Non-Stop Spider-Man #1

There are a lot of things to say about this book that nearly no one was looking forward to. Let's say them, shall we?


First: Its a bold choice to remind us that the cinematographer for John Travolta's Mananimals movie was hired to do page layouts for this book. There's enough white on some of these pages that you'll think there's a tribute to 'Snowblind' going on, and you might be right.

Second: The logo, which is terrible and would remain terrible under most circumstances, kicks when applied in context. How do you apply a logo in context? You have it move, and put it on a book where EVERY SINGLE SPIDER PAGE is moving.


Third: This book is incredibly late, right? It is, and you're an astute reader for knowing that. Chris Bachalo creates some detailed, often overly complicated, pages. He usually has an army of inkers to back up Tim Townsend, but I guess there's not enough money to pay the rest of the Polyphonic Spree anymore. Townsend goes it alone, and that in itself might be enough to have delayed the book. Was it worth it? Oh, H*LL yes. Even if we were just going on looks (and no one here is that superficial, are we?) this would be an easy book to recommend*. The secret weapon here has his name first on the cover though.

Fourth: Spider-Man comics should be funny, witty, serious, and have an emotional connection. Joe Kelly is one of the rare people who can write funny and witty as different things (you'll see none of that here.That's our guarantee.) and throw a bit of serious in to boot. Starting in an 8 PAGE action scene, he begins to provide our bearings only after we know that something special is happening.

Fifth: Yeah, its good, so what? Why does Marvel need another Spider-Man book? Why don't they just put one great team on ASM and make THAT the only title? That's a fair question Rick, but a quick look over at the 9 Bat titles on the DC rack will show that Marvel's cash cow isn't being milked within an inch of his life (at least for now).


*provided you like Chris Bachalo's art.