Lead Feature Written by Matthew Sturges. Art by Roger Robinson; Travis Lanham; & Guy Major.
Back-Up Feature Written by John Rozum. Back-Up Art by Tom Derenick; Bill Sienkiewicz; Travis Lanham; & Guy Major.
Cover Art by Stanley “ARTGERM” Lau.
SUMMARY:
In 2009, DC Comics again licensed Archie Comics’ Red Circle/Dark Circle super-heroes (i.e. The Mighty Crusaders). Entitled Stunned: Part One of ‘Better Off Dead,’ DC Comics released The Web # 6 for April 2010.
Residing in New York City, wealthy super-hero/philanthropist John “The Web” Raymond accepts off his website an assignment from a former would-be love, Patricia Fletcher, to bring her grandmother’s killer to justice. Locating the culprit: female stockbroker Cybele Sahin, the wisecracking Web finds out that she is an Amazon-like, superhuman powerhouse calling herself “The Stunner.”
In dark alley combat, a dazed Web retreats upon being physically outmatched by Stunner’s raw power. Tracing her weakened foe back to Raymond’s secret lair, the nonchalant Stunner seeks to finish him off. A twist ending leaves the Web in a bewildering predicament.
REVIEW:
Sporting Stanley Lau’s eye-popping cover image, The Web # 6 is a reasonably good read. This flashy Web enjoys elements of Batman, Spider-Man, and the Golden Age Tarantula (from DC’s All-Star Squadron series), with some Booster Gold also thrown in. Even if lacking in originality, DC’s colorful take might be the best reboot of this Golden Age hero dating back to 1942’s Zip Comics # 27.
Good writing and some nifty visuals make Issue # 6 a fun getaway for casual readers. The drawback is that there’s nothing uniquely appealing about the new Web (aside from his reliance on a website for super-hero gigs). Despite some modest potential, in all likelihood, this character (let alone this series) will remain lost in DC’s eternal continuity-shuffling.
Note: DC tried once before casting its Web. In 1991, their middling Impact Comics imprint offered the Web, as one of the Mighty Crusaders licensed from Archie Comics. Suffice to say, the Impact experiment didn’t last long.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Also recruited from the Red Circle/Dark Circle group, the Hangman (dating back to 1941) is DC’s choice as the 10-page back-up feature. The supernatural premise has immortal physician Dr. Robert Dickering/The Hangman forever seeking redemption after escaping the noose himself in the mid-19th Century. This installment is entitled “Dead Hand Legendre.” Specifically, the Hangman has incurred the wrath of macabre mobster “Dead Hand” Legendre and a blond assassin, ‘The Jackal,’
Battling several heavily-armed thugs, the Hangman must rescue a middle-aged couple held as hostages in a robbery. Yet, is this scenario really an ambush by the so-called Ugly Man seeking some payback? The overall segment is reasonably good, in terms of its noir-like writing and artwork. One odd question readers might ponder is: why doesn’t Hangman (reminiscent of Marvel’s Shroud) share Dickering’s Tony Stark-like moustache?
With a full-page color cover, there’s a four-page, black-and-white excerpt previewing the six-part “First Wave,” teaming Batman, Doc Savage, and The Spirit. The last page is a Blackest Night-themed “DC Nation” column, with some input from Rickey Purdin of DC’s Marketing Department.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars
