Advance Review: Darkhold Spider-Man #1

I am not sure how it happened; I wasn’t looking for it to happen but somewhere along the line I have become a Darkhold specialist. After reading all these one-shots, I feel like I could look upon the pages of the Darkhold itself! Who knows, maybe my horror would be writing for CBR! After the last issue, a Black Bolt special, that lacked a certain frisson, this penultimate issue comes from the super talented Alex Paknadel.

New York city has been through a lot. This time around it is the time of the Unravelling, where things and people can fall apart. Thankfully, Spider-Man is around with his amazing web, his spectacular web, his web that used to have it’s own comic! Thing is the web lasts for about 3 hours before it needs replenishing. So on his wedding anniversary, the weight of New York and a cast of characters rests firmly on his withering away frame. With a possible new support system on the horizon, is Spidey up for yet another challenge on his already fraught and frail mind.

Alex Paknadel, as mentioned before, seems to be Marvel’s “go to guy” for one-shot’s that feature their core characters. Here, Paknadel looks to examine the “great power / great responsibility” idea to an ultimate end. It’s no surprise to see how well Paknadel captures the fun element of Spidey when other books seem to fail so miserably. Whichever book he is working on, Paknadel demonstrates his knowledge and love of the Marvel universe. In this instance, Paknadel entwines the horror vibe in subtle and surprising ways. There is also a wealth of emotion woven through the book that balances outs the horror perfectly. As an advance review, I am not going into details; you are going to have to pick up the book and see for yourselves!

The art is provided by Dio Neves who delivers a creepy elbow and knees Peter that matches his costumed ID perfectly. The city is covered in webs; Neves takes the spaghetti style to a new level. Every character in the book has a horror vibe, some more surprising than others, including Spidey himself. It’s a dark book for sure, in part due to the heavy inks and in part to the strong colors scheme of Jim Charalampidis. Looking at the book, Charalampidis looks at the situation and schemes accordingly. Letters are provided by VC’s Clayton Cowles, so you know that you are going to get a well crafted font, expert placement of word boxes in order to let the art breath and tell the story visually in conjunction with the script. With a variety of covers to choose from, I don’t think you can go wrong with cover A from James Harren and Dave Stewart.

This book is head and shoulder better than the last Darkhold instalments; I will go one step forward. The campaign to get Alex Paknadel on a regular Marvel, preferably Spider-Man starts here; #marvelgivePaknadelaregularbook! Over the last couple of years, over different events, Paknadel has never failed to deliver the goods; this book is no exception to his high standards!

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Alex Paknadel
Art by; Dio Neves
Colors by; Jim Charalampidis
Letters by; VC’s Clayton Cowles
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network