Spider-Man: Reign

Work has been crazy the past few weeks and I never really had time to spend on the fun things in life. This week is no different but I thought I'd send a few quick posts out before I head back to the grind.

I found this Spider-Man Reign hardcover at the back of the shelf while doing some housekeeping. It was still sealed and hadn't been read since I bought it a couple years back. Apparently, it had been swallowed by the great void after the great house moving.

Spider-Man was among my favourite books in the early days when I started my comic book collection, especially the memorable McFarlane and Larsen runs on Amazing Spider-Man. Unfortunately, I grew up (kinda) and dropped Spidey as superhero books became less interesting to me. Nonetheless, there was a buzz created when Kaare Andrews (writer-artist) was working on this. The four-issue prestige series sold out quickly, riding on the premise of a Spider-Man ala Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns".

Similarities abound between the two stories - an aging hero who must come out of retirement to save the world in a dystopian future, with the story unfolding across four prestige format issues, with the narratives partly advanced by means of TV news feeds. However, while the latter rejuvenated interest in a superhero and saved the comic book industry from imploding, Spider-Man: Reign merely failed to engage my interest. A large part of it could be due to the fact that it just didn't feel like a Spidey book. J Jonah Jameson imploring Peter Parket to don the Spidey costume and save Manhattan? That's out of character... Mary Jane Watson dying as a result of exposure to Peter's radioactive joy juice? *rolls eyes*

The art by Kaare Andrews (with the ever dependable Jose Villarubia providing colours) was beautiful to look at - one of the redeeming factors for this story and each cover brings across tragedy and hurt effectively. Get it if you're a Spidey completist but your money's better spent on Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns".


Cover