So, Marvel opts to launch yet another ongoing Spider-Man title, and it's brought together a top-notch creative team to do it. I question the wisdom, though, of using this first issue as the launching pad for a Spidey crossover story -- lasting three months -- as it really doesn't give the creative team to establish its own take on the title character, to differentiate itself from the other wallcrawler comics. As for the story itself, I found I was a bit torn. I didn't care for some of the ideas or the new villain that's introduced, but the mood and dialogue is sharp. On top of that, Wieringo's take on Spider-Man is full of energy and is undeniably fun. Ultimately, my view is this -- this title doesn't really start until the fourth issue.
Peter Parker is haunted by disturbing dreams (though since it's Peter, parts of the nightmares are a bit silly), and his fears prompt Mary Jane to recruit some help in order to allay those fars. Meanwhile, Tracer, a new super-villain, turns up in Manhattan, and the only one who's abe to stop him from robbing a bank is a certain friendly neighborhood super-hero. Tracer's got some impossible bullets in his arsenal, giving Spidey a run for his money. But ol' Webhead has some new tricks up his sleeve as well... which work out only in part.
Wieringo's vision of Spider-Man is clearly influence by that of John Romita Sr.'s. There's plenty of energy in his Spidey, yes, but there's a softness, a vulnerability as well that makes the character seem even more likable. The design for the Tracer character is rather uninteresting. He boasts a generic Kewl look that's forgettable. The dream sequence that opens the story is appropriately creepy but not so unpalatable that younger readers will be turned off. Paul Mounts's colors shift back and forth between the darker edge that's an inherent part of this crossover story and the lighter tone that one normally associates with the title character.
The crossover apparently involves a character from J. Michael Straczynski's more supernatural stories from Amazing Spider-Man, and that's a problem for me in a couple of ways. First of all, it makes for a somewhat inaccessible quality for readers unfamiliar with Straczynski's work, and secondly, I never really cared for the animal-spirit riff upon which those JMS stories were based in the first place.
David wins me over not only with some snappy dialogue, but with the training sequence with Captain America. The writer makes the most of Spidey's new team affiliation but is still careful to treat him as a solo act. Cap's lessons not oly make a lot of sense, they spotlight what separates Peter from other super-heroes: that he's a regular guy just doing his best he can, not the best anyone can. 6/10
