COMIC REVIEWS!!!!
I’m back, and I’ve brought with me some reviews of this week’s books: Amazing Spider-Man and The Walking Dead!
The Amazing Spider-Man #5 (Marvel Comics)
Spidey’s “Original Sin” tie-in continues with Amazing Spider-Man #5, which picks up right where writer Dan Slott and artist Humberto Ramos left Spidey last month: on top of a rooftop, making out with Silk, the mysterious Spider-Woman that Peter Parker found last issue. However, before things get really hot and heavy, Peter puts the stop on things once he realizes that Silk knows his secret identity. After asking her questions about her family, Peter brings Silk back to his apartment so they can look for them, but they end up making out again.
At the same time, Black Cat is making some major moves for power in the criminal underworld. Teamed up with Electro, she’s quickly proving to her rivals that she’s a force to be reckoned with, and not the joke that Spidey made her appear to be in the past (when he was being controlled by Otto Octavius). Dan Slott’s portrayal of Black Cat has been really awesome in these two issues, and her vendetta against Spider-Man has been a lot of fun to read. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for Electro, who comes off more like a dumb goon than the awesome villain he is.
Humberto Ramos delivers some of his strongest art since the start of this new Amazing Spider-Man with this issue. This issue is chock full of awesome action, especially when Black Cat and Electro attack Spider-Man on live TV. Ramos’ strengths are his ability to draw big action sequences, and this issue has them in spades.
This new run on Amazing Spider-Man has been a ton of fun, and this latest issue is no exception. There are a few hiccups here and there, but it’s still an extremely solid issue that doesn’t require any extra knowledge from Original Sin to enjoy it. Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos have been pretty much unstoppable on this title, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be slowing down anytime soon.
The Walking Dead #130 (Image Comics)
The Walking Dead is in another “building scenario” narrative, but the twist with the jump forward in time has put an incredible new spin on the ever expanding saga that is Rick Grimes and his never ending quest for survival. This time, we get to see the new set up of Hilltop (run by Maggie), as well as the pay off to last month’s cliffhanger with our new visitors meeting the incarcerated Negan.
I won’t spoil that part, but I will say that it continues Robert Kirkman’s ongoing trend of completely going against our expectations. At the Hilltop, Kirkman uses the dialogue between Maggie and Rick to catch us up to speed on a lot of things that we missed due to the time jump, and it’s done in a way that’s still really entertaining. There’s also an incredible scene with Rick interacting with the people of Hilltop, who look at Rick as a messiah like figure. This scene the coolest of the issue, and I loved seeing Rick’s reaction to it. It really puts a lot of things in perspective, especially when it comes to how much responsibility Rick has in the community.
Charlie Adlard’s art is fantastic as always, and while this isn’t a very action heavy issue, there are still plenty of excellent panels and layouts in this issue. The pages at the beginning of the issue were arguably the best, which shows Negan interacting with the newest members of Rick’s community.
The Walking Dead is taking a slower narrative after “All Out War”, but it’s still very much worth your time. This time jump is exactly what this series needed, and has made this read almost like an entirely new book. The time to jump on the Walking Dead is now.
Jonwahizzle is a jack of all trades: educator, and comic book slinger for Jetpack Comics Follow him on twitter and check out his blog, The Collective: Examples of Nerdery for more!