Spider-Man/Human Torch (2005) #5

I read this series when it came out, but I barely remembered anything about it besides it being really good–I didn’t, for example, remember the crimes against the comic book medium the colorists perpetrated.

Suffice to say, I didn’t remember this issue.

This perfect issue.

I mean, it’s a perfect close to this limited series, but it’s also a perfect comic.

It’s not too mature, but it’s not written for kids. It has a healthy respect and admiration for the characters’ pasts, but doesn’t let continuity get in the way of a the story. It’s happy and sad and hopeful and just plain lovely.

This issue reminds of New Frontier in its optimism of the human condition.

It also reminds enough of Kesel’s World’s Finest limited series from a while ago… I wish Slott had ten issues too.

It’s a fantastic comic and really makes the bad colors okay.

Spider-Man/Human Torch (2005) #4

It’s a cute issue. It’s set during the black costume period, when Spidey was with the Black Cat. I sort of remember reading these comics as a kid and, from just the Secret Wars II crossovers I more recently read, they aren’t cute. It’s a strange approach for Slott to make–it’s an all humor issue.

Some of the problem might be with the Black Cat. She didn’t end up with Spidey so watching this lost episode of theirs decidedly lacks drama.

The issue has some coloring problems, but it’s emulating a more slicker period, so it’s not as bad as when it’s bad. The inks… the inks are strange. There’s this whole sequence when Black Cat is in an evening gown and she looks about fifteen. It gets even stranger since there’s a scene with her in her undies.

The opening scene suggests Slott needs to do a She-Hulk team-up with

Spider-Man/Human Torch (2005) #3

And the coloring problems return. Not quite as bad, but whoever’s doing it–there’s no name just Sotocolor–thought adding three dimensions with color shading was a good idea.

And is wrong.

But it’s hard to care, because the series just gets better issue to issue. Here, Slott marries two very disparate elements of Spider-Man history–he relieves Peter’s depression following Gwen’s death with the lunacy of the Spider-Man toys. The Amazing Spider-Mobile, or whatever it was called, will probably never be used so artistically again. Or the fruit pies. What Slott does with the fruit pies is just fantastic.

There’s not as much emphasis on the Human Torch here, except as a true friend to Spidey. Slott writes this lovely scene with Peter (in mask) telling Johnny all about Gwen’s death. And even though the issue is–relatively–light, the whole weight of Peter’s secret identity is clear.

Maybe the series’s first great issue.

Spider-Man/Human Torch (2005) #2

Now, this issue doesn’t have the same coloring problems as the first. It has different ones, but they’re far less garish, thank goodness.

This issue, for the most part, is a Human Torch issue. He and Spidey swap jobs for the day. Spidey messes up the Fantastic Four’s scientific exploration while the Torch takes on Kraven and some drug dealers. Slott bookends the issue with Johnny hanging out Peter and the gang–this issue is set jut before Flash Thompson ships out and… wow, does Slott write the characters well. Even though Johnny has a bigger part throughout, nothing compares to the attention Slott gives the Spider-Man cast.

Templeton does a great job with the three facets–the mundane reality, Johnny’s Kraven adventure and the Fantastic Four sci-fi stuff. His Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy beg for a series of their own.

My only question’s Captain Stacy–did he know Peter was Spider-Man?

Spider-Man/Human Torch (2005) #1

Who let this comic out with these colors?

I don’t usually go nuts, in support or against, over colors. I doubt I even know a single colorist’s name. But Felix Serrano is a criminal. He took Ty Templeton’s lovely retro-artwork–it’s supposed to be in the Silver Age style–and added this glossy Photoshop slime to it. I think it’s the bubble effect.

And this issue is just that old Dan Slott magic, from back when he could do no wrong and could get any reader with a Silver Age affection and some solid literacy salivating for his Marvel comics.

It’s got Peter and Johnny and Spidey and the Torch and the girls–Slott writes Betty Brant so perfectly he should do a whole series for her, a la Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane.

It’s just a magical comic book.

And Serrano does whatever he can to lessen it.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #27

Bendis finishes the arc putting a gulf between Peter and Mary. They end the issue with them sitting with this big space between them, Peter too upset to talk to her. Ultimate Nick Fury just told him he had until eighteen before Fury would control him.

Oh, and Peter might be upset over Harry losing it again. And Mary might be upset because Peter won’t tell her about Harry except to hint at it.

Here’s the problem. It doesn’t feel right at all.

Bendis has a great setup here, but the scene lacks any drama. It’s paint by numbers, with Bendis wanting to get Peter and Mary Jane estranged for the next issue. He doesn’t take the time.

The guy spent an entire issue on a conversation and now he’s not willing to take the time.

It’s amazing how much Bendis infuriates, even though he’s what makes the comic excellent.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #26

Whew, Mary Jane recovered immediately. What drama.

Whose idea was it to turn the Green Goblin into an evil Hulk?

Anyway, I suppose this issue is all right. It seems like Bendis has good intentions, with Peter trying to showdown with the Goblin (a couple times) only to discover anger might not be enough to beat him.

I think I just summed up the entire issue, dramatically. Oh, wait, I forgot about Harry. Harry apparently has these encoded keywords to make him do stuff. So far, following this issue, it’s clear Norman can make him pass out. What’s not clear is if Ultimate Hobgoblin is in the mix or not.

But Bagley. It seems like I’m frequently hard on Bagley, but he makes this issue. He makes it move with all the action, all the different settings, all the different pacing.

When Bendis’s writing is lazy, Bagley makes the comic.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #25

Really, Brian Michael, really?

Makes him sound like a teenage pop star.

So this issue was either written with the eventual trade in mind–since half of it is a retread of the previous issue (more on that aspect in a bit)–and the other half is a really boring chase sequence, only to end with the Goblin using Mary Jane in the Gwen Stacy bridge toss.

And Brian Michael, bless him, sucks the emotion out of the scene, deemphasizing it being Mary Jane in any way other than a damsel in distress.

Very disappointing.

But maybe I was primed for it because of the lame retelling of the Spider-Man conversation with the Goblin. Bendis tells it from the Goblin’s perspective, revealing Norman is hearing lots and lots of voices. Except these voices don’t seem to influence Norman’s dialogue or decision making, so it’s just more filler from Bendis.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #24

Another half on, half off issue. Bendis writes this great scene between Peter and Nick Fury (Ultimate Nick Fury should definitely go undercover in a high school in a Bendis written series, it’d be hilarious), but then he skips out on finishing it.

He’s then got a way too fast scene between Peter and Aunt May; he uses it to resolve a situation he creates at the beginning of the scene, making the whole thing pointless. Lazy…

And when he does get to Peter’s internal dialogue, it’s fine enough, but it’s a lot of words, killing pages until Bendis has a full enough issue to get to his cliffhanger–the Goblin grabbing Mary Jane.

Also funny–as in not right funny, not ha ha–is Peter’s conversation with the Goblin. It’s like Bendis knows the Goblin isn’t a strong villain either. He’s basically just nuts. There’s nothing else to him.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #23

Again, not a fan of Ultimate Norman Osborn. Given I’ve never read the original series’s version of Norman Osborn, maybe I just don’t like the character. He seems like the “Saturday Night Live” version of Lex Luthor.

Only one who turns scaly and green.

Anyway, Norman isn’t the focus of this issue. Instead, it’s about Peter, Aunt May, Mary Jane and–to a smaller extent–Gwen. It’s about Gwen as she affects Peter and Mary’s relationship.

In other words, this issue is Bendis doing what he does best, bringing the human component into all facets of the Spider-Man thing, not just Peter, but how it affects those around him. It’s so strange how Bendis’s version of Ultimate here doesn’t fit with Marvel’s other Ultimate titles.

Great cliffhanger too.

I just wish Bendis could turn in whole great issues, instead of half great, half okay. Or even a balanced good.