Peter Porker is back! After stealing all the scenes of last year's Into The Spiderverse, the Spectacular Spider-Ham returns to print!
An Inter-dimensional mishap on earth-616 involving the Ringmaster has resulted in a host of Peter's enemies to take refuge throughout the multiverse. With the help of Spider-Guin, Spider-Ham must gather his foes who are going on crime sprees on new and very different earths.
I know that this was a one-shot story. But it set things up for a potential new Spider-Ham series; which is something I very much would like. Black Cloud's Jason Latour penned a good story. But it was the artwork of All-New Doop's David LaFuente that really won me over.
There was a second story in this annual. But other than some very clever modern Marvel parodies of more recent heroes and villains turned into animals, I could have done without this yarn. In the middle of yet another universe rebooting crisis, Spider-Ham and Howard the Duck sneak into a bar and share a drink while pining philosophical over the Buddhist-like reincarnation sure to happen with the Marvel Universe. It read like a Grant Morrison story. That would okay if only I wanted to purchase and read a Grant Morrison story. But I only wanted a soft-hearted funny animal parody!!!
This book was available with several amazing covers. But the cover I choose was a no-brainer. I went with the wonderful 'Spiderverse' version crafted by John Tyler Christopher. It was just so classic.
I loved the first act. I rather had an extra 6-8 pages added to it instead of that mind-boggling of a downer second tale. I really do hope that Marvel brings back Spider-Ham in an all-new title. Just please don't make it in the style of that last piece. Cause I will not buy it if you (Marvel) do!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
X-Force, Spider-Men Miles Morales and Peter Parker, Squirrel Girl and the West Coast Avengers join Deadpool in this 2018 holiday comic. While it has elements of Run Lola Run and The Usual Suspects throughout the plot, this was another festive fail on Marvel's part this year.
The Spider-Men story starts great and then gets jumbled when the two Spidey's meet. It has a great ending however.
The Squirrel Girl yarn was flat out perfect as she deals with Doctor Doom on a Latverian Christmas Eve.
The West Coast Avengers story was horrid. It's got the Kate Bishop trying to solve the murder of a mall Santa. If she was doing the work on her own, it would be fine. Having Clint Barton on hand would have been ideal. Instead, Katie has some annoying purple haired mutant helping, hindering, and it was the biggest steaming pile of crap.
Then we have the framing story which involves Deadpool and X-Force. Deadpool by himself is very funny as usual. But X-Force are freakin' confusing as all get out. And once Wade Wilson and Cable's squad get together, it's like a very bad rendition of Who's On First?
The entire book is written by Winter Solider and Spider-Gwen's Jason Latour. I think if Latour had focused on characters that he's got experience writing about, this book would have been great. Or if Marvel had a different writer for each story. Instead, the entire book felt very uneven.
Then there's the art. As I have mentioned in several posts, Marvel has gotten some flak on the lack of quality in the art. This holiday comic is no exception. The Spider-Men tale was a pale imitation of the great Darwyn Cooke at best. And I've never seen Deadpool look worse and that's saying something. At least whomever did the Squirrel Girl art was on point in this special. As I said, that one tale was flawless.
I'm not sure what Marvel was thinking this year. The Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Christmas themed issue was great. But the two stand-alone holiday specials just weren't all that great. The House of Ideas has fallen into disrepair and the publisher is going to have to do something to fix things quick in 2019. It's no wonder Disney doesn't trust Marvel with it's more family friendly properties; subletting to Dark Horse and IDW instead.
Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.
