Spider-Man: City at War #5 Review

“Things just got worse, Spider-Man! The entire population of The Raft has escaped…including Martin Li. Five of your worst enemies are now on the loose.”

Doc Ock’s plans for revenge go into overdrive as he bands together a Sinister team! Can the Web-Slinger withstand six of his greatest foes as the citizens of New York grow sicker and sicker?

WRITER: Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum

ARTISTS: Michele Bandini pgs. 1-5; 16-20; Luca Maresca pgs. 6-15

COLORIST: David Curiel

LETTERER: VC’s Travis Lanham

COVER ARTIST: Clayton Crain

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Matthew Waite (8-bit variant); David Nakayama (Sinister Six-Scorpion variant)

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Nick Russell

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Martin Biro

EDITOR: Mark Basso

SPIDER-MAN created by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

STORY: Spidey is already at Ryker’s, trying to stop a breakout, when Yuri tells him to head to The Raft, since five of his worst enemies are on the loose. Once there, Spidey takes them on, but gets felled by their might. Their numbers are joined by one more when Doc Ock reveals himself to be the mastermind and warns Spider-Man to not interfere.

Weeks later, Miles and May are trying to do what they can for the sick at the F.E.A.S.T. shelter. Meanwhile, Sable’s soldiers are barricading the hospitals under orders from Mayor Osborn, not allowing access for doctors and patients alike. Spidey swings in and takes care of the mercenaries, re-opening the hospital. Trying to help out, MJ  has broken into Osborn’s penthouse looking for a lead on an anti-serum. She gets discovered and leaps from the top of the building with Spidey, like a streak of light, arriving just in time to catch her. Spidey drops Mary Jane off at F.E.A.S.T., where a stowaway spider from the lab bites Miles. Spidey follows MJ’s lead and finds Mr. Negative at the Oscorp anti-serum lab. The two do battle, with the Wall-Crawler saving the captive mayor and locating the anti-serum. However, Doc Ock arrives, taking down Spider-Man and claiming the serum for himself. Back at the shelter, Aunt May begins to cough and passes out.

THOUGHTS: Clayton Crain provides another spectacular painted cover, capturing a moment inspired by last issue’s conclusion. The coloring of New York reminds me of Earth-65, but as great as this cover is, it isn’t the one I purchased. The ’80s kid in me was compelled to get the 8-bit Super Mario Bros. 2 homage by Waite. He cleverly recreated the aesthetic of that game’s character select screen, adding a spider motif and switching out Mario and Co. for Spidey in his various Insomniac designed suits featured in the game. It was too much fun for me to pass up!

So, one of my cons for last issue was the omission of the Ryker/Raft breakout sequence. Well, I spoke too soon. Hallum shifted the pivotal moment to the opening of this issue. Obviously, it’s a far more truncated version than what you get in the game, but Hallum spices it up with a few of his own original quips. Bandini’s art is suitably moody, capturing the rain-soaked atmosphere well. He does a great job trying to capture some of the iconic images from the cut scenes in his own style. The soon-to-be-Sinister Six come off very menacing in their opening group shot and Otto dominates his former apprentice in his villainous reveal.

The story leaps forward a few weeks after that…and changes artists. I actually enjoyed Maresca’s work, but I don’t think it meshes well with Bandini’s style, coming off as slightly cartoony in comparison. Line work feels much heavier, too.

I’m not sure how I feel about the Silver Sable soldiers hospital scene. While it’s nice to have added material and it gives Hallum an opportunity to showcase a group you deal with throughout the game, some of the dialogue feels somewhat heavy handed as some follow Osborn’s orders without thought and others feel regret.

I was happy to see that MJ’s escape from Osborn’s penthouse made it into the issue, but much of the tension got lost at the end. While it starts off strong, with MJ about to freak out with a GIANT spider on her shoulder as a lone Silver Sable is investigating the sound of broken glass, it quickly turns into MJ simply running in front of a nondescript background. For those who haven’t played the game, MJ spends part of this level avoiding all the Sable guards and the cut scene features them chasing her onto the balcony. The comic simply has her running and jumping off, with no visible pursuers. What the book did right was at least turn the moment into an homage of the Amazing Fantasy #15 when Spidey caught her. When Marvel’s best couple is swinging away in the game, I found it to be very reminiscent of Raimi’s Spider-Man and some of that gets carried over visually.

Once MJ is safe and Miles gets bitten, Bandini steps back in with some stunning images of Spidey fighting Mr. Negative, book-ending the issue artistically. Story wise, this feels like another major leap during this series as all of a sudden Spidey is fighting a giant negative demon with Norman Osborn somehow now captive. I have to admit to some disappointment that we didn’t get to see the individual mini-fights with the members of the Sinister Six. I get that there was no room for that and it slows the story down as we’re barreling towards the conclusion, but a two page spread showcasing Spidey taking down his foes, similar to the one we got last issue showing Doc Ock’s back story, would’ve been greatly appreciated. Watch Hallum move it to next issue again!

Despite some caveats, I did really enjoy this issue. It certainly helps that the game’s story gets better and better as you go along. Ending the issue on Aunt May collapsing was a perfect cliffhanger and natural stopping point. Art-wise, I felt Bandini and Maresca bring great things to the table, I just wish either one of them had the issue all to themselves for some consistency. Hallum brings just enough to make things interesting, but I can’t wait to see him unleashed on Spider-Man: Velocity soon!

MY GRADE: B-

JAVI’S HUH?: Just how big is the spider that bites Miles? It’s gigantic when it’s on Mary Jane’s shoulder and still fairly large when it bites Miles. I’d be a little more freaked out than he is if something that size up and bit me!