ComicCritic87’s Comic Spotlight
Greetings friend, well this is the return of my comic spotlights, where I will as the title says, spotlighting a comic that deserves great focus compared to any other release of the week. This week I will be spotlighting the new series coming to the spider titles, SCARLET SPIDER. This marks the return of that moniker since the end of the Ben Reilly era of the 90s as well as excluding the Scarlet Spider’s from the INITIATIVE era. Like my previous spotlights I do a brief history of the character and then get to the review format. With that said let’s begin….
HISTORY: The moniker of the Scarlet Spider first belonged to the clone of Peter Parker, named Ben Reilly who was created by the notorious scientist/villain The Jackal. His first appearance was in Amazing Spider-man #149 but his big moment in the spotlight was in the confusing and extremely longwinded event known as the CLONE SAGA. This saga’s “legacy” created many doubts as to which person, Peter Parker or Ben Reilly, was the real person and which was the clone. That question was then answered with a battle between Ben and the Green Goblin, where the goblin glider collides with Ben and he disintegrates.
The second element to this is a third clone of Peter Parker, Kaine, an imperfect clone that has come and gone in the Spider comics since the end of the CLONE SAGA and made one of the best comebacks in the recent event of SPIDER ISLAND. Kaine was used as a pawn by the Jackal and Adriana Soria (The Spider Queen), he was used to attempt to destroy the Anti-venom cure but was thwarted by Peter Parker. After the battle, Kaine fell into the vat of the cure and became a stabilized clone and freed from his monstrous form. He was also the one that was able to kill the Spider Queen thanks to the Stealth Suit he took from Spider-man. After the events he leaves New York with a new conviction and outlook as he heads for a new town.
Prior to the new series, we get a small glimpse of Kaine’s life on the road, in the 8 page mini-story of POINT ONE. The story follows the character on a bus heading as far away from New York as possible. He overhears a robbery in progress, he resists the temptation but the Parker within him tells him to go over there and save the day. He uses the new suit along with a kick-ass Hoodie and dishes out swift justice against the thugs, he also resists the urge to kill the leader, still feeling the Parker within him he chooses to not kill the man and leaves before the authorities arrive. Now the series comes into full swing as the character finds his new place in life and new destiny in SCARLET SPIDER.
SCARLET SPIDER #1
Written by Christopher Yost
Artwork by Ryan Stegman
Comic Story: Our story takes place in the Houston Port, where a group of shady men are finishing off a mysterious deal. Just as they are about to finish, they are soon attacked by Kaine who dishes out swift and painful justice against them all. He spares one and tells him to leave, Kaine sees the bags of money and takes off, but he hears the cries of help in the container, it was filled with human cargo. Kaine takes the girl to the local hospital and makes a break for Mexico but makes a pit stop at a Four Seasons to relax, refresh, and recharged. Kaine reflects on the life he has been living, all the pain and torment he has gone through. He shaves off all of his facial hair and removed all his hair to a smaller length. Kaine overlooks the city of Houston as he leaps and swings like Spider-man, feeling the freedom he never truly had. As Kaine relaxes on a rooftop he sees an elderly lady walking across the street and saves her by smashing the car with his super strength. The old woman is thankful but Kaine yells at her for being stupid, he sees the driver is badly wounded due to his cause to save one person. Meanwhile a mysterious man overlooks at the port where the woman was trapped in, he overlooks at the scene and tells them all to burn. Kaine sits a bar and reflects at his actions, only to see on the news that the port was under attack and the girl is next. Kaine thinks of what he should do, he leaves town not looking back, just as the hospital is under attack by the mysterious burning man.
Review: I’m a pretty big fan of Spider-man and this series is a new chapter in his legacy. While it is not the true Peter Parker we are following in this series we are following a whole take on a character we have seen time and time again, however he was always seen as a villain and a threat. What I liked about this new series is that it’s not that much of a darker tale told by Marvel, think of this as a Marvel Knights story without the moniker of that prestigious imprint. The story has a refreshing take on the 90s ideology of Spider-man being more of a “rebellious” hero than his boy scout good doing, Kaine may be the clone of Peter Parker but he is not as sympathetic like Parker is, a clear example of that was in the sequence with Kaine yelling at an innocent old lady for crossing the street. He was glad not to see her scream or yell for help but he got mad at her for crossing the street when a car was blazing down. It showcases the bipolar nature of Kaine; he is still new at being a “hero” so he getting mad is natural. The location of Houston as the main setting of this series is also refreshing in seeing a well know place having to deal with its own types of super villains. The beginning with the human cargo in shipping containers gives the series a sense of realism, in that even in Super Hero comics, there are true crimes still being committed. The mysterious villain with fire power is an interesting choice for a premiere villain, his background while still unknown showcases a new type of variety we are going to see with this series and he seems to be connected with the human trafficking business in the beginning of the issue and I cannot wait to see what this outcome will be. Overall for a first issue, it’s pretty solid and well-paced. The character of Kaine has a lot of potential to become one great new hero in the Marvel Universe.
Writing: Christopher Yost is giving writing duties for this series and already deserves some great credit for create one great first issue. While I never read any of his comic work, I have watched his writing talents with Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes. I heard he did the Fear Itself story with Spider-man and it was really well done. So now that he has his own Spider story to tell, its very well written and well-paced with the story. Yost writes Kaine far more different from Peter Parker, Kaine is written as a more mature and damaged character. He has been through so much in his life and that stays with him. Yost’s writing sequence with Kaine in the hotel room was well done; you can feel the weight of the world free from his shoulders as he frees himself of the burden of his past. The villain is so far well written and still gives a sense of mystery to him. I like the writing and his style is really amazing and top notch, I cannot wait to see him expand these characters and this world he is placed in.
Artwork: The art is done by Ryan Stegman, I haven’t read any other comics that features his work but I can safely say that its one really well done style for this comic. The look and tone of the character design is top notch. The look of Kaine, post shave shows his Parker image however has some slight variations to him, He’s much more muscular and more defined. The giant fire enemy bares some resemblances to street fighter character T. Hawk. This issue doesn’t feature the new suit in action but the look and design of the suit is well done. This artwork is nice and well suited for this series, I cannot wait to see what kind of villains and cameos we will get with this artist.
Summary: A fun series with a more mature style to it. The writing is very solid and the artwork compliments the writing. It’s worth a look and a read.
Grade: A
Well that’s all for this week. The other comics that came out this week are also worth checking out. Especially Amazing Spider-man and Journey into Mystery both were very strong and had memorable stories to tell. Next week is another big week of releases, I’m 100% convinced that week three of releases are always a double digit release. I will review those next week. Take care friends.