Greetings comic lovers and welcome back to casually comics the channel where we chat
all things comics from reviews of comics new and old to history to anecdotes to really
wherever our whims take us.
About a month ago at the time of this recording we talked about the excitement surrounding
the mysterious tweet of a ebbed four that turned out to be just Marvel announcing a
comic written by J.J Abrams and his young adult son Henry Abrams roughly around the
time that Abrams secured some rather lucrative Disney deals so well you can imagine what
was said or you can go back and watch that video so you don’t have to imagine you can
live it.
Also card and link.
So the time has come the comic is here Cadaverous, that’s the villains name has been unleashed
and well there’s a lot to talk about both about the comic itself and well everything
surrounding it and some of the amusing coverage of it which means I have some receipts my
favourite thing.
If you’re never ready to board the hype train hit that like button.
So firstly this comic has some taglines like the most shocking comic you’ll read I read
the boys so not likely.
Also even if we add just spider-man I read original sin
so again not likely.
That’s the one where gwen stacey and norman osborn have secret twins.
So issue 1 of five let’s do this.
Get ready to get your spoiler on.
The cover is that same shot of mj about to plunge to her death right off of peter’s
lap cause she is in no way attached to anything, and there is a faded background of well black
to red like one of my thumbnails.
So for some it’s a simplistic dream and for others it’s a really is that it.
This is the cover for your huge we need to tell the world via countdown announcement
comic.
I just really want peter to get a better grip on MJ.
Page 1 is entirely black with one text bubble that says tiger on the one hand this is very
dramatic but it is a cinematic form of drama we’ll see this throughout this comic it’s
laid out like a story board meant for visual adaptation as a tv show or movie but it is
rarely laid out optimally as a comic which is it’s own medium and far more flexible
than a pitch board for the most part it will not be treated as a
comic though but rather as live action pitch playing out in comic form.
It’s a nive pitch but just doesn’t push the comic medium any further for example this
opening is very evocative but also in a mini with 5 issues where each one only has about
25 to 30 pages you just spent one whole page on one word.
You can tell a lot of story in one page while also evoking the same feeling utilizing less
panels.
But let us go on Tiger.
We see MJ running through scenes of carnage towards peter on a bridge.
To which I say really mj you know what happens to women peter loves on bridges also you’re
just running into this huh.
You’ve been married to him how long.
Peter’s in a bad way his arms’s all mangled but him and mj still have a moment on this
bridge a moment the villain cadaverous who has a
bunch of henchmen or robots minions I guess would be the best word who all look like penance
to well attack.
Help us spider-man we neeed you.
I like that the giant cadaverous robot has a cape he’s cold too.
He looks cool.
Anyway MJ dies skewered dramatically for pathos that is riding off of your prior spidey knowledge
of these two’s relationship cause it’s only page 7.
Also I told you about running out on bridges where peter was concerned you knew about gwen
you don’t bring a long fall coat to a robot fight..
You stay in and watch it from home.
We get a not quite repeat of the famous panel where Peter swung in to get gwen and then
suddenly it’s just her funeral and he’s there with their son which is supposed to
be this big shocking reveal also it’s part of why the cover is so plain so they don’t
scare anyone away with wait that doesn’t look like spidey I’m not spending 4.99 on
that.
Also Peter had an arm off and was alone how did he win this fight the pastor at the funeral
giving the expository eulogy is all Spider-man saved us all he always does.
One how 2 this is inappropriate funeral fare cause it makes no sense for a victim who died
on the bridge it’s just there to reveal the villains name and to make spidey feel
bad by feeding into his guilt complex about not saving everyone.
But you wouldn’t say this at the funeral
of a victim of that event and if she was supposed
to have died somewhere else you wouldn’t bring it up.
So basically that was ham fisted exposition meant to elicit emotion and hey it got it
out of peter and his son it’s not their fault I’m an ice queen.
Twelve years later!
Ah full page wit one phrase we meet again.
This also is 100% a panel you would see in a movie you’ve seen this panel in a movie.
The panels of ben getting ready are well laid out cool use of the comic book space he’s
an edgy teen now he stands up to bullies and throws them so hard they go through doors
and only gets sent to the principal's office this is the marvel universe he’s lucky no
one just assumed he was a mutant.
Ben is in the office telling the prinicpal how the kid deserved it how they all deserved
it and ummm am I the only one concerned that’s some hard core antio hero talk he’s two
more speech bubbles away from super villainy.
But we’re supposed to agree with him cause that kid was a stereotypical 80s high school
bully living his best 2019 life.
So his worst life then.
Peter shows up to pick ben up but it’s clear he’s abandoned him and dumped him on aunt
may also there’s a press pass on the dash of his car so we’re to assume that’s what
he’s been doing for now.
They proceed to argue, I was protecting someone, and how did that go for you, as if you would
understand that when have you ever tried to help anybody but you
Whatevers going on with you it’s gotta stop I’m doing the best I can I need you to at
least try to do the same.
This scene is well put together and there’s a lot just conveyed through the raw emotion
on ben’s face it feels really genuine.
So let me ruin it the same way my thought process ruined it for me.
Peter has a hook for a hand why, this is the marvel universe reed couldn’t make him a
hand tony couldn’t make him a hand the asgardians couldn’t forge him a hand.
Bucky has a metal arm, Thor had a golden arm cable has a techno organic arm.
In a universe with this many options i’m gonna need an explanation for why he has a
hook cause right now what I’m going with is they all offered him stuff but he was like
nuh uh my guilt complex goes better with this hook.
Also this way when I grow my I’ve given up beard out I can cosplay as a pirate.
I need an answer the rest of the marvel universe exists so why did cadaverous do something
that made it impossible these are questions that need answering.
Ben starts manifesting Spider powers and rips the front door off his house which miraculously
nobody sees and we never see the door replaced and aunt may later is just like oh I saw the
new front door.
Did he replace the door in a couple of hours, who paid for it, how this is going in the
same box with the hook question.
We then meet Ito Faye which i’m only telling you about cause the comic insists on calling
her by her full name constantly hey are you that sophomore ito faye clam it ito faye name
first last ito faye, what was her jane doe I can’t seem to remember.
She’s edgy she has blue hair she sticks it to the man and I love this design I can’t
help it, she’s so coordinated.
Ben looks like he wants to steal a lock of her hair though like eep dial back that interest.
Look at his expression.
So 20 pages in we see cadaverous again menacingly eating a hot dog off of one of his claw fingers.
He looks so cool he’s in the mechanoid suit he’s mostly robotic tubes everywhere and
then he eats a hot dog read the room cadaverous you have voyeurs.
There’s mysterious woman floating in the tube which is probably mj I mean it had better
be otherwise he just killed off a beloved female character as motivation for the two
female leads which would be a big ooof.
But it’s prob her also the write ups for future issues say you won;t believe what’s
next for peter and mj unless they’re just straight up lying.
Also he’s starring at this tube going you and I talking about the search and impossible
without the key.
So who wants to call it now future peter clone peter let’s start placing bets I want theories
down in those comments.
If guys it’s totally not Khan is anything of an abrams track record to go by we all
have a good shot of guessing it right now.
Ben has a well paneled nightmare about his mom and wakes up on the ceiling he freaks
out and aunt may is like cool I’m going back to bed go up to the attic look under
the floorboards and it’s his father’s spider man costume it looks like the one from
the day his mom died looks like her blood is still on it that;ll help him never have
nightmares again thanks aunt may.
Still ben seems impressed not traumatized so who am I to judge.
whoa
What a way to find out your dad was spider-man cause oh he didn’t know by the way pirate
peter never told him.
So we have our set up Ben as a new young spidey enticing his father back to action plus whatever
cadaverous is doing cloning eating more hot dogs.
This comic was ok it was neither terrible nor amazing.
Some reviews are acting as though it reinvented the wheel and we should bow down in the presence
of our newly appointed god.
There is also the idea that it should be judged less harshly as it is a first attempt while
others feel it should be judged more harshly because of the nepotistic element that allowed
someone inexperienced to jump to the head f the line on a premier charcater au story
though it may be.
Some feel that the only thing keeping this from being called a fanfic is the fact that
it was written by j.j abrams and his son but if someone else had suddenly put this comic
forward with no prior experience
that is what it would have been called.
The goal behind this comic is to be a huge cash cow and they have shipped it to many
stores but that doesn’t guarantee they will be bought by the next level of consumers.
However for those who do pick it up this could be a good gate way an easing into comics it
doesn’t take full advantage of it’s medium but it’s not the only comic you could state
that about these days made up of many archetypes that people recognize and enjoy.
Some will also enjoy the paralleling of ben and peter’s journey and will be drawn into
the bread crumbs of what is cadaverous deal.
I’m just waiting for the “sympathetic” backstory.
I’m placing bets.
There’s a sympathy pool.
The question is if that will translate into long term comic fans or if this will be a
one and done a fun novelty but not a true gateway.
For those who have read lots of comics this one does stand up but it also leaves many
question unanswered in terms of basic world building and also connection or lack thereof
to the rest of the marvel universe.
If you’ve seen the heights comics can reach and how far the medium can be pushed this
may not be as impressive as it would be others wise and some will be collared by the idea
that I’ve heard out there that daddy bought me a spider-man comic.
Which is fair it is a rather glaring display of the most universal true form of privilege
that persists regardless of situation wealth.
Still one should also strive to critique the work and not the person.
This is a decent start and could really pick up and some are saying it’s one of the best
marvel comics they’ve read in awhile and they’re enjoying the change of pace and
break from marvel canon it is fun take a walk on the au side.
The art is very expressive as well points to some of the haunting faces you feel it
when characters hurt in this.
What do you think was this worth the hype?
Are you enjoying it or do you find it derivative?
Does cadaverous still sound like what you would have named a villain when you were 12?
Do you love Peter’s hook hand?
Tell me all that and whatever else you want to down below.
I can tell you this there
better be a starring role for ito faye cause I’m never forgetting her name now.
I was so full of snark today extra salt I hope it put some pep in your step.
Thanks so much for watching