REVIEW: Savage Spider-Man No.1

Kelly’s back with the Non-Stop Spider-Man sequel after reaching the final page I have to say this is one of the best Spider-Man books I have ever read.
Where books like Loeb’s “Blue” and Zdarsky’s “Life Story” are more refined and polished, Kelly’s “Savage Spider-Man” is loud, obnoxious, and grotesque.
A callback to the 90’s Spider-Man Animated Series where Peter was mutated into a Man-Spider, Kelly takes that concept and puts it on steroids. People who don’t believe comic books facilitate intelligence will easily point to this story, even with the deep side plot featuring an extremist terrorist coalition that took their time to remove Baron Zemo from the board so they can advance their agenda.

I’ve read books where Spidey was trapped on an island before , even with someone as gutter as Wolverine, and never have I seen Spidey this depraved.
The man can’t even form a full sentence ! All the words are exaggerated to the point where Lanham makes his case for the letterer being the M.V.P. of these type of publication productions. Every panel is drawn like a splash page, the violence is brutish. If only this was canon. I’d rather have Spidey crawling through N.Y. , especially with J.R. Jr. returning to ASM soon. I can just imagine what Kelly’s Spidey would have been like during “Death of Doctor Strange” and the current “Devil’s Reign”.

So if anyone wants to argue this story has a lack of brains, aside from the giant brain the antagonist s are attempting to weaponize in the tale, the island both Spidey and Zemo are stuck on also serve as a slick metaphor, except to point out that this story is occurring in it’s own little slice of the Marvel Universe. Maybe the “Savage” Universe ? Because Kelly has picked up right where Duggan left off with “Savage Avengers”, solidifying the “Savage” tag line. How, when these comics are not exactly related? By guaranteeing anything with “Savage” in it’s name premium entertainment according to the Marvel U.

Score : 5/5

by Joe Kelly & Gerardo Sandoval, cover by Nick Bradshaw