Sensational Spider-Man #29
The Deadly Foes of Peter Parker, Part One

 

Peter Parker has been unmasked, he's found a new costume and new powers, his world is quickly redefining itself in the face of unprecedented change and readers are flocking to the Spidey-titles in numbers unseen in years.  It's a good time to be an arachnid super-hero.  It may not be a good time to be Peter Parker's friend (as the treat level of revealing his identity rises), but it is a good time to be a Marvel fan and a Spider-Man reader.  If this issue, penned by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and drawn by the very talented Angel Medina, is any indication of the quality of the Spider-Man titles, the recent high sales numbers have been well earned. 

 

Sometimes reading a Spider-Man title is a lot like reading a Batman title.  Okay, the two are inherently nothing alike, but I often find myself more excited by the villains than the central characters.  Don't get me wrong, both Batman and Spider-Man are heroic icons filled with depth and story options, but they're often defined in a bright light by the colorful supporting villainy that waltzes in and out of each storyline.  In recent years, the Rogue's Gallery in Flash has also risen to this same level, but that really isn't the point here.  The point is The Deadly Foes of Peter Parker storyline appears to be pulling out all the stops, utilizing Spidey's own rogue's gallery to the max and this fan says bring 'em on.

 

In this issue they certainly do bring 'em on.  Within the pages we have Chameleon, the Molten Man, hints at Electro, the Scarecrow (yep, Spidey fights one to), the Green Goblin (okay, only an illusion but still very cool), Will-O'-The-Wisp (have we met?), the Black Cat (not really a villain, but who's counting), Puma (if you were watching carefully, he gets his television broken) and the Lord of Locusts (no, sorry, that's Bone but who is that bee guy anyway?) and a few others all packed tightly into the tale.  Throw in the eerie post-civil-war prophecies of Madame Webb and you have a solid storyline in the making with part one.  This is most certainly a mad Marvel mix of true-believer, must read comic goodness.

 

I like the art as well as the story this time out.  I first discovered and started following Angel Medina's work in the later issues of Dreadstar.  You can check out some of his outstanding cover art from the series over in our Vanth Dreadstar cover gallery [link].  There are times I find his face work a little long in the chin (literally), but overall it's a style I really like.  His portrayal of Spider-Man and friends is quite stunning page after page.  Okay, Black Cat suffered from "big hair" in a bad way, but that's forgivable considering some of the other aspects rendered quite well in the sequence.  From the initial battle sequence to the Molten Man aflame (pictured left) at the end, nice work.

 

In this issue we see Spider-Man's wit alive and well.  The humor, whether it be in the narration (reminding himself to stay alive while falling in the opening sequence), taunting a villain (taking Wll-O'-The-Wsip off his game) or even within the overall story (repeated references to Batman's Scarecrow), it's classic Spider-Man wit and, unlike some Spidey stories over the years, it's handled well here.  Aguirre-Sacasa has the timing of Spider-Man's humor down well as sometimes Spider-Man can go all Deadpool (aka constant chatter) in a narration and that's typically taking the character a bit to far.

 

It was nice to watch Peter Parker continue to figure out the abilities of his new suit (couldn't Stark have provided a training manual, maybe an instructional DVD, something) and the emerging subplots, both for Spidey and the Marvel Universe are a nice touch.  I will certainly return for part two of this tale.

 

 

Scale of 1 to 10 ... 7.5
August 30th, 2006 ... Review by Chuck

 

 

Official Word from Marvel...

 

Sensational Spider-Man #29

Cover and pencils by Angel Medina / Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Colored by Avalon by Dan Kemp / Lettered by VC - Cory Petit

 

THE STORY:   “The Deadly Foes of Spider-Man “ Part 1 (of 3) After the extraordinary events of CIVIL WAR, the heroes and their families try to cope with the remarkable changes in the Marvel Universe. Now, one of Spider-Man’s oldest and most insidious foes--the Chameleon--decides to make his move against the wall-crawler! His first step: gathering a new super-team of Spider-Man’s deadliest foes and striking him where he is most vulnerable...

 

32 PGS./ $2.99