Pick of the Week
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PENCILS: Adam Kubert
INKS: Maria-Emiko Macuaga
COLORED BY: Ronan Cliquet
COVER BY: Adam Kubert & Greg Adams
Size: pages
Price: 3.99
It comes as no surprise to see Jason Aaron being praised here at iFanboy. But what I was most surprised by, and I’m sure you are too, is that it’s not within the pages of Scalped, which has been praised here time and time again; or even in the pages of Wolverine: Weapon X, the best Wolverine book being published right now; or even the newer Punisher MAX series, which is a blast to read. Nope. My time to praise Jason Aaron comes from the unlikeliest of titles, a title I was already anticipating, Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #1.
When Marvel announced this new title, a 6 issue miniseries written by Jason Aaron with art by superstar Adam Kubert, I joined you as I scratched my head. I’m not quite sure what this book is meant to do in terms of the comic book marketplace. Two of the most exposed heroes in the Marvel Universe, teamed up for a new series with the “Astonishing” moniker? Perhaps this meant to draw new readers to comics with two characters that are easily recognizable? Or perhaps we think about the industry a bit too much and sometimes fail to see the forest for the trees and realize that it doesn’t matter how or why we get these titles every week and maybe we should just be thankful we occasionally get such a fantastic comic book as this one was.
With the title, you should have an idea of what we’re getting. It’s Spider-Man AND Wolverine, and they’re going to be Astonishing. I can tell by the stunning Adam Kubert drawn cover with Spider-Man swinging across New York City and Wolverine behind him brandishing claws and sharp teeth (and apparently either flying or falling as Spider-Man swings by?). Clearly this is going to be an action filled romp, akin to the flavor of the classic Spider-Man lead Marvel Team-Up stories of yesteryear. Maybe Spidey and Wolverine cross paths in New York, fight some bad guys and argue like a classic buddy team-up story.
You can imagine my surprise when the story opens to Peter Parker introducing us to his world in… prehistoric times, a world that he shares with Logan. Complete with dinosaurs. I was not expecting this.
Bravo to Jason Aaron for taking this assignment of two of Marvel’s biggest characters and dreaming up a story that is completely surprising and unexpected and doing it in a way that is totally plausible and drills down to the essence of both Spider-Man and Wolverine in the process. The story is broken up in the style of introducing us to the present predicament, where Spider-Man and Wolverine have been thrown into the prehistoric past. Spider-Man has holed up and built an elaborate house where he has been studying the wildlife, as a scientist would do. Meanwhile, Wolverine has settled in a valley and found a race of Neanderthals that he has risen to lead. Aaron then rewinds the story and takes us back to present day New York City where we see that as soon as Spider-Man and Wolverine team up to foil a bank robbery, somehow they get thrown into the past. Finally the issue wraps up with a cataclysmic event that hurtles Spider-Man and Wolverine back to the present, but it’s not the present they once knew.
I love a good time travel story, and the manner in which Aaron has crafted this one is clever and engaging. We’re introduced to the situation through inner monologue/narration boxes from both Spider-Man and Wolverine. Their thoughts spilling from one to another with each hero’s unique perspective. Aaron was able to capture the tenuous relationship between Spider-Man and Wolverine to a tee in both the spoken dialogue and the character’s inner monologue. The way Aaron took simple thoughts, like both of them wishing they were stuck in the past with Reed Richards and Tony Stark, was elegant and inventive. If you ever doubted Aaron’s ability to write superhero comics, this book should put any of those fears to rest.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen the artwork of Adam Kubert, since I’m not such a big DC Comics fan, where he’s spent most of his time in recent years. I have to say, this issue not only reminded me why I prefer the work of Adam Kubert over that of his brother Andy, but I also believe that this may be some of the best art I’ve seen from Adam Kubert, possibly ever. His depiction of the prehistoric time period captured the savagery of the period as well as representing the genius of Peter Parker within the house he built, even down to the stationary bike in the background. Subtle little details such as this flesh out the world and consume the reader within it. In the present day we’re treated to some of the most ridiculous villain costumes ever, but in a fun and wacky way that reminds us that this is a comic book, but still retains a level of dignity and believability.
As I mentioned, I didn’t know what to expect with this title and I was delighted to be kept on my toes and guessing for nearly the entire issue. Every page of this comic oozes super-hero fun, Marvel style while capturing the aspects of what makes these particular characters so popular. You can easily see that Jason Aaron gets it, and with getting it comes some excellent comic book stories. Paired with the masterful work of Adam Kubert, and I can tell that this 6 issue series of Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine will be one I’ll be recommending for a long time after it’s completed,
Ron Richards
Every comic should end with Mecha-Devil Dinosaur.
ron@ifanboy.com
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Ha ha. i know there is something lost in translation but the plot description sounds ridiculous.
I’ll give the book a quick look at the store. not my cup of tea
The Spider God vs. Six Claw
Great pick Ron. I love Aaron, but was kind of reluctant to pick this up, mainly because the cover suggested a typical team up/fight crime story. I was so excited to open it up and go "Huh? What’s this now?" It was a cool twist on what could have been a run of the mill team up book and it’s tons of fun to read and look at!
My shop didn’t get books in Wednesday. Something about a Tennessee flood…
X-Men book. Shocking.
Dagummit! I knew I should have bought this. I KNEW that Ron was going to pick this when I saw it was his POTW. But now that I see it’s only a mini, I’m gonna hold fast and wait the trade.
Wow, surprised by the number of people who passed on this one. I think Jason Aaron has an awesome sensibility for superhero comics: absurd with love. He clearly gets a kick out of writing these characters and throwing in every ridiculous plot element that he can think of, but he has the chops to back it up with sound storytelling and great characterizations.
This was a 5-star book for me, and inches away from my POW, if not for Red Robin and a little trip to Limbo.
This was amazing. I figured this would be really gritty with Peter getting dragged into some mess that Logan got himself into but what actually happened was nothing I could’ve predicted.
Ridiculous.
Man, this sounds right up my alley. I may have to run back to the store and see if they actually have any.
I just knew this book was going to be awesome after I recently read Aaron and Kuberts Wolverine/Spidey work "A Mile in my Moccasins". Aaron can do a damn good Spidey.
This is why I love Jason Aaron. He’s got his "serious" comic book with Scalped, but his superhero stuff is just pure fun. Ghost Rider, Black Panther, Wolverine, and now this. I was blown away by what I was reading. I wasn’t sure if I was actually reading Peter Parker and Logan in prehistoric times. Or that The Orb is the reason why they get there in the first place. Or that all this craziness has a reason for being. I can not wait for the next issue to see what he does next with them.
I’ll say one thing. Adam Kubert is a great artist, BUT, I did have to look twice at a couple panels before getting used to the look. Most of it is awesome. The bank robbery especially.
Yes, consider me astonished.
This was a lot of fun, and certainly gives the impression that Aaron is basically going for crazy, over-the-top Marvel fun, which has seriously been missing a lot lately. Definitely easily accessable. Part of me wanted a more straight-forward Wolverine-Spider-Man story, but I think Aaron was able to do something from completely left field and make it work really well.
I thought this was a whole lot of fun. I had a few problems with the storytelling where the panel progression was meant to read horizontally across the breadth of two pages. I’m used to the Bendis technique where the middle panel would stretch just a little onto the second page, and that wasn’t present here to telegraph the direction my eyes were supposed to move. Still, that’s a minor mechanical thing and the story itself was pretty strong. 4 big ol’ stars.
My Pick, unsurprisingly, was Hellboy in Mexico. Pretty good week of comics overall.
I’m with you Paul, I read vertically instead of horizontally more than a few times. I loved the panel where the idol faces that Peter, presumabley, carved in the past were advertised to be on display at the museum in the present.
@Ron: From your description this is not what I expected at all. This sounds like a fun read I may have to pick up. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts of the next few issues becasue I my wait and buy a trade.
Jason Aaron writes some damn fine comics.
I have really been enjoying some really inspired writing from Jason Aaron in the last few months. I even started reading Scalped in trade. The man really knows how to present a story.
Glad not to here anyone bitching about how "Aaron and Marvel have stolen Morrison and DC’s premise for Return of Bruce Wayne." Good for you iFanbase!
I really liked this book and will continue to pick up the mini. Not my POTW though. Its a really hard week for me.
I’m surprised this didn’t come out 5 years ago, when DC’s biggest book was Superman/ Batman. 2005 Marvel would have had Paul Jenkins and a rotating artist on the book. I’m glad 2010 Marvel didn’t let Jeph Loeb do this…yet.
I just picked up the book today and have not read it, but based on your review Ron sounds like I have a great story on my hands.
I bought this book on a lark. The art was beautiful. The writing ‘only’ good. It may be a testament how good the writing was that the story never felt too wordy or over-written, yet there were words everywhere. I just wanted more of that delicious art.
I purchased this today solely because it was Rons potw. honestly, I could care less about marvel books…but,
boy, i was not disappointed by this one. Thanks, Ron.
Where’re all the people who were so keen on calling everyone sheep for picking the same book as the iFanboy POW?
This was great read. It wasn’t what I expected!Having Kubert and Aaron is a deadly combo for the industry. I’m looking forward to what lies ahead in this mini series.
If love to see these guys do an Ultimates story
After the Loeb Ultimate stuff…I’m done with that corner of Marvel. This Astonishing issue was awesome fun. Certainly worthy of POW. Red Robin was great too, loved Drake outwitting Ras.
Reminded me of Superman/Batman, especially the inner monologues.
Jason Aaron rules. I just picked up Scalped three weeks ago, reading from ish 1 to the current stuff, and couldn’t have been more blown away. Now this? This book wasn’t my POTW, that went to Red Robin, but it was a damn good read that seeds alot of promise for future issues.
Jaw dropping art!!!! and fantastic story telling. I would have missed this if the guys at my LCS hadn’t thrust into my hands. Thank God they did!
wow..I looked at this at the shop..loved the art..but the bits I read at the store were ridicules. To each his own..I wonder is this is Ron’s new "Greatest comic I read in the last five years ??"
A really fun book, which I added to my order on a whim. So glad I did, as this was shockingly awesome.
I KNEW it was Ron’s pick!
You know Ron, you have a particular style of writing that’s getting easier and easier to pick from the crowd.
I will be picking up this series or possibly trade waiting on this. It will be a split decision, come the time of issue #2.
This book makes me want to check out Scalped again. I’ve only read the first trade, but this one issue is so solid from a story-telling stand point(despite the arguably ridiculous premise) that my interest in Jason Aaron’s writing has been re-established.