Spider-Ham #2 // Review
He’s been blasted out of his own world and into a place far more familiar to those of us on this side of the comics page. It’s a dangerous place, though. If the web-slinging pig is going to survive, he’s going to require the help of his human counterpart in the second issue of the latest Spider-Ham series. Zeb Wells continues a story brought to the page by big, cuddly art from Will Robson. Emerging from his native habitat, the Spider-Ham loses a little bit of charm. The story as a whole misses some of the charm of the debut issue.
Spider-Ham has come to the mainstream Marvel Universe. Naturally, he is going to seek-out Spider-Man as he’s the one guy he knows there. As anyone from out of town quickly finds out in their first moments in Manhattan, Peter Porker realized that things are going to be a bit awkward. He swings by Parker’s apartment only to run into Mary Jane. Spider-Man arrives home to find M.J. spoon-feeding the little pig. Initial awkwardness aside, Parker and Porker get promptly get down to business. Not knowing what else to do, Parker takes Porker to see Reed Richards if the F.F. to sort out the mess. Little does Parker know, it’s going to take more than a Marvel’s foremost superhuman genius to pry the little pig away from him.
Wells has some genuine laugh-out-loud funny moments in this issue, but without the rest of Spider-Ham’s world, Peter Porker loses a bit of novelty. Wells manages a bit of cleverness in the few pages that take place in Porker’s world while he’s away, but so much of the issue is focussed on one more misplaced superhero in Marvel Manhattan. Wells isn’t really doing much with Spider-Ham that wouldn’t be entirely out of place for a standard heroic weirdo in the Marvel Universe. Aside from Reed Richards’ amazement at some of the specifics of Porker’s physiology, there isn’t enough here that that feels fresh. Wells doesn’t enough energy to really get the story moving in a way that makes it feel distinct for Peter Porker, so it feels a bit awkward.
Robson’s art balances Peter Porker against Peter Parker in a very clean and streamlined Marvel Manhattan. While the clean lines and overall cleanliness of the city look good and glossy on the page, Porker doesn’t contrast enough against the mainstream Marvel Universe to look nearly as out of place as he probably should. Were Robson allowed to give the city a bit of a darker feel around the edges, it might serve to allow Porker to look pleasantly surreal against the backdrop of one of the largest cities in the world. Even without that contrast, Robson has a very vividly kinetic style that stylishly catapults movement across the page in a fun and breezy motion.
All of the right elements are there for a very enjoyable mini-series. Wells and Robson just haven’t found the right way to balance them into something that could turn into something brilliant. The appeal of the character is undeniable. Point him in the right direction, and Spider-Ham could really carve out a very unique place for himself.
