AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #34
"Odyssey, Chapter Two: Eye of the Storm"
Mildly Recommended (5/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Pencils: Mark Texeria
Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti
Colors: Transparency Digital
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $2.50 US/$3.75 CAN |
As was the case with the last issue, there's a good deal of potential in the story, but it's not fully realized. A clunky plot and some uncharacterisitcally weak art hold things back. Vaughan seems to have a good sense of the title character, and I hope that in future issues he emphasizes that more than this somewhat cliched plot.
Stuck alone on Juggernaut and Black Tom's sabotaged jet, Cyclops faces certain death, but to his surprise, he finds himself carried to the Savage Land. There, he's confronted by an enemy he's never met, one who claims he killed his friends. Despite his experience and training, Cyclops is at a disadvantage, as his visor is lost, and his protective ruby-quartz glasses are damaged.
I loved Texeria's art on the first few issues of Black Panther, and Jimmy Palmiotti has a solid reputation as one of the most sought-after inkers in comics. But together, they just don't click. Maybe it's an incompatibility in their styles. Maybe Texeria pencilled the art far too loosely, as there is a rushed look to the visuals. In any case, while they do capture the darker mood of the story, I've seen stronger efforts.
Vaughan includes a few moments in this script that really worked for me. Little touches like Scott pondering the seeming paradox of a survivor of an air crash becoming a skilled pilot, and the note about the loss of depth perception later in the book... they worked for me. I also enjoyed the fact that the antagonist is something of a sympathetic figure. He's not evil, just grief-stricken. He's lashing out, trying to get someone he perceives as a criminal to pay for his actions.
In the end, though, Ulysses's abilities are just too much to swallow. He knew Cyclops would board Black Tom's jet? He gained access to the Savage Land without a problem? All this from a foe Cyclops has never met? It stretches suspension of disbelief to the limit and beyond.
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