Excelsior, true believers! It’s Wednesday and you know that means The Marvel Rundown has returned once again to look at Marvel’s latest comic output! This week we take a look at Spider-Man: Long Way Home #1 and in the rapid rundown we review Punisher #5 and What if Thor Got Spider-Man’s Symbiote Suit? Face front, Marvel faithful as the rundown begins now!
Spider-Man: Long Way Home #1
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Adam Kubert
Color Artist: Arthur Hesli
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
Oh snap, Jonathan Hickman is back on Spider-Man this week with the release of Spider-Man: Long Way Home #1. The series is set in a time before Frank Castle becomes the Punisher and at a time when AIM has just developed their Cosmic Cube. The Cube’s creation sets off a chain of events as Frank Castle, The Hulk, and Spider-Man are all trying to secure the Cosmic Cube for their own reasons.
This series feels like it is intended to cash-in on that sweet cinematic universe synergy by putting Spider-Man, the Punisher, and the Hulk all in the same comic. Though, despite the name on the title, you aren’t going to see much Spider-Man in this comic. Instead of following the Webhead, Hickman chooses to focus on Frank Castle’s wetwork team as they raid an AIM hideout. It plays out like a rote special forces story where the team’s assault is upended by a series of unexpected variables. Heck, there’s even members of the team that have a bad feeling about the raid. A real portend for disaster, I tell you. I don’t think I’ve read much of Hickman’s take on Punisher. So, having the bulk of the issue focus on the character in this under-explored timeframe is probably the best call, even if the team is riddled with archetypes and clichés.
Despite what people tend to say about Hickman’s writing, his work is often character driven. We don’t see that much here as of the first issue. Instead, the issue opens with Bruce Banner in a catholic confessional followed by an extended sequence on the AIM raid. This is punctuated by the Hulk’s arrival, and the mission going sideways. It lacks that emotional core that we find in Hickman’s work. There is no character beat that hooks into your brain and resonates with you long after reading the story. It is fine writing, don’t get me wrong. The man is a talented writer and even his lesser work reads better than most. I just didn’t feel that spark that I get when I read the first issue of a Hickman story.
The art by Adam Kubert is as visually delightful as you’d expect. Kubert’s eye for page composition and panel layout has been a real strength these last several years. The page layout varies from the traditional nine-panel grid to sprawling two-page spreads. Through the varied layouts and panel composition, Kubert is able to control the pace of the story in such a way that makes all of the action beats and comedic punchlines hit with perfect precision. There are a couple sequences such as the page where Frank is watching the events playout through a scope, and the panel borders are just the sights. It’s a simple trick but great at creating immersion for the reader. Kubert continues to show why he’s a masterclass artist.
Overall, this is a solid start to Spider-Man’s latest miniseries. Kubert’s art is the star of the show. Hickman’s writing is a bit of a let down as it lacks the weight of his past efforts, but it is still quality writing. I do question why would you call a young Spider-Man down to South America to deal with the Hulk and not say Iron Man or Thor, but that’s hopefully explored in further detail in the coming issues. At the end of the day, this may not be the comic for everyone, but I do think it has something to check out but maybe in trade.
Final Verdict: BROWSE
The Rapid Rundown
- Punisher #5
- I have been on this Ben Percy Punisher train since the series launched earlier this year, and this is the big conclusion of the Jigsaw centric “Under his Skin” arc. This issue is largely a fight between Jigsaw and Punisher as the demented villain begins to explain his recent turn to cutting the faces off his victims. Percy along with the pencilers José Luis Soares and Sergio Dávila deliver a thrilling action-packed fight as Jigsaw slashes up Frank. The issue sets up the next couple arcs and resets the New York City crime scene with Tombstone back on the loose. I love Percy’s use of an omnipresent narrator for Frank. We don’t see him speak much about the issue. There are no war journal entries, either. Instead, the narration creates gives us a barrier to Frank’s true internal thoughts. It’s a very bronze-age comic device but it befits a very bronze age comic character. This arc has been gritty, violent, and deeply enjoyable Punisher comics. I understand why Punisher isn’t for everyone but don’t let the folks in the real world that co-op the characters imagery put you off an excellent grindhouse story.
- What If Thor Got Spider-Man’s Symbiote Suit?
- In a bit of serendipity, I just happened to be reading the Alex Irvine novelization of the 80’s Secret War maxi-series, so I had to take a slight detour to see what writer Torunn Grønbekk and penciler Sergio Dávila had in mind by coming up with the concept of Thor getting the symbiote suit instead of Spidey. What I like about the What If concept is the freedom it gives creatives to have fun in other folk’s sandboxes, and this is what we get with this 80’s flashback. As I’m not very familiar with Grønbekk or Dávila’s work, What If continues the legacy of being a test bed for relatively new or unknown talent to show what they can do, and the two take advantage of this. Grønbekk doesn’t waste time getting readers into the premise of this story as Thor, looking for a replacement cape, gets a symbiote instead, wraps up the Secret Wars plot, and brings us back to Midgard, aka Earth, for Thor to face off with the God of the Void, Knull. Grønbekk’s writing and plot work are solid, fusing Secret War Easter eggs into what we know about the Symbiotes and what comes later on. The dialogue that he uses for Loki, as he teases Thor before heading into battle, fun times. Darville’s pencils with Aure Jimenez’s inks are also solid, very reminiscent of artists like Tom Grummet or Paul Ryan, a draftsman in the best possible meaning. Thor’s symbiote costume is sleek, giving hints of Venom but staying with that Nordic sensibility. What makes this book really work for me is how the Symbiote responds differently to someone like Thor, whose whole shtick is honor and worthiness, as opposed to Peter, who is most definitely worthy to lift Mjolnir, but can’t get past his guilt. With the twist at the end, which I’ll save, readers who really care about What If stories, Thor, and symbiotes, will have fun with this one-shot. – GC3
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