It now seems a somewhat alien concept to me that Paul Jenkins wrote some of my favorite Spider-Man stories in the pages of Peter Parker, because the work he's doing now just holds no interest for me. Part of that is the artwork, which is grossly distorted and fairly ugly, among the worst examples of the Amerimanga style that I dislike so, but there's also no doubt that the writing has changed. Rather than a focus on characters or quirky stories, Jenkins is doing plot-heavy tales featuring big name Spidey foes, and it doesn't seem to fit his style, paling in comparison to the similar plot-focused work being done in Amazing Spider-Man. The first issue of Spectacular Spider-Man is virtually identical to another issue of Peter Parker, and it's just not something I'm terribly interested in.
Honestly, I would have been just as happy never to see Venom again. If we had to see him, though, I would prefer that the writers had something new to say with him. And in fairness, Jenkins does have that. This Venom doesn't have the same modus operandi or indeed the same goals as the Venom we've seen in the pages of Spider-Man before. Unfortunately, there's little explanation made for his new methods of operation, goals, powers or personality in these pages. If you haven't read Venom, you're likely to be more than a little confused, and even if you have read Venom, Jenkins seems to be far ahead of the curve of Daniel Way's story, treating the villain as if his new powers and personality had already been revealed.
Certainly there's spooky potential in the idea of Venom as a possessing force who is acting out some sort of vampiric attacks. It's just that Spider-Man is acting as if this kind of thing is to be expected, and to the best of my recollection, this is Venom acting in a completely different manner than the one we've seen before. Spidey seems to believe that Eddie Brock is still attached to Venom, but if so, why does he seem so unperturbed by Venom's heretofore unseen vampiric tendencies?
Venom's new abilities and personalities are the least of the inaccessible elements of this first issue, however. Jenkins is really picking right up from Peter Parker, with a supporting cast that's already established and a subplot about Flash Thompson being put into a coma that carries right over from those pages. Which leads me to wonder why this new series was begun, given that it doesn't seem to have a distinct identity from Peter Parker, and little effort is made to bring in new readers who might be curious about Spider-Man thanks to an interest in high profile projects like the MTV animated series, catching the movie on DVD or reading Straczynski's Amazing.
Really, though, while the story does nothing for me, it's the art that actively puts me off. Humberto Ramos was one of the guys who started the Amerimanga style (calling it manga-influenced is a bit of a misnomer at this point, as it really bears little resemblance to most manga art), and when he did it it was fresh, new and kind of a neat variation on the art we were seeing. Now, he seems to be aping the second- and third-generation imitators like Francisco Herrera and Carlos Meglia, and I actually found his original style a lot more interesting. The exaggeration here is too much; John goes beyond weird comic relief to actual alien appearance, everyone looks about 12 years old, Venom looks more humorous than threatening and Spider-Man looks like an alien as much as his foe. It's goofy and comical, and doesn't really fit the tone of the story. More to the point, it's generally pretty ugly and over-exaggerated, a disappointment given that Ramos is capable of much more beautiful work.
