Down Among the Dead Men

I don't want to toot this horn again but man, Mark Millar just blows me away every time. I read his Wanted earlier this year and his run on the Ultimates has been amazing. But this Marvel Knights Spiderman run is just fantastic. He breathes new life and new excitement into a character with too many titles. He is an amazing character writer and Peter just leaps off the page as the tragic hero that he is. Aunt May and the villans and hottie Mary Jane just crackle and sizzle with life. All I can say is that if you are an adult Spiderman fan, then you've got to be reading this book and the rest of the first 12 issues. This is good writing, dark characters, violent action, and nitty-gritty goodness. 'Nuff said!

With Marvel pretty much letting loose on Spider-Man mania with a host of different Spidey-titles, this newly launched title, under the Marvel Knights banner, finds the web head getting the most brutal beatdown he's had in years, courtesy of Mark Millar. Next to J. Michael Straczynski's current unheralded reign on Amazing Spider-Man, Millar's Spidey title is one of Marvel's best top selling books. Beginning with Peter Parker finding the grave of his beloved Uncle Ben vandalized, and following with Aunt May getting kidnapped, it's become more than clear that somebody knows Peter's secret. Did the Green Goblin reveal to his fellow supervillains Pete's identity? What does the Owl have to gain? Why do Electro and Vulture have a rather large suitcase full of cash? And just who's side is the Black Cat really on? If there's one drawback to Down Among the Dead Men, it's that it leaves you on a heck of a cliffhanger after the wall crawler gets his keyster handed to him in a high voltage battle with Electro. Millar has taken villains like Electro and Vulture to heights the characters haven't been to in decades; we see them go to no limits to take out Spidey, even if that means taking out an innocent or two that gets in their way. The art by the same team Millar worked with on the Trouble mini-series (Terry and Rachel Dodson) is just gorgeous with Mary Jane looking like the knockout she's supposed to be. The book may be too short (this collects a four part storyarc) but it's definitely worth picking up, and by the time you get to the last page you'll be salivating for more.