Broken Frontier

Newcomers Bill Hader and Seth Meyers write a winner with a little help from a veteran artist.

The one-shot, Spider Man: The Short Halloween, takes the reader on a whirlwind of childhood references and mistaken identities.  In this issue, Spidey hates on Halloween, has too much to drink, and turns a villain straight.

The Short Halloween finds Spider-Man lamenting about the complications that arise on this holiest of unholy days, while his spider-sense goes haywire.  He witnesses an unknown villain trying to make a name for himself after hitting the local jewelry shop.  A pursuit ends when Spider-Man falls off a building, near a Halloween party at a bar.  A switch occurs and Spider-Man is mistaken for a drunken friend dressed as the arachnid avenger.  An introduction to a new super-villain group, the Furious Five, develops slowly and never really takes off.  Spider-Man nonetheless becomes involved with this amateur group of misfits, battle ensues, and peace is restored.

Hader and Meyers are talented writers, as displayed in this comic.  This writing duo is best known for their hilarious skits on the long-running program Saturday Night Live.  Their transition from the television screen to the comic book is seamless and vividly entertaining.  Fans of the program will definitely recognize Hader and Meyers’ voices in the dialogue, so readers who do not enjoy Saturday Night Live may not appreciate their brand of humor.  Many references to pop culture and technology make this arc very current.  As self-proclaimed fanboys, we can only hope to expect more from this refreshing team.

Kevin Maguire’s artwork makes The Short Halloween a great one-shot.  It doesn’t hurt that Meyers is a huge fan of Maguire’s work.  Two of the supporting characters in this story are dressed as Hunter S. Thompson and the guy from Shaun of the Dead, and the art is so detailed, any reader familiar with their films will immediately pick up on this.  Other dress up characters include a certain Doc Ock and a Green Goblin (which may or may not pose a problem when the real Spider-Man runs into them!).  Maguire filled each panel with exciting colors, wild action and humorous situations. 

Overall, the Hader-Meyers-Maguire team worked well and, most importantly, had fun.  The fun conversations coupled with animated, brilliant art created a fun story for Spidey fans.  Readers will enjoy the light-hearted break from the serious situations currently occurring in Amazing Spider-Man.  Recommended for all readers.