Description:
The Spider-Queen has turned Manhattan into an island of Spider-Madness and Peter Parker has lost, thanks to Spider-Scribe Christos Gage (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN) & rising star artist Paco Diaz (WOLVERINE, SCARLET SPIDERS). With Spider-Man defeated and captive, does Flash Thompson, A.K.A. VENOM stand a chance? All this, plus visit the MC2 patch of BATTLEWORLD!
Collects: SPIDER-ISLAND (2015) #1-5
Authors: Christos Gage (main), Tom DeFalco (second)
Artists: Paco Diaz (main), Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema (second)
Published By: Marvel
Published When: Nov. 24 2015
Parental
Rating: Teen
Review:
The 2015 Marvel mega-crossover event Secret Wars was a well-received reboot of the original Secret Wars series from 30 years earlier. Wiki pages, the Marvel site and other fan pages can fill in the big picture of the overall plot and its place in the Marvel universe.
What you need to know for this review is that the reconstructed Battle World has alternate-reality war zones in which many of the tie-in stories unfold. Like this one, Spider-Island. New York City has been overrun by the Spider Queen, who defeated Peter Parker and infected the citizens with a virus that has transformed them into humanoid/arachnid mutations.
Leading the small band of resistance fighters is Flash Thompson as Venom. In this five-part story he leads his small team on several dangerous missions to capture key technologies and slowly free a growing number of heroes.
Christos Gage tells a somewhat uneven story, with taut and well-paced sequences mixed in with periods of lethargy and over-deferential self-reflection. Ultimately all agree that Venom has earned the right to lead the final battle vs the Spider Queen.
With the population, and especially the heroes infected by the spider-virus, and having no cure, they discover that further genetic mutation, away from arachnoid forms, frees people from the controlling hive-mind of the Spider Queen. Do spiders have a hive-mind? The living creatures in nature appear to be very solitary. But never mind.
This mutation-upon-mutation plot element gives Paco Diaz the chance to draw recognizable costumes and emblems on a horror-movie collection of creatures: a werewolf in Captain America's outfit, a vampire Captain Marvel sipping donated blood from drinking-boxes, several sexy-lizard girlfriends, and more. He pulls it off reasonably well, walking a fine line by avoiding the potential for silliness, and keeping it "realistic" - whatever that means in this plot scenario.
In the end, the Spider Queen is overcome through Venom's courage and self-sacrifice, and a well-timed stampede of hungry dinosaurs - another uneven mix in elements from Gage.
The B-story in this limited series focuses on Mayday Parker in another corner of Battleworld. Sensing that the average reader will not be aware of the similarities and differences between the world of Mayday Parker (Uncle Ben alive, May's dad Peter Parker dead, for example), author Tom DeFalco reminds the reader of the difference in almost every issue. And her name change, from Spider-Girl to Spider-Woman, which becomes a running gag throughout the series.
While the story is about her and from her perspective, Mayday turns out to be but one pawn in a larger game that ultimately is not about her, nor is the victory ultimately hers. I'd explain more, but there are so many heroes peripherally involved, almost all of whom are well down the list of recognizable characters, that you are better off to read this one for yourself.
Overall the two stories told in this collection were fairly standard crossover fare, with forced conditions, minor exposition, uneven story-telling, and enjoyable if unremarkable art. Give it 2.5 capes out of 5.
ISBN-10: 9780785198857
ISBN-13: 9780785198857
Language: English
Pages: 120 pages
Comments
Post a Comment