Marvel Pick Of The Week – October 22, 2014

Pick of the Week:

Amazing Spider-Man 8, by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Humberto Ramos

Last issue, rising star Ms. Marvel began her first team-up with Spider-Man, a rite of passage each new Marvel hero undergoes before achieving mass legitimacy. It’s one of my favorite tropes in young heroes. I loved it with Nova, Darkhawk, and the New Warriors. But for whatever reason, Kamala Khan geeking out about Spider-Man last issue came across a little creepy because in her world, he is a real person. I would probably dissociate if I met Gwyneth Paltrow, but I hope I’d have the presence of mind not to talk bluntly about failed relationships to her face the way Kamala kept referencing Spidey’s date with her predecessor.

This issue, Kamala maintains the geek level that has so endeared her to readers, but in service to the plot. Spider-Man notices her freezing during a fight with the big bad, so he sets up a coordinated attack based on his partner’s obsessive knowledge of a move he and the previous Ms. Marvel did a few – exactly four, per Ms. Khan – times. It’s a great way to keep writing a beloved character, respect that she is new at this, and not let her steal too much of the show from your title character. Although near the end of the story, Spider-Man is on hold, and “Shake It Off” is the hold music, and I am not ashamed to admit that inspired me to put my book down and watch that video for the umpteenth time. So for this reviewer, Taylor Swift steals more of the show, and haters just gonna hate-hate-hate-hate-hate.

Juggling a large cast of likable, individual, complex characters is a strength of this writing team. In this issue, Slott and Gage take a few pages to mature Silk’s character up a bit, losing the original cobweb costume I loved so much because, yes, it is way too sexy to take seriously. I will gladly give up a visual design if it means a woman getting more pragmatic about the way she wants to come across. The pair also incorporate Clash, the villain from the underwhelming “Learning To Crawl” flashback miniseries, into modern day in a way that means instant forgiveness for the sin of being really boring. I approve. And finally, long-time fans of the MC2 will get to see the May Parker Spider-Girl hit a heroic high-note as she joins the Spider-Verse army. This crossover is going to be intensely fun.

Honorable Mentions:

She-Hulk 9, for finding ways to visually jazz up huge blocks of courtroom dialogue. Pulido’s mixing up the panel layout goes a long way toward keeping me interested in Matt Murdock’s opening remarks, and I appreciate that Soule doesn’t obviously dumb this part down. I’m not usually big on courtroom drama, but I’m liking this a lot.

The Logan Legacy 2, for the hilariously blunt way that a man meets X-23 in a Canadian bar and within four panels, he has offered to pay her for sex. Four panels. Literally, the tenth sentence he says to her is “But, ah… would you, agh, take cash to come home with me?” It has been a while since I have been out clubbing, but I am fairly sure the baseline assumption is to buy a girl a drink before suggesting that she trades sex for money.

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS 3, for Remender’s misguided belief that Norse goddess The Enchantress would greet a giant Red Onslaught flanked by two oversized Sentinels with the line, “That’s the kind of oversight that gets you uninvited to fondue parties.” It’s a great Spider-Man joke. In 1978. It is no way suggestive that Remender has read any previous appearance of The Enchantress. But the plot to this book is dense enough to (almost!) overshadow how little his characters speak like any previous presentations of themselves.

AXIS: Hobgoblin 1, for evil entrepreneur Roderick Kingsley naming his puffed-up lecture series “NED Talks.” That there is a great joke for long-time Spider-Fans.

Secret Avengers 9, for somehow tying the writing of Jorge Luis Borges into the spy mission. I knew my Spanish Lit degree would come in handy someday. Take that, parents and potential employers!