Swing Vol 1
I picked this up when I saw that it was a spin off of Sunstone. Linda Sejic draws a lot like her husband Stjepen (beautifully), and Matt Hawkins and Jenni Cheung write convincing about a world I know very little about. Where Sunstone provided a mature and romantic look at BSDM, Swing does the same for the swinging culture. More importantly, Swing tells a convincing love story, then continues past the happily ever after and into the mundanity that even a healthy relationship can fall into. How does such a couple rekindle that spark? Hawkins, Cheung, and Sejic explore one possible solution. The next volume comes out next year, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for it.
Peter Parker: Spider-Man 46, 47, 50
Spectacular Spider-Man 14, 27
The last of my Paul Jenkins Spider-Mans. He’s run out of steam at this point. I’m thoroughly sick of the Green Goblin. Similar to the Joker, it’s perfectly clear that he deserves a bullet in the head, or any other manner of execution. Any ethical argument doesn’t hold water by any measure, and that overshadows any particulars of the plot. “Kill him and be done with it already,” blares over and over in my head. At least the Joker comes up with new and chilling ways to wreak havoc. Green Goblin can’t do anything but threaten Peter’s loved ones. It gets old, and no one would fault Peter for crossing that moral line. So frustrating.
This may also be Humberto Ramos at his exaggerated worst. He’s so much better than this.
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| What is Spidey doing with his body??? |
The other issues didn’t bring anything interesting to the table. It was good to read the first couple times, but there are only so many times Peter can navel gaze during a visit to Uncle Ben’s grave before I can’t take any more.
Spec 14 was an intriguing issue about a kid with cerebral palsy who’s the sole witness to a Spider-Man fight with Morbius. Joey (the kid) narrates it with a ‘normal’ voice, and it’s an indictment of my prejudices that I never really considered that to be a possibility before. He’s trapped in a debilitated body, but his mind is unaffected. Yet I never considered that someone like him would have any stories of note to tell. Color me chastened, and I’d better carry this lesson into my real world view.
I like the little bow Spidey gives here. Paolo Rivera infuses it with the proper grace, sadness, and dignity.
Regret buying? No
Would buy again? No
Would read again? No (Yes for Spec 14)
Rating: Didn’t suck (Nice for Spec 14. Cutting all but that issue.)
Spectacular Spider-Man 107-110
The Death of Jean DeWolff by Peter David. I bought this ages ago because I’d heard it was a classic. I don’t get it. Perhaps I needed to read her previous appearances to see why her death affected Peter Parker so much, but the emotional resonance was completely missing for me. The Sin-Eater is also an uninspiring, generic villain. I’m keeping it only because other people say it’s good, and I may want to give it another chance someday.
Regret buying? No
Would buy again? No
Would read again? No
Rating: Didn’t Suck
Spectacular Spider-Man 199
A random leftover issue from early on in my collecting days. No reason for me to keep this around.
Regret buying? No
Would buy again? No
Would read again? No
Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)
Marvel Knights Spider-Man 1-12
I expect more from Mark Millar. His attempts at banter, like the rant about DVDs in the first issue (and man, did that age poorly), come across as a very poor attempt at Bendis mimicry. And for all his talk in the afterward about revamping classic Spider-Man villains, all he really did was slap new costumes on a number of them and rehash the same tired Green Goblin schtick I ranted about a few paragraphs ago. After reading so much Spider-Man over the past week, everything here came across as warmed up leftovers. At least the art is great to look at. Can’t complain about Terry Dodson and Frank Cho.
Regret buying? No
Would buy again? No
Would read again? Yes
Rating: Fine
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