“The Age of Revelation” is Marvel’s latest attempt to make readers fall in love with the X-Men again, since the Krakoa Era started to show the cracks in its facade years ago. “The Age of Revelation” takes readers ten years into the future, to a world ravaged by the X-Virus, with mutants under the control of Revelation, the former Doug Ramsey. Marvel has pulled more than just the X-Men into the story, and Radioactive Spider-Man #1 takes readers to New York City to show readers how Spider-Man has been doing. This issue is an entertaining Spider-Man romp, and one of the better chapters of “The Age of Revelation” so far.
“The Age of Revelation” has a fair amount of hype, but I don’t think anyone expected Radioactive Spider-Man to be all that great. It’s a Spider-Man book in an X-Men story that doesn’t really deal with that story’s main plot, and it has the aroma of a cash-in tie-in. However, the book is written by The Amazing Spider-Man writer Joe Kelly, who has been giving readers some of the best Spider-Man stories in years, so we should have known this would be good. Kelly brings up into post-X-Virus New York City, showing that while the situation is very different from before, this is still the Marvel Universe’s New York City; as weird as things are, New Yorkers are New Yorkers. There’s something about this that will make a reader feel at home in this book.
Kelly kicks the book off with a great action scene, exactly the way a Spider-Man book should start, and then starts catching readers up on what’s been happening to Spider-Man and the city. It doesn’t feel like exposition, with the captions having a natural feel that fits the story. Kelly includes Dr. Cecelia Reyes in the book, who longtime Kelly fans will remember from his late ’90s run on X-Men, for a surprising role that makes a lot of sense for everyone involved. Finally, he ends the issue on the kind of cliffhanger that will hook readers, one that will make you pick up the next issue to see what exactly is going on. This is a great tie-in comic, and it was a pleasant surprise.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5
Kev Walker is he artist for Radioactive Spider-Man #1, and I can’t really think of someone who was a better choice for the book. Walker’s cartoony style might not seem like it would fit the dark and gritty world of “The Age of Revelation”, but it works for this issue. Kelly is a master of “funny” superhero stories, so Walker’s style works very well with the quippy script. Walker’s character acting really helps Kelly’s humor land. The action scenes are smooth and kinetic, and I love the way Walker draws the webbing on Spider-Man’s costume. It feels haphazard in a fun way that really grabs your attention.
Spider-Man’s mutation looks cool and creepy at the same time, which helps pound home the fact that this isn’t your father’s Spider-Man story. That creepy feel is evident throughout the book, and I love the tone it gives the comic. I love the way he draws Reyes, and he gives her a costume that is unique while still paying homage to the one she sometimes wore as an X-Man. My one problem with the art (and honestly, the issue in general) is that the villains of the issue feel pretty generic. While they work in the action scenes, there’s nothing unique about any of them; you won’t remember them when you put the book down.
The tie-ins to “The Age of Revelation” haven’t been stellar. This is an “Age of Apocalypse” pastiche story that never rises to the level of its progenitor. However, Radioactive Spider-Man #1 shines because it takes the best parts of Spider-Man and drops them into a setting we’re not used to seeing them in. Getting Kelly, the main Spider-Man writer, to write this book was perfect, and he and Walker give readers a surprisingly good comic.
Radioactive Spider-Man #1 is on sale now.
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