J.J. Abrams, Henry Abrams and Sara Pichelli's Spider-Man #2

[Mister Mets]

The second issue of J.J. Abrams, Henry Abrams & Sara Pichelli's I] Spider-Man [/I]mini-series seems to have come in with little notice. No one's talking about it here, and none of the websites I follow on my RSS reader mentioned it. Comic Book Roundup lists five reviews so far, one more than Guardians of the Galaxy and one less than the latest issue of the Kieron Gillen/ Dan Mora's creator-owned series Once & Future.

I thought it was okay.

Comics The Gathering has a relatively positive review.

This is Peter Parker but unlike we’ve ever seen him before. The focus here is on his teenage son Ben. It lives in its own continuity which makes it quite accessible for casual readers, many of whom will be drawn in by the fact it’s J.J. Abrams.

One of the interesting things going on in the background is the fall of Peter Parker, who is almost unrecognisable. One of Peter’s strengths is that he always gets back up, always keep on fighting, but here is a Peter who didn’t. The loss of Mary Jane was too devastating.

There is a new take on the classic “With great power comes great responsibility” which of course goes hand in hand with Spider-Man. Another example of a classic Spider-Man trope becoming brand new.
A big part of the story is the relationship between Peter and Ben, which is almost non-existent. I find this quite an interesting choice when the writing is a collaboration between father and son, although that helps to give the relationship a little more authenticity.

The art by Sara Pichelli is good, she has plenty of experience drawing Spider-Man as the first artist for Miles Morales. She is just as comfortable drawing scenes of devastation (the first few pages of #1 in particular spring to mind) as she is drawing quiet scenes in May’s house, or action scenes with Spider-Man swinging around the city.

What did you guys think?

[Jman27]

well besides the nepotism comments I seen from here and Reddit this issue was ok nothing amazing pun intended

[boots]

The second issue of J.J. Abrams & company's Spider-Man #2 seems to have come in with little notice. No one's talking about it here, and none of the websites I follow on my RSS reader mentioned it. Comic Book Roundup lists five reviews so far.
I thought it was okay.

Comics The Gathering has a relatively positive review.



What did you guys think?

i think peter has to stop naming his kids after dead people

[Jman27]

i think peter has to stop naming his kids after dead people

well the spirit of Ben Parker must live on

[Snoop Dogg]

"I can't give up now! Abraham Lincoln Parker is counting on me!"

[boots]

"I can't give up now! Abraham Lincoln Parker is counting on me!"

and just like that...i'm proven wrong

[boots]

well the spirit of Ben Parker must live on

shoulda just named his kid uncle

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I actually did think the issue was an improvement on the first one. Good mix of action and movement.

The only problem is...Benny Parker is not a likable character. Sure his Dad is a d--k but there's nothing to Benny that distinguishes him aside from "Generic white teen". He has no personality. Likewise Faye Ito feels Manic Pixie Dreamgirl-ish...and that personality doesn't make sense because that works when you pair that kind of girl with a guy who is really uptight and repressed (for instance Benny's parents). The problem is Benny is presented as a "totally cool guy" and so on. It's highly reminiscent of Garfield in Amazing Spider-Man which I think is the influence here.

Peter Parker continues to be so unappealing that I actually think he should be a legit villain in this story. It's also unbelievable that Peter would become a photographer taking pictures of accidents and terrorist attacks and not want to step in somehow especially in a world where the Avengers are toast.

[Hugo Strange]

That boy really needs a father. If he continues in that way, around that kind of people, he will become a criminal.

[WebSlingWonder]

I like this book, actually. It's different, despite feeling similar to other stuff done before. Some of the dialogue does need work though, like the way Faye and Benny talk seems out of tune with ninth graders lol But I like the way that Benny is being set up as a legacy hero. It's the typical hero's journey.

My only complaint is really how speedy this issue was. He just discovered his powers a few days ago in the story, finds the suit, refuses to wear it, then tries it on for a date, swings for the first time, and then saves someone's life. All in like two days. That's incredibly fast. Like, really fast. It's like the writers skipped over some of the extra development that would happen with Benny's character to get him to that point because the first issue lacked so much action. You know?

[TinkerSpider]

it was boring trite and cliched

faye is a cliche manic pixie dam girl who has no character other than to be a catalyst for ben. we don’t even know why ben likes her other than she’s female and has asian stereotype colored streaked hair.

ben is unlikeable and remarkably incapable of thinking logically even for a teenage boy. both ben solo parker and keanu parker need to be in therapy and it’s kinda uncomfortable reading about characters who should be under psychiatric care but don’t seem to be and don’t acknowledge they are mentally unhealthy. keanu parker continues to bear no resemblance to peter who would never check out of a world that lost other heroes. or abandon his son. c’mon this is a character who sold his marriage to save his aunt

i can’t tell if the abrams are purposefully making may into an idiot or if they are trying to portray her with dementia. she gives an emotionally disturbed teenage boy who just discovered his powers a costume and web shooters and waves him goodbye with a smile but didn’t bother to tell peter and let him find out via tv. what a responsible guardian she is

cliche boring villain continues to be cliched and boring

and crapping on “with great power must also come great responsibility” is crappy. how would faye know that was spider-man’s ethos anyway? it‘s not a catchphrase. he doesn’t end his fights by saying, ”now kids, remember, don’t do drugs, stay in school and with great power...” it’s a newbie writer forgetting his world isn’t the world of the characters and they don’t know what he knows

[Agent Z]

I actually did think the issue was an improvement on the first one. Good mix of action and movement.

The only problem is...Benny Parker is not a likable character. Sure his Dad is a d--k but there's nothing to Benny that distinguishes him aside from "Generic white teen". He has no personality. Likewise Faye Ito feels Manic Pixie Dreamgirl-ish...and that personality doesn't make sense because that works when you pair that kind of girl with a guy who is really uptight and repressed (for instance Benny's parents). The problem is Benny is presented as a "totally cool guy" and so on. It's highly reminiscent of Garfield in Amazing Spider-Man which I think is the influence here.

Peter Parker continues to be so unappealing that I actually think he should be a legit villain in this story. It's also unbelievable that Peter would become a photographer taking pictures of accidents and terrorist attacks and not want to step in somehow especially in a world where the Avengers are toast.

He has only one arm.

[Prof. Warren]

I didn't hate the first issue and thought about picking up the second just to see how the story progressed but I decided to pass. To be honest, it wasn't the writing that made me put it back on the shelf, it was the art. Sorry, but Pichelli's art just looks ugly to me in this book. I didn't think much of it in the first issue and it looks even worse in the second. Maybe I'm in the minority on this and most everyone else thinks it looks great (and more power to them if it does) but, for me, yuck. I know she's under exclusive contract at Marvel but I hope they let her go - or at least don't put her on anything I have an interest in.

[Jekyll]

Dropped after the first issue. It wasn't awful, but we've definitely explored this territory before.

[Celgress]

I dropped this one after the first issue so I have nothing to contribute. For those who are still reading, I hope this series continues to entertain you but it just isn't for me.