The Curse of the Spider-Woman
Spider-Gwen: Smash #1 (of 4)
Melissa Flores- Writer
Enid Balám- Penciler
Fer Sifuentes-Sujo- Colorist
Elisabetta D’Amico- Inker
VC’s Clayton Cowles- Letterer
David Nakayama- Cover
Marvel Comics
Released 12/13/23
36 pages, paperback
Gwen Stacy has the worst luck of all the spider totems save maybe Cindy Moon aka Silk. Both have been perpetually trapped in the limbo of unsuccessfully breaking into ongoing comic series while constantly getting new miniseries. I’ve been in comics orbit for a long time, but I was pulled closest to the sun when I truly entered reading comics regularly in 2013. At that time, Spider-Verse was on the cusp of coming out. No one had even heard of Spider-Gwen or Silk at that point. Then everything changed with that amazing event and the ongoing Amazing Spider-Man series it all sprang out of. Since then, the only successful ongoing Spider titles have all been male-lead books, minus maybe Spider-Woman, but as someone “new” to new comics at the time, I immediately fell in love with Gwen Stacy from Earth-65.
Easily the most fun part about Earth-65 is how similar it is to 616, just slightly different. Peter is the Lizard, Daredevil’s an evil Kingpin, and Sue Storm wears the armor of Dr. Doom after murdering him. These little inconsistencies are usually fun Easter Egg-y nods to 616 lore that make Earth 65 accessible for all readers. And now to the point of that long intro: I picked up Spider-Gwen: Smash, certainly not for the egregiously male gaze-y cover by David Nakayama (she’s a teenager, bro), but because I really wanted this character I love to get a better beat. I wanted this to be the mini-series out of her many, many miniseries that is picked up for an ongoing story. And I wanted to see her thrive in Earth-65 away from all the other spiders that 616 is saturated with. I’m a fan of Melissa Flores’ (who writes a suspicious amount of comics with pink themed characters: Power Rangers, Radiant Pink, and now this?) writing so I thwipped myself a copy. And, I was unfortunately underwhelmed.
In her homeworld, everyone knows Gwen is Ghost-Spider (or is it Spider-Woman? No, Spider-Gwen. Who can keep up anymore?) and it’s driving her band, The Mary Janes nuts. Every time they have a show, some silly costumes villain attacks and everyone needs saving by the drummer with her special symbiote costume. The Mary Janes is one of my favorite creations in Earth-65. Consisting of Em Jay Watson on vocals and lead guitar, Betty Brant on bass, Glory Grant on keyboard, and Gwen on drums, this rock band captured my heart in their first appearance giving justice and fresh takes on long forgotten female characters.
Now, it’s as if Glory and Betty fade into the background and Gwen and Em Jay have all the drama. Other than the band and Capt Stacy, Gwen’s dad, none of the usual suspects are present. The story briefly introduces Dazzler and her band, Uncut Gems, on one page showcasing Earth-65’s own Dazzler, Rick Jones, Lila Cheney, and Natasha. Maybe it’s because I read this first thing in the morning, but I had no clue who this mysterious Natasha was supposed to analog for. She sports horn rimmed glasses, a goth inspired outfit and a short, black bob. It wasn’t until the end when she’s shown in close up wearing a clear Black Widow pendant that it clicked for me. And outside of a hairy Hulk, that’s it for fresh takes on 616 characters.
Yawn.
I mean, Dazzler is an exact copy of her 616 counterpart with not even a small stylistic change to costume or powers. And that to me is where this book mostly missed the mark. Now I will give credit to Flores’ writing in that she has a great knack for capturing young women’s speech as well as having really fun lyrics to original songs. I don’t know what the process is for creating these kinds of songs, but I know music is TOUGH to sell in comics completely silent format (Is it fully silent if you’re reading it in your head? But apparently not everyone has a little voice narrating to them…*cough* Kelley *cough* - The Editor), but when The Mary Jane’s or Uncut Gems are playing, or even if Gwen is drumming on her glass in a cafeteria, you can almost hear it.
The art in this book has some pretty big highs and lows too. On first glance, I really dig the angular design Enid Balám has drawn but on second glance, sometimes less angles is more. There are a few shots of Dazzler where her hips are easily two or three times wider than her waist creating an insane amount of thigh gap that begs the question “who is this for?”.
I’d be really interested to see the original pencils for this book because I felt that the inking was overwrought and unnecessary at times. The colors, however, by Fer Sifuentes-Sujo, are brilliant. The lighting is a major part of the aesthetic and even ties into the story with Dazzler being able to convert sound to light. There was a lot of heavy lifting done by the colorist to get this book to a passable level. One detail I really enjoyed, and I’m not sure who is responsible: pencils, inks, or colors, is Em Jay’s freckles. It’s such a small detail, but often overlooked when designing her. There’s a shot of her with her hand on her hips wearing a crop top and you can even see the freckles permeating her sides and back which was a great attention to detail. I had a lot to say about this book because I wanted it to be so much more but it appears the curse of the Spider-Women continues.
👑👑
3 to the Right, 23 to the Left, 8 to the Right
Batman: Faux-simile Edition #428
Jim Starlin- Writer
Jim Aparo- Penciller
Mike DeCarlo- Inker
John Costanza- Letterer
Adrienne Roy- Colorist
DC Comics
Originally published 10/18/88
Released 12/13/23
32 pages, paperback
A brief history lesson: in the late 80’s and early 90’s, American comics were entering a period where their audience had grown up a bit, and wanted more mature and dark content. The first signals were in Frank Miller’s work on Dark Knight Returns and Daredevil or with Alan Moore’s gritty and scathing commentary in Watchmen. This eventually led to Vertigo, an imprint at DC, catering to mature readers looking to see an elevation from comics juvenile origins to art and literature. It eventually culminated in the Image boom and an over-saturation of guns, chains, and antihero’s. But one of the early initiatives that DC implemented to cater more to these types of fans was the famous A Death in the Family story.
For a while, fans wrote in to Batman editors and told them how much they hated his new Robin, Jason Todd. So DC ran a campaign where you could call a 900 number and vote whether Jason Todd lived or died in the upcoming story arc. Brutal. From a total of 10,614 votes, fans decided that Jason should succumb to his injuries by a narrow 72-vote margin of 5,343 votes to 5,271. And 35 years ago, Jason Todd died (but it’s comics of course he’ll be back as the Red Hood later). And now after 35 years in the “DC Vault” (never heard of her) the previously unreleased alternate ending where Jason Todd lives is released in a faux-simile edition reprinting the legendary tale with the stunning cover by Mike Mignola.
I was today years old when I read the original Batman #428 and then immediately followed it up with the alternate ending and I gotta say, wow they don’t make ‘em like this anymore…but that’s also not so bad. Comparing the two issues side by side, there’s only one or two pages of art that are different, as Jason is knocked into a coma rather than dying, so he still doesn’t appear in the latter parts of the book either way.
But one crucial scene change is in the original how Alfred asks Bruce at the funeral if he’d like him to contact Dick Grayson, his former Robin. In the faux-simile, Bruce is in the hospital with Jason and Dick arrives asking if Bruce needs help capturing the Joker. In both versions Bruce responds to Alfred/ Dick “I’ll handle this by myself. That’s the way I want it from now on.” Both the original and alternate endings do a stellar job of setting up the stakes taking Batman into the final scene where Superman stops Bats from attacking the new Iranian ambassador to the UN (the Joker) and putting you in that same rage he is feeling.
Jim Starlin is a legend and deserves a place on comics Mt. Rushmore. This issue leans heavily on flashback and recap so much so that it takes a bit to feel the story move forward. But I am used to that when reading older comics. Yeah, there’s a lot of narration boxes and yeah, I didn’t read the previous issues so the recap was helpful, if lengthy, but it’s so dramatic! You basically spend the first few pages following a reeling Batman as he wanders through the debris of an explosion soliloquizing about how he followed Jason there. It’s wonderfully soapy and camp, but really tugs at your heart if you allow the story recap to drape you like a blanket. Then boom! we see Jason’s mom’s lifeless body and all that recap has caught up and hit like an emotional freight train.
Jim Aparo’s art is stunning. His backgrounds are just detailed enough that it’s not just blank wilderness or space that Batman is walking through, yet there’s tons of breathing room which pairs well with the old-school color flats that are laid in. I’m a sucker for big giant ears on Batman’s costume and Aparo hit those notes perfectly for me. His design for Joker is both hilarious and terrifying and his Superman is a great blend of soft and thundering strength. But the magic for me is Aparo’s pacing and page layout. He’s not afraid to take five panels to deliver one line of dialogue. He somehow gets so much emotion out of Batman, famous for looking exactly the same in every single panel with stoic deadpan expressions. It’s still so eerie to see Batman smile as he realizes Jason is still alive.
Nowadays, billing is typically done in the order of writer-artist-colorist-letterer. But on this book, I noticed the colorist billed dead last. I know in this particular era coloring was maybe not so detailed and involved a process as lettering, but I still find that hard to believe. I also know that typically, early comics were colored by women, deeming it to be a job “beneath” the important men that were drawing and inking and lettering. I’d hate to assume that it’s just the patriarchy that billed Colorist Adrienne Roy last because the colors in this book were phenomenal and the lettering was just…there. All in all, this was a remarkable piece of comics history that is certainly an insane gimmick and I’d doubt we see anything like it again, which makes me wonder, what the hell else is in the DC Vault?
👑👑👑👑👑
Sweet Hell
Sabrina the Teenage Witch Holiday Special #1 (One-Shot)
“The Longest Night”
Story by Kelly Thompson
Art by Veronica Fish
“A Very Spellman Solstice”
Story by Danielle Paige
Art by Veronica Johnson
Colors by Matt Herms
Letters by Jack Morelli
Main Cover by Veronica Fish
Archie Comics
Released 12/13/23
32 pages, paperback
Ah, I love a good holiday book and there simply aren’t enough. Okay, maybe not enough good ones, but they can’t all be bangers like X-Men #143. But this week my cold heart was defrosted and warmed by the spellbinding magic of Sabrina Spellman and co. The first story, by Thompson and Fish is not your typical holiday story, rather just a cool Sabrina-dventure to save her friend, a fellow witch at the school for dark arts. After the cancellation of Netflix’s Chiliing Adventures of Sabrina show, I was devastated that I wouldn’t get to revisit Greendale, but then I remembered I’m a silly billy and there’s a huge universe of Archie comics devoted to the girl with the white hair. Apparently Kelly Thompson’s also been playing in this sandbox for quite sometime and that somehow slipped past me, so now I have some awesome witch-y stories to catch up on!
“The Longest Night” is a short and sweet story that showcases Sabrina’s unique use of dark magic by saying fun and quirky pop culture references to cast spells. For instance she sets a magical butterfly to the task of distracting the big bad, a giant bat creature, by uttering “wild goose chase”. Or when she rips off the bars of her friend’s cell by saying “superhero”. Kelly Thompson is always a fun writer to check in on and her team up with Veronica Fish here was a wonderful choice. Fish’s style is colorful and vibrant and extremely charming cartooning. There’s a very pop art, mid-century feel to her designs that ground the work in nostalgia while staying bright and full of color.
The backup story actually felt longer in this book. “A Very Spellman Solstice” tells a tale from Aunts Hilda and Zee and their brother (Sabrina’s father), Edward. It’s a cute story where Hilda is left alone to do the family tradition of waiting for their parents spirits at their graves because Zee has decided to go to a dance. Hilda ends up accidentally waking their dead grandma and causing a huge Yuletide havoc across Greendale. Everything is wrapped up in a nice bow which ties back into Sabrina’s present as she arrives at the family cemetery with her aunts and they tell her an unheard version of how her parents met that same night long ago. This story was fun and cheery and lighthearted and the art by the Veronica Johnson was just the right amount of loose and flowing linework needed to capture a horror story that stays lighthearted. Both stories in this book are very much of a piece with the Netflix show in that there is this small amount of whimsy and fantasy that makes you wonder if it’s for kids, but paired with dark themes of witches and hell and dark magic. It was what I loved so much about the show. Similar to Wednesday Addams it’s a perfect dichotomy of cute and grim, bright and bleak.
👑👑👑👑
Heist Me, Baby
Masterpiece #1 (of 6)
Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev
Colors by Ian Zerring
Letters by Joshua Reed
Cover by Alex Maleev
Dark Horse Comics
Released 12/13/23
28 pages, paperback
Masterpiece follows Emma, a young orphan arrested in her classroom by the FBI as she is introducing herself to her new class. It turns out it’s not the FBI but a billionaire who was robbed by her parents years ago. According to him, the heist against him was so perfect it was like art and he’s never let it go despite making the money back a hundred times over. So, as his revenge, he plans to have Emma, who he calls Masterpiece according to her birth certificate (how’d he get that?), to steal from one of his biggest rivals in hopes it draws her parents out of hiding.
Bendis has a clear style of writing dialogue and isn’t afraid to take up most of a panel or a page with one monologue broken into word balloons for each sentence. I think it’s interesting to see how much his writing does influence the art because you are forced to stay in these moments longer. You have to sit with the pose, the expression, the composition of one drawing while bouncing from bubble to bubble hearing what one person says. It sometimes annoyed me in Ultimate Spider-Man, but I really enjoyed it here for Zero Preston’s evil machinations.
Bendis also loves to write kid characters, but often struggles to find a relevant or timely voice for them, but I don’t see that as an issue so far in this book. All the characters have very clear distinct voices. There is a wonderful moment while Emma is being abducted from school where the audience still believes it could be the FBI. But once she is placed in the back of the car, one of the “agents” says something gross about her teacher that signals this isn’t what it seems.
Alex Maleev is so damn talented it’s stupid. His books all have a clear cartooning style that blends painting and multimedia, and drawing in innovative methods. A two page splash detailing Emma’s parents history as thieves will forever live in my head rent free. Its overall design appears to look like mid style art from the sixties with spiraling straight and angled lines like a maze and overlaid with different textures and colors.
Ian Zerring colored the hell out of this book too. The way Zero Preston is always portrayed in shadow casts him originally as sinister and evil, but when he steps more into the light (never all the way) he is wan and ghastly. The last scene at the skate park was a great balance of light and dark as Preston’s agents stake out the skate park at sunset. When a masked figure arrives to save Emma from the agents, they break into a multi-page, silent fight that is cartooned beautifully. I loved the color palette of dark oranges and purples in these last few pages. The masked figure knows too much about Emma (also calling her Masterpiece and mentions how much like her mom she is). I’m hoping it’s not so obvious that it’s her dad come out of hiding to save her, but it also could obviously be one of her parents old heist buddies. It was a slightly predictable ending to this issue but I truly don’t know where it’ll go next and I’m excited!
👑👑👑👑👑