First of all, that new Spider-Man costume? Hideous. It’s absolutely hideous. There’s just no way to defend the thing. This is the first time I’ve seen the costume in an actual comic book, and this comic confirms my first impressions from the internet. It’s awful. I mean, whose idea was it for the costume to have three extra arms? Three? You idiots, a spider has eight legs. So why the holy hell does Spider-Man have seven limbs with the new suit?
But that’s kind of a digression, isn’t it? The comic in front of me today is The Thing, not New Avengers, but the problem is that there’s just not a whole lot to grab hold of here. Dan Slott has yet to write a bad comic, in my opinion, but this one is just a bit bland and unexciting. The Thing is fighting the Trapster and the Sandman when he calls for his companions in the Fantastic Four. Each of them is busy, but Spider-Man answers the call and helps his pal out. They defeat the bad guys, hang out, have a few nice moments together, and leave. It’s ordinary, kind of cute, but ultimately nothing all that special feeling.
Or maybe my problem is either Kieron Dwyer’s art or Laura Villari’s colors. Whoever’s responsible for the extra detail on the figures and the painted look of the Thing’s body kind of misses the point of a story like this. This comic doesn’t require extra detail. Bright and simple would have ruled the day here, as it did when Ty Templeton drew Slott’s Spider-Man/Human Torch mini-series. Instead everything appears a muddle somehow.
This comic isn’t all bad. There are several typical Slott gags, including a cute cameo from Hercules and the funny reason that the Torch can’t help Ben. And I chuckled at the Lost joke. But overall this comic was slightly disappointing.