THE BASICS
Three stories focusing on different love interests of Spider-Man/Peter Parker.
MY COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF
- The first story, featuring the Black Cat, is easily the strongest portion of the book. It's the only story to heavily feature Spider-Man and his interaction with Felicia is fantastic. It's incredibly funny and put a smile on my face for its entire duration. The chemistry and relationship of Spidey and Cat, when handled by the right writer, can create all kinds of emotional responses. Laughter, surprise, tension (of more than one variety) and excitement (also of more than one variety) among others. It's a great dynamic to have at your fingertips and it's used incredibly well here. The art is also highly praiseworthy. The style fits the mood of the story perfectly. Black Cat's facial expressions are of particular note. They don't betray what's being said in any given scene, but instead beautifully amplify the dialogue being spoken. This is a story that's great to read and look at.
FEEL THE STING OF MY DISCONTENT!
- Unfortunately, the other two stories in this book, one featuring Carlie Cooper and Gwen Stacy while the other focuses on Mary Jane, don't come close to being as entertaining as the Black Cat's. Cooper and Stacy's story is incredibly boring and MJ's, while offering a single interesting scene, is pretty pointless. Neither feels like a complete story. They both just seem to be tacked on the the end of the first one.
- Every established female character in Spidey's life is treated with contempt and insignificance here. Black Cat's story, great as it was, was really just a Spider-Man story featuring her. It didn't focus on her, nor did we learn anything about her. Gwen Stacy is thrown into the role of second fiddle to (at the time) newcomer Carlie Cooper in their story. Not to mention that Mary Jane, probably, but arguably, the most important woman in Peter's life throughout his literary history, is given the shortest and most pointless story in the whole bunch. Carlie, a character whom at this point Peter had not even began a romantic relationship with, let alone loved, is the only woman featured in this book with any sort of significance.
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE
Despite the great opening story, long time fans of Spider-Man are more likely to be insulted by this book than entertained by it.
