Spider-man & Venom: Double Trouble #2
Marvel Comics
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Gurihiru
Does anyone watch American ninja warrior? If not then it’s a game show/sports competition where athletes take part in an obstacle course for prizes. It’s a bit ridiculous and I’ve never been a fan of it to be frank. Still, Spider-man & Venom: Double trouble issue two has just been released and it serves as a parody of the show so let’s dive in.
This issue starts where the first one left off, Spider-man has awoken and realised that Venom has stolen his body. Naturally, he doesn’t take it well. Throughout the rest of the issue, we see Spider-man trying to adjust to this new body and get help. At the same time, he has to deal with Green goblin trying to get back money that Venom owes him. It’s incredibly entertaining. Meanwhile, Venom is using Spider-man’s body to enter “Battle of heroes” which is essentially American ninja warrior. In most cases, this would just feel like product placement but Tamaki really manages to focus on the humour in the situation. It also helps that the competition sets up the plot for future issues and plays second-fiddle to Peter’s experiences in this issue.
I think the humour is going to be the major selling point of this series. It has amazing artwork that I’ll discuss later but it’s mostly about slapstick. Given that a series like this is primarily aimed at younger fans this isn’t surprising. Kids are bound to love this book. It’s utterly hilarious and I’m certain it’d appeal to any adult with a good sense of humour too.
As I said earlier, the artwork is brilliant. Gurihiru kept the artwork vibrant all throughout this issue and there are so many nice touches spread throughout this book. One example is a scene where Peter in Venom’s body leaps over a person who’s walking 6 or 7 dogs. Every single dog is drawn with a different facial expression in reaction to this. It might not seem like much but it’s the little things like that which really make the comic medium so appealing and it’s really awe-inspiring to see an artist making an effort like this.
Overall this issue is well worth reading and if you haven’t picked up a copy of this and issue one yet then I highly recommend you do. Marvel has been making such a great effort with their more kid-friendly titles in recent years and I think this belongs up with the likes of Unstoppable Wasp and Unbeatable Squirrel girl as one of the best of them.
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Spider-man & Venom: Double trouble #2
This is such an amazing issue. Much like its predecessor the artwork is amazing. The characters are handled well despite the silly concept of the story and the writing of that story is very enjoyable. I highly recommend it.
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