The Spider #7
Publisher: Dynamite
Writer: David Liss
Artist: Ivan Rodriguez (cover by Francesco Francavilla)
Colors: Vinicius Andrade
So, does the plot of a fat naked guy, running around the city knocking people unconscious, then burying them alive sound interesting? Well, believe it or not, that’s the synopsis for the latest installment of The Spider! Not only that, but one of his victims is police chief Kirkpatrick! This spells trouble for Richard and Nita, who in a moment of emotion and weakness spend the night together. A jogger, a pizza delivery guy, and everyone in between feels the wrath of this strange man that wants to basically get off by being naked and rubbing up against unconscious people.
OK, so this issue was kind of crazy. At first, it seems as though the naked weirdo is what the book is all about, but in the end it isn’t. David Liss has taken a bad, strenuous, volatile situation between his character’s best friend and his ex-girlfriend, and thrown gasoline on it. Make no mistake, this is the real plot of the issue. Yeah, the fat naked perv was funny (and creepy), but again, he was just the catalyst. The Spider also seems to be getting more liberal with his actions towards criminals, too. This issue seemed like another stand alone story, and the next big story is more than likely on the horizon, but it definitely was an interesting issue. Definitely not filler or a “get me to the next arc” book.
New artist Ivan Rodriguez did a fine job with this issue. The previous artist was doing a fantastic job, and seemed to have a better rapport with Liss, but I guess these things never last, do they. That being said, the book definitely kept pace with its predecessors. The fat naked guy looked odd a couple of times, but then again that may have been intentional to turn up the “creep” factor. The colors were quite good, and so was the cover! Again, now that Francavilla seems to be the regular cover artist instead of just an alternate option, these books should fly even faster off of the shelves! Rating 4/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
