"Friday Casual Spider-Angst", in Amazing Spider-Girl #2, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/penciler), Sal Buscema (inker), Gotham (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)
In summer of 2006, Marvel canceled Spider-Girl after 100 issues. It had narrowly avoided the ax several times before then, but not this time. But since this is Marvel we're talking about, the book was relaunched three months later with the same creative team, a slightly different title, and a brand-new first issue that boosted sales for, oh, two or three whole issues. The book did run 30 issues before being canceled again.
You pretty much know what you're getting with DeFalco. He has a very old-school style of writing; expository dialogue, big speeches about not giving up, the phrase "hoo-boy!". But he did at least try to not only build a supporting cast, but give them their own subplots that would eventually get the main stage. He and Frenz certainly tried to give the reader their money's worth. Whether a Clone Saga of her own, and the entirely unnecessary return of Norman Osborn (sorta) accomplished that is up to you. Wasn't what I was looking for.
Frenz had, in the previous series, been experimenting with what I think was meant to be a more modern style, maybe trying for a manga influence. It didn't go well. He moved back to something closer to his earlier style, especially with Buscema's inks. Late in the series, when Frenz was often credited with breakdowns while Buscema was credited with finishes, the art began to resemble Sal's art even more. The art was solid, clear, and easy to follow, not particularly flashy.
2 comments:
I've always been fond of DeFalco...not because he was the greatest writer in the world, but because I always felt that he really did love the characters, and tried to do his best by them...which is more than I can say about some writers and editors.
I'd agree with that. I feel like he usually tries not to break the toys too severely. Fantastic Four fans might disagree though. And I really appreciate the time he spends on the supporting cast, because if the writer doesn't care about them, why should we?
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