written by Joe Kelly
penciled and colored by Terry Dodson
inked by Rachel Dodson
Following the multi-issue crossover with the X-Men books that was "Dark Web," The Amazing Spider-Man gets back to telling its own stories, this time courtesy of a guest creative team in writer Joe Kelly and artists Terry and Rachel Dodson. Gratifyingly, the team also takes a bit of a break from all of the drama in Peter Parker's life lately as he and Black Cat go for a weekend away from it all at a posh ski resort. After a brief moment of awkwardness in which the two of them see Mary Jane and her husband Paul at the exact same resort, they soon find themselves chasing down what appears to be a super-villain related commotion only to find Tombstone's henchwoman White Rabbit actually renting out supervillain gear to several Silicon Valley types for a weekend retreat. What seems like easy money to White Rabbit, however, is a disaster just waiting to happen, and happen it does, forcing Spider-Man and Black Cat to put their awkward holiday on hold.
I've been reading comics for over four decades now, and it's genuinely entertaining when someone comes along with a fresh storytelling concept. Joe Kelly's idea of supervillainy as material for a corporate retreat feels fresh and most of the jokes land. I also appreciate how Kelly writes White Rabbit, a fairly old character (40 years as of writing) in that he manages to make her feel a little less like a Harley Quinn knockoff.
Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to give this entertainingly written two-parter full marks, I simply cannot bring myself to do so because for some strange reason, the usually reliable and talented husband-and-wife duo of Terry and Rachel Dodson seriously drop the ball in terms of the art. It's not that they've lost any of their talent; the problem is that the art of both of these issues looks distinctly unfinished, as if they drew Spider-Man and the Black Cat but couldn't be bothered to draw anything more than sketches of the remaining characters. It's bizarre; I've never seen the pair of them off their game like this, especially considering they're just guest artists. This is really disappointing considering the caliber of these creators. I still have fond memories of their awesome run on Marvel Knights: Spider-Man with Mark Millar nearly twenty years ago. I'd hate to think they lost their mojo from that time.
It's a pity the the art falls so conspicuously short of the writing, because these two issues were a genuinely good, fun read.
6.5/10
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