Spider-Man: Legend of the Spider-Clan #4

Background

Second to last issue of this terrible Manga-Spider mish-mash. Here's the short version, I'll spare you the pain of the meaningless details.

Story Details

Last issue, out-of-control Manga-Spidey just mashed Aunt "Ninja" May's face into a pizza. Shock! Horror! This issue, first page, seems he missed, and smashed a hole in the wall. Wow. How clever. Well, what a great use for a two page spread.

Venom, or is it Baal - leader of the Shadow-Clan, shows up. So does Black Cat. Dare-Devil is here too, and he's sad, 'cos Venom, and/or Baal, killed his girl a while back. Peter and May escape. Peter takes off the evil amulet. Oh no, he's dying! Green Goblin shows up, kidnaps Aunt May, hostage for the amulet (that he didn't see) the amulet. Flashback Time!

Aunt May, Kiri (Pete's mom?) Peter, Ben, Shinji (Peter's dad) are all together. But Kiri and Ben are planned to be married? But she loves another... dunno who. But Kiri is holding the amulet, and turns into a Demon, and kills Shinji... and wounds the child, who becomes Venom. So that's not Peter? So they're cousins? I have NO idea... But Venom turns up, and offers his life to the Amulet so that Peter can live... treating Peter like... "a brother?"

Baal turns up, saying "Venom was my greatest soldier... you were meant to replace him." But he's not happy with Peter now. Peter fights, without the black costume, and kills all of the warriors, leaving Baal. "Now, we fight!" Fight, fight, fight, with no bloody explanation for any of it. Sheesh! But... here's Dare-Devil, and Black Cat (who is working for somebody we don't know, to do who knows what).

DD and BC fight Baal, while Peter goes to rescue Aunt May.

General Comments

Hey, it's "Spider-Man Themed Digimon!" Demons, amulets, "You Killed My Father, now you will die!" "You have betrayed your clan!" "I have the warrior force, I do not need that amulet!"... you get the picture.

Every damned cliche in the Manga handbook. All mixed with some pseudo-complex and uninterpretable but oh-so-meaningful family history, which is dumped and then abandoned, 'cos we all know it isn't important... just like this comic book!

If you're a true manga fan... then you'll see right through this rubbish in no time. If you're a serious Spider-Fan, you'll have no damn clue at all what this is going about. It's half-baked tripe... the art is poor, the plot is inane, and the characterisations are a cornball set of ripped-off, warmed-over dribblings left over from the cutting-room floor of a second-rate back-street animation studio.

The attempt to add "depth" by the means of a contrived spaghetti of past relationships between the major, but now mostly deceased, "characters" (and I use the term loosely) just cements the whole sad and sorry enterprise as a tragic waste of wood-plup.

Overall Rating

10-foot barge pole? Not long enough!