| Amazing Spider-Man #12 |
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| Friday, 09 January 2015 00:23 |
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I imagine that Spider-Man can be a terribly difficult character to write. On one hand, he was everything that was "new" about Marvel Comics sixty years ago, and continues to represent themes of youth and coming into one's own. And yet, it's been sixty years, and Spidey's Teamed-Up with, it's safe to say, *literally* everyone else in the Marvel universe. How can he continually be both a newbie and a veteran?
The Spider-Verse event is proving to be one possible answer. Here, we have Spider-Man as the center of his own event, which is a position that actually celebrates both sides to that question. In other words, it puts Spidey completely out of his element while also making him an experienced leader. The event allows for both serious stakes (people are literally being eaten) and silly sidebars (a talking Spider-Buggy). And if you want to talk about doing something new, there's also the little matter of the last page cliffhanger…
That splash page caps off an issue which focuses more on plot, with a few poignant moments for Mayday/Spider-Girl and some flashes of doubt from our title hero. Thankfully, the plot advances in some significant ways, notably with Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman and the Weaver. We're promised some answers to the vague references to prophecies we've had so far, and we're also promised that the Inheritors are up to "much more" than what we've seen. This is good news, because if the Inheritors are meant to just be little more than ultra-powerful vampires that no one can stop, it's not exactly promising any nuance or complexity. We can forgive such generic villainy in some respect, as it provides the set-up for the whole event in the first place, but it might be nice to have something more than a simple survive-the-maniacs kind of horror story vibe that we've been getting.
If the villains are underdeveloped, it's a fault of the sprawling epic that Spider-Verse is trying to be. Some things will inevitably get short shrift. Another weakness is the blatant crossovers into other books. While not as egregious as the previous issue, it's still a bit disruptive. Like the TV show Person of Interest, Spider-Man and his allies talk into the air in order to communicate with each other despite not being in the same room, potentially making too many threads which threaten to unravel. At least there maintains a momentum to the story.
The character Silk now makes more sense, as she provides the events of the Spider-Verse with an important resource, even though it's a bit of stretch. After all, none of the other worlds ever had a Silk counterpart, because isn't she suggested to be special as "the Bride?" Never mind that. It sets ups a shocking page-turn reveal of an intriguing alt-dimensional counterpart.
Camuncoli takes on the art for this issue, and proves to be quite capable with such a large cast of characters. So many characters fill any given panel, but it's not too confusing to distinguish the major players. The scenery takes a back seat to characters for the most part, until we switch to the post-apocalyptic world that will serve for our next set piece. The colors help emphasize this new environment, too, as well as help distinguish our glimpses of the Inheritors' world. For a monthly book to be so packed and not suffer with its art is a great achievement.
The post Amazing Spider-Man #12 appeared first on Weekly Comic Book Review. Read more: http://weeklycomicbookreview.com/2015/01/09/amazing-spider-man-12/ |
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