The Extremist, Part 3 by: Fred van Lente (writer), Nick Dragotta (art), Brad Simpson (colors) & Clayton Cowles (letters)
Negative Reinforcement by: Marc Guggenheim (writer), Sana Takeda (artist) & Dave Sharpe (letters)
The Story: Spider-Man wraps up his conflict with the Extremist and Jackpot gets into a bind with Mr. Negative.
What’s Good: I’ve quite enjoyed this Extremist story over the last 3 issues of Web of Spider-Man. It isn’t the best Spider-Man story ever and the ending here isn’t quite as good as the beginning of this story, but its still an above average Spider-tale. Throughout it has played on the theme of the dual nature of Peter Parker who is both kinda wussy and spineless, yet incredibly brave once he puts on his mask.
The art is also quite good on both portions of this issue. Dragotta is doing more of a classic Spider-Man look whereas Takeda is doing something more photo-referency with the Jackpot tale, but I don’t have any complaints with how this issue looks.
What’s Not So Good: If you wanted to find a Spider-Man villain to make me question my commitment to a title, it would be Mr. Negative. I just don’t find him even remotely interesting, so having the second story focus on Jackpot and Mr. Negative is a big miss in my book. I’m not looking forward to seeing more of this story and given that the Extremist story wrapped up, I’m not exactly sure what we’re going to get next issue.
That highlights a bigger problem for this title. What is this title’s purpose? When it first launched, it was telling very non-essential stories that often had little to do with Spider-Man himself. So, I dropped it only to be lured back by the promise of this Extremist story. But, I have no idea what we’re supposed to get next issue. If it is more ongoing Spider-Man stories, I’ll probably find a way to talk myself into it, but if it is going to be about Jackpot and Mayday Parker, I’ll pass.
Conclusion: Half of this issue was good, half was not. Unsure where this title is headed.
Grade: D+
- Dean Stell
Filed under: Marvel Comics Tagged: Brad Simpson, Clayton Cowles, comic book reviewsw, Dave Sharpe, Dean Stell, Extremist, Fred Van Lente, J. Jonah Jameson, Jackpot, Marc Guggenheim, Marvel Comics, Mr. Negative, Nick Dragotta, review, Sana Takeda, Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man #10, Web of Spider-Man #10 review, Web of Spider-Man 10 reviewWeb of Spider-Man, Weekly Comic Book Review
