The Ex-Terminators by: Fred van Lente (writer), Pepe Larraz (art), Andres Mossa (colors) & Clayton Cowles (letters)
Arms against a Sea of Troubles by: Roger Stern (writer), Philippe Briones (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors) & Dave Sharpe (letters)
The Story: The Black Cat – Mary Jane team-up continues and we get a reminder of Doc Ock’s origins.
What’s Good: I like anthology books for two major reasons: (a) there is a surprise in what kind of stories you get and anything bad is over quickly and (b) they tend to be a showcase for new(er) comic artists who Marvel/DC wouldn’t put on a major book yet.
I really enjoyed the first story in this issue (The Ex-terminators) which continues the team up between Black Cat & MJ as they try to find a missing Spidey. What’s not to like about that? There is just all kinds of fun, silly dialog between the two ex-girlfriends that would be a little out of place in a standard Amazing Spider-Man story, but works just fine as a short-story in Web. The art on this was kinda a revelation too because I enjoyed what Larraz was doing. For one thing, he switches effortlessly between a very contemporary digitally-drawn-comics look and a flash-back that is old-fashioned scratchy pencils. For another, he just has all kinds of interesting panel compositions and perspectives going on. How can you not respect that: guy gets a shot to do some comic work for Marvel (working with van Lente) and actually flexes his muscles a little. Bravo! Kudos to Mossa on a really nice coloring job too. Point is, there are more than a few “pause worthy” panels and pages in here.
The Doc Ock story is just a condensed origin tale and that story is nothing special, but it too features some nice art. In this case it is more of a classic pencil/ink look which makes sense for an origin of an established character.
What’s Not So Good: There really is not much to dislike. I guess I could complain about having to read a Doc Ock origin story again. But, even that was well done.
Since I heaped so much praise on Larraz, I’d offer one tiny quibble with how the jaws on his female characters look when he draws them from lower angles. From that one angle only, the art kinda looks weird. But, I offer this more as constructive criticism than anything truly “wrong” with the art.
Conclusion: Worth buying just for the art on the Ex-Terminators story, but good otherwise as well.
Grade: B
-Dean Stell
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