REVIEW: Amazing Spider-Man #18 (Lgy 912)

In fashion, styles come and go and come and go over and over again. Its a mystery of sorts that stipulates that the last decades garbage becomes the one over nexts designer trend. Why bring this up now? The Dark Web “event” is this type of story that nobody really wanted, spawned as it is from Inferno from the late 80’s and a whole collection of clones, including that one from the 90’s. Who doesn’t love a Maddie Pryor and Ben Reilly team-up?

Its seems the Madelyne has finally had her blinders removed thanks to the generous actions of Jean Grey. Now, armed with memories of raising her son, Maddie is looking to stop the chaos she and Ben Reilly set upon New York. Thing is, Ben, who thinks himself (correctly by the way) as an after thought still with his aim firmly in sight; Ben is not going to leave his Dark Web anytime soon! Maybe its time for a classic (?) Marvel Team-up?

Zeb Wells has been killing it on this book prior to the Dark Web shenanigans, breathing life into the sorry existence that is Peter Parker’s decisions. With that in mind, I was quite looking forward to this mini event; I loved Inferno the first time around, especially the Goblin Queen. True, I can do without Ben but in for a penny and all that. However, this run has tried my patience to some extent. Firstly, there are all the demons and re-imagines which start out fun then deteriorate into “one trick ponies”. Secondly there is Rek-Rap and his almost backwards Spider-Man. Can anyone say Bizzaro? Finally, its a crossover into a book that makes no sense from a continuity point of view. Wells’ dialogue works hard to maintain the comedy aspect, though at this stage, its groans more guffaws that are present.

Behind a John. Romita Jr cover, we get another serving of Ed McGuiness art, and based on the first page, what an ample serving it is! I am confused though; as Madelyne is a clone of Jean Grey, shouldn’t Jean Grey also posses Power Girl like attributes? McGuiness, being an equal rights kind of artist also beefs up Spidey and of course Rek-Rap whose look is part Venom and the aforementioned Bizzaro. The X-Men, look svelte in comparison, giving the book an odd mis-balance. I will say that I love the design for Hallows’ Eve, even if the art pairing bulks her up to She-Hulk level. To go with heavy set characters, Cliff Rathburn provides a heavy ink line, which works against the darkened color scheme of Marcio Menyz and Erick Arciniega that epitomises hell on earth, with some bold color choices for contrast. VC’s Joe Carmagna gets to have fun with more “pop pop”, and “pow pow” than an episode of Batman ’66!

I get that comics have to have crossovers, and I understand why they can be popular, but at this point I would love to return to regular scheduling programming! There are still overhanging web threads that need resolving. Like a good meal, things take a while to simmer; if you leave it to long though, the meal is spoiled. I would hate for that to happen to what was a revitalised Spider-Man book.

Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 3 Stars

Overall – 3 Stars

Written by; Zeb Wells
Art by; Ed McGuiness
Inks by; Cliff Rathburn
Colors by; Marcio Menyz & Erick Arciniega
Letters by; VC’s Joe Caramagna
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