Picks Of Comic Book Week for 2/8/12: Is Aqua Romita Better Than Coors Lite?

Book Of The Week - SCARLET SPIDER #2

Senior editor Stephen Wacker has run a very tight ship on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN for years, making sure it ships on time multiple times a month; he has since launched not one, but three spin-offs from the core Spidey title. VENOM launched last year and is currently shipping once a week this month and has survived past a year, and racked up rave reviews. This series launched last month and was Marvel's first launch of 2012, after being promoted in POINT ONE #1 in November. While it is unknown if this series will last as long as VENOM has, it is another quality Spidey spin-off series overseen by Wacker, with Chris Yost as writer, Ryan Stegman on art, Mike Babinski on inks and Marte Garcia on colors. Much as VENOM has managed to showcase Flash Thompson as a capable lead character, this series has quickly accomplished similar things with Kaine, Spider-Man's clone and former adversary. Much like Thompson, Kaine is a broken character with a host of issues, although he has heavier comic book tropes since he is the clone creation of the Jackal.

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Kaine has taken one of Spider-Man's hi-tech costumes and fled south from New York City after helping the Avengers save the city in SPIDER-ISLAND. He has been cured of his "clone cancer" and has sought to simply grab a pile of cash (from criminals) and flee to Mexico to lead a peaceful life. However, he continues to stumble into acting as a superhero due to pangs of guilt. To this end, Kaine is once again trying to flee Texas for a life on the beach, when he sees a disaster unfolding at the hospital where in the previous issue, he left the only survivor of a brutal human transportation ring (http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-new-york/picks-of-comic-book-week-for-1-11-12-clones-fly-south-for-the-winter-review). Thus, Kaine takes on his first supervillain, who appears to have been granted flame-throwing superpowers by the Aztec god Xiuhcoatl; it is good to see gods other than the Greek or Norse ones empowering folks in Marvel once in a while. Much of this issue is a sight sequence, and it is effectively paced and drawn; I am often a sucker for a good action sequence. The reader learns that organic webbing is flame resistant and comparing Kaine to Spider-Man only makes him angrier. Kaine's back and forth between acting like a superhero versus acting like a brute continues here; he's willing to battle a villain to save a teenage girl as well as an entire hospital, but is also willing to shove said teenage girl out of his way in the middle of a fight. It is also interesting to see Yost treat Houston as a different city, with different civilians and police officers, than Manhattan, which readers are over-familiar with. For instance, the local beat cop and floor doctor are eager for Kaine to remain in the area by sheer virtue of having no superheroes. Stegman's artwork is exceptional here for the battle and reaction shots, but he also sneaks in his own Easter eggs, such as a local Latin drink named after legendary Spider-Man artist John Romita - whether junior or senior is up to the reader's imagination. In the end, Kaine has decided to set up shop in Houston as their local spider-themed superhero, even if he still expects things to fall apart and sees fleeing to Mexico with a duffel bag full of dirty money as a "Plan B". Marvel could use a few more crudely pragmatic heroes. Lastly, the tagline for the next issue is one of the best I have read in some time: "NEXT: EVERYTHING INSTANTLY GOES BAD". Yost also gets extra props for realizing that Houston's real life mayor is Annise Parker - such basic research is often absent when Marvel writers handle other states or countries sometimes.

The biggest flaw of the issue is that the lead villain isn't named. While his statements to the teenage damsel (who is named Aracely) imply there is more to her than seems apparent and that he will show up again, not naming an antagonist within an issue is a narrative error. According to interviews, he is named Salamander, but it is still something which should have been made obvious - especially given the villain's habit of ranting on and on during battle. It looks like Kaine may have stumbled upon superhumans involved with the Aztec gods, which is fine - again, why should only the Greek and Norse pantheons be exclusive to Marvel? Some other hardcore Scarlet Spider fans may still be sore that this series featured a cleaned up Kaine versus a resurrected Ben Reilly, but it also isn't obvious that Kaine will decide to go by "Scarlet Spider" yet anyway. The comic had to be titled something, and the title was chosen for attention; Kaine may not choose a codename, given that he barely even wants to be a superhero.

Overall, this series isn't exactly remaking the wheel, but it is utilizing it extremely well. This is a well written, well drawn, well paced anti-hero series starring a character many may have dismissed as irredeemable by 1998. The first issue sold over 53,400 copies last month, and Marvel issued a reprint of it; that was well enough to sell in the Top 25 for January's comic sales as well as not far below the typical issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN that month. VENOM #1 in March 2011 sold nearly 59k copies (once all reprints were tallied) and is now down to over 28.5k copies an issue. Second issue sales drops are often not Marvel's strong suit, and if it is severe, SCARLET SPIDER could be canned by issue five or six (or seven or eight with double-shipping). Hopefully, Yost and Stegman will have as long to play with their own hero and setting as Rick Remender has had with VENOM.

Honorable Mentions:

SECRET AVENGERS #22 - With the departure of Warren Ellis, writer Rick Remender takes over for this stealth operative themed Avengers title; he is now the fourth writer the book has had in under two years. This book has proven an editorial dilemma for Marvel; initially launched on the strength of Ed Brubaker's popularity, it has remained despite him departing after a dozen issues due to high sales. Even brief runs by Nick Spencer and Warren Ellis have kept the book well above cancellation range. Thus, Remender - who was tossed on PUNISHER a while back and has steered the VENOM relaunch to success - has been handed the reigns to this series. His technical debut was a fortnight ago with issue 22.1 (http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-new-york/picks-of-comic-book-week-for-1-25-12-building-a-better-mouser-review), and this issue teams him with new regular artist Gabriel Hardman, who was extremely entertaining on AGENTS OF ATLAS/ATLAS. Bettie Breitweiser is also on hand for colors, and she is often attached to Brubaker's Capt. America comics. The gist is that now that Steve Rogers is back as Cap and on the core Avengers team again, he's being stretched too thin to run a black ops team. To this end he has recruited Hawkeye to take over for him, and has also recruited Captain Britain to the ranks. Most of the team from prior runs - Valkyrie, Black Widow, Beast, and Ant-Man/Eric O'Grady - remain. Moon Knight is gone, but the new Venom will appear next issue, to fill the role of the token maniac. This is Remender's first major team book, and he rolls with a cast of superheroes very well; he writes Beast as a full-on wisecracker, and the bit where Capt. Britain assumes he was intended to lead is cute. Beast is a character who writers either handle as a stuffy science exposition character or a bombastic wisecrack machine, and Remender is definitely in the school of the latter. Hank Pym is also involved, although it seems to be in building their new headquarters so far. As often with these sorts of stories, the team is hurled into an adventure right away - both they and a team of Adaptoids chase after a new superhuman woman in Pakistan, and this may be connected to a new Masters Of Evil. Hardman's art is exceptional as always, and Remender gives him a host of different locations and bizarre characters to cater to his strengths. Remender proves himself a master of obscure continuity, from Brian Braddock's position as part of a multi-dimensional league to Lady Deathstrike's father. Fans who jumped back onto this book, or stayed aboard it, for Remender based on his previous work have a lot to be impressed with here.

VENOM #13.1 - "The Circle of Four" story has launched from VENOM #13, and will be told via one issue per week this month; why Marvel couldn't have simply made these regular issue numbers versus "Point One" issues is unknown. After issue twelve, Flash Thompson is stuck in Las Vegas after having performed a heist for Crime-Master (via blackmail) and having gone AWOL from the military with the Venom symbiote (http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-new-york/picks-of-comic-book-week-for-1-18-12-a-thief-and-a-lawyer-walk-into-a-lab-review). Having punched out Captain America in aforementioned escape, Red Hulk (a.k.a. General "Thunderbolt" Ross) has been tasked with apprehending Venom and bringing him back for court-martial. At the same time, Blackheart has launched a scheme to literally bring Hell to earth via the "city of sin", which has called the attention of Alejandra, the new Ghost Rider (and her mentor, Johnny Blaze, who was the original). X-23 also gets involved, although her reasons are tenuous and obligatory - Blackheart needed her blood for his dark rites, and decided to make additional clones on a whim. Now these four characters have stumbled into each other and have formed an alliance of convenience against Blackheart and his demonic hordes. This issue is written by Rob Williams, who was also the writer on the now canceled GHOST RIDER, drawn by Lee Garbett and colored by Rob Schwager. The previous issue was a tad awkward as it had to go through the motions of uniting all the characters; now that they are united, the real fun begins. Blackheart has pitted the four against their mystical opposites, and while the purpose is to expose their flaws and beat them down with insecurities, the execution is what sets it apart here. These "opposite characters" were devised by Rick Remender in the previous issue, but Williams goes to town with them; the idea of X-23's opposite being a homicidal cheerleader is hilarious. While William's characters (Alejandra and Blaze) get the lion's share of the focus here, he also has notable bits with all the characters; to a degree it is less effective with Flash Thompson, if only because his flaws are often laid bare in VENOM. Garbett and Schwager's artwork is quite good, and they handle all of the bizarre characters and settings with exceptional skill. Blackheart in particular benefits here, and Dr. Strange and Hellstorm also make a notable cameo here. The kickoff for this story was solid, but this second chapter was more thrilling, and hopefully bodes well for the rest of this VENOM event for February.