Marvel’s ongoing Black, White, and Blood run continues this week with the new series Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #1. Past renditions of this series have included Alien, Deadpool, Wolverine, and Carnage. All of those characters are far more violent than Spider-Man, but given the symbiote suit-wearing Spider-Man was far more violent, the potential to do edgier and more adult Spider-Man stories is strong with this series.
Like all previous editions of this line, this series is an anthology, with the first issue housing four tales.
The first story, by J.M. DeMatteis and Elena Casagrande, is titled “Losing Face.” The story focuses on a two-bit criminal who Spider-Man gives a second chance. He gets on the straight and narrow, but when an opportunity to sell out Spider-Man comes along, he can’t help himself. This story has a good heart and shows Spider-Man was doing good things for criminals back when he wore the symbiote.
Art is good by Casagrande, with red being used for the main character. The use of panels and layout draw your eye well even with heavy exposition at times.
By far the scariest story in the bunch.
Credit: Marvel
Next up is “Inside the House” by Alyssa Wong and Fran Galan. This story focuses on Mary Jane and the fear she feels with Peter now wearing the symbiote. It’s told like a horror movie, but she’s not quite sure why she’s creeped out in her own home. Galan draws some shockingly good visuals, like Mary Jane freaking out as Spider-Man comes through a window. Red is used with varying hues, which heightens the horror vibes.
“Dysmorphia” by Dustin Nguyen focuses on a Peter Parker who can’t escape the symbiote. The horror aspect of having a living thing on your body is well done here. The final image is quite disturbing and reminds us there was a period when Peter was a victim of the symbiote more than anything else.
Closing out this first issue is “Fade to Black” by J. Michael Straczyznski and Sumit Kumar. This tale features the symbiote essentially arguing with Peter to let them bond again. Through montages, Straczyznski and Kumar recap their history together. The most interesting aspect explored is how Peter felt stronger and a total badass when he wore the symbiote. Is it worth him rejoining the symbiote, though? Not really.
Kumar’s art handles the heavy exposition and dialogue well. The symbiote has a monstrous look as it seems to be crumbling in the wind. Similar to previous stories, the red is used in the backgrounds to create contrast.
If you can’t tell yet, this book is disappointing in that it never pushes the violence or adult themes very much. Red isn’t blood for the most part but is used for mood and atmosphere. That makes this first issue feel counter to the entire point of the series.
Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #1 isn’t taking enough chances. The stories aren’t bad, but they’re pretty safe, especially since not a single one delves into the violent nature of the symbiote given Spider-Man. I’m excited for this series to lean more into adult themes, but so far, it’s not doing enough to feel different from any other Spider-Man story. At the very least, you haven’t seen Spider-Man this creepy in ages.
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