This blog post has been about five months in the making, and might have ended up being more if i hadn't painted myself into a corner last week.
So, this week I re-read Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow, the Chip Zdarsky, Pasqual Ferry and Matt Hollingsworth mini-series which extended Marvel's age old 'What If' concept from a single issue into a multi-issue arc by asking 'What If ... Spider-Man had kept the Black Suit?' This story, picking up from where Amazing Spider-Man #258 could've left off, saw the symbiote-clad Spidey take a more aggressive stance towards all his rogues gallery as his choosing to keep this one-half of the future Venom resulted in some very dark and potentially painful changes to the Marvel Universe as we know it.
This is a series I ended up reading three times before I got to the point where I could confidently talk about it. The first occasion being the separate release of each individual issue, I felt that the latter issues had trailed off in quality and deserved a full readthrough. However, upon the first readthrough, Spider's Shadow felt weak (although I was exceedingly tired at the time). The third (and thankfully final) readthrough (because I need to move on with my reading list) saw me fresh faced (well, not as tired) and with ample time to spare and this time, I think I knew what I wanted to say.
Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow was a really interesting story, one which got better for me with each successive instalment. Initially brought to my attention when I heard about the first issue during a First Issue Club episode, that opening entry hooked me enough to come back. As for the rest, I thought they built on this greatly, with my investment having increased as it progressed. What I think i enjoyed about it was the darkness of the story because, while I always consider 'What If' stories to be dark, this story seemed to have that as its entire motive. As I read this, it really felt that, by keeping hold of the suit, not only did Peter's darkness intensify but so did the people around him. Jameson, Brock, Fisk and beyond, every character save for Mary Jane and Black Cat seemed to unleash their darker selves, something I don't remember happening in the original story (well, maybe Brock).
The same goes for the art in my opinion as Pasqual Ferry's style was absolutely gorgeous and had this look that almost perfectly resembled the art of the time of 258 (with the early Peter Parker look best exemplifying this). However, I thought that Ferry's art and Hollingsworth's colours gave the series this real horror tinge to it, as if a lens was put on the camera to give each panel this dreamlike aura. As such, it really felt like I was reading a 'what if' dream, or maybe (more accurately) a nightmare. The latter would certainly track with the Black Suit's evolving look through the series, as I felt that Ferry and Hollingsworth made it look more monstrous with each passing scene.
That said, I did think that Spider's Shadow had its flaws and the biggest of those was that it felt like it was too long. Upon reading the whole series, I do think that there were places which lagged and, as such making it a five part series (which I don't think it was originally meant to be) was too long, especially since a variation of this question was once answered in a single issue. Also, and maybe this is my own desire for 'worse' endings in what if stories, I really felt that this mini-series was too neatly wrapped up, with few questions left as to what happens next (except for the one in the epilogue).
That said, despite these niggles, I really felt that Spider-Man Spider's Shadow was somewhere between an intriguing and a good read. While the previously mentioned epilogue does tease at a follow up, I would probably wait for the trade but I'm glad I at least gave this series a chance (and in singles for no other reason for those Phil Noto covers). As such, it makes me intrigued for any future 'What If' mini's Marvel planned to make.
Though I hope it isn't the end of the one-shots.
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