Revisit one of the most transformative periods of Spider-Man history with some of the creators who made it happen! Spider-Man discovers one of the most valuable items the Kingpin, aka Wilson Fisk possesses – THE LEXICON. This directory of the Kingpin’s criminal enterprise could destroy the criminal landscape of New York City, and that’s Spider-Man’s goal when he takes it. But Fisk isn’t the only person who wants the Lexicon… Mr. Negative would love his competitor’s secret information, but so would Frank Castle, A.K.A. THE PUNISHER. Taking the Lexicon sure seemed like a good idea to make the city safer, but it’s painted the biggest target ever on Spider-Man’s back! The Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #1 is the latest series that takes us back to a key time in a character’s history adding to it with an in-continuity tale.

Spider-Man is a character that I dip in and out of when it comes to the various series. He’s not a character whose adventures I’ve read for a long time, the exception being Dan Slott‘s Superior Spider-Man run. So, seeing Slott take on one of the more controversial periods for the character left me intrigued. I enjoy his writing and have liked his previous work for the character. But, while The Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #1 has its moments, overall it doesn’t feel like anything vital that had to be told.

The Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #1 isn’t bad, but it feels like the type of miniseries put together specifically to tie into something else going on, in this case the upcoming film Spider-Man: Brand New Day which also features the Punisher who is in this comic as well. The cynical part of me says that’s the driver of this series, as opposed to really adding to Spider-Man’s history in an interesting way that impacts the character today or something really original, it had to be done.

“Brand New Day” was a storyline post “Civil War” that had Spider-Man striking a bargain where everyone forgot who he was and it dealt with that aftermath. We see that in this comic with so many feeling like they remember Spider-Man unmasking but not who was under it. It does its best to catch readers up on what is a rather complicated storyline. Mephisto isn’t mentioned at all to keep it all simpler and reflect Peter’s memories of how things went down.

There is some aspects that are interesting in the comic though. The idea of Spider-Man having this book of crime and using to to break up major operations is actually an intriguing idea. Spider-Man working with the police to do so and leaving the criminals to the justice system while the Punisher would rather have a more permanent solution is also interesting. But, the comic feels like there’s little point to its setting in the timeline so far. It could happen at any point, for the most part, it being “Brand New Day” doesn’t feel like it’s mandatory other than tying into the upcoming film in another way.

The art by Marcus To is pretty good. He’s joined by Alex Sinclair on color and Joe Caramagna on lettering. Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente provide some art going over the rather complicated history. Visually, the comic looks good with some decent action. The art is crisp but lacks a certain flair to it that we’ve seen in other Spider-Man comics. Like the story itself, it’s fine but doesn’t really stand out as anything truly special.

The Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #1 isn’t a bad debut and for those that really dig the time period or character it could work. But, it feels like its primary focus is giving those who see the upcoming movie a comic they might be drawn to. In that case again, it’s not something that will likely hook those readers to come back or seek something else out. Overall, it’s a perfectly fine read that’s also rather forgettable, like Peter’s identity.

Story: Dan Slott Art: Marcus To, Marcos Martin, Muntsa Vicente
Color: Alex Sinclair Letters: Joe Caramagna
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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