Snapshot! Savage Spider-Man #1

Writer: Joe Kelly

Artist: Gerardo Sandoval

Happy 2022 everyone. Since Symbiote Spider-Man ended last year I’ve been on a hiatus. I’ll quickly summarise my thoughts on some Spider-Man related media that’s happened while I’ve been MIA.

No Way Home– first half hour incredibly boring, the rest absolutely fantastic.

Beyond– Read the first few issues, not for me.

Wells/JRJR on Amazing – I like both creators, but I’m not excited for this. Feels like a retread.

Right, let’s get down to business. The triumphant return of Non-Stop Spider-Man, quietly rebranded as Savage Spider-Man. Because when you’ve got a sales juggernaut and creative success like Non-Stop it’s a logical decision to rebrand….at least that’s what my Spin Doctor says.

Depth of Field:

Picking up from where the last issue left off, like immediately, all most like this is the same book, a mutated Spider-Man and a dejected Baron Zemo find themselves stranded on a tropical island.

Focal Point:

The Savage Spider-Man has opted against a plant based diet. We see this as the issue opens with him using his Spider-Sense to hunt for wild bore. The savage Spider-Man is the mermaid equivalent of a spider. The torso of a man, just with a spider face. His lower body is that of a giant spider. This is so odd to describe I’m hoping for a twist ending that shows this is a coma dream Peter has during Beyond.

While doing his best Lord of the Files, Spider-Man is attacked by a group of hostile genetic experiments. If you’ve not read it; think Hulk zombies, with plastic tubes hanging off them like they’ve just escaped from a lab.

A similar group are also after Zemo, who is desperate to find Spider-Man and form an alliance. The Savage Spider-Man is not in for a co-op and decides instead to beat on the Hulk-Zombies and become their Alpha.

Art wise this is a step up and certainly more consistent then the previous series. The lines are clear, and the fights are easy to understand. I’d like to see Gerardo Sandoval on another Spider-Man project. He handles the domestic scene in a flashback and the action of the present with equal care. Even left overs from the previous series look good, such as the Spider-Sense being depicted through word art.

Development tank:

The scenes I’ve described are as bland as they sound. Not a lot happens this issue. The interesting part of the book for me, is that Peter while in his savage state is experiencing memories not his own. In these memories he is an older man struggling to make ends meet while raising a daughter. This is explicitly not Peter Parker though so calm your One More Day jets.

We’ve seen in previous issues that the A-Plus Drugs take intelligence from the people who use them. Could it take memories as well? But then why would Peter be experiencing them? This has peaked my interest and I hope we get a good explanation and not more Sewer Exposition (see previous reviews of Non-Stop Spider-Man).

B Roll:

Wülf and his team discuss their plans for world domination. Part of this involves sending their enemies to the tropical island of failed experiments. They plan to televise this “Survivor”-style to scare their enemies. This feels outdated, and more the evil scheme of an early 2000’s Ultimate Spider-Man villain. The characters don’t say “stream” they say “televise” reminding everyone that this is written by a 50 year old comic writer and not something a super villain in his twenties would say.

Photobombed:

MJ? One of the Hulk Zombies is an attractive red head. Attractive by Hulk Zombie standards, I mean. I can’t help but think this is an MJ reference. If it is, I’m just not sure why. Maybe Sandoval just likes drawing red heads, no judgement from me.

Negative Exposure:

This book has a number one on its cover. There should be no prior reading required. It is clearly intended as the next issue of Non-Stop. Imagine seeing No Way Home and thinking I want to read some comics. So you brave a comic shop, alien territory to you, and pick up the trade of Non-Stop Spider-Man. That sounds existing, doesn’t it? As there’s no accounting for taste you like it and so start looking for Non-Stop Spider-Man vol. 2…but it’s no where to be found. Marvel is pursuing this mythical new reader while simultaneously making comics impenetrable for anyone not already on the inside.

This next point isn’t a complaint. I’m just curious. Previously when Peter has transformed into a human-sized spider his webbing has become organic. I’m specifically thinking about Spectacular Spider-Man around the time of the Sam Raimi films. In this issue it’s not explicit, and so I’m wondering is the savage Spider-Man is using the web shooters through muscle memory or are we back to organics? I doubt this will be picked up on in Amazing Spider-Man so it’s the definition of a moot point. Like I said I’m just curious. By the end of the issue he’s vomiting webbing anyway.

Grade: C-

This is a hollow story with little to get excited by. Saved by interesting and dynamic art. Without Peter’s monologues or a tease that Peter is experiencing what’s happening to him this doesn’t even have the stakes of your average body horror.

Zoom In:

What did you think of Savage Spider-Man? Let me know in the comments!

– Adam

Side note: This is something that is bothering me and since I have this soap box I’m going to voice it. I’m concerned about the limited number of people Marvel allow near Spider-Man. Since Brand New Day, anytime a new series or creative team has been announced, odds are it’s someone connected to Brand New Day. Other than Nick Spencer and Tom Taylor it seems like Marvel are quiet willing to keep going back to the BND well and grabbing a Zeb Wells, a Joe Kelly or a Mark Waid. I’m sure it’s because the editors know and trust them. But I’m disappointed that nearly 15 years since BND our creative pool has not really changed. Wells on Amazing, Kelly on the B-Title. I would have been interested in seeing a Kelly Thompson or a Jed McKay Spider-Man ongoing, instead it’s just more of the same, which results in issues that read like they’re from 2008 instead of 2022!