Spider-Man #1 & #2 (Marvel)

Rating: 4/5 – Decent “Marvel Elseworlds” that goes off on a tangent from normal Marvel continuity.
by ComicSpectrum EiC Bob Bretall.

This is the series that has been mostly publicized as a vehicle for JJ Abrams & his son Henry to write a Spider-Man story.  The 1st issue was the #2 selling comic for September 2019.  I’ll be curious to see if people who bought #1 are going to be swarming back to shops to buy #2 (we’ll see when the October sales come out).  I’m guessing no.

Sara Pichelli’s art is outstanding in both issues, I have no complaints there.  The story is fine as an “elseworlds” story that goes off on a tangent and is totally unrelated to any other Marvel comic or continuity. 

Personally, I didn’t enjoy how the Abrams duo has characterized Peter Parker.  My idealized version of Peter wouldn’t do what Peter does in this story, but this is really a story about Peter & MJ’s son Ben, so they had to get Peter out of the way, so it is what it is.  After reading the 1st 2 issues, I think I can safely skip the rest of the series at full price.  I suspect the balance of these issues are going to be in dollar bins within a year or so.  I also suspect when this is collected the trade paperback will sell decently well to people curious to see a Spidey story by JJ Abrams, essentially the same demographic that went out and bought lots of issue #1. 

Reviewed by: Bob Bretall
(bob@comicspectrum.com)
http://comicspectrum.com/ By Fans who Love Comics For Fans who Love Comics