Spider-Man: City at War #1

“This woulda been a lot more pleasant for you–if you’d let me do it stealthy.”

Are you ready to step into the Gamerverse and Earth-1048? It’s been eight years since Peter became Spider-Man! Can he finally take down The Kingpin once and for all?

WRITER: Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum

ARTIST: Michele Bandini

COLORIST: David Curiel

LETTERER: VC’s Travis Lanham

COVER ARTIST: Clayton Crain

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Giuseppe Camuncoli & David Curiel (Spider-Man Villains Variant); Adi Granov; Gerardo Sandoval & Erick Arciniega; David Nakayama (Sinister Six-Mister Negative Variant); Tim Tsang

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Nick Russell

EDITOR: Mark Basso

SPIDER-MAN created by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

STORY: Spider-Man aids the police in a raid that finally takes down Wilson Fisk, The Kingpin of Crime! Doctor Otto Octavius, Peter’s employer, is close to a breakthrough with his prosthetic limbs. Spidey tangles with The Shocker, causing his suit to need repair. Doctor Octavius finds Peter trying to fix his Spidey costume and assumes that Peter is Spidey’s tech guy. Octavius then begins brainstorming some suit improvements on Peter’s behalf. Mary Jane heads to Rosemann’s auction house for a lead on a story regarding Fisk and comes across something called “Devil’s Breath” that involves Mayor Osborn. Unfortunately, she gets spotted by a gang called The Demons who take her lead, but not before they get thrashed by Spider-Man. At the F.E.A.S.T. center, Peter joins a celebration in Aunt May’s honor held by the founder, Martin Li. The last panel reveals that Martin Li is the boss of the Demons, Mr. Negative!

THOUGHTS: Here we are-Marvel’s next new experiment at universe expansion! Clayton Crain boldly kicks off this new era with a cover featuring Spidey in his Advanced suit, letting you know where this is taking place and also providing a nice bit of continuity with the most recent mega-crossover, Spidergeddon. For those Web-Heads too busy playing (and replaying) the smash game, Crain provided the art on Spidergeddon #0, introducing the Spidey from Earth-1048 proper into the Marvel Comics Universe. Given Spidey’s pose and webbing, his cover is slightly evocative of Todd McFarlane, but with a >ahem< fresh coat of paint.

This is going to prove to be a tough series to review, at least initially. Without casting aspersions onto Hallum, I had a hard time trying to judge if the narrative flowed smoothly with this issue. Having played the game, my brain was automatically filling in the missing pieces that were omitted from this adaptation. Also, by having those gaps, the issue moved at a startling brisk pace to me, compared to the game, where you can leisurely swing around New York, taking landmark photos and completing research stations, not to mention working on projects back at Octavius’s lab. Even after reading the issue twice, I was still trying to figure out if it would make sense to a reader who hadn’t played the game or if it would feel like the story just jumped around willy-nilly.

Easier to talk about is the art. Bandini’s pencils are clear and crisp, but without any noticeable style, at least to my eye at this point. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but maybe on the generic side, which is more new-reader friendly I’d imagine. I know as a kid I tended to prefer the cleaner styles of Jim Aparo and Tom Grummet compared to more stylized takes like Frank Miller or Bill Sienkiewicz. I like those gentlemen now, but my visual palette had to grow. Bandini’s art would be very welcoming to any comics newcomers that may be checking this out based on their love of the game.

One difference between the game and this comic is that we get a little more inside Peter and MJ’s head in this format. That’s a nice enhancement. We also get dialogue that’s similar to what transpired in the game, but with added flourishes. That makes it feel a little more fresh for those who’ve spent countless hours on their PS4s. Speaking of fresh, there’s a text piece in the back of the comic that promises more little moments and expanded scenes, including a classic villain getting redesigned next issue! That’s really gonna help this series stand on its own instead of being a $4 version of a piece of what I played. I just hope it’s more enticing than having the Demons talk in this issue. That didn’t feel right at all, and as it was played for comedic effect in one scene, it hurt them as being seen as threatening.

Spider-Man: City at War #1 is off to a serviceable start so far. The art utilizes many widescreen style panels, making it feel very cinematic, but comes off as generic compared to the work of say a Ryan Stegman or Ryan Ottley. The story is pulled down a bit for feeling truncated and watered down, but that will hopefully improve as the series progresses. It’s an unenviable task adapting a hit movie to a comic, I can only imagine how hard it is to do so for an incredible video game. Hang in there, Spider-Fans! If you’ve played the game, you know some great moments are ahead!

MY GRADE: C+

JAVI’S HUH?: Aunt May did such a good job that…no one came to her party save Peter and Mr. Li?