Spidey, Volume 2: After-School Special by Robbie Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked this one better than the first. WAY less Peter Parker stuff, way more Spidey.
I’ve always said that comics are really more like soap operas than they are action flicks. More evil twins, more weird relationships, more eyepatches than explosions and saving the universe. Normally, I’m fine with a little extra stuff going on out of costume. But because this series is a bit of a re-tread, the Parker stuff isn’t interesting. I mean, how many times can we watch Peter Parker fall in love with Gwen Stacy?
But the other thing, the art is really fantastic. The style is different, distinct, and it really works for Spidey. And some of the layouts are super cool. It sounds like gimmicky bullshit, but having the Scorpion show up, and using the segments of his tail as panels to show what’s going on, that really worked. The art in here really uses the medium. The motion, the storytelling, all of it is really added to by the art, and I might even say that this is a case where the writer has to keep up with the artist, which is awesome to see.
If you’ve never read a Spider-Man comic, this might be a pretty decent starting point. You have to know NOTHING to get into this series. Seriously, you can know zero about Spider-Man and climb aboard this one. I think it’s the book that Marvel is going to be really glad they put out when the new Spider-Man movie hits, and I think this is the book I’ll point people towards when they say, “Pete, you’re a dweeb who gets into this bullshit. What Spider-Man books can I read now that I saw the movie? Or, more likely, what Spider-Man comics will you tell me to read, and then I’ll never read them because I don’t really want to because I still can’t accept the fact that I like superhero movies and am just not a big fan of comic book movies?” I’ll sigh internally and recommend Spidey.