Spider-Man: Reign
Writer and Artist: Kaare Andrews
A let-down story that fails as both a rip-off of "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns," and as a Spider-Man story in it's own right...
Ranking: 1 star
The famous artist Paul Gauguin once said, "Originality is undetected plagiarism." Essentially, whenever an author takes inspiration from someone else's idea, they should give their best effort into making it their own, as well as unique. However, originality in literature is difficult, especially since so many ideas have already been done now a days. It's only natural that many stories are now becoming less subtle in their originality. Although the plagiarism is obviously easier to grasp for the reader, if it's still an entertaining story for them, they can look past it being a rip-off of someone else's work. But when you have a story that's not only a rip-off, but also doesn't even try to stand on its own, not only is it disappointing to the reader, but also insulting to the original work. SPIDER-MAN: REIGN is one of those books.
Man do I hate this comic! When I posted my reviews for Amazon.com (still do by the way, and they're all there for you to read), I understood that I was not the only reviewer to lable SPIDER-MAN: REIGN as an obvious rip-off of BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, and that paralleling the two has already been done by everyone who has read this story. While everyone on Amazon.com commented on the obvious similarities between the two stories, I couldn't see anything in this book but a cheap attempt by Marvel to cash in on the success TDKR experienced. My review may come across as repetitive because many of the issues have already been explained, but I feel that I need to give my honest thoughts on this story. I would've been fine with it being a rip-off of one of the greatest Batman stories of all time (and personally my second favorite Bat-Tale) if it was at least innovating and enjoyable as a story, but the book falls flat into a mess of plot-holes, atrocious dialogue, and inconsistent humor. Plagiarism is indeed a perilous road to follow as a writer, but if they're going to plagiarize a successful story, they should at least put effort into making it a new and fresh story. With SPIDER-MAN: REIGN, it feels as if Kaare Andrews doesn't even try to make the story feel original, but instead makes it obvious that the book is simply a humungous cash-grab for Marvel that not only fails to rip-off TDKR, but also doesn't even feel like a Spider-Man story. The story takes place 30 years into the future, where both crime and freedom have become nonexistent in New York City, as the city has quarantined itself from the outside world, becoming a totalitarian police state under the rule of its mayor and a merciless police known as the "Reign." Spider-Man himself has not been seen for years, as an elderly Peter Parker has since hanged his webs. He currently bounces from job to job, coping with the death of his wife, Mary Jane. After being fired from a flower-shop, Peter comes across a group of kids fleeing from the Reign in response to vandalism. While attempting to save one of the kids, Peter is severely beaten by the soldiers, and flees to his apartment battered and injured. There he meets an elderly J. Jonah Jameson who reveals to him to that he's always known Peter's secret, and that he must become Spider-Man again. Donning the black costume, Spider-Man brutally battles the Reign, showing no moral boundaries while doing so, as he is willing to kill criminals. Young children become inspired by the wall crawler's return, begin a masked revolution against the Reign. But an ever greater threat than the Reign soon emerges. The mayor's assistant is actually possessed by Venom, who not only real eases former members of the sinister six to kill Spider-Man, but also unleashes a symbiote invasion. So basically the story is about an elderly superhero who retired due to the passing of a loved one, comes out of retirement when crime rates rise, lives in the era of a corrupt government where the news media is dominate, he indadvertedly inspires a revolutionary movement among the general public, and must fight old enemies. That's actually a great idea for a story, only there's one problem... IT WAS ALREADY DONE IN FRANK MILLER'S "BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS!!!" But unlike that masterpiece, this shameful rip-off not only fails in comparison to Miller's book, but also as a stand-alone comic. What made TDKR such a great story was it's creative structure and narrative. Not only did it focus on an elderly hero fighting to uphold his principals and protect his city, but it also featured social commentary on the public's reaction to Batman's return. Talking news heads dominated half of the book, debating on the ethics of Batman's war on crime, and the influence he inspires on a generation where corruption and vice thrive. This easily could've been distracting to the story, but Miller was able to keep the focus on Batman, keeping the media's debates consistent with the plot. With SPIDER-MAN: REIGN however, there is no structure to the narrative, which makes the plot jumbled and unstructured. The news media is prevalent in this story as well, but not once do I remember them debating whether or not Spider-Man was a positive and negative influence on the public. Instead, all they talk about is the Reign's policies and how Spider-Man is a dangerous to their regime. Another aspect that this comic takes from TDKR is that New York is ruled by a corrupt government, but it even fails to get that part right. This idea worked in TDKR because it helped symbolize the powerful influence Batman had on the masses. Because of this, the politician's felt that this made them appear weak, so they sent the army and Superman to put down the caped crusader. Whereas the corruption of government was a subtle theme in TDKR, in SPIDER-MAN: REIGN, the party in control of New York is remenicant of a totalitarian police-state. Right from the start, we are witnessed to soldiers beating on children for small offenses like vandalism, and that they've sealed off New York from the rest of America with a force field (great, now the comic's ripping off Star Wars as well). There's no ambiguity or subtlety to the Reign, their just power hungry dictators. It really angers me to not only see one of my all-time favorite comics ripped-off, but to have it lack the complexity and ambiguity of the original (I hate this comic... I hate it... I hate it...; slaps head multiple times with the comic). The characters in this comic are all either one-dimensional, unlikeable, or just idiotic. Peter Parker comes off as a depressed jerk, who casually kills Reign soldiers, and continuously broods over Mary Janes's death. While Batman was haunted by both his parent's deaths, as well as Jason Todd's in TDKR, he never moped over it, but was willing to take action against the criminal element responsible. It feels that much of the time spent with Spidey is of him whining and brooding, rather than doing something about his problems. I guess I'll also say what everyone else has said. Spider-Man accidentally killing MJ due to continuous exposure to his radioactive semen is just downright stupid and creepy. J. Jonah Jameson is given way too much screen time in this book, and every moment of it is just him protesting against the Reign on the streets. His scenes are completely unnecessary, as he's repeating the same thing that we already know (we get it Jameson, the Reign is evil), and they could've easily been replaced by character development that could actually benefit the story. For the villains, I've already commented on how the Reign is a weak concept, and I barley remember anything the Sinister Six did in this book. All I do remember from the villains aside from the Reign, are the idiotic concept of Doc Ock's corpse being controlled by his arms, and the sudden reveal of Venom as the main villain (oh, I have a lot to say about that in a minute). The only character that was remotely likable was this little girl who is inspired to lead revolution against the Reign. It was interesting to see her inspired by Spider-Man's comeback seeing him as a symbol that the Reign could be defeated, and unlike most of the characters, she came across as intelligent and relatable, giving her more dimension than the rest of the cast. Also it was fun to see her and a bunch of grade schooler's beat up Reign soldiers (proves what a crappy villain the Reign is). Aside from her, the characters in this book didn't do a thing for me at all. They were just forgettable. I haven't read any other works by Kaare Andrews, so it would be unfair to say that he's a bad writer, but it doesn't mean I can't judge what's presented here. The writing and dialogue are atrocious, and the story itself is dominated by plot holes, which appear at random, and have no build up to them whatsoever. While J. Jonah Jameson miraculously knowing Spidey's identity and having a spare costume on-hand is definitely noteworthy, the biggest one for me is the reveal of Venom as the main villain. I mentioned earlier how the mayor's assistant, Edward Saks is discovered to be a host of the Venom symbiote, but this literally comes out of nowhere. There are no clues given to let the reader believe that this was possible. Instead, all we're given is Saks spontaneously turning into Venom mid-way into the story, and unleashing an invasion of symbiote. This could've been an effective plot twist if there was material to build up to it, but since there's none, it comes across as lazy and random. Staying on record, I can easily say that this is easily the single worst plot twist I have ever seen in a comic. The dialogue also falls flat for me. Spider-Man is known for spouting numerous jokes and banter whenever he's in costume. He does this to distract himself from the danger his foes present, and as Spider-Man, he shows off a side of his personality that he would never have as Peter Parker. In REIGN however, the jokes that Spidey uses are simply atrocious. They're out of context with the dialogue of other characters, making little sense, and coming across as aka ward to the reader. I really expected better from a story about Spider-Man's last stand. Comics like SPIDER-MAN: REIGN anger me as they not only attempt to imitate the glory of other stories, but also fail to stand on their own. Even if this wasn't ripping off BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, I would still hate it as it doesn't even understand what Spider-Man is about. Spider-Man comics are meant to give reader's a relatable protagonist who endures situations that we face in real life, show them how being a superhero can be a burden on his normal life, and teach them the benefits of taking responsibility for their actions. Spider-Man is not a character who kills, even when the criminals might deserve it, as it would mean abandoning the responsibility that Uncle Ben taught him, and he would never have to be convinced by someone else to return to web-slinging, as he would do so because he knew it was the right thing to do, not because he felt he had to. SPIDER-MAN: REIGN is so far from the core concept of the character, that it doesn't even resemble a Spider-Man Story. SPIDER-MAN: REIGN fails not only for it solely existing to rip-off a successful comic, but also due a lack of effort, and a complete misunderstanding of what Spider-Man is about. "... plagiarists and pretenders as well as ignorant imitators affect great mischief by debasing values, imposing upon the ignorant, and encouraging the rise of mediocrity." -Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
