Marvel
Comics
Writer
& Artist: Kaare Andrews
Welcome
to another dark, despondent future where the hero has gone away and
the forces of evil are slowly draining the light and life from the
world. So how is
Spider-Man: Reign any different from every
other such story? Because this is Spiderman’s story, and Kaare
Andrews makes that clear in every way. With issue #3 of
Reign,
the story picks up after the aged Spider-Man’s hard defeat at the
hands of four old enemies. Rescued by the dead Dr. Octopus’s
now-automated tentacles (try saying that three times fast), Peter
Parker comes face to face with his guilt over the death of Mary Jane
and every other beloved figure in his life. Meanwhile, the sinister
mastermind behind The Reign’s totalitarian regime is revealed as an
older, more intelligent, evolved, and hungry Venom. So now it’s up
to Spidey to reassemble some semblance of sanity and rescue New York.
Kaare
Andrews has done a great job here of portraying a mentally scarred
and emotionally damaged Peter Parker throughout
Reign and
manages to push it even further with this issue. The guilt and
ultimate sense of helplessness that has always been a defining
characteristic of Spider-Man comes through strongly and richly in
this series. However, if Andrews has any serious weakness with
Reign,
it’s got to be from a major compression of story. To put it
bluntly, Kaare Andrews may have simply written himself a story too
rich for its own good. So many things in this series are able to
intrigue and beg development, but they hardly ever get to stretch
their legs. Rather than having each issue be a 36-page affair,
Andrews could have benefited from being allowed a 48-page format that
would have let him really do what he’s obviously dying to do:
explore the rich, complex future he’s created.
With
the artwork, Andrews does a great job with color, imagery, and
layout. He pushes the image of the haunting presence of Mary Jane’s
memory and is smart enough to take his time in the panel
progressions. Each panel is necessary and artistic at the same time
which makes the book, as a whole, a fulfilling, satisfying piece of
eye candy. The most striking image in the book comes when Dr.
Octopus’s self-sufficient tentacles carry his haggard, rotted
corpse across the graveyard where Mary Jane is buried. Combined with
the writing, the scene is both terrifying and beautiful at the same
time. Most of Andrews’ artwork can best be described as a fluid mix
of the grisly and the gorgeous. And it is that same fluidity that
fits so perfectly with the nimble, glib wallcrawler. As a final note,
Andrews gets extra credit on the cover art for this issue of
Reign.
Andrews’ theme on the relationship between Dr. Octopus and
Spider-Man comes through loud and clear in the beautiful, chilling
cover.
Overall:
8/10. Great resume work for Andrews.
