Review: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1

Back in the day, when I used to read every Spidey book, I had a soft spot for Spectacular Spider-Man.Â Part of the charm was, that at times, it was less than spectacular but was filled with quirky, off the wall (pun intended) stories.Â This all changed when Spidey became his own brand and books became more connected, even prior to that Clone Saga mess.Â With the recent re-start/re-numbering/regurgitation of ASM #1, I hoped that this book would offer something akin to that old Spectacular book.

Things are pretty much chill for our favourite wall-crawler.Â As he swings about town, he gets involved in his usual shenanigans and as what happens in most of Spider-man stories, it is actually Peter Parker who gets himself into trouble.Â In this instances, it’s the bumping into a strange neighbor whit an odd request.Â From there, we get knockout punches, apples, vague portents and twins!Â Quirky enough for you?

Tom Taylor has been quietly going about his business, writing some really engaging comics, especially of late with both X-Men Red, All-New Wolverine, Injustice 2 annual and Batman Annual #3, the latter being one of the best superhero books of the year for emotional impact.Â Here, Taylor’s writing doesn’t have the emotional wallop of those mentioned issues, though as this is Peter Parker you can bet that the emotional rack is not too far down the line.Â The dialogue, inner monologue based, works well and shows a Parker that is actually quite comfortable with his place in New York.Â In addition to this element, used to good effect in scene setting, the actual vocalised dialogue works just as well.Â I have often complained how there are a bunch of Marvel characters who always feel the need to bring the funny.Â Parker is one of the legitimate ones; though that carries the responsibility of not over cooking the humour,Â Aft all, with great observational humour come great punchlines.Â The only odd thing that I notice din the books is Parker’s living arrangements.Â I thought that he and MJ we living it up in re-joined love, minus the roommates?

The art is supplied by Juann Cabal who art has a very smooth easy-going feel to it, reminiscent of Paul Smith’s work on X-Men a long while ago.Â The styling works really well when Spidey is in action, take the first double page splash for instance and the taxi scene, with a high level of fluidity screams Spider-Man.Â This though makes way to some pretty nondescript out of uniform moments, as if without the dynamism, Cabal loses the sense of movement and detail.Â seemingly, faces without masks are harder to draw, especially if those faves have been so iconic as Peter Parker’s.Â Nolan Woodard applies a fresh bright look onto proceedings with colors that intimate the contentment that Parker seems toÂ be enjoying.Â Travis Lanham produces a font and style that makes the book an easy read.

This book doesn’t provide the kind of madcap vibe I had hoped it.Â Sure, there are a couple of surprises to contend with, but everything seems so nice; it is almost like a Pleasantville version of Spider-Man.Â Still, Taylor has shown that he can write with the best of ’em, so a little faith is deserved in this not Amazing and not Spectacular Spider- Man book.

Writing – 3.5 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 3 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by; Tom Taylor
Art by; Juann Cabal
Colors by; Nolan Woodard
Letters by; Travis Lanham
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