Scarlet Spider #2 Review
The time has come for Kaine to make a choice – run away to Mexico and live the rest of his life in peace and quiet, or become a superhero for the people of Houston.
Scarlet Spider #2
Kaine is very nearly to the airport. He’s on his way to a life away from any responsibility and away from the nagging voice inside his head telling him to make a difference by being a hero. When he sees the hospital he took a hurt girl who’s been trafficked into the States exploding with fire, he goes back to keep her safe one more time before leaving for good. He comes across a Hispanic villain who can manipulate fire. He claims to have gotten this gift from the Mexican god Xiuhcoatl. He tries to kill the young girl, but Kaine finally makes his appearance as Scarlet Spider and takes on the big bad. When he finally subdues the monster, he’s begged by a policeman and the girl’s doctor to stay and help. Finally, Kaine has to confront himself and his desires.
Chris Yost and Ryan Stegman are creating a fun story with this book. Last month, I mentioned that I had been out of the Spider-Man books for a while now, so I didn’t really have a connection to Kaine following the “Grim Hunt” story. I decided to take a look at this because there seems to be a strong history of reinvention of older characters over the past decade or so. Plus, knowing Yost’s ability to work with characters and creating a strong story ranging from serious, to intense, to downright fun was appealing.
Now, I find myself going from seeing if issue two could also grab me in some close approximation to issue one to now wanting to read more. The characterization of Kaine in this book is really right up my alley. He internalizes and struggles with making the right choices. In many ways, Kaine is going through a more concentrated set of decisions and situations as Peter Parker did before finally growing into a little more mature hero. Kaine will struggle for a while with doing what’s right for everyone and what he feels he wants or deserves. To me, that’s good reading, and with Yost at the helm, I know it’s going to succeed more than not.
I also have really enjoyed Stegman’s art on the book. I loved his splash page of Scarlet Spider coming to the rescue. After not seeing the full outfit at all last issue (besides the cover), it was a good build up and a great payoff. There’s an inherent Spider-Man feel to the art that’s not just safe, but what I want to see in the title. Flipping through the book again in preparation to write this review, I focused on the art and a tell tale sign for me that the art is clean and enjoyable is being able to understand the flow of the story by just following along from panel to panel. It’s the type of thing that takes me back to my youth as I would usually always read my new comics back then by just looking at the art first, then going back and reading the story.
I’m definitely on board for a while now. I’m looking forward to seeing more of what Yost and Stegman has to offer. Two months ago, I don’t think I would have believed you if you told me this would be my reaction to Scarlet Spider.
A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATING
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Fun, yet solid, story. Good internal struggle for the main hero. Fun art that beckons me to flip through the book more than once to take a look. | Not much that I can really say here. This is just an enjoyable book. |
| Rating |
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