Civil War Comic Review – “Fallen Son – Spider-Man”

One of the best two issues of the whole “Civil War” event. Check it out.

General Information

Title: Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America: Spider-Man

Author: Jeph Loeb

Illustrator(s): David Finch (pencils), Danny Miki (inks) and Frank D’Armata (colours)

Original Publication Date: Cover dated July 2007.

Cover Price: $2.99 US, $3.75 Can

Past comic reviews can be found here.

Premise

Spider-Man tries to cope with the loss of Captain America his own way, and bumps into a couple of old friends. Well, people he’s known for a while; they’re not necessarily friends.

High Point

Peter responds to getting “cheered up.”

Low Point

Um, why did the spider-sense go off? It warns of danger, but at that point, there wasn’t any.

The Scores

This doesn’t feel very original, but I didn’t even notice until I started to write this review. Grieving has been written before, many times, and in many ways, but this really nails it. It’s good enough that originality doesn’t really matter. I give it 2 out of 6.

The artwork is led by David Finch, who jumped ship on Moon Knight in the middle of a story arc to do this issue. I don’t blame him at all; he nailed every panel. You can’t produce this kind of quality without a genuine passion for the material. Factor in Miki’s inks, and the colours by Frank D’Armata (who is the only colourist whose work I notice every time I see it), and you’re in excellent hands. It’s worth the cover price for the art alone. I give it 6 out of 6.

The story is almost as good as the art. The “trigger” to his outburst doesn’t quite work, but otherwise, it holds together. I give it 5 out of 6.

The characterization is perfect. Spider-Man’s tone perfect, as are his guest stars. There’s just nothing more to say; Loeb and company really nailed this down. I give it 6 out of 6.

The emotional response for an issue about Spider-Man’s emotional ride that simultaneously celebrates and mourns Captain America with such fantastic characterization and art can’t get any score but 6 out of 6.

The flow works very well. It’s essentially one long scene, with a very well blended flashback. I give it 6 out of 6.

Overall, this package is worth every penny and more. Pick it up, even if you haven’t picked up the rest of the series. I give it 6 out of 6.

In total, Fallen Son: The Death Of Captain America: Spider-Man receives 37 out of 42.

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4 replies on “Civil War Comic Review – “Fallen Son – Spider-Man””

  1. Low point… a guess at an answer
    "Um, why did the spider-sense go off? It warns of danger, but at that point, there wasn’t any."

    My guess would be that since "The Other" plot arc his Spider-Sense has been able to just sense more, for example in a recent Amazing Spider-man he uses it to pin point a single person in a crowd.

    That’s my guess at any rate.

    • Re: Low point… a guess at an answer

      "Um, why did the spider-sense go off? It warns of danger, but at that point, there wasn’t any."

      My guess would be that since "The Other" plot arc his Spider-Sense has been able to just sense more, for example in a recent Amazing Spider-man he uses it to pin point a single person in a crowd.

      That’s my guess at any rate.

      I saw that piece, and I took that as his spider-sense could go off for the potential threat of the weapon the ‘single person in a crowd’ was carrying. (We’re talking about at the train station in 539, right?)

      And based solely on this review, I’m going to go pick up this issue.

      • Re: Low point… a guess at an answer

        And based solely on this review, I’m going to go pick up this issue.

        I actually had to go have a look at the artwork for myself before I made that call, but the review made me search for it.

        Hey, Bureau guys, why not link to the publisher’s samples, while you’re at it? For us visual (and lazy) people :)

      • Re: Low point… a guess at an answer

        I saw that piece, and I took that as his spider-sense could go off for the potential threat of the weapon the ‘single person in a crowd’ was carrying. (We’re talking about at the train station in 539, right?)

        And based solely on this review, I’m going to go pick up this issue.

        I did pick this up, and it’s worth it. Very well written, and I loved the silhouette in the first image, I caught it and was wondering where he’d come in.

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