Truth by told I should of had this review up and published a couple months ago, but I had numerous difficulties in obtaining the first two issues of the series! I guess I should have placed Avenging Spider-Man under my list of subscriptions, but hindsight truly is twenty-twenty.
Nevertheless, once I was able to dredge up the issues my wait was well worth it. Overall, I thought the first two issues were fantastic! I regret choosing Defenders #1 as my comic book of the week, because unfortunately for the Defenders Avenging Spider-Man #1 took the cake that Wednesday.
The first issue begins with Spidey and the rest of theAvengers taking down a villainous A.I.M. robot. Right off the bat, however, Spider-Man is hesitant to get into the fray because he feels inadequate compared to other suchAvengers as: The Red Hulk, Captain America, andWolverine. This feeling of ‘woe is me’ is bit uncharacteristic for ol’ Pete, especially when considering his recent bravado inSpider-Island which wrapped up last November. However, as the issue progresses his new demeanor is used as a plot device, which leads to some clever narration as well as some amusing banter between Spider-Man and the Red Hulk.
During the Avenger’s scuffle with A.I.M. and their “giant robot”Spider-Man’s hometown of New York is overrun by subterranean hobbit-creatures, called Moloids. Spider-Mannot being able to quickly transport himself back to the city on his own accord, requests the aid of a fellow Avenger. Begrudgingly the Red Hulk agrees and the two quickly rocket into the air as the Hulk leaps to the city.
As the Red Hulk lands amongst the chaos of New York they are attacked by a giant underground worm who bursts through the surface consuming the Red Hulk and Spider-Manas the Moloids make off with Mayor J. Jonah Jameson.
All-in-all I was very impressed with the art and the writing ofAvenging Spider-Man #1. Joe Madureira, aka Joe Mad, does an excellent job not only rendering Spider-Man and the Red Hulk, but the rest of the Avengers as well. One of the standouts for me concerning Joe’s art in the Avenging Spider-Man is that when Spider-Man’s facial expressions change beneath his mask to follow the dialogue as a reader you can visibly see this alteration of Spider-Man’s face even while masked. Ferran Daniel’s colors, especially the red hues of Spider-Man and the Red Hulk really pop on the page and your eye naturally follows the two as the banter and battle. There is nothing drastically new created to spur the comic forward; familiar characters are showcased alongside classic villains and creatures, but sometimes all you need is a need amalgamation of the two to kick start a solid series into motion.
The conversations between the Red Hulk and Spider-Manare amazing (pun intended)! The Red Hulk provides excellent counters to Spider-Man’s humor and the two create a great fluidity in dialogue. Zeb Wells, the author of Avenging Spider-Man, has been called a fan favorite for web heads, so I am excited to see where he leads our favorite web-slinger. An underground adventure featuring two unlikely paired heroes should lead to interesting things.
Speaking of “interesting things” I would love to see anIncredible Hulk and Avenging Spider-Man crossover considering that the Moloids are currently featured in both. It would be great way to bridge the two series together for a couple issue crossover, and I would love to see Spideysparring with two Hulks. The dynamic would be hilarious!
I give Avenging Spider-Man #1 a four-and-a-half stars out of five. Don’t forget to check out Merlyn’s Sci-fi and Fantasy Shop in Main Street to pick up the latest and greatest inMarvel, DC, and Independent comic books!
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