Review- SPIDER-MAN: BIG TIME

SPIDER-MAN: BIGTIME (Marvel, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 648-651 (cover dates January- February, 2011)

Writer: Dan Slott

Artist: Humberto Ramos (Issues 648-650), Neil Edwards (Issue 650 back-up story) and Stefano Caselli (Issue 651 back-up story)

Humberto Ramos has to be the luckiest son of a bitch on Earth. Never has anyone so completely devoid of talent lasted so long in any industry, let alone snag high profile gigs like this one. His artwork looks like he vomited on the page.

Do you know what the really sad thing is? His artwork has vastly improved since his stint on The Spectacular Spider-Man a decade ago. Whereas his “art” was once abysmal dreck, he now merely completely sucks ass. If he were seven years old or learning impaired, then I would be kinder to his artwork, but this is supposed to be the work of a professional comic book artist. 

Yeah, those chins are tough to draw. What a hack.

Poor, poor Dan Slott. He is such a solid writer, and to have his plotlines and concepts rendered entirely impotent by Ramos' hackjob pencils has to be heartbreaking for him. Slott has a long list of good reads, from the Spider-Man/Human Torch mini-series to his run on She-Hulk to his short-lived but criminally neglected run on The Thing. He was also a valuable part of the 'Spidey Brain Trust' on the Brand New Day era for this title. It's a shame that he couldn't get a good artist on the title for this arc.

The OCD zone- Standard Marvel Premiere Edition Hardcover. Same nice paper, same glued binding. Nothing shocking or remarkable production-wise here. These are not bad packages by any stretch, but they also don't make my OCD signals turn green, either.

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