Artist: Greg Land
So you want a Spider-man book that has no baggage, no continuity, and that will get in the way of your enjoyment,with no required wiki homework to catch up on the character? Well, this is the book for you. Avenging Spider-man’s premise is simple, for now. It is a series of team-ups with his fellow Avengers. The first three issues he was teaming up with Red Hulk in order to save Jameson who was kidnapped by a tribe of Moloids. The Moloids are being led by a new Conan like bad ass. That is the first three issues.
This issue was actually focused more on Hawkeye, and one of his insecurities as being the only non-powered member of the Avengers. It was an interesting idea that panned out. It really wasn’t a Spider-man book at all. This title has been very direct, and I can appreciate that. But I fear it may be too simple. But, I guess if I want 50 years of back story and convoluted continuity I have Amazing Spider-man, so this has room to be just a fun book.
But here lies the problem, I get Spider-man from so many different sources, I really don’t want or need this one. Zeb Wells is one of the best writers to handle Spider-man in years, aside from Dan Slott, who I consider to be the best since JMS. They both know the character, and what Spider-man’s books should feel like. However, I just can’t get pumped about this title regardless of how well Wells writes.
Land’s art is solid as usual, he has seemingly toned down the happy O faced super model poses. If you don’t know what I am referring too, simply google Greg Land and check out the images. His art in this issue looks far more natural and fluid than a lot of his past stuff.
Ok, so I feel about complaining about something here, and that’s Joe Mad. He did the art on first arc, which was a selling point for Marvel, and is honestly the ONLY reason why I decided to give this a shot. He's gone already? Are you kidding me? I hate to be a stereotypical ranting fanboy, but come on. I love Mad’s work, but if he can’t do more than 5 issues of a book then I would just prefer him not do anything, just to give the book has a little consistency. The last thing he did for Marvel, to my knowledge, was Ultimates 3, and I refuse to get into that piece of shit right now. His talent just seems utterly wasted and it’s sad.
I am not overly impressed with this book. It serves its purpose, and does its job well. If you are a hardcore Spider-man fan and just can’t get enough of him in Amazing Spider-man, Fantastic Four or New Avengers, then pick this up as I’m sure you will enjoy it to some degree. Or if you like the character, but just don’t want to do much “heavy reading” then you will probably like this book. If you were on the fence about the title, stay there. It isn’t going to offer you anything new. I really don’t think I am going to continue to read it.
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Butch Guice
So you saw Bucky’s chest get caved in Fear Itself too right? Ok, cool…I thought maybe I was the only one. In what I think is one of the lamest attempts to save a character, Bucky is now back in his own Winter Soldier title. Not to say that I don’t like the character, or the direction they have taken him. I do actually; his retcon return to the Marvel Universe was executed very well by Brubaker years ago. I just thought the way he was saved in Fear Itself was ridiculous. To the unenlightened, here is what happened…spoiler alert if you haven’t read Fear Itself or its satellite books.
Skadi (Sin, the Red Skulls daughter) impaled Bucky’s chest with the end of her magic hammer and tore off his cybernetic arm. That’s pretty much it; he was saved by the last few doses of Nick Fury and Black Widow’s Infinity Serum (which is how Nick and Natasha retain their current age). I was never aware it had healing properties, but hey it’s comics. To almost everyone, excluding Steve Rogers, Bucky died that day. They decided to keep it a secret so that Bucky could become the Winter Soldier again and deal with loose ends from his past. I am curious to see how long it will take for the editors and writers to forget that Nick Fury and Black Widow are now susceptible to the effects of aging, I would be shocked if they actually stick to that plot point and have it come up at a later date.
After all is said and done, Bucky is no longer Captain America. Most comic fans I know have actively hated “Bucky Cap”, I didn’t. I didn’t really like it either; I just didn’t really care because I knew it was temporary. I prefer him as Winter Soldier personally. Brubaker has done a lot of work with Bucky the past few years and he is in good hands. If it were any other writer handling the character, I probably wouldn’t of decided to give this a shot. Brubaker is one of those writers who rarely disappoints me. I LOVED his Daredevil he did a few years back. He is right at home in the crime drama, noir, and espionage genres.
So, how is the first two issues of Winter Soldier? Not bad, but not great. I usually give books the three issue treatment. If I can’t find something to latch on to in three issues, I hang it up. But, I know Brubaker works very slowly and it almost always pays off. The plot synopsis is that Bucky and Black Widow are tracking down old soviet super soldiers that Bucky trained back in the Cold War and were put in stasis long ago. At least one has been bought on the black market and activated by a former Latverian Prime Minister and The Red Ghost. Kind of a run of the mill plot I think, but the fact that these two sent their newly acquired soldier to attempt an assassination on Dr. Doom himself is what I am interested in. As with most of Brubaker’s stuff, there is more going on than what you can immediately see. Oh, and there is a giant machine gun wielding gorilla in there too, FYI.
I am not familiar with this artist’s work, but it fits the nature of the title. It is very Steve Epting or Alex Maleev. At times, it got sort of confusing, especially in the fight scenes. But it works pretty well in general. I would rather have either Epting back or David Aja who worked with Brubaker in his relaunch of Iron Fist to be honest.
So, do I recommend this book? Eh, unless you are a fan of Brubaker or the character, you definitely don’t NEED to read this. It’s not your typical “super hero” book; it is going to be a slower paced title and a lot of people aren’t into that. If you like the writer and the character give it a shot, if not, this title certainly won’t change your mind.
By: Josh Loe
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