The Backlog: Avenging Spider-Man #1


Welcome to The Backlog in which I comb through my ridiculously long library of unread titles (and some slightly more recent comics) and ruminate on issues that have been out for years/decades.

This week, I tear into Avenging Spider-Man #1, which has a heavy Red Hulk presence. He was in A+X #1 as well, I’m guessing this corner of my Backlog was right around ol’ Red Head moved on from “mysterious villain” status.

Let’s cut right to the chase this week. With art by the always-late, but always-AMAZABALLS Joe Madureira (Joe Mad! to his followers) there was no way I couldn’t love this comic (I was a huge Battle Chasers fan back in the day). I was so thrilled when I flipped through, I immediately grabbed a copy of Volume 1 from my local library (Sidebar: One of the great things about reading old comics? Your library probably has all the trades by now!). The art pops like nothing else on the shelves and the writing is genuinely witty; where else will you get Spider-Man comparing Red Hulk to the Kool Aid Man? That’s one thing that modern writers so often eschew in favor of Peter Parker’s angst, his quippy, irreverent side. It was refreshing to see it showcased here.

I simply don’t have enough superlatives to properly express how good Joe Mad’s art is. I mean, Just look at this and tell me with a straight face that you have no desire to see more:

That’s a nice robot you got there, be a shame if something happened to it..

Best game of “Not it” ever.

If it’s Joe Mad, it’s got to have a crazy dragon, serpent…thing

Plus, I really can’t get enough of grumpy old mayor JJ Jameson calling my tribe “jog hippies:”

*snrk*

So long story short? This is well worth a trip to the long-boxes in the back.

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