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SPIDER-MAN: QUALITY OF LIFE #1
Neutral (3/10)
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Marvel Comics
Main story
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Scott Sava
"Jay Leno & Spider-Man: One Night Only! (Don't Forget to Tip Your Waitress), Part Three"
Writer: Ron Zimmerman
Pencils: Greg Capullo
Inks: Danny Miki
Colors: Avalon Studios
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Axel Alonso
Price: $2.99 US/$4.75 CAN |
Main story: This book held some surprises for me, and in other ways, it was true to what I expected. Having sampled Scott Sava's computer-generated art on his independent book The Lab, it looked pretty much the way I thought it would. But with Greg Rucka, I expected something much more solid, novel and entertaining from the script. I think much younger readers will get a kick out of Quality of Life, though, with its Silver Age-like script and novelty of CG artwork.
A crooked biotechnology company has apparently polluted the water supply near Dr. Curt Connors's home, inflicting his wife with cancer. As Connors's options to save his family come to an end, his blood boils over, making for a volatile situation. Meanwhile, the company has hired a lovely but lethal specialist to deal with Connors, and it won't be long before Spider-Man finds himself caught in the middle.
Sava's artwork is impressive in its detail. The characters are reflected in windows and steel; the artist's efforts here are meticulous... to a fault. The backgrounds cry out for the same level of attention as the main action in each panel, robbing the story of visual flow. Furthermore, Sava's computer-generated figures are stiff. His approach might work for animation, but there's no sense of movement or action in these static images. Peter Parker also comes off as way too young.
Though the catalyst for this story -- Martha Connors's disease -- makes for strong characterization, Rucka's plot lacks the more refined quality that makes his other writing so entertaining (check out this week's Black Widow: Pale Little Spider #2 to see a sample of what Rucka can do when he's really on his game). The plot is oversimplified and cliched, and there are moments that just don't make much sense. Why would Spider-Man allow Doc Ock to see him take his picture and later try to publish those photos under Peter Parker's name? Why would Jonah doubt Peter's integrity as a photographer now? Those little illogical moments in the script were quite jarring.
Leno: Mercifully, Zimmerman's backup story comes to a close this week. Capullo's overexaggerated, McFarlane-esque art did nothing for me (especially with backgrounds as lacking as they were), but the script was just as irksome. Leno mocks super-heroes only to become one -- at least in deed, not appearance -- in this forced plotline.
That being said, I do see the value in these backup features. After all, featuring Leno pretty much ensures a mention of Marvel Comics on The Tonight Show, I would imagine. Not that I'd notice... I've always been a Letterman fan.
Note: Since the backup story appears in several of this week's Marvel Comics releases, it does not factor into the rating for this review.
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