In this week’s Marvel Rundown, we take a look at Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #1, in a SPOILER-FREE review just in time for spooky season. And if that’s not spooky enough, we have a look at the Crypt of Shadows #1 one-shot! Plus, Invincible Iron Man #11 and Avengers Inc. #2!
What did you think of this week’s batch of fresh Marvel Comics, True Believers? The Beat wants to hear from you! Give us a shout-out, here in the comment section or over on social media @comicsbeat, and let us know what you’re thinking.
Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #1
Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
This week we get Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #1, which comes after last month’s Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #0. The relationship between these two books is perhaps less typical than that that usually comes between a #0 and a #1. In this instance, the #0 was actually a print collection of Spine-Tingling Spider-Man comics that had appeared as part of the Marvel Infinity Comics.
As such, there are some inherent differences here. The (excellent) creative team is the same, with Saladin Ahmed writing and Juan Ferreyra providing the artwork (with Joe Caramagna lettering). That’s great, as the two did really solid work on the last iteration of this idea, which is really just what if we played the Spider-Man you know and love for horror. Ferreyra’s Spider-Man is one of my recent favorites, perfectly capturing the acrobatics and style you need to be a great Spidey artist.
In addition to that, though, he also brings finely-honed horror cartooning chops from his work on the creator-owned comic, Colder. Ferreyra is easily one of my favorite artists in monthly comics. His cartooning is bold, his layouts second to none, and his coloring of his own work is atmospheric and impeccable. All of his comics are a must-read for me, and this book is no exception.
That brings us to the differences between this and what the team was able to do via the online comic, which was a Webtoon-style vertical scroll. This book sets Ferreyra free doing one of the things he does best: taking advantage of interesting two-page layouts. And there are some great ones here that really enhance the visual storytelling.
The other thing this book does that is noticeably different than its predecessor is decide to go all in for an entirely new concept. This is a spoiler-free review, so I won’t spoil it, but this book’s core concept is really different from what we saw in the comics that made up Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #0. But it’s largely the same in sensibilities and spirit, delivering another horror-laded Spider-Man adventure.
And it’s very much welcome, not just because it’s October but because at this point in the character’s long (and prolific) history, it’s really hard to tell a Peter Parker story that feels even a little bit new. But this book manages to pull it off by drawing from a genre that is usually not the central focus of Spider-Man.
Overall, I loved it. I love the Halloween-appropriate launch date, the incredible Ferreyra art, and the plot twists that kept me guessing. Definitely suggest picking this one up.
Verdict: BUY
Rapid Rundown!
- Avengers Inc #2
- I typically enjoy when Marvel chooses to experiment with format, and this is no exception, especially with Al Ewing at the helm. The sleuth setup here is wicked fun, and lets us spend more time in the heads of the Wasp and the mysterious Victor Shade before jumping into the mystery itself. The hook of this series is that there’s a case to solve in every issue, and while I like that in theory, it was a bit hard for me to connect the dots to the incredibly obscure group that wound up being the perpetrators at the end of this. Leonard Kirk nails the acting here, with some really solid expressions and poses from even minor background characters. His line art, along with Alex Sinclair’s lighter colors and Cory Petit’s lettering, keep the story more laid back and tied to that detective aesthetic. Overall this has been a fun story so far, tying back to the recent Ant-Man and Wasp minis Ewing has done, and as long as we get more comics with heroes in street clothes, I’ll have a blast. – CB
- Crypt of Shadows #1
- This Halloween anthology is a collection of stories featuring the darker side of the Marvel Universe–told with a framing narrative by writer Al Ewing which features Dr. Strange’s dead vampire brother. The short stories in this one are from writers Steve Orlando, Cavan Scott, Declan Shalvey, and Sarah Gailey. The art comes courtesy of Paul Davidson, Paul Azaceta, Devmalya Pramanik, Alex Lins, Eder Messias, and colorists Rain Beredo, Neeraj Menon, Matt Milla, and Michael Wiggam, while VC’s Travis Lanham gives each one their wonderful word balloons. Like any anthology, the quality of each individual contribution varies, but the art shines throughout. We get appropriately moody contributions from each artist but the visual highlight is Paul Azateca’s work in the Scarlet Witch story. My favorite overall was the Deadpool story where he teams up with a mummy. The art is dynamic with some great action and the story itself is classic monster mayhem. The rest are much more focused on the horror elements and heavier themes, with different degrees of success. This gives a nice primer to some of Marvel’s magic characters but doesn’t offer much more than a nice diversion and a few teases for future stories. –TR
- Invincible Iron Man #11
- Having been burned by other comic weddings, I didn’t think I would like this marriage storyline for our favorite Armored Avenger, but writer Gerry Duggan has made me a believer. Tying into the current Fall of X story, Tony Stark and Emma Frost under the cover of marriage, have formed a resistance cell against the anti-Mutant group Orchis and Iron Man’s adversary, the tech industrialist Feilong. Stripped of his wealth and armor, Tony’s last hope in reclaiming his tech and helping the Mutants currently being hunted by Sentinels upgraded with his tech, Tony and Emma use their honeymoon to recover the Mutant metal, Mysterium, the last source of this metal, Krakoa. Each issue of this current series has been one strategic move after another as our newlyweds make moves to eventually face off with the enemy. So far this has been a fun ride as the Duo maneuvers around danger and traps laid out by Orchis and Feilong. – GC3
Next Week: Yet another new Captain Marvel comic arrives!
