The Spider #1
Reviewed by Wolfgang Parker
The Spider #1 (with "Operator 5")
Written by: Martin Powell & Gary Phillips
Art by: Pablo Marcos & Roberto Castro
Colors by: Jay Piscopo
Letters by: Josh Aitken
Covers by: Dan Brereton & Doug Pagacz
Published by: Moonstone
Cover Price: $2.99
Moonstone Publishing brings a big, fat double-shot of pulp action to your local comic rack with the Spider in "Death Siege of the Frankenstein Legion."
Writer Martin Powell does a tremendous job with only 11 pages in which to shoehorn his latest thrilling episode of the Spider's adventures. He deals a sublime hand of chills and raw action, striking the perfect balance of old-school melodrama and new school adventure, giving true pulp fans their money's work. For a fan of the old pulp heroes, and a fan of horror comics, this series is a dream come true. Dames is distress, zombie hordes, and two-fisted gunners; what more can a man ask for? How about great art? Pablo Marcos serves it up, thick and juicy.
Marcos's style is reminiscent of the old horror comics of the 1970's like "Vault of Horror" and "the Witching Hour." This aesthetic brings a very nostalgic vibe to the book and lends itself to this style of fast-paces storytelling. But Marcos's art really shines when the guns start blazing. His action panels leap off the page and really bring the Spider to life.
Up next writer Gary Phillips and artist Roberto Castro bring "Operator 5" into the dark underbelly of the pre-war American Nazi movement in "The Faithful."
Phillips seems to be in his element with Operator's gritty street crime drama. Again, with only 11 pages, Phillips, like Powell, really does a tremendous job with his scripting. In no time Operator 5 is in deep cover among the German-American Bund, the pre-war Nazi Party. Phillips somehow finds the space on the page to get in a fair amount of character development between the turns of the tale. And again, he delivers a perfect hardboiled tale filled with violence, deception, and bombshell broads to kill for.
Artist Roberto Castro flexes some impressive sequential muscle, keeping the shots up-close and personal in a beautifully classic style. Again, the marriage between artist and writer is a perfect match. Castro really has a wonderful dynamic to his work. He pours on the grit and shadow to make this episode of Operator 5 one not to miss. So, don't!
I have to admit, I'm not fond of grayscale art. Nothing wrong with it, per se; it's just not my thing. But I have to hand it to colorist Jay Piscopo; he colored both stories with only black and red and really worked some magic. In fact, it was the appearance of this red and black art that made me look through the book in the first place. Great work, there, Jay! I guess necessity really is the mother of invention.
Letter Josh Aitken does a pretty good job considering the complexities of the lettering for this book; especially "the Spider." He navigates a lot of tricky terrain between the script and a lot of detailed artwork. I could tell he was definitely sweating, but he pulled through like a champ.
Rounding out the team we have killer contributions on cover work by Dan Brereton and Doug Pagacz, respectively. Their hand-painted pieces lend a nice weight to the book in all of its classic pulpy glory.
If you dig pulp crime stories and you haven't checked out what these mugs at Moonstone are cooking up, do yourself a favor and go grab you some. Their approach to bringing the thrills and spills of yesteryear to the modern comic audience is well worth your time. They have some great writers and artist working their asses off on these books and this first issue of "the Spider" is proof positive: They mean business!
Take a Look Inside
Reviewer Bio
Wolfgang Parker / Reviewer
Wolfgang Parker is a comics writer currently in the throes of production for his first full-length graphic novel. He is also a recording artist with a couple of albums out, and a published photographer. You can find out a lot just by Googling his name, and if you're on Facebook, look him up.
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