written by Nick Spencer
penciled by Kev Walker
inked by John Dell
colored by Laura Martin
It's been a painful last few days with the news that Walt Disney Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment have failed to reach a new deal over the shared use of the Spider-Man character to replace the one reached in 2015 and that expired this year, as a result of which Spider-Man will no longer appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was in this context that I picked up the latest issue of The Amazing Spider-Man #27 basically out of habit, having been disenchanted with the title since Nick Spencer's meandering mess The Hunted concluded a few months ago. The last two issues, including the oversized #25th issue, weren't quite able to snap me out of my indifference, but there's something about this one that has inspired me to write, even if it's just a brief little snippet.
This issue is basically part two of a new storyline featuring an all-female team of supervillains led by the Beetle, and they're out to get Fred Myers aka Boomerang aka Peter's roommate, because Kingpin has put a bounty on him, and the only person around to even help the former Superior Foe of Spider-Man is, well, Spider-Man himself.
With its humor and its interesting art style courtesy of Kev Walker, this issue has piqued my interest, even though it's already the second part. I didn't realize how much The Hunted, with its bloated story and awful Humberto Ramos art, had turned me off to this book until this issue finally snapped me out of my stupor; I couldn't even enjoy the extra-sized issue #25 properly.
Anyway, the last issue felt a little slow out of the gate, as did the disjointed issue #25 which mostly teased future storylines, but this one, with its banter and action, plus some refreshingly different art from Kev Walker, really clicked with me. I am really, really glad to be rid of Ramos and I look forward to more fresh faces like Walker and upcoming regular artist Patrick Gleason. I started on this book last year because Spencer and Ryan Ottley promised a fresh take on this character, and this is the first issue in some time that really feels true to the spirit of that endeavor.
There's one issue to go before Spencer begins his "Kindred" arc in earnest, and after enjoying this issue, I feel cautiously optimistic once more, and I will stay this way for so long as Marvel keeps Humberto Ramos far, far away from this book.
8/10
Monday, August 26, 2019
Breaking Sports Cliches: A Review of Fence Volume #3
written by C.S. Pacat
drawn by Johanna the Mad
colored by Joana LaFuente
And so, the first year of C.S. Pacat's and Johanna the Mad's manga-inspired sports saga Fence finally comes to a close, with the Kings Row Boys School fencing team tryouts finally coming to an end and the fates of all of the aspiring fencers, including series protagonist Nicholas Cox, finally being revealed.
It's been an interesting year following this series, and if I'm honest, this series really has provided me with a welcome break from my steady diet of superhero comics. Funny thing is, I was never really much into sports-related fiction, even through while I was growing up movies like the Rocky series and Hoosiers were all the rage, so it really was just C.S. Pacat's storytelling that drew me in, and the honesty with which she imbues her characters. There's something really engaging about how she eschews many sports-story cliches, like the stoical team captain, the hot shot who never loses a fight, or my personal pet peeve, the Rocky-style comeback. It was nice to see that the story not only played out differently, but also in a way that would tend to reflect how things happen more frequently in real life.
This is clearly Nicholas Cox's story above all the others, but without going into spoilers it pleases me to say that at all times Pacat is keen to remind both Nicholas and the readers that it's not only his aspirations that matter. We're all familiar with the adage that everyone is the hero of his own story, and it's refreshing to see a lead character being a hero in someone else's story as well. We've been riding with Nicholas all this time, getting familiar with his obsessions and insecurities, but as the hero reaches this crucial point in the overarching narrative Pacat really gets to the heart of the pain and sense of rejection that drives him, and it is utterly compelling to behold. Not only that, but Pacat lets us glimpse a bit the lives of a lot of the supporting characters, like Aidan Kane, Eugene Labao and, only very briefly Seiji Katayama, who flies into a rage at the thought of his defeat against Nicholas' half-brother Jesse Coste.
Unfortunately, even with a nicely-scripted third act for this year-long tale, Fence Vol. #3 falls short of the potential it promised because more than at any other point in this series, Johanna the Mad drops the ball on the art. Her covers remain drop-dead gorgeous, of course, but the ratio of her "super-deformed" manga-esque characters to the more traditional, "serious" rendering of the story's characters is notably lopsided here, and it's not fun to look at after a few pages. It's not too different from her previous work but there's just way too much of it here, and it feels distinctly like taking shortcuts with the art. There are some panels that utterly stand out, such as Nicholas' reaction to his coach's declaration that she is proud of him, but in previous volumes pieces of art like this used to be the rule and not the exception. This is somewhat disappointing, especially when her work is measured up against the more polished work of the Gurihiru tandem over at Marvel's now-defunct Unstoppable Wasp series.
From this point onwards--and things are just starting to get really interesting--the story's format will change from monthly issues to OGNs, and I'm kind of hoping this will give Johanna the Mad a little more breathing room to produce the best art she can offer because Pacat's pretty much firing on all cylinders these days and deserves the best her artist can offer.
6.5/10
drawn by Johanna the Mad
colored by Joana LaFuente
And so, the first year of C.S. Pacat's and Johanna the Mad's manga-inspired sports saga Fence finally comes to a close, with the Kings Row Boys School fencing team tryouts finally coming to an end and the fates of all of the aspiring fencers, including series protagonist Nicholas Cox, finally being revealed.
It's been an interesting year following this series, and if I'm honest, this series really has provided me with a welcome break from my steady diet of superhero comics. Funny thing is, I was never really much into sports-related fiction, even through while I was growing up movies like the Rocky series and Hoosiers were all the rage, so it really was just C.S. Pacat's storytelling that drew me in, and the honesty with which she imbues her characters. There's something really engaging about how she eschews many sports-story cliches, like the stoical team captain, the hot shot who never loses a fight, or my personal pet peeve, the Rocky-style comeback. It was nice to see that the story not only played out differently, but also in a way that would tend to reflect how things happen more frequently in real life.
This is clearly Nicholas Cox's story above all the others, but without going into spoilers it pleases me to say that at all times Pacat is keen to remind both Nicholas and the readers that it's not only his aspirations that matter. We're all familiar with the adage that everyone is the hero of his own story, and it's refreshing to see a lead character being a hero in someone else's story as well. We've been riding with Nicholas all this time, getting familiar with his obsessions and insecurities, but as the hero reaches this crucial point in the overarching narrative Pacat really gets to the heart of the pain and sense of rejection that drives him, and it is utterly compelling to behold. Not only that, but Pacat lets us glimpse a bit the lives of a lot of the supporting characters, like Aidan Kane, Eugene Labao and, only very briefly Seiji Katayama, who flies into a rage at the thought of his defeat against Nicholas' half-brother Jesse Coste.
Unfortunately, even with a nicely-scripted third act for this year-long tale, Fence Vol. #3 falls short of the potential it promised because more than at any other point in this series, Johanna the Mad drops the ball on the art. Her covers remain drop-dead gorgeous, of course, but the ratio of her "super-deformed" manga-esque characters to the more traditional, "serious" rendering of the story's characters is notably lopsided here, and it's not fun to look at after a few pages. It's not too different from her previous work but there's just way too much of it here, and it feels distinctly like taking shortcuts with the art. There are some panels that utterly stand out, such as Nicholas' reaction to his coach's declaration that she is proud of him, but in previous volumes pieces of art like this used to be the rule and not the exception. This is somewhat disappointing, especially when her work is measured up against the more polished work of the Gurihiru tandem over at Marvel's now-defunct Unstoppable Wasp series.
From this point onwards--and things are just starting to get really interesting--the story's format will change from monthly issues to OGNs, and I'm kind of hoping this will give Johanna the Mad a little more breathing room to produce the best art she can offer because Pacat's pretty much firing on all cylinders these days and deserves the best her artist can offer.
6.5/10
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