The Amazing Spider-Man #5
(W) Nick Spencer (A/CA) Ryan Ottley
Rated T
In Shops: Sep 12, 2018
SRP: $3.99
• Things look bad for Peter Parker…
• …but GREAT for Spider-Man!
• The first arc of the epic new run on ASM comes to a climactic finish!
The Amazing Spider-Man #4
(W) Nick Spencer (A/CA) Ryan Ottley
Rated T
In Shops: Aug 22, 2018
SRP: $3.99
PETER PARKER VS. SPIDER-MAN?!
PETER PARKER & SPIDER-MAN IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME?!
• Things are crazy for Spider-Man. His personal life in turmoil, the giant TRI-SENTINEL returning to attack NYC…
• …and someone is out there impersonating Peter Parker!
• Is it the Chameleon? An LMD? Ultimate Peter Parker making his Marvel U debut? Think again, True Believer!
An alien invasion hits New York City and the only one who can stop it is…Spider-Man?! But that’s far from all you’ll find here – a revelation from the past puts Peter Parker’s job, relationships, and whole life in jeopardy! And if even that’s not enough, you’ll see a new roommate, new love interests – and a new villain!
Despite by disdain for writer Nick Spencer‘s recent Secret Empire, his writing on Superior Foes of Spider-Man (which if you haven’t read, it’s excellent) had me interesting in reading his debut on Spider-Man with The Amazing Spider-Man #1. After one issue, I already long for Dan Slott. Spencer excels when he focuses on humor but it seems that’s only the case when paired with artist Steve Lieber, his partner in crime on Superior and Spencer’s Image Comics series The Fix. Here, he works with artist Ryan Ottley coming off of his impressive work on Skybound’s Invincible.
Spencer’s first focus? Stripping everything that’s left of Peter Parker really setting him up for basics and to start from scratch. He’s already lost his company but what’s left to take? Spencer finds some things and in that sense the comic is interesting. The issue is that everything is delivered in such quick, rapid, bursts, it’s hard to stay focused. Again, this feels like Spencer’s previous comedic work, but this issue shows that Lieber was a key to bringing the quick hits together into a cohesive narrative.
Ottley’s work looks good. In fact, it looks like Ottley’s previous work in that Peter and MJ look a lot like the characters from Invincible. Ottley has a distinctive style and while characters vary, there’s a familiarity of them that makes them all seem a bit too recognizable. Ottley is joined by inker Cliff Rathburn, colorist Laura Martin, and letterer Joe Caramagna. The art combined with the story creates an ADD-like experience that can’t focus and delivers a lot in a scattershot way. It looks good though, and there’s a lot thrown in there for Ottley and crew to work with as so many heroes are depicted (and since when is Black Cat a good guy again?) doing battle.
The comic sets up a lot and features a return to the more humorous Spencer but something doesn’t click like his previous work. I can only conclude it’s the art which doesn’t gell. There’s some good ideas though, and potential fun. But, when a first issue has you longing for the previous creative team, that’s not a good sign. Spencer had a goal with this issue, strip everything that Peter still has and in that sense, it succeeds in setting up what’s to come with a new direction.
Story: Nick Spencer Art: Ryan Ottley
Ink: Cliff Rathburn Color: Laura Martin Lettering: Joe Caramagna
Story: 6.5 Art: 7.25 Overall: 6.75 Recommendation: Read
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Amazing Spider-Man is kicking off an all-new adventure this summer, when celebrated creative team Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley take the webslinger to new heights – featuring new villains, new challenges, new relationships, and more!
Peter Parker vs…Spider-Man? Find out in Amazing Spider-Man #3, out this August 8th featuring a cover by Ottley! Amazing Spider-Man #1 is out July 11th.
As part of Marvel‘s “fresh” start Spider-Man is getting a new creative team in the form of writer Nick Spencer and artist Ryan Ottley. The two swing into things with the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man starting in July, but we’ll get our first look during this year’s Free Comic Book Day with FCBD – The Amazing Spider-Man #1.
Justice League of America: Rebirth #1
(W) Steve Orlando (A) Ivan Reis, Joe Prado (CA) Ryan Ottley
RATED T
In Shops: Feb 08, 2017
SRP: $2.99
Batman, Black Canary, Killer Frost, the Ray, Vixen, the Atom, and…Lobo?! Spinning directly out of the events of JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD, join the sensational team of writer Steve Orlando and artists Ivan Reis and Joe Prado and discover how Batman assembled the roughest, toughest Justice League of all time!
Image Comics/Skybound has announced that The Walking Dead #163 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, Invincible #133 by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley and Nathan Fairbairn, and Outcast by Kirman & Azaceta #25 by Robert Kirkman, Paul Azaceta, and Elizabeth Breitwieser, will all hit stores this February 2017 with a $0.25 price point in celebration of Image Comics’ 25th anniversary.
The Walking Dead #163 begins an all-new story arc and readers are met with the aftermath of the Whisperer War.
Ryan Ottley returns as artist on Invincible #133 just as “THE END OF ALL THINGS” begins. This 12-part mega-story will touch every corner of the INVINCIBLE universe, and when it’s over… IT’S OVER. Every single story for the past 13 years has been leading up to this last finale story arc.
Outcast by Kirman & Azaceta #25 begins an all-new story arc as well and provides a major turning point in the series. New characters are introduced and big things are in store for Kyle Barnes as he’s faced with something he never could have prepared for—hope. Everything changes in this 25th issue, for $0.25, in celebration of the 25th anniversary.
The Walking Dead #163 (Diamond Code DEC160627) will be available on Wednesday, February 1st. The final order cutoff deadline for retailers is Monday, January 9th. Invincible #133 (Diamond Code DEC160639) will be available on Wednesday, February 15th. The final order cutoff deadline for retailers is Monday, January 23rd. Outcast by Kirman & Azaceta #25 (Diamond Code DEC160664) will be available on Wednesday, February 22nd. The final order cutoff deadline for comics retailers is Monday, January 30th.
Series artist Ryan Ottley returns to re-team with Robert Kirkman to launch the final story arc of the long-running creator-owned superhero series Invincible. “The End of All Things” Part One begins with Invincible #133 from Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment this November.
This twelve-part mega-story will touch every corner of the Invincible Universe, and when it’s over… It’s over. Every single story for the past thirteen years has been leading up to this ultimate showdown running up to Invincible #144—the very last issue in the series.
Invincible #133 hits stores on Wednesday, November 16th.
IDW is set to introduce readers to five brand-new original tales each week of the month this August! The Creator Visions event is a showcase of new series alongside the return of some fan-favorite titles that celebrate a breadth of unique and diverse comics. From the all-ages, action-packed adventures of Atomic Robo to an adaptation of a classic work of haunting literature, August has exceptional new material for every fan!
Kicking off the weekly event is the return of the fantasy epic, The Adventures of Augusta Wind by creators J.M. DeMatteis and Vassilis Gogtzilas. This new 5-issue series, The Adventures of Augusta Wind: The Last Story, will conclude the magical tale that began in 2012, filled with weird worlds, bizarre creatures, and terrible dangers!
Week two welcomes the return of the explosively fun series, Atomic Robo! This time around, take a trip back to 1938 with Robo as he investigates a deadly weapon alongside some unlikely allies in the five-issue Atomic Robo and The Temple of Od.
Jackboot & Ironheel arrives in the third week from 2000 AD’s Sinister Dexter co-creator and longtime Judge Dredd artist Max Millgate, following the grim turn of events for an English football star turned R.A.F. tail-gunner in the heat of World War II!
The charmingly profane and hilarious Superf*ckers, stars of a beloved Top Shelf graphic novel and corresponding YouTube series, make their monthly comic book debut from IDW in Superf*ckers Forever! Creator James Kochalka is bringing along some friends for this series with alternate covers and backups by some of indie comics’ biggest talents. August’s issue 1 sees a variant cover from Invincible artist Ryan Ottley and a back-up tale from cartoonist Jake Lawrence.
Finally, closing out the event is the first issue of Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me, adapted by Devin Faraci, and artist Vic Malhotra. Predating the most infamous serial killers of our time, Thompson’s classic pulp novel, deemed “chilling” by Stanley Kubrick, peeled back the curtain in terrifying detail on Lou Ford, the deputy of a small Texas town who just can’t keep his sickness to himself any longer…
IDW Publishing and Top Shelf are partnering to give cartoonist James Kochalka’s SuperF*ckers new life as a five-issue comic-book miniseries, SuperF*ckers Forver, launching in August. As an added bonus, each issue of the monthly comic will also feature a variant cover by an acclaimed indie artist, and a 4-page back-up story by another such idiosyncratic artist.
Foul-mouthed, filthy-minded, and completely oblivious, the young “heroes” of SuperF*ckers do everything BUT fight crime – they’re too busy getting high, hazing the new kids, playing video games, scheming to be team leader, and designing new costumes.
SuperF*ckers was created by writer/artist/musician Kochalka in 2005. In addition to their original mini-series (now collected as a graphic novel) and the digital comic SuperF*ckers Save Christmas, the characters have also starred in an animated series on YouTube’s Cartoon Hangover. To date, the YouTube series has garnered over 1.4 million plays.
August’s SuperF*ckers #1, in addition to the lead story by Kochalka, features a variant cover by Invincible artist Ryan Ottley and a back-up story by Jake Lawrence. Subsequent issues will see covers and stories by the likes of Laura Knetzger, Box Brown, Rachel Lindsay, Julian Glander, Daryl Ayo, Debora Cheyenne Cruchon, Levin Jihanian, and Michael Fiffe.
