Writer: Peter David
Artist: Greg Land
The untold tales of Spider-Man and his symbiotic life-partner continue in this fourth mini-series by David and Land. In this issue Spidey is joined by some more obscure Marvel characters so have Wikipedia ready.
Depth of Field:
Spider-Man and Moon Boy team-up to save Bruce Banner from the Killer Folk. Meanwhile Doctor Strange and Black Cat continue to search for Spider-Man, in a scene that makes me wish these two characters shared an ongoing.
Focal point:
The issue begins with Spider-Man thanking Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur for saving him. Moon Boy offers to help further by finding his lost travelling companion. Is it even a real Marvel Team-Up if they don’t fight first?
Spider-Man explains he’s looking for a “big green monster” or a “man. Very thin”. Moon Boy is confused by all the words Spider-Man says, but thinks he saw such an individual about to be sacrificed to Long Legs by the Killer Folk. Spidey marvels at the lack of subtlety in this strange world and they head off to confront the killer-clan and their spider god. No totemic relation.
In a cave nearby; a voice is begging Bruce to let him out. Bruce is on a sacrificial alter, and the voice pleads that only by giving himself over to the voice will he be saved. I was so excited to turn the page, expecting to see the promised Hulk guest star beat on the Killer Folk…instead I got a homework assignment. If like me you’ve never read Peter David’s Hulk (I know, I know….sit down) you will have been scratching your head at the reveal of Brian. In the letters page the editor reveals this is a character introduced in Incredible Hulk #377. That was good to know. It would have been nice to have an editor’s box explain it earlier, but at the same time I’m impressed they’re sticking with the bit and only using editor boxes to refer to issues circa the early 1980’s. Needless to say Brian makes short work of the Killer Folk and I need to renew my Marvel Unlimited account.
The scene shifts to Karnilla using a magic snow globe to spy on Spidey and Brian. She dispatches a group of Female Furies to retrieve the Norn Stone. I don’t know if this quartet of women are characters I should know. And I don’t think they’re named so a google won’t be much help. I suspect David is just leaning into his artist’s strengths and giving Land attractive warrior woman to draw. Let Land be Land, I guess. Before the Landettes can get to Spider-Man and Brian they are whisked off to another obscure corner of the Marvel Universe by non-other than Kro…and I’ve never been more grateful that Search Engines don’t charge. If they did Peter David would certainly be trying to bankrupt me. I suppose the downside of this series is that David can only utilise characters who existed at the time, but who aren’t actively involved in the greater stories of the Marvel universe. A bit of a straight jacket, though it’s making for a weird ride.
B Roll:
This is probably a poor time to make this suggestion as Death of Doctor Strange came out today, but seriously Marvel get some comedy writers to pitch a Doctor Strange/Black Cat buddy series. Their scene has me laughing out loud in the literal sense. These character’s worlds have almost no overlap but this makes for such interesting dialogue as they exhaust and frustrate one another. This is the Odd Couple.
Photobombed:
As with previous issues this one also introduced a new character who will play a bigger role in the next issue. This time, as I mentioned earlier, it’s Kro….means nothing to me but apparently he will be coming to a cinema near you with the Eternals movie. I think someone on the satellite podcast referred to this series as the Synergy book, apologies I can’t remember who said it, but boy, where they right.
Negative Exposure:
The issue is fun, but this is starting to feel a little repetitive. Spidey (and sometimes Hulk) are sucked through a portal, encounter an obscure Marvel character before being sucked through a portal. With two more issues to go I’m afraid this series is going to be little more than a few random encounters with MCU up and comers.
Grade: C; a lower grade for this one, I hope this series isn’t on a downward spiral. I have hopes it can recover as Spider-Man’s quips where great, and Land’s version of the Black Spider-Man suit is striking, but I do need a little more plot and connections to Spidey’s world of characters.
Zoom In:
What did you think of Symbiote Spider-Man? Let me know in the comments!
Adam
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@Evan
Don’t get me wrong, this is certainly no Non-Stop Spider-Man….but I certainly miss having Spider’s Shadow to review.
@Sthenurus
Glad I’m not the only one. The art and script are enjoyable, but the series lacks momentum. I thought maybe I was being sour as this is aimed at people with a better grasp of the MU than me. I’m too street level for this cosmic stuff. If the enforcers had shown up I’d have maybe felt a bit better.
Great review. I agree this issue was a bit of a let down. I mean the writing and art are great but… Nothing happened. Hopefully the rest of the story will build on that!
I missed the obligatory Spider-man hyphen, so please pardon me.
@Adam — Man, after your ordeal with Non-Stop Spiderman, I really had hope for you that you’d get a chance to review something that you’re really, really enjoying. Maybe this won’t be a downward spiral after all, or maybe Dr. Strange and Black Cat will get that ongoing that want. Stranger things have happened (no pun intended).