ATG Comic Review: Spider-Man Noir #1

Welcome back everyone. It’s been a slow start to the year I know and some of that is from slow weeks when I go into the comic shop and some of it is from me having some problems with my mental health which has been making it hard for me to get out. So I just want to take a moment and remind people, if you need to be sure to talk to someone about your bad feelings. Don’t let depression, anxiety, and panic get the better of you. Lately, it has been getting the better of me but I am working hard to get past it and stop it and I want to remind you that with mental health it’s just like it was in my cancer fight- always remember Never Give Up. No matter what you may think of John Cena, that message is one you should always take to heart.

Now, on to the fun stuff! This week we have a new comic to review from our awesome friends at Vibranium Comics and Games in Ocala Florida. They just had a fun little Comic Fest at the Mall on saturday down in Crystal River. They plan on doing more of those at Crystal River and Ocala which was really fun so be sure to check out their facebook page and drop them a like by clicking the banner below! Now let’s just swing right into the review! *Thwip*

Now that we’ve swung into the review as you may have noticed from the title and the picture on our main page we will be talking about the first issue of Spider-Man Noir. In many ways this is a comic that really appeals to me. I have always enjoyed the old film noir styles in stories and the detective stories. In some ways I think that this may appeal to my wife as well as it seems to be taking place in the age of World War II on this alternate Earth as the Nazis are stirring across the seas. In this comic it starts out with people thinking that Spider-Man is dead, Peter Parker is a Private Eye, J. Jonah Jameson seems to be a beat reporter for a paper, and Mary Jane looks like she is part of the War Movement (my only real knowledge of what the women did or were called is from a song in the movie White Christmas. I really need to study this period of history more especially since my wife is kinda obsessed with it.) We also see that Felicia Hardy is a club owner of the club known as the Black Cat. Kingpin is also name dropped but not seen.

I need to look into this but they are treating this AU as though it is fully formed. I know they had Spider-Man Noir in the Spider-Verse comics and movie but I don’t know how deeply they got into that AU during that. Reading this though makes it seems like it was pretty well detailed out which made me feel a little lost to tell the truth being a new reader and such. Peter ends up using his web shooters in front of some people and he is pretty obvious about who he is as he has the same goggles as Spider-Man hanging around his neck. However, we also hear that people think he’s dead so I’m guessing his secret isn’t fully out but that some people may know it. M.J. and Aunt May certainly know his secret which I find interesting at least in the latter person knowing.

Art wise for the most part I like it. The Noir looks has always intrigued me however, they did one thing in this that has always just annoyed me. In this comic they did the same thing the movie Sin City did in the past and everything is basically Black, White and shades of Grey unless something is red. For some reason Red and some muted greens are actual colors and those just stand out in a way that I think just jars me out of the feel of the rest of the artwork. I thought this same thing with Sin City when I first saw it. I’m sure there is a reason for this and I’m sure some people like it but when 99% of the comic except for one person’s coat and MJ’s hair is in Black and White then the hair and coat just stand out in a way that to me is not good. Honestly though this was my only real gripe about the comic and I am interested in seeing where it goes from here.

Have you read it yet? If so we’d love to hear from you below! Do you like the Sin City style of art or does it set off your OCD like it does mine? We’d love to hear from you!

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