What If, Spider-Woman

What If 12, 49, 50, 64

I’ve always loved the concept of this series.  The premise of every issue was baked right into the title, and I instantly knew if I wanted to flip through it.  There was a comfort in knowing that the posited question would be answered in 22 concise pages, and I wouldn’t need to invest in more than the one issue to find out.  

The four issues I have are fine examples of the format.  “What if the X-Men had stayed in Asgard?” is a wonderful follow up to a classic Art Adams two-parter.  “What if the Silver Surfer possessed the Infinity Gauntlet?” is rather generic in its prognostications, and while Scott Clark’s still in the growing phase of his pencilling career, something about the simplicity still speaks to me.  “What if the Hulk had killed Wolverine?” provides a series of fights as fun as the original Fall of Mutants story. “What if Iron Man sold out?” succeeds purely on the uncredited Geoff Senior art. (I had always thought it was Leonardo Manco for some reason.)

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice

Spider-Woman 1-4, Marvel Spotlight 32

I picked up the Dennis Hopeless run based on the strength of the one issue I read a couple of weeks ago.  I’m quite pleased that I did, these are a ton of fun. Greg Land draws the first 4 issues, and I really wonder how differently they would read if it had been done by another artist.  I’ll continue to maintain that it’s pretty art, but it’s always going to overshadow the quality of the story with the unnecessarily overt sexuality.

What is that last pose???  Is that some sort of sex bike contraption?

But looking past all that, there’s good, entertaining writing to be had, along with some quality Spider-Gwen lines.  (Someone put Hopeless on her title!)

Hee, Spider-Crouch!

I much prefer Gwen's perspective to the one we're used to.  Also that 'fridging' is a term canon to the Marvel Universe.

This is all prologue to the real heart of the Hopeless run, which I’ll get to tomorrow.  (The Marvel Spotlight issue featuring Jessica Drew’s first appearance was reprinted in the trade as well.)     

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes (No for Marvel Spotlight)

Rating: Nice (Didn’t suck for Marvel Spotlight)