When Kendrick Lamar asked, “Are you on 10 yet?” he was probably not asking me if I’d gotten to Tangled Web #10… but I have. I should let him know. Kaare Andrews. Undeniably a talented artist. A chameleon, and really flexing about it in this period with covers ranging from traditional superhero to cartoon to Norman Rockwell homage all over the Marvel line. You’d think his 60s cartoon Spider-Man would be tighter with that in mind. It can literally only be that off-model on purpose. But, like, look at this:
But here’s page 2:
Like, the average comic would 100% have 2 different artists making that stylistic switch, but Andrews just does it himself.
But for whatever reason, when he writes Spider-Man things, he tends to make them super dark. He’s not my guy.
There’s a real uncanny valley to this book. It looks so real, and so clearly unreal. The kids have a sad fight about whether heroes exist, the jaded older brother out for blood and trying to crush the younger one’s spirit, and then something blows a hole in the wall. And when the smoke clears, there’s something pretty unusual in the rubble…
The gimmick here is he’s obscuring the superpeople. I guess… because he’s focusing on the “real world” consequences? I dunno, man, a full page splash of Electro cropping out his head just feels like a waste of your time. The wee kid gets between Electro and his prey, and Electro starts scaring him, forcing his brother to step out in front of him. Electro starts belittling him and slowly inching a finger closer to his forehead. Also, Andrews putting his signature at the bottom of every single page is getting so, so annoying. WE GET IT, YOU’RE VERY SPECIAL.
Electro is defeated, and Spider-Man asks the kids if they’re ok. Even with him directly interacting with them, he’s as obscured as possible. He asks if their mom and dad are ok, and when they say they don’t have a dad, they’re surprised when he says he can relate. Looking around, the Obscure Spider-Man takes an envelope labeled “RENT” out of his sock and gives it to them, apologizing for the mess. He also webs the little kid’s toy back together like it won’t dissolve in an hour.
I’ve commented on it before, but I will always be fascinated by how creators who do it all don’t letter. Lettering is such a different discipline, and we all seem to hate it. So, here Andrews writes and paints the entire issue, but he ain’t lettering it. Really beating you over the head with the message in the end. Could be worse. Could be Andrews’ Spider-Man: Reign, his embarrassing Dark Knight Returns knock off which I do not own and will not be covering.