* (one of five stars)
Showing posts with label Spider-Woman (2015). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spider-Woman (2015). Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Spider-Woman #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
This issue suffers from the same problem as "Scarlet Spiders" #3; if you read "Amazing Spider-Man" #13 before this one -- as Marvel's own checklist tells you to do -- you know everything that happens. You know that Jessica gets the prophecy scrolls from the Weaver and successfully teleports them to Peter. You know that Cindy eventually feels guilty about stranding Jessica on Loomworld and decides to save her. It leaves you no reason whatsoever to read this issue, unless you want to see Jessica engage in bathroom humor that literally includes the phrase "poop sitch." If you hadn't read "Amazing Spider-Man" #13 before this issue, I'm not sure if it would be any better. You'd go from Cindy discovering the underground bunker on Radiation World to her suddenly appearing on Loomworld with Spider-Gwen, with no explanation at all about the (fairly important) events of "Amazing Spider-Man" #13. In other words, to put it mildly, skip this issue.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Spider-Woman #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
All right, this issue makes marginally more sense than the last one. It's still jarring that we've gone from Jessica and Spider-Man Noir guarding Silk to Jessica trying to gather intel on the Loom World, but you've just got to go with it here. (You've unfortunately also got to go with Greg Land, so, honestly, Marvel is asking a lot of you. You should know that upfront.)
We learn that Jessica's doppelgänger on this world just so happens to be the head of the Inheritor's household (or at least responsible for procurement) and the girlfriend of Morlun. Surprise! (I am actually legitimately surprised that Morlun is dating the help. It seems way too pedestrian of him.) Also, we watch as Silk just so happens to jump to an Earth shattered by a thermo-nuclear war. She apparently can process radiation, so the Twins realize that it's the one place where they can't follow her. (Though, in all seriousness, it seems like Jennix could pretty easily build radiation suits for them, so it's hard to see it as a long-term win for Silk.)
If you couldn't tell, it's all just a coincidence too many to make it remotely believable. I mean, "Scarlet Spiders" has relied on a similar number of coincidences, but Costa has put some effort into trying to explain them, like asserting that Iron Man would likely check the source of the disturbance that the three clones create at the start of the first issue, given that that Earth is a police state. Hopeless just conveniently sets Jessica a few steps from her doppelgänger, and Silk just magically finds herself on a safe world. It feels like he's really just checking boxes here. Moreover, Costa has made the stakes clear in "Scarlet Spiders;" if the team succeeds, the Inheritors can be definitively killed. We still don't know what sort of intelligence Jessica is collecting here or how it could help the overall effort.
In other words, in the battle of the tie-ins, I'm team "Scarlet Spiders" all the way.
** (two of five stars)
We learn that Jessica's doppelgänger on this world just so happens to be the head of the Inheritor's household (or at least responsible for procurement) and the girlfriend of Morlun. Surprise! (I am actually legitimately surprised that Morlun is dating the help. It seems way too pedestrian of him.) Also, we watch as Silk just so happens to jump to an Earth shattered by a thermo-nuclear war. She apparently can process radiation, so the Twins realize that it's the one place where they can't follow her. (Though, in all seriousness, it seems like Jennix could pretty easily build radiation suits for them, so it's hard to see it as a long-term win for Silk.)
If you couldn't tell, it's all just a coincidence too many to make it remotely believable. I mean, "Scarlet Spiders" has relied on a similar number of coincidences, but Costa has put some effort into trying to explain them, like asserting that Iron Man would likely check the source of the disturbance that the three clones create at the start of the first issue, given that that Earth is a police state. Hopeless just conveniently sets Jessica a few steps from her doppelgänger, and Silk just magically finds herself on a safe world. It feels like he's really just checking boxes here. Moreover, Costa has made the stakes clear in "Scarlet Spiders;" if the team succeeds, the Inheritors can be definitively killed. We still don't know what sort of intelligence Jessica is collecting here or how it could help the overall effort.
In other words, in the battle of the tie-ins, I'm team "Scarlet Spiders" all the way.
** (two of five stars)
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Spider-Woman #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
First, I have to admit that I didn't realize that I was signing onto a Greg Land series until I saw Cindy Moon chewing her finger like she was Emma Frost. [Sigh.] I guess that I'm going to have to live with it.
Somewhat oddly for the first issue of an ongoing series, this issue is totally focused on "Spider-Verse." If you're not reading that event -- and reading it closely, for that matter -- you aren't going to have the faintest idea what happens here. After all, the previous Spider-Woman series probably didn't start with the heroine adrift on an alternate Earth where New York City is made of gold, leading a team comprised of a prohibition-era Spider-Man and an Asian-American Spider-Girl. I'm pretty secure on that assertion.
But, Spider-Man Noir and Jess' guardianship over Silk -- established at the end of "Amazing Spider-Man" #10 -- abruptly comes to an end. Noir gets injured, resulting in Jessica ditching him on his home world. Then, Peter appears, announces that the Totems are losing the war and that only Jessica can perform the mission that might save it for them, and replaces her with Anya and Spider-Gwen. Unfortunately, he doesn't explain why only Jessica can do what she has to do or why he thinks that two neophyte superheroes could protect the single most important person to the Spider-Totems. It would've been nice if he had. This issue might've made sense.
** (two of five stars)
Somewhat oddly for the first issue of an ongoing series, this issue is totally focused on "Spider-Verse." If you're not reading that event -- and reading it closely, for that matter -- you aren't going to have the faintest idea what happens here. After all, the previous Spider-Woman series probably didn't start with the heroine adrift on an alternate Earth where New York City is made of gold, leading a team comprised of a prohibition-era Spider-Man and an Asian-American Spider-Girl. I'm pretty secure on that assertion.
But, Spider-Man Noir and Jess' guardianship over Silk -- established at the end of "Amazing Spider-Man" #10 -- abruptly comes to an end. Noir gets injured, resulting in Jessica ditching him on his home world. Then, Peter appears, announces that the Totems are losing the war and that only Jessica can perform the mission that might save it for them, and replaces her with Anya and Spider-Gwen. Unfortunately, he doesn't explain why only Jessica can do what she has to do or why he thinks that two neophyte superheroes could protect the single most important person to the Spider-Totems. It would've been nice if he had. This issue might've made sense.
** (two of five stars)
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