SPIDER-MAN

As anyone who read his uniformly brilliant Howard the Duck are already aware, Chip Zdarsky writes a great Spider-Man — witty, put upon, and endearingly downcast. But in 2017, the question of who Spider-Man actually is can be a complicated one. You’ve got three separate film series to consider, multiple cartoons, and in the sprawling Marvel Universe of the comic books, you’ve got Spider-Man 2099, the popular Miles Morales, that Scarlet Spider clone guy, and many more, all swinging around (mostly) heroically. Point is, the Spider-Verse contains multitudes. And multitudes get confusing. It’s temping to view Zdarky and artist Adam Kubert’s Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #1 as a narrowing of the lens, a relatively compact, “back to basics” take on the character. After all, It’s Peter Parker, the science wiz/perennially bummed-out wisecracker, whose name appears first in the title. And from Marvel’s Star-Lord to Image Comics’ Sex Criminals to Archie Comics’ Jughead, Zdarsky exce

While fans wait for the second act of “Spider-Man/Deadpool” to start, Scott Aukerman and Reilly Brown step in for an incredibly funny, self-aware issue that follows the tradition of “flashback” issues from the regular “Deadpool” series. The “Comedy Bang Bang” host follows Deadpool as he’s summoned to Hollywood to produce a film about his life, while Brown seems at home drawing Deadpool once again and makes the issue a blast by inserting a lot of visual gags. Aukerman settles nicely into this issue. Deadpool’s metatextual awareness is a perfect vehicle for the writer’s comedy; from the first page, characters comment on their own behaviors and misdirect conversations from panel to panel. The Salmon Stunt Man — a goof on the Silver Surfer — offers Wade the chance to come to Hollywood and proves he’s on the up-and-up by declaring he’s not a supervillain because “it’s against the law to lie about that.” The opening scenes are fast-paced setup to get the titular duo to Los Angeles, which

When Ulysses — the newest Inhuman — was last seen in “Civil War II” #1, his newfound precognitive abilities were at the center of a decision that led to tragedy for two heroes. As a result, Spider-Man decides to keep the fledgling superhuman around in Christos Gage and Travel Foreman’s “Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man” #1, a largely pointless issue that reiterates both the benefit as well as the ethical dilemma around the character’s powers. The issue retreads ground already covered in the first issue of “Civil War II” and does little to further the character, while making Peter Parker look like an opportunist looking to capitalize on Ulysses’ talents. Khary Randolph and Emilio Lopez’s standard cover utilizes several standard motifs (two opposing characters standing back-to-back, split apart by a striking broken glass effect, with a forlorn-looking Spidey in the foreground, head in hand); it makes for an eye-catching image, but ultimately oversells what’s found within. There’s no su

“Amazing Spider-Man” #13 is the second part of the “Power Play” storyline, which introduced Augustus Roman as Regent, a new hero who imprisons super-villains and uses their abilities for himself. While there’s a lot of potential in such a storyline, Dan Slott, Guiseppe Camuncoli and Cam Smith’s comic seems to hinge solely on Spider-Man and Iron Man acting incredibly immature and oblivious in order to propel this story forward. Continuing the conflict from the previous issue, Peter Parker and Tony Stark spend most of this issue in a childish squabble, to the point that they’re still fighting when Miles Morales gets captured by Regent. That’s more or less all the pair do throughout “Amazing Spider-Man” #13. After eleven issues of Peter Parker as a very accomplished CEO, his behavior in these past two issues is virtually unrecognizable; he borders on inept, both as a superhero and a businessman, while Tony Stark doesn’t come across looking any better. This sudden shift in tone is so jar

In “Spider-Man” #4, Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli give us a big old character scene that underlines why Miles Morales is so important to the growing mythos of the Spider-Man and builds off his excellent relationship with his best friend Ganke. Miles would not be the Spider-Man he is without his best friend. Ganke has been Miles’ cover, his sympathetic ear and his problem solver throughout the character’s history. Rarely, though, has he had the chance to revel in something just for himself. Most of his joys (LEGOs aside) have been seen through the lens of Miles’ mask, but now Bendis gives Spidey’s pal someone of his own to look up to with Goldballs ploinking his way into the book. Miles and Ganke have a teenage “you don’t know what it’s like to be me” back-and-forth that spills out of this turn. Props to the writer for using this to drive both points of view and show how diversity really is (gasp!) diverse. Though they are best friends, they’ll truly never know what it’s like

At a glance, Dan Slott, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Cam Smith’s “Amazing Spider-Man” #11 wraps up “Scorpio Rising” and the Zodiac storyline in a way that’s easy to dismiss as a simple solution to the dangers of Scorpio. While it seems like a fairly easy solution, though, it’s nice to see how this storyline has made Parker Industries a real asset to Spider-Man’s crime-fighting abilities. The first few pages are one of the best parts of this book, in that they echo a plot point Dan Slott used throughout both “Scorpio Rising” and “Amazing Spider-Man” in general: namely, that Parker Industries isn’t just a successful company, but one that can actually help Spider-Man out a great deal. Peter’s ability to call in multiple technical geniuses from across the globe and have them all tackle the problem at hand is not only an inventive solution, but one that shows how Spider-Man has grown up enough to be a team player. In this instance, he recognizes the strength of numbers and uses it to his advant

“Spider-Man/Deadpool” has been steady climb of insanity with a bottomed out ending, like one of those amusement park rides that raises you up 100 feet in the air and then drops you without warning. In issue #4, Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness give us the silliest installment of the series to date, which is saying something considering the series introduced its title characters when they were tied together in hell. This installment finds Peter and Wade on a ridiculous double date that sees masked Spidey using an image inducer to appear unmasked, while Deadpool tries to lure their dates — Thor and one of Shiklah’s succubus friends — into a mud wrestling pit after baiting them into fighting. This whole issue is driven by decisions made by Deadpool, which leads to the two recreating one of the most iconic dance scenes in film history before its gut-punch of a conclusion. Kelly loves to push a story to one extreme so that he can snap things back to the opposite end with a flick of the page,

Three issues in, “Spider-Man/Deadpool” #3 has hit its stride. In the first two chapters, Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness patiently built up the series’ inevitable showdown between the title characters. This third issue sends the duo on a day-in-the-life-of-the-Merc-with-a-Mouth adventure and heightens the bonding, while McGuinness provides more fun and energetic pages. The buildup finally starts to pay off when Peter finally lets Wade Wilson in and breaks down the walls he put up against Deadpool, so that the hero now sees ‘Pool as a human and not just a box of insanity in a mask. The main drive of the issue — a trip to stop a gang raid on a drug den in Bolivia — puts both creators’ best work on display. Kelly creates a realistic moral dilemma that forces Spidey to check his privilege and consider how people get by in other economic classes and countries. Much like his co-creator Steve Ditko, Peter sees a lot of black and white in the world. Wade lives in the grey area between these sim

Now that issue two of “Spider-Man” has hit stands, Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli’s direction for Miles Morales and his new place in the Main Marvel Universe is a little clearer. The tone is lighter than the Ultimate Universe series the pair built together, but it doesn’t skimp out on the quality character drama Bendis does so well. There’s a little bit of dejà vu in the first half of the book, but the back portion — particularly Miles and Ganke’s scene — lifts the issue to the level of quality the creative team is known for. Bendis makes several new revelations about the characters’ relationships here. Peter sounds harsh during his time with Miles, but understandably so: he’s taking a big brother role with the new kid. Giving Miles the mantle of Spider-Man also means giving him the responsibility, and we all know how Parkers feel about responsibility. Pichelli draws some influence from the Disney XD show in the flashback to when Peter gave Miles his blessing. Seeing the me

Peter Parker has been swinging around the world in the pages of “Amazing Spider-Man,” but those looking to see him back in his own friendly neighborhood need look no further than “Amazing Spider-Man & Silk: The Spider(Fly) Effect” #1. Writer Robbie Thompson keeps Spidey and his fellow spider-hero Silk grounded in Queens, and it really is his old neighborhood, as Thompson’s story finds the pair time travelling back a few decades. The title is a clever nod to the time-bending story “The Butterfly Effect,” and the characters affirm as much, although Thompson’s story is largely a slugfest. Pencilled and inked by Todd Nauck over Geoffo’s layouts, Nauck’s art carries Thompson’s story, albeit with several lapses. However, there’s not all that much to carry, as it’s largely split between a stretched out play-fight between Silk and Spidey and a labored encounter with old-school Hydra goons. Thompson conjures up a barely-plausible reason for the two webslingers to duke it out: Silk seeks