Midnight Spider-Man#1 / // Review
Their cat’s name was Bamf. They’ve been away for a little while. Peter knew the importance of responsibility. He made sure that the cat was looked after and cared for. However, there was something that he forgotten to check: whether or not it was inside. It was in the backyard. He haven’t let it in, and that place had been locked up when they left. Now they’re back. Peter is going to find something awful in the backyard in Midnight Spider-Man#1. Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson begins a darker look at a classic superhero with French artist ScieTronc.
Years later, Oscirp is working on developing eternal life. Peter is given the opportunity to participate in the experiments. The prospect of eternal life might be a little frightening, but it’s fascinating research of Peter is going to wish he hadn’t engaged in the project, though. It’s going to turn him into something else. Something horrifying. A monster. But if he’s going to be a monster, at least he can haunted those who were looking to exploit other people the way he had been exploited by the corporation that turned him into what he is.
Barantoker’s Dracula. H.G Wells’ Invisible Man. Superhuman powers had been the subject of popular horror fiction long before Clark had first lifted that cat an the cover of Action Comics #1. There are certain elements of the superhero genre, which just happened to fit rather nicely with horror.. Phillip Kennedy Johnson explores the distinct horror elements of Spider-Man’s origin in an issue that search as a really interesting foundation or what might be remarkably fresh look at a character who’s been around for well over a half century. Johnson isn’t just translate a character into a horror genre. He’s actually exploring some of the basic themes of the character from a completely new direction that adds quite a bit to it.
ScieTronc is a bit sketchy with detail. But that’s not really a huge issue in it visual package that focuses so strikingly on mood. The dark tone of the opening issue of the series really takes all straight from the beginning. The artist makes interesting choices with respect to framing the action. It’s not always the most obvious execution that makes the strongest impression, especially in horror. ScieTronc has strikingly good instincts for how to tell a story with skewed perspective and dramatic angles that are somewhat unexpected.
There are a lot of elements of the Peter Parker story that seem difficult to extricate from the character. A lot of of those elements are completely thrown out in this particular iteration of the character. What feels like it might be Spider-Man in the name only. The surface actually Terence out to be a very clever contrast to the classic we change that so define the character. It’s an interesting opening for a new series which could explore the same themes and not completely new ground. Given the right momentum, this could turn into a really interesting series.
