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PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN #38
"Make Mime Marvel"
Recommended (8/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Pencils: Mark Buckingham
Inks: Wayne Faucher
Colors: Transparency Digital
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Axel Alonso
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Although the gimmick of silent storytelling is already wearing thin, three weeks in, the best of the stories are still standing out. The best of the stories generally have a reason for the silence, and Jenkins has come up with a very clever and funny reason for silent storytelling: villainous mimes. That the mimes have shown up previously makes them a perfect choice, and only serves to demonstrate that Jenkins has laced much of his run on Peter Parker
with a wacky sense of humor that fits this silent issue perfectly. Buckingham
and Faucher are more than up to the task of doing a comedic silent story, and
though there are a few running gags that only those who have been reading the
book will get, anyone who is a fan of absurd humor will find a lot to like in
this issue.
The mimes were a fun villain
group when Jenkins first introduced them, and they make a perfect choice for a
silent issue. Their meeting in the beginning is hilarious stuff, with absurd
gestures and a strange mental process reminiscent of early Joker, before he
became defined mostly as a psychopath. Even funnier is the script, wherein
Jenkins shows off how amused he was by the concept, and the fun that he and
Buckingham were having comes through in the artwork.
Those who have been reading Peter Parker will recognize several story elements
in this book, not just the mimes. Though the gag is still funny without context,
seeing a race between a VW full of mimes and a VW full of monks who had showed
up in an earlier issue is funnier when you know the stories behind both
characters. The same is true of Peter's gorgeous neighbor chasing her dog
through the street as it runs around with her laundry. For new readers, it's a
cute joke, for continuing readers it serves as further development of the story
of the strange dog who seems to be more than just a pet.
A dog with an agenda is
fairly typical of the sometimes strange humor that Jenkins and Buckingham put in
this book, and in this issue. The random sequence that features a cheese named
Kevin expressing love and then heartbreak over his owner, Peter, is a bit of
comedy that seems right out of Douglas Adams's playbook, and only serves to
heighten the sense of light comedy and fun in this issue. I've always been
impressed with Buckingham's clear and stylish artwork, but I'm even more
impressed with his storytelling after seeing him pull of a silent issue so
flawlessly.
Month-in and month-out, Jenkins, Buckingham, Faucher and the rest of the Peter Parker crew are serving up entertaining, done-in-one stories. This month is
no exception, and they have closed out the year on the same high note they came
in on.
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