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?