now that “Spider-Verse” has shed some of these characters off into other titles, there will be more room for the Spider-Men and Women to breathe a little, but at least for this week, “Spider-Verse” was too much.
New to Dan Slott’s Spider-Man run, Olivier Coipel is a nice fit for an event title, and a fresh face in a creative run that has had a lot of the same artists running through it for much of its length. Slott’s Spider stories have been an embarrassment of riches when it comes to great artists and now you can add the handsome art of Coipel to the list. Coipel’s strength is in widescreen character work that feels harrowing and important. Think of the effect that David Finch’s art had on making “The Ultimate” feel big, cinematic and eventful. But while Coipel can draw an epic double page spread of dozens of Spider-Men with the best of them, he’s also subtly developed a looser, expressive style for the interstitial story moments. The humor of the issue is aided by stylized character work, melding the realism of the Marvel 616 with the absurdity of a character like Spider-Ham. It produces the desired effect.
Final Verdict: 6.5 – Issue #10 is unfortunately spends much of its time as a platform for spinning off characters and titles, but it’s still a gorgeous-looking event book. It’s on the ‘Spider-Verse’ checklist, and slots in to the greater story, even if it’s largely utilitarian.
Death of Wolverine: The Weapon X Program #1
Witten by Charles Soule
Illustrated by Salvador Larroca
Review by Brandon Burpee
We are two issues into this followup to the Death of Wolverine and it’s still not clear what the title’s purpose is other than to milk Wolverine’s Death for another $3.99. I’m all for a slow boil but usually within two issues there has to be a hook to bring the reader back and I’m just not finding one here. Only compounding the problem is the glut of post death Wolverine books on the market. When you flood the market with items of the same ilk and you don’t have something to define your existence and attract readers you’re likely to fade out. At this rate this title is likely to do just that, but not before it walks with fat stacks of fan cash I am sure.
Continued belowFinal Verdict: 2.0 – In a loaded week this is one book you can easily skip to roster another book on your pull list.
Supergirl #36
Written by K. Perkins and Mike Johnson
Illustrated by Emanuela Lupacchino
Reviewed by Brian Salvatore
One of the quietly compelling books of the New 52, even from its earliest days, was “Supergirl.” After a number of creator changes and a stint as a Red Lantern, yet another new creative team is in place, and the book looks to position itself as something that combines a lot of the recent successes DC has had in the past few months.
The book starts off almost as a “Batgirl” pastiche, putting her in a hip coffee shop before taking a page of of “Gotham Academy” and putting her back in school – of course, a school for intergalactic fighting, but still. This new direction continues DC’s trend of needing to put mentor figures with Kara, for whatever reason. However, the issue makes it work, and does a nice job with referencing the past 35 issues without the typical info-dump that these typically come with.
The highlight, without question, is the art by Lupacchino, one of DC’s rising stars. Her clean line and adaptable style works as the book shifts settings quickly, and at each turn Luppachino is doing something interesting with the page.
Final Verdict: 7.2 – Not a perfect debut, but there are some legs here.
Superman/Wonder Woman #13
Written by Peter Tomasi
Illustrated by Doug Mahnke
Reviewed by Matthew Meylikhov
The second Wonder Woman book to see a major creative team shift this week, “Superman/Wonder Woman” #13 sees Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke take over the book and setting the clock essentially back to zero. A superhero comic on the surface and a romance comic underneath, this issue picks up where both the previous run, “Superman: Doomed” and Azzarello/Chiang’s “Wonder Woman” run left both characters; yet at the same time, it feels very much like a #1. The way the characters are introduced and the way that their relationship is established seems like it has an emphasis on new beginnings rather than just continuing old storylines, and while there is obvious carryover present it’s easy to hop into this new run.
That said, overall the book is slightly humdrum. Tomasi’s writing is strong, allowing readers to jump into the relationship with ease and find something fairly relatable with it. Clark and Diana’s love seems young, and the way they play off each other’s quirks is endearing, with both characters seeming particularly on-point in their idealistic characterizations; it’s only when other characters are introduced for them to fight that the book in any way suffers, as the new additions are the main detractors in terms of interest and quality (honestly, Clark and Diana on a date seems more interesting than Superman and Wonder Woman punching supervillains). Conversely, Mahnke’s art is stronger in the action sequences than it is the quieter moments, making the book fairly uneven. Mahnke’s art seems to come off a bit stilted at times, with Diana and Clark coming off as rigid or far too pose-y in their off-duty moments (especially Diana in her oddly designed, rather tight and revealing dress, with no Clark antithesis to go with it); yet when the action is shown in an opening flashback and at the end in the stereotypical brawl, Mahnke excels at showing just how powerful these titans are, which is an interesting counter-point to the more romantic overtones of the story.
“Superman/Wonder Woman” has a lot of assumed potential to be something different, and if Tomasi and Mahnke can pull that out sooner rather than later then it’s easy to excuse an otherwise average first issue. Tomasi and Mahnke both have earned some good will over recent years at DC as well, which helps; Tomasi’s run on “Batman and Robin” emphasizes heart and family in the story, and Mahnke is known for big, explosive stories with well-defined characters in the center of it all, so all things considered their “Superman/Wonder Woman” should have some pay-off down the line. At its onset it’s rather run of the mill, but out of the two books with Diana’s superhero name on the cover this is the one I’d hedge overall bets on.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – Needs more emphasis on that hot Clark bod, tho
