Dan Slott

Modern high-concept events have largely bored me, mainly because, for all the hard work of some great writers, they’re an excuse to see beloved characters beating seven shades of brown stuff out of each other. They’re essentially products of the way movies have influenced comics for a couple of decades now; summer blockbusters designed to bathe the big companies in a money shower, gold coins pouring down from an empty sky. Cumulatively they make it harder to believe in this big show more consistent fictional universe – the inhabitants of this place would all be traumatised by such regular apocalypses.

Occasionally though the high concepts have a heart. Civil War being an exploration of the issues around the Dubya era War on Terror and how America was still responding to 9/11. Hey, I never claimed it wasn’t obvious stuff. Spider-Island doesn’t take similarly contemporary inspiration (and therefore doesn’t date itself in a similar way) but instead inverts the whole superhero concept in a way even big budget movies might struggle to portray. What if Spider-Man wasn’t remarkable? What if *everyone* had the same superpowers and had to make the same decisions about power and responsibility? That’s a pretty potent storytelling idea and one that’s got huge potential for getting to the heart of the character of Peter Parker, to remind us of what makes him unique. Slott and Ramos, the writer and artist of the main storyline, know that this is essentially superhero comics gold dust and wheel out plenty of dynamic imagery and wit to support the central idea the title page of what was issue 667 of the comic series is a perfect example of what they’re doing in terms of both theme and style. It’s finely paced too, with Slott expertly dropping plot twists in to keep the tension ramping up. Half a story, but a tremendous half a story and a reminder that superhero comics are at their best when they’re more than an excuse for a spectacular punch-up. show less

I absolutely loved everything about this whole series, but even if I didn't, this volume would get 5 stars on the sheer brilliance and insanity of issue 11 (the opening issue to this collection). I love it when stories are told in a way that utilises the medium in which they are told in unique and interesting ways thereby making a story that COULDN'T be told in a different medium to the same effect. In issue 11, Slott and Allred take us through countless iterations of a time loop through use show more of a literal Möbius strip of panels running backwards and forwards, upside down and right side up through the issue. It is comic book storytelling at its best and most crazy and I love it so much. show less

If you're going to tell a story, tell one that matters. The plots and arcs in FF are always sorta soft and easy, compared to the mega-grit of the modern comic world. Here, the creators attempt something quite brave--they've made a comic that will be part of FF canon history, and it all sort of works.

I read this in the individual issues over at Marvel Unlimited. It was a really engrossing and fun storyline to read and utterly crazypants. I loved seeing all the different iterations of Spider-men out there in the multi-verse, including some old friends I had vaguely remembered from back in the day (hi, Mayday!).

So giant mega-crossover event with a giant body count to go along with it. Many of those familiar characters got axed out of existence in this event, which was gut-wrenching. So A+ show more on the feels department. And despite me coming into the storyline fairly cold, I was able to follow along with very little difficulty.

But. The entire time I was reading this monster of a storyline, a little nagging voice in the back of my head kept asking, "If the Inheritors' food are the Spider totems, why was the family so gung ho about wiping all Spiders out of existence?" Sense making, it was not.

Also, the ending was a bit too deus ex machina for my liking. It was timey whimey but in such an utterly conveniently way that I rolled my eyes a bit. show less