Movie synergy is a phrase that sends a chill down every comic book fan’s spine. For the last decade and some change, superhero movies have dominated theaters and transformed obscure characters into household names. With the movies bringing so many new eyes onto projects, it was only natural that companies like DC and Marvel, especially Marvel, would want their heroes to resemble the ones fans learned about from the big screen. Unfortunately, with how much gets lost or altered in translation between mediums, comic book characters and their movie counterparts rarely resemble one another. So, forcing comic characters to act like their movie selves usually just makes fans mad and stories worse.
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That was everyone’s main fear when Marvel announced the miniseries Spider-Man: Long Way Home. Starring Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the Punisher early in their careers, it’s clearly meant to capitalize on these three characters starring in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Still, despite the reasoning behind it, the first issue definitely has everything it needs to stand on its own two feet. With an intricate plot with tons of moving parts penned by Johnathan Hickman and Adam Kubert, with Kubert also on the dense, action-packed art, this comic is a fantastic start to a fun adventure.
Rating: 4 out of 5
| PROS | CONS |
| Great tension and excellent balance of three protagonists | Clearly made for movie synergy |
| Fast, exciting plot that kept me eager for more | Very little Spider-Man for a comic with his name in the title |
| Dense, punchy art and next-level onomatopeia |
Different Motivations, Singular Storyline
The comic started with Bruce Banner in confession with a priest, before cutting back to the jungle. Punisher’s black ops team was tasked with entering an A.I.M. base and retrieving some kind of super-advanced technology, all while HYDRA was trying to claim it for themselves. Things get complicated when the payload is revealed to be a man-made Cosmic Cube, and a murderous Hulk joins the fray. As if he can somehow remedy that situation, Spider-Man is called in by SHIELD, but even he knows that he’s way out of his depth. The three protagonists all get their own spotlight, and each of them has their own reasons for being here. The comic balances the ever-ramping tension with impressive character work, doing a lot with very little.
The different perspectives provide a very interesting standpoint that is well worth exploring. Each piece of this story is gearing up to be very entertaining. The mix between horror and comedy is fantastic, holding both in check with a strong tone that knows exactly how to portray the seriousness of the situation without being unfun. The Hulk scenes from Punisher’s perspective are exactly as terrifying as they should be. My biggest complaint is that this is very clearly marketed as a big Spider-Man book, but he’s hardly in this issue. He’ll definitely play a larger role, but right now, he’s the least developed, and his reason for being here feels a bit contrived. Easy to look past, but something you definitely notice.
Every Page Is a New Punch in the Best Way
Kubert’s art truly hit it out of the park when it comes to density. This comic packs so much into a single page that it’s almost unreal. Nearly every page sports multiple panels that each push the plot forward in some way, often with unique alignments and shapes to push the perfectly unsettling and trapped feeling that the situation these mostly normal men find themselves in even harder. The panelling often makes the atmosphere feel heavy and restrictive, but that makes the full page and double-page spreads hit even harder. The image of the Hulk holding a man after he just ripped his feet off is horrifying in the best possible way.
Even in one of the greenest places around, the Hulk always manages to stand out and even contrast with his environment, and the coloring for Spidey’s arrival in the sun is next level. I need to give a special shout-out to the letterer, Ariana Maher. Letterers often go underappreciated, but Maher’s work is too good not to rave about. The way the huge variety of sound effects nearly overwhelms the page adds to the intense drama. They elevate the tension to the next level. Seriously, the pages of Punisher’s team leaving and firing on the Hulk are some of my favorite onomatopoeia from the last several months.
Overall, this issue is definitely a set-up issue that is trying to capitalize on the movie, but it offers a very entertaining story that I definitely want to follow to its conclusion. The only thing it needs to do is flesh out its three protagonists’ storylines, and I’m confident that this creative team can do just that. If it’s going to call itself a Spider-Man book, though, it definitely needs more Spider-Man in future issues.
Spider-Man: Long Way Home #1 is on sale now!
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