Saturday, April 30, 2011

Review: Planet of the Apes #1; Spider-Man- The Real Clone Saga

PLANET OF THE APES #1 (Boom, cover date April, 2011)
(In my best Cartman voice): Kick ass!
I am a lifelong Planet of the Apes fan, and am thrilled to see a renewed effort on both the comic book and film fronts after the blasphemous 2001 remake. This new comic series from Boom takes place 1,200 years before the original film and is set in movie continuity. Daryl Gregory turns in a rock solid script with tremendous potential, and I am excited to see how this arc will play out. The artwork by Carlos Magno is richly detailed, and he does nice ape face homages to the movies. When coloring is bad I normally just don't mention it, but when it is great I shout it from the rooftops. Juan Manuel Tumburus does a fine, fine job. Recommended reading for Apes fans. 
SPIDER-MAN: THE REAL CLONE SAGA (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)
Collects Spider-Man: The Clone Saga Nos. 1-6 (cover dates November, 2009- April, 2010)
Like the title of the book says, this mini-series tells the events as Tom DeFalco and Howard Mackie originally intended. In the mid-90s, Marvel realized that they had a hit on their hands when sales spiked, and made them drag out what was intended to be a several months long story arc into a several years long story arc that alienated many readers and killed sales. Since they wrote the original issues I feel that is okay for them get to retell the story their way. Todd Nauck, whose artwork I really enjoyed on the American Dream mini-series a few years ago, does the artwork. I am not overly crazy about his pencils in this series, but they are not bad by any stretch. The layouts are clear and he does have an excellent sense of storytelling. If the events were allowed to play out at the time as they are in this series, no one would even talk about this arc any more. It would be just another notch in the Spider-Man mythos. Good but not essential reading.

2 comments:

  1. Was I supposed to read the whole Planet of the Apes in Cartman's voice? Because I did. I think you should start putting a grade on your reviews in a large bold letter below your written review. Thank you.

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  2. I've thought about a grade, numbering, and/or star rating system, but I can't decide.

    And yes, you should read the whole review, and the entire comic book, in a Cartman voice. ;)

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