Comic Review: Spider-Man (2019-)#1 (SPOILERS)

Spider-Man #1

Marvel Comics

Writers: J.J. Abrams and Henry Abrams

Artist: Sara Pichelli

Finally! The moment we’ve all been waiting for is finally upon us! The book that will singlehandedly save comics! No, I’m not talking about Raimi’s Spider-Man 4. Oh, no, this is even better. It’s the most shocking and incredible comic of 2019, as touted by Marvel Comics themselves. Fellow Fans, rejoice! Spider-Man by J.J. Abrams and his 21-year old son, Henry, is here!

Yaaaaaaay!

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Talk about nepotism.

Anyway, for better or worse, the comic with the weirdest marketing campaign is finally upon us and it’s time to dig in! And boy is there stuff to chew. Be warned, this review is going to be spoiler-heavy. Just skip to the verdict if you want to avoid them. You have been warned.

So, the opening of the story is somewhat shocking, if not a bit tired. There’s a new villain, Cadaverous, and he has an army of little aliens (of the Alien franchise fame). It is not clear who he is or what his connection to Spider-Man is, but he manages to give him a really, really hard time. Like badly damaging Peter’s left hand.

And then he kills Mary Jane and we have a funeral and a 12-year time-skip so we can meet the true protagonist of the story – Peter’s and Mary Jane’s son, Ben.

The rest of the book is just Ben going around cooking breakfast for Aunt May (yes, that is correct), beating up bullies, hitting on a new classmate and finally entering spider-puberty. Peter shows up a bit, but there’s not much going on with him. Cadaverous also makes a reappearance towards the end and you are just left wondering where the hell has this guy been for twelve years.

So, there isn’t much going on in this opening issue. I mean, yeah, Mary Jane dies in the opening act. And then just… Nothing much, really. They try hard to sell us Ben Parker as a compelling hero, but there’s nothing that interesting about him. He’s a far cry from what made (and still makes) Peter so relatable. The (supposed) love interest is also a bit dull, and the interaction between her and Ben is just groan-inducing. And what’s up with the villain? I mean, Cadaverous. What kind of name is that? I have a hard time pronouncing it and an even harder time writing it. There is nothing memorable about him and I can easily see him sliding into obscurity. At least his design isn’t awful.

Speaking of designs, let’s talk a bit about the art. Sara Pichelli, the co-creator of Miles Morales, is on art duties and she does a fairly decent job with the script she has. There are some decent shots, like the opening splash of a ruin-and-snow covered New York, or Mary Jane running through it in search of Peter, but nothing too memorable. Like I said, beyond the opening sequence, the majority of the book is just Ben going about his daily life. There’s just not much one can do with school hallways, classrooms or the interior of a car. There is a page towards the end, a dream sequence of sorts, where Ben sees MJ covered in blood and he slowly gets swallowed by it, but that’s it. A shame, really. I hope Pichelli will get some chances to shine later in the mini.

The colouring is also adequate. I mean, it’s nothing spectacular, but it’s not bad either. The use of the red and orange against a backdrop of colder colours is really cool, making those some of the better-looking panels in the book thanks to that higher contrast.

So yeah, this was not a good first outing. The storyline is just so generic and underwhelming, it even manages to drag down the artwork. Despite the fact that the project reeked of nepotism and despite it clearly signaling that you can do anything once you have a certain amount of power and money, I was still willing to give this book a chance. I tried to approach it with an open mind and not judge it before actually reading it, hoping to find at least a decent story. Unfortunately, there is none to be found.

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