Features// Comics@SPOnG: This Week's Picks

Here in the SPOnG Underwater Castle we're not just one-trick mutated donkeys. We have many expertise, almost all of them involving not going outside and not talking to girls. One of them is comics. With that in mind, we've picked out a few of this week's notable releases to give you a rundown.


Amazing Spider-man #583
Writers: Mark Waid, Zeb Wells
Pencillers: Barry Kitson, Todd Nauck
$2.99

It's amazing (pun slightly intended) what The Metro can do for a comic. Barack Obama's appearance in ASM #583 made it into that not-so-venerable publication and people have gone nuts for it. People love America's president-to-be, apparently. I don't think anyone was quite so bothered when Gordon Brown turned up in Captain Britain...

Obama appears in a back-up story in which Peter Parker gets sent to photograph the presidential inauguration and ends up in a tussle with one of his long-time nemeses. Why should you care? Because it has Barack Obama in it. Otherwise, you probably shouldn't bother wasting any emotional energy on it. I couldn't quite tell whether Zeb Wells (who, no doubt with a fair amount of editorial participation, wrote it) was being ironic in the trite presentation of this little tale, or if he just couldn't help it. It comes across like you'd expect a comics supplement given away with a box of cereal in the 1960s to read.

I nearly crawled out of my own skin when Obama touched knuckles with Spidey and uttered the words “Thanks... Partner”.

Meanwhile, the embarrassing continuity slave inside me screamed, “doesn't he know that Spidey's an unregistered hero! He should have him arrested!”

As for the main story, written by Mark Waid and pencilled by Barry Kitson – it's nice. 'Nice' is about the most enthusiastic word I can drum up. Amazing Spider-man has, since his marriage was taken away in a breath-taking piece of editorial heavy-handedness, become the comics equivalent of Friends for me. I'll give ASM 20 minutes of my time because it's there and it's mostly inoffensive, but don't expect me to get excited about it.

Waid and Kitson's story is a single-issue chronicle of the relationship between Peter Parker and his long-time buddy, Betty Brant. It'll entertain you on the toilet, give you a slightly warm, fuzzy feeling (which you'll feel a little bit strange about) and then you'll forget all about it.


Resistance #1
Writer: Mike Costa
Artists: Ramón Pérez, CP Smith
$3.99

If you weren't aware of this mini-series, I'll give you a clue – it has aliens whose species name starts with the letter C and has a pretty familiar title.

Yeah, that thing. Spinning out of a game you might have heard of is Resistance #1.

Quite where it's going isn't entirely clear. We get a dog fight with Chimerans and the set-up for the maiden voyage of the Sentinel Program. The solicitation for the issue tells us Nathan Hale's leading a “desperate fight against the extraterrestrial Chimera as the invasion of America begins!”. I must have been blinking, because I missed him. Sgt Capelli does make an appearance, though.

As a comic it's capable, if not breathtaking. It is, essentially, a war comic with a sci-fi twist – pretty much what you'd expect. The script is serviceable, if not massively exciting. Pérez's pencils are, likewise, capable but not astounding, although he does make a nice switch in style between the issue's battle scene and the comfort of the barracks.

The best aspect of the issue is the shorter back-up story, set in London against the backdrop of the impending Chimeran invasion. CP Smith's pencils lend the story a grainy, noir-ish effect with his colours heaping atmosphere on it by the skip-load.

If you're a fan of Resistance you'll get something out of this. If not, just find yourself another war comic.