With great power comes great responsibility. It’s a phrase that’s at the heart of everything Spider-Man. In Spider-Man #8, that longtime catchphrase becomes a basis for a unique twist for Peter’s next chapter.
Dan Slott, Mark Bagley, John Dell, Andrew Hennessy, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Caramagna drag Peter Parker into a new status quo.
Peter is still struggling with the after effects of his multi-versal ordeal, including memories of a timeline not his own. After a rescue turns tragic, he turns to what he’s learned to amplify his Spider-sense. With Norman Osborn’s help, he soon finds himself able to detect others’ danger, and it’s about to change everything.
Slott takes a novel idea, involving Peter’s Spider-sense, and buries it in the worst elements of this run so far. Peter stretching his powers to protect others and tentatively trusting Norman Osborn to do it, that’s Spider-Man to a tee. But basing his motivation for trying it in an angry family member, which Peter is normally able to handle, and memories from an alternate timeline stretches incredulity just to force Peter to feel guilt again. It takes something novel and just makes it groan-worthy.
Another struggle I have is with the newly introduced Spider-Boy. There’s a nugget of something interesting in the character, but right now he’s a cipher with poorly defined powers. He apparently shares some sort of psychic bond with Peter, but it’s unclear if that’s part of his normal powerset, or a side effect of the Parker/Osborn tampering with Peter’s Spider-sense. It means we still don’t have a reason to care, and I genuinely want to know more about him.
The art is once again the highlight of the issue. There’s a few faces that are a little distorted in some strange ways, but otherwise, Bagley, Dell and Hennessy do a great job. The layouts are dynamic, the figures have a great sense of motion, and there’s a lot of detail to take in on every page. Delgado’s colors are bright but also makes the events of the page look real. His coloring in the opening building fire rescue drew me into the action just as much as the dynamic line art.
Spider-Man #7 is available now from Marvel Comics.
With great power comes great responsibility. It’s a phrase that’s at the heart of everything Spider-Man. In Spider-Man #8, thatCOMICONRead More