Spider-Man: Reign 2 #1
Writer, Illustrator, & Colorist: Kaare Andrews
Color Assist: Brian Reber
Publisher: Marvel (July 2024)
Spoilers Ahead
Yes, Spider-Man: Reign, which was published about a thousand years ago in 2006, is the comic notorious for introducing radioactive spider-semen into Spider-Man lore. Creator Kaare Andrew has done his level best to dissuade fans from thinking this to be so, but read the page yourself:
If we want to be generous, I suppose we can agree to meet Kaare somewhere in the middle and say that it's merely suggested that Peter's semen is being alluded to as part of that "every fluid" line. Still, a bit hard to shake that one off, let alone manage to purge it from the mind entirely as we launch into Spider-Man: Reign 2.
I'm having some fun here, in case the tone isn't coming through. I guess I'm in the minority of readers, because outside of the aforementioned ickiness and some vagueness in the storytelling, I thought Spider-Man: Reign was a decent read. I like Kaare Andrews' art style, and I felt that ultimately he understood the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane better than most. Especially in the climactic fourth issue, where MJ tells Peter how she loved him not because of his strength, but rather his ability to control it and not use it to dominate the world around him. His powers set him apart and make Peter the hero that people need. She respects the great responsibility that he has and reminds him that it's a duty he can't ignore. By the end, he saves the city, it's heavily implied that Peter is back to his web-swinging ways, and, well, I thought it was a nice way to wrap things up.
And now it's 18 years later and Spider-Man: Reign 2 #1 is here.
In 2006 when the original mini ran, it was published under the Marvel Knights banner with fancy, heavy cardstock covers and a very stylish trade dress. It felt like an event, something that readers were supposed to sit up and take notice of. Not just another run-of-the-mill "the end" type of story, but a legitimate possible future for the character. Unfortunately, while the series certainly has its fans, it was no Dark Knight Returns. And it might seem unfair to compare it to such a seminal work, but the influence of Miller's writing and art is felt in every panel of Spider-Man: Reign. Thus it is that all these years later, Spider-Man: Reign is merely a curiosity and not a watershed moment in the character's history.
With all that in mind, my first reaction to Spider-Man: Reign 2 was... why? Why did this story need to be told? For one thing, Marvel isn't treating this followup with anywhere near the prestige of the original. The heavy cardstock covers are gone, the trade dress is basic by comparison. Even the page count is ten less per issue. If Marvel can't seem bothered to give this sequel the care of the original, how is it worth the $4.99 MSRP?
Well, Kaare certainly gives it his best shot to get readers invested. Things pick up quickly with Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, emerging from the containment tank where he was being held captive for many years. This is a direct continuation from Spider-Man: Reign, with the story recap at the beginning telling readers that Fisk is escaping from a prison that was situated beneath the Empire State Building, which was blown up at the conclusion of that story. Now, Fisk is back and the "King" of New York. Peter, meanwhile, is jacked into something that seems akin to The Matrix, a computer simulation where humans are mentally plugged in 24-hours a day and kept alive through feeding tubes. Someone who goes by Kitty-Kat rescues him, and the adventure begins anew.
As far as intros go, Kaare's hulking, monstrous version of FIsk is striking. His body is lined with electronic inserts, particularly on his back, and the character comes across as truly sinister as a result. Peter, on the other hand, looks largely fit, but with an enormous, flowing white beard that pokes out from the bottom of his mask. Kaare's art style and coloring (assisted by Brian Reber) is more refined here than the original Reign, perhaps the result of years of growth as an artist in the time since. Again, I enjoy his style, and I'm liking what he's doing here visually. There's a hint of McFarlane in his rendering of the character, which I suspect might be inspired by the excellent '90s-style variant covers Kaare recently did for Marvel. The flowing beard is also evocative of Kamaji from Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away. It's not totally my thing, but I can appreciate what Kaare is going for.
Initially, I worried that Peter was right back to the shell of a man he was at the start of the last story, moaning and moping over MJ being dead and unwilling to be a hero any longer. Thankfully, the narrative quickly pivots and suggests that these doldrums were the result of the computer simulacra that Peter was inserted into. Once Peter's web shooters are firmly wrapped once more around his wrists and he begins swinging through the air, he seems to reclaim some of the vigor that he had regained at the end of Reign. Peter begins to grapple with the chaotic state that New York has been plunged into, with Fisk now in charge and some sort of unavoidable cataclysm looming large over the populace guaranteeing certain death to all. A death they can escape by plugging into something that sounds suspiciously like the simulation Peter just escaped from...
By the end of the issue, Peter and Kat are reunited and find themselves face-to-face with a very prominent member of Spider-Man's rogues gallery (I won't spoil who, but they're delightfully grotesque here) who sends the pair into the past to... undo something? Fix something? Change something? I couldn't totally tell. It sounds like Peter is going to be on the hunt for MJ, but the problem is that throughout the issue, Kaare is trying a bit too hard to be mysterious and evasive to the detriment of clarity in storytelling. After a couple of reads I more or less got what is happening, but only after having to sift through vague dialogue and over-the-top cliches. Still, it's not like Kaare wrote the original Reign any differently, but I had hoped the self-indulgence there would be less pronounced here. It would go a long way towards improving readability and making the story stronger as a whole if he eased up and made his points more plainly.
If I have one major issue with Spider-Man: Reign 2 #1, it's that I worry it's undoing the things that the original managed to get right. Like I said, when Reign reached it's end, Peter had moved on from MJ's death and was back to being a hero. With Reign 2, there's the real possibility that it will devolve into a pointless retread. My hope is that in the remaining issues Kaare is able to justify why this sequel exists.
Interestingly, Kaare provides an afterword at the end of the issue that talks about returning to this version of the character after so long. I got the strong impression from reading what he said that this book is a reaction to cancel culture, of which Kaare has been on the receiving end of in the past, as well as criticisms of the first series. He uses snakes and ladders as a metaphor throughout the statement and acknowledges this could very well be a downward spiral and not a triumphant followup. It's a bit overwrought and dramatic, but I appreciated his honesty. It also gives me hope that he has something fresh to say in an industry suffering so. I'm willing to see this one through to the end.
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