Comic Review: Spider-Man: Full Circle

Spider-Man: Full Circle #1

Marvel Comics

Jonathan Hickman, Chris Bachalo, Gerry Duggan, Greg Smallwood, Nick Spencer, Mike Allred, Kelly Thompson, Valerio Schiti, Al Ewing, Chris Sprouse, Chip Zdarsky, Rachael Stott, Jason Aaron, Cameron Stewart, Mark Bagley

Finally, after such a long time, Marvel has published another comic containing their virtually unknown character, Spider-Man. I’m so happy this z-list hero is finally pulling through the ranks and having more stories written about him. I’m glad Marvel is giving the little guy a chance.

Okay, jokes aside, Spider-Man: Full Circle is not your average one shot. It’s an 80-page story told in 8 different parts by 8 different creative teams working on 10 pages each. There was no plan for any of this. Jonathan Hickman and Chris Bachalo worked on the first story, then after that, Gerry Duggan and Greg Smallwood just pick up where they left off to move the story forward. In the introduction page, this is further detailed by stating the order of writers was random and they didn’t know who else was working on this comic until it was their turn – and apparently, even then, they only knew who did the chapter before theirs.

If this sounds like a jumbled mess, that’s because it is. Despite this comic being a mess, it’s not actually all that bad. It’s just dumb. But in a fun way.

As I already said, Hickman and Bachalo set the groundwork with Spidey being wakened by Nick Fury. Webhead then realizes he’s on an AIM (Advanced Ideas Mechanics) spacecraft and was recruited by Shield to help obtain some sort of weapon that AIM was harboring. It’s all downhill from here. At least with the story. Each creative team is faithful to the character of Peter Parker. Everyone else around him… It varies. Peter is the star, of course, and the fact that every writer characterized him properly is a plus.

This story just gets progressively more convoluted as it goes on. The intro page states each creative team had to get Spidey out of whatever situation the previous team left him in. They also have to resolve at least one plot element, move the main story foreword, and create new problems for the next team to handle. This comic is really great at showcasing the skills of both the writers and artists. It’s essentially just improv but in a $10 comic.

So much craziness happens in this issue. There’s Ferret-themed amusement parks, werewolves, Cosmic Punisher, and soooo much more. A lot of it rubs off to me as being absurd just for the sake of it. The craziness also reads to me as a way of one creative team saying “Good luck, suckers!” to the next.

Despite the story being all over the place, the art in this comic is great. My favorites were Chris Bachalo, Greg Smallwood, Mike Allred, Valerio Schiti and of course Mark Bagley. Don’t get me wrong, every artist did a fantastic job, but those few stood out to me the most. It could also be due to the fact that I’m huge fans of their previous work, especially Allred and Smallwood. But hey, flip through these pages and see if you agree with me – they all did a great job.

So, this is a weird comic that starts off pretty okay but quickly becomes bat-s*** insane. Yes, the creative team is supreme, but do NOT go into this comic thinking you’re going to experience a masterpiece. That’s kind of what I did and I think that’s why this comic let me down. I didn’t fully know what to expect, but I certainly know it was not what I actually got. Yes, it was dumb comic book fun and it was enjoyable, albeit, not very memorable. This comic is also pretty damn long. 80 pages is a lot and I’m not sure the pay off is worth it. Oh, and as I mentioned earlier – this experimental comic is $10. I know that makes me sound cheap, but it’s a lot for just one issue, especially one that’s okay at best.

I’d say if you’re a really big comic fan and would like to see some of your favorite writers and artists work on an impromptu Spider-Man comic check it out. This is definitely something you pick up for the people who worked on the book and not so much the character/story. With that said, if you’re looking for a fantastic Spider-Man story, just skip this one. This isn’t going to mesh well with you.