COMICS!! Review: Cloak & Dagger #1

Cloak and Dagger are more accessory than actual team at this point in comic continuity. Certainly, their current place in the Marvel Universe is a far cry from the paling around with Spider-Man that I remember so vividly from my childhood. Hell, Cloak and Dagger are the team that I remember most vividly from my youth, but have read nearly next to nothing from in the prevailing years that I've come back to reading comic books.

Out of the void (the Darkness Dimension one might say) comes a Cloak and Dagger mini-series for the Spider Island event. Is this dynamic duo worth investing your money in?

Polarity

Cloak and Dagger have fallen on some hard times. Not being on a team, and not being the "go to" heroes in New York City, they find themselves on the verge of eviction. Even worse, unbeknownst to one another, their extremely different personalities have them thinking of very different plans for the future. With the Spider Island outbreak, Tandy and Tyrone are pulled into the fray, but only time will tell where they wind up after the dust has settled.

Nick Spencer pencils this off-kilter mini-series. His writing of Cloak and Dagger, not as heroes with a strong sense of duty, but as people with super-powers who are having just as much trouble skating by as anybody else, is absolutely brilliant. In-particular, Tandy's interaction with a building inspector trying to get them to leave the building is both hilarious and entirely believable. Splitting the team's inner-monologue also helps distinguish them as individuals rather than the joined at the hip pair they're often passed off as. In fact, this monologue allows Spencer to show that not only do they not agree on everything, but there's also a ton of tension between the two. Of course the two don't completely shirk their heroic qualities, but it's fun to see a superhero book in which the strife the heroes face just trying to get by and get along is the focal point.

The Beauty of Contrast

Spencer's script is great, but since I was a kid, the draw of Cloak and Dagger was their visual style. The team's perfect contrasting look is among the best in comics. That was my thought before laying eyes on the gorgeous artwork of Emma Rios, but if anyone had a doubt to my claims, they need only look at the first few pages of Cloak and Dagger #1. Rios has a beautifully penciled style combined with imaginative use of panel space. Her portrayals of heroes are unique, if not always fantastic, but the way she nails both Tandy and Tyrone is beautiful. Her style is somewhere between a comic book artist like Marcos Martin and contemporary video game artist Ayami Kojima.

It's amazing and can sell the series all by itself. When bolstered with Nick Spencer's smart writing, it's almost impossible not to suggest or recommend this series to everybody. Okay, maybe it's not for those expecting an extremely tight connection to the rest of the Spider Island stuff, but for people who just want a beautifully drawn book about one of the most underutilized duos in Marvel, this is it.

Cloak & Dagger #1 easily gets a 5 star rating.

COMICS!! Review: Venom #4

For those not in the "know", Flash Thompson (childhood bully to Peter Parker yet biggest fan of Spider-Man) has taken over as the Marvel Universe's Venom. Thanks to Rick Remender and Tony Moore, this potentially puzzling successor to the legendary mantle has been nothing short of amazing. Now 4 issues in and with the first arc of the Venom story concluded, does the series have a bright future, or has Flash peaked even before his career has begun?

Soldier of Misfortune

Issue #4 continues the chaotic path from the previous three, with Flash trying to get control of a raging Symbiote, attempting to end the dastardly schemes of the Crime Master and save his girlfriend Betty Brant, AND having to face off against Spider-Man as well. The action is told in a stream of consciousness much like that of a noir story, and the tension rises as the fight between Venom and Spidey escalates. Of course, Betty's life being on the line doesn't help matters, and throw the new Jack o' Lantern (and a whole lot of misunderstandings) into the mix, and this issue is action packed.

Remender's writing really works for this series, and this issue in-particular makes good use of his introspective style. We even get a small portion of the story told by one of Crime Master's henchman which proves both entertaining and enlightening. It's interesting that Flash has run the gamut of being a capable para-military character to one who has come to struggle much more with his current role. This is the first issue in which I actually felt Flash wasn't a hero in the least. I also can't help but love Remender's new version of Jack o'Lantern. He's essentially just a scary henchman, but he's scarier and cooler than the character has been in a long while. Of course, the artwork by Tony Moore is also top-notch. He captures a grittiness and danger that a Spider-Man related series doesn't typically go for. That's part of the fun of it all.

Very Special Forces

Obviously, I think very highly about Venom. So the last question is, should you pick up #4? Well, if you haven't been following the series up to this point... then no. Don't do it. What you SHOULD do is go back, pick up the first three issues, and THEN pick up #4. It's not a great jumping on point (in fact, it's kinda terrible), but it deserves a spot in your collection.

Venom #4 easily gets 4.5 stars out of 5. It's quickly becoming one of my most-anticipated books to pick up each month.

COMICS!! Review: Spider-Man #643

This review was originally posted on my ComicVine.com account. To see that, and gobs of my other work, click HERE.

Well, I have CERTAINLY missed quite a lot in Spider-Man's world. Mary Jane and him are kaput, nobody seems to remember that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson is mayor of New York, and Doctor Octopus has been reduced to an unrecognizable monstrosity. Okay, I knew most of that from reading wikis of Spider-Man story-arcs (wow... One More Day/Brand New Day is... stupid), but still it was extremely odd to be reading a Spider-Man story that felt both equal parts old and new. It's true, a lot has changed for poor old Pete. However, the more things change... the more they stay the same.

WHAT YEAR IS IT?!

Starting last issue this arc revolves around a baby. Namely, the baby of Menace and the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn. With two Goblins as the baby's parents, this kid is poised to be pretty powerful. Doctor Octopus, mad scientist that he is, is hoping to take the baby for his own uses. Ya see, Doc Ock has seen better days and is hoping this baby holds some secret to preserving his fading mortality. Luckily he has a bunch of Spider-Man villains willing to accept a theoretical pay-day in exchange for their kidnapping the child. With them hot on the trail, Spidey gets caught up in this super villain donny-brook and ends up appointed surrogate mommy to the new-born babe. Now Spider-Man is on the run from his entire rogues gallery, the NYPD, and just about every other person in New York as he tries to find safe haven for his infantile friend.

If this story sounds a little goofy, that's only because it is. This is classic Spider-Man action with an emphasis on CLASSIC. There's something of an aged feel to the story itself; even if this is a modern Spidey story, you wouldn't know it. This works both for and against the book because on the one hand, we have an ageless story about the web-slinger down on his luck and once again swept into a whirlwind conflict that he has no business being in. On the other, we don't really have the growth or attachment of the years of Spider-Man stories that preceded this. It's as if Spider-Man has been completely rebooted. I know that's what the point of all the latest Spidey storylines was... but it is a bit jarring to just think about Spider-Man being broke, single, and not public in the year 2010.

WITH GREAT WRITING...

Luckily, some of this is alleviated by great writing from Mark Waid. He gets Spider-Man humor and puts it into great effect in what is essentially an action-centric issue. Nothing ever seems forced and it makes the interaction between characters (especially between Spidey and the two villains, Sandman and Electro, he goes up against) just seem fluid and organic. However, it's still difficult to see this story adding up to little more than a long chase sequence after the last two books. That's certainly a little disappointing, but Waid has managed to make it fun to read thus far.

COMES GREAT ART

The art is likely to be something polarizing in this series. Paul Azaceta has such a strangely retro style that it may take some time to get used to for those unacquainted. However, I personally really enjoyed it, especially the way he drew Spider-Man. The smaller-eyed, less-muscular Spidey he draws looks great and his action sequences are well-rendered. I swear, each panel looks like some weird 1950s illustration and, apart from some oddly drawn secondary characters, Azaceta's pencils are the best kind of "different" you can get in comics.

AND THE FINAL SCORE IS...

Overall, this looks like it's going to be a series that's easy to like, but difficult to really love. It's hard to picture this simple chase story-line branching out into something truly memorable, but it's also been an extremely fun read so far. I'd say the inherent problems in what is going on in Spidey's world are definitely distracting, but that doesn't trump good writing and good art. If you're a Spidey fan, you're already reading this book, but if you want a fun and light book featuring the wall-crawler, then pick up #643 (and #642).

3.5 stars out of 5