As Marvel Comics enters week 38 of the Amazing Spider-Glut, yet another spider-spinoff arrives fresh from the spider-presses to web the ever living hell out of your wallet.
The Obligatory Warning: gory killings with a hammer. And not the cartoony, ACME kind.
The Amazing Spider-Man: Extra is a collection of three short stories. Unlike most one-shots, it actually sort of has reason to exist. The first story, “Death of a Wise Guy,” features b-list villain Hammerhead and the shiny new metal skeleton Mr. Negative stuffs in his broken body. The story, written by Joe Kelly, is rife with noir and gangster clichés, but they’re used more as homage than crutch . Penciler Chris Bachalo shows off his style’s elasticity, drawing innocence as well as he draws garage executions. In “Birthday Boy,” writer Zeb Wells’ contribution, Spider-Man tackles the glue-wielding Trapster, then decks an arrogant jackass at Harry Obsorn’s birthday party. Patrick Olliffe’s pencils are engaging, but colorist Rain Beredo’s muted palette isn’t a good match for Olliffe. The final tale, Marc Guggenheim’s “Spartacus Gambit,” is an entertaining legal story in which Matt Murdock calls in a few favors to keep a judge from unmasking Spider-Man in court. Marcos Martin contributes pencils that miraculously make legal proceedings interesting to look at.
Worth the money? Only if you can’t get enough Spider-Man. Watch your wallet, webbing takes hours to dissolve.
