April 9 Reviews

Amazing Spider-Man #556
Marvel
Writing: Zeb Wells
Pencils, Cover: Chris Bachalo
Inks: Tim Townsend
Colors: Chris Bachalo, Antonio Fabela
4.5/5

Of the four new creative duos we've seen thus far on the weekly Amazing this has been my favorite. Such sentiments may be slightly amplified coming on the heels of Bob Gale's slight misfire, but there's no doubt Wells writes Spidey with a seemingly effortless grace. This issue is wonderfully paced, fluid, and very very funny. He clearly understands the voices of these characters and how to execute comedic timing in the comic form. This would be wholly enjoyable even were it to only focus on Jameson's hospital-bed antics.

Much of what makes Spider-Man such an endearing character can be found here: his perpetual stream of witty banter, his warm treatment of others, and the steadfast resolve with which he conducts himself despite unfavorable odds. Wells writes the good-ol' Spidey that forever holds a special place in our hearts, and its exciting to know there's more of it to come.

The issue has a bevy of standout moments, the most prominent being the interaction between Spidey and an urban vagrant whose ingenuity helps keep our hero on his feet and moving toward his goal. Wells also gets to the heart of the NY-ness of the title in a realistic and effective way without alienating those of us who don't wear that city like a badge of honor. He even manages to incorporate some baseball fandom without being too heavy handed as most jokes of this vein typically are. Note to New Yorkers -- no one else cares.

Bachalo, whose work felt out of place on X-Men, is fantastic here. The enemies and environment look great, and his unorthodox treatment of panels and perspective leave the whole thing feeling fresh and invigorated. He avoids the silly exaggerated features many of his mutant characters were often unfortunately saddled with, suggesting that such stylings were used mostly to maintain a synthesis between he and Ramos' alternating contributions. As of now this is the only run of Amazing he's been slated to work on, but hopefully the reception he's received will lead to additional arcs. His presence is much more exciting than JrJr's tired and unattractive work and hopefully the comic audience will make as much perfectly clear to the Marvel editors.

None of what you find here feels like it's occurring under the umbrella of any type of relaunch. This is just a damn good Spider-Man comic, and probably my favorite issue since Matt Fraction's universally praised Sensational annual this time last year. Even the well designed sparse cover sets the issue above most the rest. It's an incredible relief to see one of our favorite character's work himself back from the dredge of comic purgatory and with installments this good -- anything less than a weekly release would be a disappointment. If you've yet to swallow your pride and give this revamped title a chance, now is the perfect time.
-Tom



Nova #12
Marvel
Writing: Abnett & Lanning
Pencils: Paul Pelletier
Inks: Rick Magyar
Colors: Guru
Cover: Alex Maleev
4.5/5

Since its inception Nova has been great on so many levels. It absolutely captures the over the top absurd creativity of the best pulpy sci-fi of yore but with the professional, smooth flowing, witty, and entertaining dialogue of the modern form. It's a pillar of all the greatest aspects of the genre's classics without the usual campy handicaps that typically pervade such work. I'd be legitimately jealous of today's youth if I felt they were able to appreciate the achievement in the evolution.

In this issue Abnett & Lanning manage to make completely non-organic tech-speaking 'beings' more emotionally gripping than the majority of human characters throughout the comic landscape. It would be easy, as fun and creative as the title is, to let Nova stand on its entertainment laurels alone. Yet here we're compelled to step even further into this world and root for characters to achieve victory for reasons beyond simply wanting the book to continue next month. They make you care which, considering the context, is a hell of an achievement. Even Gamora is given some depth in a simple but well conceived moment that I'll avoid ruining but that certainly struck home effectively and spoke well to her nature.

Also hugely notable are the new covers -- a ridiculously vast improvement over what this title had been receiving prior to the addition of Maleev. A glance at solicitations for upcoming releases show them only getting better as well and we whole heartedly hope the guy is on tap for quite a while coming.

Nova remains one of Marvel's absolute best books and seems only to be getting better. There's no good reason to be missing this.
-Tom