Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Spider-Verse Team-Up #3 Review



 

A shot at redemption.


This week we find two stories – one with a big implication for the main event, while the other with a more emotional tone.

Gage delivers another new Spider into the mix while bringing into fray a major move in the ongoing battle based on previously seen material. DeFalco meanwhile is able to get his hands on his beloved MC2 Spider Girl again – though it’s a weak story he tells.

The artwork is okay and serves the plot, but isn’t anything remarkable or worth standing out.

SPOILERS FOLLOW…………..

The first story is very important to the Spider-Verse event, but seems to come too late and out of the left field.


But first, we have the complete Parker family as Spider-Man set! Yes, Aunt May appears as the wonderful Spider-Ma’m! And it’s interesting that this seems to be the only world where all three (Peter, Ben and May) are alive, and one of them is a Spider.

Karn though attacks (after spending most of the event in the background after being the primary antagonist in the first few parts of this event) Spider Ma’m but is himself cornered by a Spider team comprising of Spider-Punk, Spider UK, Spider-Man India, Old Man Logan Spider-Girl and Anya Corazon.

After repelling their attack easily, Karn stops when Anya explains that there is a way to stop the Inheritors who’ve ostracized him with his help. Karn relents on the condition that he siphons off a little totemic energy from the Spiders.


It’s an interesting though not all unexpected development. I’ve liked Karn’s ‘foster child’ storyline despite its predictability. But it’s rather sudden that this comes so far down the event when Karn has been relegated to sporadic appearances since his big moments in the prologue.

And how did Anya track down Karn? Seems like a missed a step there.

The next story is very thinly plotted but tries hard to work the emotional angle. Already reeling from her parents’ death, Mayday is on edge and out for blood after Morlun snatches her baby brother because of his links to the totemic balance.

The Post-Apocalyptic Spider-Ben attempts to calm her down, but she refuses him by saying he, and by extension everyone outside her own universe, are poor imitations of her family.

There is a meta reference here given MC2 feels like it was how the original Marvel Universe should have gone – with the next generation taking over.


One of Mayday’s outbursts lead to a crack in the bunker walls, exposing them to an army of mutated Spiders that survived the radiation. Following Mayday’s knowledge of her powers, Ben is able to stop the Spiders’ progress with her help.

It feels like DeFalco added the last bit though, when he mentions that somewhere out there may be another variation of the MC2 universe, a Mayday Parker is eating breakfast with her whole family untroubled by the woes that are the Inheritors. That type of universe was supposed to be a 'happy ending' for the Parker family - which obviously didn't happen for the Mayday stuck in Spider-Verse.

SPOILERS END…………….

There are good moments in this issue, though it feels like the writers are burdened by last minute reveals and introspection.

The artwork is serviceable but nothing more.

So, I give it 6.0 out of 10.

+The new Spider introduced!
+Some meta-rumination from Tom DeFalco

-Last minute reveal feels sudden
-Artwork is nothing much
-General feeling that the writers are a little overburdened

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