The classic ‘What If’ concept gets a modern twist by asking ‘What if Peter Parker gave in to the alien costume’s darkest impulses?’ It’s the first part of a four part tale of terror from Chip Zdarsky, Pasqual Ferry, Matt Hollingsworth, and Joe Caramagna.
The ‘What If’ is one of Marvel’s most classic concepts, to the point that it’s been adapted as an animated series. However, in comics the format has gotten a little stale. Usually it’s a single issue story (sometimes two) where the classic question is asked, things escalate, things go wrong, and by the end of the issue we see that things are worse because of the question that was asked.
So Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow is a good opportunity to change it up.
The story takes the classic idea and gives a top notch creative team the time to truly develop it into something significant and something more than a glimpse into an alternate reality. Already this isn’t just “what if Peter Parker kept the symbiote.” That’s what makes it worth checking out.
Zdarsky takes the time to develop the world Peter is living in, and the situation he’s in. We get to see the relationships in his life, the stresses he’s dealing with, and most interesting of all, his adversaries. It’s that last one that’s the most interesting, as it shows the story isn’t just “what if Peter gave into the symbiote’s darker impulses?”
That’s where the story gets really interesting. Zdarsky links the alien costume saga with one of the most endearing and iconic Spider-Man stories to set up the terror to come. Even better, it makes the story a clever meta commentary on that original saga.
Ferry’s work is good. You can see his age coming through a bit, as the figure work is a bit looser, and there’s a little less detail than some of the books he’s known for. Beyond that though, his pencils have a solid energy through the action scenes. His designs for Peter’s angier, monstrous form are really frightening, taking inspiration from Venom, but not aping MacFarlane’s infamous design. Hollingsworth uses colors that are inspired by the original era this story comes from, but matches both modern techniques and Ferry’s style.
In the end, this story is mostly set-up and character work. But for me, that’s all I need to be interested in what happens next. And let’s hope this ‘What If’ turns out okay for Spider-Man.
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble.
