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Spider-Man's Tangled Web (Collected Editions) #2
Spider-Man's Tangled Web, Vol. 2
Today's hottest writers and artists take a hard look at the shadow Spider-Man casts over his friendly neighborhood and the people who live in it.
128 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 20, 2017
Three different plots of rather similar quality.
- Gentleman's agreement (Bruce Jones/Lee Weeks) 3,5*: A classic Jones' plot (classic not being a bad word) with a twist rather easy to anticipate when you know the guy. I've been a sucker for Lee Weeks since his first run on DD more than 2 decades ago, still not changing my mind. Solid and classic (still not a bad word) storytelling, good designs (landscapes and characters), great use of blacks and shadows. Good pairing with Joe Rubinstein on inks.
- Ray of light (Kaare Andrews) 3*: a nice enough story of 2 young brothers confronted to super heroes literally crashing into their lives. Nice but with a weird photoshop enhanced pics' look I didn't like much. Good narration though.
- Open all night (Darwyn Cooke): 3*: as usual with Cooke art and storytelling are great but this Valentine's day story, though fun, is not a Spidey milestone.
- Gentleman's agreement (Bruce Jones/Lee Weeks) 3,5*: A classic Jones' plot (classic not being a bad word) with a twist rather easy to anticipate when you know the guy. I've been a sucker for Lee Weeks since his first run on DD more than 2 decades ago, still not changing my mind. Solid and classic (still not a bad word) storytelling, good designs (landscapes and characters), great use of blacks and shadows. Good pairing with Joe Rubinstein on inks.
- Ray of light (Kaare Andrews) 3*: a nice enough story of 2 young brothers confronted to super heroes literally crashing into their lives. Nice but with a weird photoshop enhanced pics' look I didn't like much. Good narration though.
- Open all night (Darwyn Cooke): 3*: as usual with Cooke art and storytelling are great but this Valentine's day story, though fun, is not a Spidey milestone.
August 16, 2024
A bit of a hit and miss for me. Enjoyed Darwyn Cooke's Archie-sque Valentines Day tale, had read it earlier in a Gotham Comics imprint some two decades ago. Kaare Andrews' story packs a punch but you've seen and read it all, several times already also while I am sucker for his stylish toony art, his photo realistic/manipulation art somehow never worked for me. Bruce Jones story was kinda okayish and predictable.
April 10, 2023
Another volume of Spider-Man adjacent short stories - not bad, but nothing to recommend especially either. Spider-Man is such a mainstay of the superhero world and permeates so much of popular culture that I find it fascinating to see how each writer and artist team takes on different aspects of Spidey's life and how they depict it, so I am enjoying Tangled Web as a whole, but I thought this particular volume was a bit uninspired.
Gentleman's Agreement - Bruce Jones / Lee Weeks
This is the most classic superhero story of the three included in this volume. Solid concept, maybe undermined by a sentimental plot twist that, to be fair to Jones, was there from the start but I just did not pick up on the clues.
Ray of Light - Kaare Andrews
I had never heard of Kaare Andrews before or had not paid much attention to whatever he was doing at Marvel, but maybe I should have! Possibly the best story in this volume. Peter's fight against Electro is seen through the eyes of two kids that have had to mature earlier than they should have. The art is great because of its versatility - we see Andrews showing a slightly uncanny valley photorealistim mixed with a very cartoonish style. Really cool to see.
Open All Night - Darwyn Cooke
Really fun art, very mid-Twentieth century Archie and Friends. Light and breezy, very expressive and great use of colour. However, the story itself was also very Archie and Friends. Most of it is built on the cattiness of two women fawning over Peter. It is construed as fun and harmless, but it definitely hits very differently in 2023.
Gentleman's Agreement - Bruce Jones / Lee Weeks
This is the most classic superhero story of the three included in this volume. Solid concept, maybe undermined by a sentimental plot twist that, to be fair to Jones, was there from the start but I just did not pick up on the clues.
Ray of Light - Kaare Andrews
I had never heard of Kaare Andrews before or had not paid much attention to whatever he was doing at Marvel, but maybe I should have! Possibly the best story in this volume. Peter's fight against Electro is seen through the eyes of two kids that have had to mature earlier than they should have. The art is great because of its versatility - we see Andrews showing a slightly uncanny valley photorealistim mixed with a very cartoonish style. Really cool to see.
Open All Night - Darwyn Cooke
Really fun art, very mid-Twentieth century Archie and Friends. Light and breezy, very expressive and great use of colour. However, the story itself was also very Archie and Friends. Most of it is built on the cattiness of two women fawning over Peter. It is construed as fun and harmless, but it definitely hits very differently in 2023.
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December 27, 2024The second volume of Tangled Web continues to deliver interesting comics as a collection of unique Spider-Man adjacent stories by creators not usually associated with the character.
The collection begins with a street level story, Gentlemen's Agreement. Writer Bruce Jones's plot is solid, although it probably could have been two rather than three issues long. He pulls off a twist at the end that I should have seen coming but didn't. It's always a treat to read a comic drawn by masterful storyteller Lee Weeks, especially with finishes by veteran inker Joe Rubinstein.
Ray of Light, the second story in the collection, is a sparse but narratively potent comic fully painted by Kaare Andrews. Andrews has reinvented himself a few times over the years (once mimicking Frank Miller and more recently doing the same for Todd McFarlane) but this realistic, painted style is one I find most fitting and original for him.
The notable story in this collection is Open All Night, a Valentine's-themed comic written and drawn by cartoonist Darwyn Cooke. For my money, this is among the absolute best Spider-Man stories, and most fans don't realize it even exists. Cooke's art is bold and memorable as he taps into the melodrama of Romita era Spider-Man. Peter instigates all sorts of turmoil among the Coffee Bean crowd even though he's knocked out in an alleyway for most of the plot. The story packs in plenty of hilarious beats, especially with J. Jonah Jameson. This feel-good comic alone justifies the entire Tangled Web series and Spidey fans are lucky to have gotten a Cooke story while he was still with us.
The collection begins with a street level story, Gentlemen's Agreement. Writer Bruce Jones's plot is solid, although it probably could have been two rather than three issues long. He pulls off a twist at the end that I should have seen coming but didn't. It's always a treat to read a comic drawn by masterful storyteller Lee Weeks, especially with finishes by veteran inker Joe Rubinstein.
Ray of Light, the second story in the collection, is a sparse but narratively potent comic fully painted by Kaare Andrews. Andrews has reinvented himself a few times over the years (once mimicking Frank Miller and more recently doing the same for Todd McFarlane) but this realistic, painted style is one I find most fitting and original for him.
The notable story in this collection is Open All Night, a Valentine's-themed comic written and drawn by cartoonist Darwyn Cooke. For my money, this is among the absolute best Spider-Man stories, and most fans don't realize it even exists. Cooke's art is bold and memorable as he taps into the melodrama of Romita era Spider-Man. Peter instigates all sorts of turmoil among the Coffee Bean crowd even though he's knocked out in an alleyway for most of the plot. The story packs in plenty of hilarious beats, especially with J. Jonah Jameson. This feel-good comic alone justifies the entire Tangled Web series and Spidey fans are lucky to have gotten a Cooke story while he was still with us.
October 14, 2023
Three Spider-Man-adjacent stories in which we see a cabbie burdened with the knowledge of the Web Slinger's secret identity, two young brothers arguing over whether heroes are real and a Valentine's tales focused around the offices of the Daily Bugle.
The first of these stories has the engaging premise of a man desperate to pay for healthcare and knowing that he could easily gain the money he needs by selling out the secrets of a genuine hero. It's a nice exploration of the balance between desperation and integrity but the resolution of the story didn't really work for me as a payoff.
The second story, written and illustrated by Kaare Andrews, has some absolutely gorgeous artwork (particularly the depiction of Electro) but felt a bit too cliché and on-the-nose for my tastes.
The third story actually mostly made up for the failings of the previous two. I love Darwyn Cooke's style (both in artwork and storytelling) and it was nice to see a story harkening back to the classic 60s era of Spider-Man where Peter had to balance the life of a costumed hero with the attentions of various young beauties. It's a nice antidote to the grim realism which was the order of the day in all superhero comics of the early 2000s. (I've nothing against grim realism, just not all day every day).
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
The first of these stories has the engaging premise of a man desperate to pay for healthcare and knowing that he could easily gain the money he needs by selling out the secrets of a genuine hero. It's a nice exploration of the balance between desperation and integrity but the resolution of the story didn't really work for me as a payoff.
The second story, written and illustrated by Kaare Andrews, has some absolutely gorgeous artwork (particularly the depiction of Electro) but felt a bit too cliché and on-the-nose for my tastes.
The third story actually mostly made up for the failings of the previous two. I love Darwyn Cooke's style (both in artwork and storytelling) and it was nice to see a story harkening back to the classic 60s era of Spider-Man where Peter had to balance the life of a costumed hero with the attentions of various young beauties. It's a nice antidote to the grim realism which was the order of the day in all superhero comics of the early 2000s. (I've nothing against grim realism, just not all day every day).
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
July 28, 2024
A nice mix of unusual Spider-Man tales from the turn of the millennium, with Kaare Andrews the clear highlight featuring a couple of brothers more prepared for their encounter with our hero than they think. There’s an offbeat mook story leading the volume from Bruce Jones and Lee Weeks (already looking better prepared for Superman and Batman) that gets the kind of space DC would give it (and more), and then Darwyn Cooke with a little soft shoe.
December 4, 2023
The first story was the best, but I am still trying to figure out how the villain immediately knew Spider-Man was Peter Parker only by seeing his face. The second story is somewhat fantastical, and the third story is the usual trope that flies in the face of Peter being a sad-sack victim of “the Parker luck.”
April 18, 2019
These stories are just so good and sweet. Stories that feature Spider-Man as a passing thing in peoples lives. Stories about those people. And so good short, sometime tragic, sometime sad, sometimes just silly and fun stories.
So good.
So good.
June 16, 2020
The second Tangled Web collection follows the same format as the first one: three short stories by different creators. But these stories, in my opinion, are considerably better than the previous collection.
July 23, 2025
The first story’s a little overlong for this format, and not super engrossing. The second story’s well done overall, if a bit on the nose. The third story is done by Darwyn Cooke and is a home run, with a lot of charm and Cooke’s signature art style. This all evens out to a solid book.
February 2, 2020
Tady stojí za pozornost jen Darwyn Cooke.
February 29, 2016
A pretty good follow-up set for the first Tangled Web graphic novel, but these stories don't stand as well compared to the three stories in the original book. The Darwin Cook story makes up for the lacking in the first two. Gentlemen's Agreement wasn't bad, but not the best, Ray of Light was like some strange new attempt at a different comic, but they made the final story Open all Night much better. Darwin Cook (who does an amazing job with the Parker graphic novels) made an awesome Archie-style story with bright, cool art and a great story that is all about Peter Parker, even though he isn't even there. A good set, but hoping for a little better in set #3 and 4.
January 22, 2012
Marvel created the most amazing super-hero ever!! In this installment, Spider-Man helps one man earn money for his son's surgery, he helps 2 children care for one another when they need each other most & even has a little Valentine's mix-up. I really enjoyed this edition, especially the Valentine's Day special. Very creative and very colorful. Spider-Man never fails to impress. =)
December 16, 2015
menos padre que el volumen uno, pero la historia que escribe y dibuja darwyn cooke vale por el volumen entero.
June 2, 2016
I really loved the first two stories but felt the last one fell flat. 4.3 stars.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews