Spider-Man: Spider-Island Companion

Spider-Island (Collected Editions) #2

by Paul Tobin, Pepe Larraz (Illustrator)

As all of Manhattan is transformed into an island of Spider-Men, the city is quarantined! As Spider-Man battles the problem at its source, Marvel's other heroes take on the task of calming a city of spider-powered citizens - and battling an army of spider-powered criminals.

COLLECTING: SPIDER-ISLAND: THe AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL 1-3; SPIDER-ISLAND: CLOAK & DAGGER1-3;SPIDER-ISLAND: DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU 1-3;HERC 7-8; SPIDER-ISLAND: AVENGERS 1; SPIDER-ISLAND: SPIDER-WOMAN 1; HEROES FOR HIRE 12; BLACK PANTHER 524; SPIDER-ISLAND: HEROES FOR HIRE; SPIDER-ISLAND SPOTLIGHT

Genres: Comics, Spider Man, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

424 pages, Hardcover

First published February 29, 2012

About the author

Paul Tobin is the Eisner-award winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Bandette, Colder, and many other comic books and graphic series.

Bandette, drawn by Colleen Coover, was awarded the Eisner Award for Best Digital Series in 2013, 2016, and 2017; and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award for Graphic Literature in 2016. His original graphic novel I Was the Cat was nominated for an Eisner in 2015.

The Genius Factor: How to Capture an Invisible Cat , first in his five-book series of middle-grade books, came out in 2016 from Bloomsbury Kids. It was followed in 2017 by How To Outsmart A billion Robot Bees , and How To Tame A Human Tornado in March 2018.

Reviews

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints Spider-Island: The Amazing Spider-Girl #1-3, Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger #1-3, Spider-Island: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1-3, Herc #7-8, Spider-Island: The Avengers #1, Spider-Island: Spider-Woman #1, Spider-Island:  Heroes for Hire #1, Black Panther:  The Most Dangerous Man Alive #524, and Spider-Island: I Love New York City #1 (October 2011-December 2011). The Jackal has unleashed bedbugs upon New York City whose bite grands people the powers of Spider-Man. With superhumans popping up all over, Spider-Man has his hands full and the other heroes of New York City are finding themselves with new powers and abilities while trying to contain the crisis growing on Manhattan. The new “Spider-Men” are a threat, and heroes must rise!

Written by Greg Rucka, Anthony Johnston, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Christopher Yost, Joe Caramagna, Paul Tobin, Skottie Young, Fred Van Lente, Nick Spencer, Greg Pack, David Liss, Dan Abnett, and Andy Lanning, Spider-Man: Spider-Island Companion is a collection of limited series and one-shots surrounding the Dan Slott Spider-Island storyline which ran in Amazing Spider-Man. The collection features art by Max Fiumara, Sebastian Fiumara, Leandro Fernandez, Chuck BB, Mike McKone, Pepe Larraz, David Guertin, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Emma Rios, June Brigman, Francesco Francavilla, and Kyle Hotz. The Cloak and Dagger limited series was also collected in Cloak & Dagger: Runaways and Reversals, Spider-Island:  Heroes for Hire #1 was collected in Heroes for Hire by Abnett & Lanning—The Complete Collection, and Black Panther:  The Most Dangerous Man Alive #524 was included in Black Panther:  The Man Without Fear—The Complete Collection and Black Panther:  The Kingpin of Wakanda.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Slott’s run on Spider-Man and Spider-Island seemed kind of gimmicky. Despite this, I was rather interested in the “side” series that arose from Spider-Island. Not only did I like some of the characters covered in the collection, but I like that many people in NYC gaining Spider-Man powers actually affected other people and comics…something that comic books often forget today.

I will say that this collection is a real mixed bag. Since it is composed of multiple limited series and continuations of series that were already running, it doesn’t have much flow between storylines. Things like Spider-Girl’s battle with the Society of the Wasp really have little effect on Shang-Chi’s battles. The issues are as the title implies; it is a companion. You have to have some background on the story and the characters to follow it.

If nothing else, Spider-Island is a nice ode to minor characters. Shang-Chi just has never quite caught on in the modern age (though Marvel keeps trying), and I love the character so any chance to see him back is a good thing. The same can be said of Arana or Spider-Girl as she was known as at this time (this ended her solo series), and Cloak & Dagger went through more changes as it seems they always do. They are all interesting characters who never seem to get their fair shake. The Herc tie-in issues, the Avengers, Black Panther, and Spider-Woman all are a bit more expected with what was being published, but they still fill a bit of an oddity because how they were handled here.

Spider-Man: Spider-Island Companion is interesting if you have an interest in the Spider-Man storyline or you have a long-standing interest in any of the characters who get stories in this volume. If you are newbie just starting out in the comic book world, sticking to the core titles (like Spider-Man) is advised because much of this collection doesn’t make sense as a stand-alone. The world of Spider-Island was revisited in the Secret Wars title Spider-Island.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spider Island is putting yourself in the crazy land of Spiderman and showing you a whole new era of spiderman at the same time. (And what follows after Spider Island is soooo good as well....) It shows you characters that maybe you haven't seen for some time, and characters that you see every time you open a Spiderman comic. The artwork is truly thrilling and it will have you turning the page constantly, my brain totally exploded.... And my heart felt like it was being torn apart and then being put together again and again.... But the thing about this is: it's SPIDERMAN. Through and through and it never loses that the fact of the AMAZING factor, a touch of end of the world, a lot giant spiders, a hint of romance, and a whole lot of Parker Luck as us fans know it as... It really is something worth taking off your shelf! As Stand Lee would say: 'Nuff said!'

[Will Fenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to give a real overview here, since these are so varied. Overall, pretty fun. I continue to think it's weird when you have the main storyline end in numerous books that are outside the main storyline./ Also, when you have a couple of characters that show up in 2-or-3 books, all supposedly happening at the same time but up to wildly different things and having wildly different attitudes.

Of course, this may be me just not being that familiar with large-scale, multi-book events and this is rather common.

[Saravanan Mani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories, like deadly foes, shan chi are really fun, but they are marginally connected to the main plot. The worst offender is Spider-Girl - Anya Corazon is a great character and teaming up with Kingpin was such a great idea. But the story goes nowhere. Many of the tie-ins suffer from being limited to three issues, which really cramps the style for stories that need more growth.

[Fuuma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of this book was great. Spider girl, Kung Fu, Avengers, all great fun. Towards the end though, the stories started feeling more like they didn't have any real purpose as part of spider-island, except to have one issue where they’re on spider-island. Heroes for hire was especially weird, feeling like it had no end and rushed through the events.

Overall a fun event though.

[Silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of a closer look at what various people were doing during the events of spider island. Over I think this was a fun read and I want more of Nine Lives by Skottie Young. Companion is definitely a good word for this cause it definitely compliments the main graphic novel but wouldn't make as much sense if you read this first.

[Jim Ogden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much more hit or miss than the collected Spider-Island. Some are great (Cloak and Dagger) and some are mediocre or not enjoyable. Good for completionists, but not recommended if you didn't love Spider Island.

[superhero fan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, just finished this, I had a short break from reading with the world under quarantine, life has been very stressful, but once again, I’ll be reading every day!

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A whole of stories that revolve around Spider-Island, but most of them only peripherally. Many of the stories are well done and fun.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag like all tie-in collections. Some weak spots, some middle of the road stuff, a couple highlights. Averages out to "good enough"

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

These Spider-Island tie-ins range from fine to mediocre, with the exception of the Shang-Chi story, "Spider-Island: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu," which is really good.

[Connor Rodriguez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not any good tie ins.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cloak and Dagger by Spencer and Rios is pretty damned good. Spencer gives the "Say No To Drugs" poster children a wry funny twist to go along with the co-dependent angst, which makes this a more enjoyable read than if we had to endure some creepy too-close-for-friends behaviours (especially if we're not sure if they're still supposed to be teenagers, or if they've actually aged a few years in the intervening decades). The story and the dialogue feel like a fesh take on these staid, marginal characters - it was fun to follow an original take on how these guys would actually interface with the modern world, and what Spencer does with them in the end is very intriguing. Apparently this didn't sell we'll enough to warrant a relaunch, which sucks because the Ultimate X-Men work that he delivered after this was crap by comparison.

Rios' art is always an interesting counterpoint to Marvel's house styles - pretty wispy and funhouse-mirror-warped, but pretty and stylised and a healthy counterpoint to the bulky testosterone-heavy styles we usually get. This story and how the characters and Mr. Negative interact makes for some wild scenery by Rios - not always something I could follow visually, but pretty, fun and poetic.

Skottie Young's contribution is great. Yost and McKone's Avengers was truly hilarious - why don't we get this kind of stuff more often?

The Herc story is...passable. Decent to look at, a little cliched or just silly to read. D Pak and Van Lente write for little boys? Or is their collective sense of "humour" just a bit tame and lame?

One of the worst is the Paul Tobin Spider-Girl tale - terrible writing and dumb plotting - pulling Kingpin, The Hand, Hobgoblin and some dumbass Spider-Girl villains (something to do with wasps, I dunno they are totally lame and would never be put up against any other cape except the second-string Spider-themed one).

It's as if Batman had a villain named Ratboy or Mouseman. (Wait, he does? Shit.)

The story that surprised me was the Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu run. Johnston writes a decent script which is made almost magical by the combined art of Fiumara, Lucas and Brown. Whoever put this creative team together pulled off a Hail Mary pass - makes the rest of the book feel classier and almost worth the price of wading through.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought this when I bought the main graphic novel because it has some great characters in it that no longer really have their own regular series (most of them anyway). It has Cloak and Dagger, Shang-Chi, and Spider -Woman. What could go wrong? Well all of those characters had very nicely drawn chapters. But the Cloak and Dagger story didn't make much sense. The other stuff is almost unreadable. The Avengers chapters had one running gag. That there is a frog super-hero and he looks stupid. Take away the stupid frog and there is no point at all. There is a Hercules chapter that was mysteriously written and drawn in the 70s. And there is a Spider-Girl story that is so poorly written, you really have to be an idiot to want to read it. So what this book ends up being is filler. These are the issues that Marvel published as a cash-in. Few of the chapters have enough narratives to sustain themselves. I'm ranting now, when I should have known this before I spent money on this book.

[Tiamatty · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of good stories in here. The Cloak & Dagger one is my favourite. Nick Spencer clearly has a lot of love for the characters, and he writes them with a lot of depth, while Emma Rios' art is gorgeous.

The Spider-Girl story is a lot of fun. Anya's a great character.

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu is dark and exciting. The art is excellent, with a good flow to the action.

Herc is always hilarious. This is no exception.

The Avengers one is hilarious. It stars the fabulous Frog-Man, and any time he appears is cause for joy. It's ridiculous and amazing.

Spider-Woman is good, but it's probably the weakest story here.

I Love New York has a lot of silly but funny vignettes, and they often have a little bit of sweetness to them, too.

And the Heroes For Hire story is good, though not outstanding.

All in all, this is a great compilation, with a lot of excellent stories. If you read Spider-Island, it's definitely worthwhile to check this out, too.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this volume feels like a bit of a slog, as we again and again get the same plot points of people turning into monstrous spiders. However, there are some highlights. The Cloak & Dagger story is great, perhaps in part because it barely touches upon the Spider-Island plot, but also because it’s a great character piece for the twain. The Spider-Girl story is good, because of its focus on the wasps, which is pretty different from the rest of the stories. Finally, the Black Panther story made me want to take a look at his comic, but that was really in spite of the Spider-Island stuff.

[Alex Sarll]

A collection of tie-in issues and spin-off miniseries and one-shots, none of them remotely necessary to following the main Spider-Island story. Some of them, however, are jolly good fun. Antony Johnston has clearly been wanting to write Shang-Chi and the Immortal Weapons for some time, Nick Spencer tells a beautiful Cloak and Dagger story with a twist that should seem dumb but instead feels right; and the short about a cat that gets spider powers is predictably adorable.

[Geoff Derks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tie-ins must be very difficult to write. The main story arc should be the best part about the series, and the tie-ins add fun and round out the plot and characters. Unfortunately, some work and some fail. In this edition, there are some good ones. While I didn't really care for Spider-Island as a whole, the gems in this collection include Cloak & Dagger (3 issues), Avengers (1 issue), and Spider-Woman (1 issue).

[Geonessary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent companion to Spider-Island. It was fun to read characters I normally wouldn't of read. Some of it sparked my interest to check out their series'.

Most of the characters that I'm unfamiliar with were the less fun ones, but there were side stories of random civilians, and even a cat, that were pretty excellent and entertaining.

A good set of stories, but you're not really missing out on much, Spidey wise, by not reading this.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these were pretty fun and some were just fine. Too many used the development of spider powers as the big punchline/reveal at the end. That doesn't make sense in a book where the concept is "Everyone's getting spider powers." So the more impressive ones were the ones that tried to build on it, which were not many.

[Joe Sergi · Rating 3 out of 5]

As this is a compilation, I thought it was hit or miss. I enjoyed the Spider Girl story and wish that series hadn't been cancelled. Some of the others didn't really tie in. (they do get bonus points for tying back to the Marvel Two in One story from the 70s with Spider Woman.)

[Patrick Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the main story, but the Cloak & Dagger story and the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu story are definite highlights.

[Scott wachter · Rating 3 out of 5]

veom, kung fu guys way cool. other stuff mostly boring.

[Mycavern · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read here:

http://umikoleksi.blogspot.com/2013/1...

[Tri · Rating 3 out of 5]

specifically for "SPIDER-ISLAND: DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU 1-3"

6/10

[Curt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Skipped parts

[James Piazza · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of these were hit or miss. Some I really enjoyed, but others seriously bored me.