Readers of the Marvel/IDW Marvel Action series of books are typically middle school age. But that’s not the only reading audience for these somewhat simplified and streamlined stories.
True, they skew young: Peter Parker is teamed with Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales in this series. In issue 3, they are forced to work together to battle The Shocker. The Shocker is looking a lot like a morphed Iron Man, which means that I am somewhat out of the loop. Maybe it’s not important. The important thing is that this is an engaging story of teamwork: Writer Brandon Easton gives us young people, talented and hard-working, dealing with their world in 2020. Parents, school assignments, peer pressure, and all that. The dialogue is appropriate for younger readers, and so is the narrative. We know what’s up, we aren’t left to dangle upside down amidst the proceedings.
Artist Fico Ossio provides dramatically rendered fight scenes, appropriately subdued family settings, and allows us to enjoy the simple pleasures our characters are experiencing: jumping off rooftops, battling powerful foes, hanging out with our ‘buds’…
The colouring is a bit greyed-down by Ronda Pattison, and there are times when this works really well. It’s a concrete jungle out there, surely, and grey webs surround the battles. But it’s refreshing when there is a strong colour ‘pop’ of electricity or costume to give our eyes some relief.
Marvel Action Spider-Man #3, Marvel IDW, $3.99 for 22 pages of content. Young readers +
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