Spider-Man's Tangled Web - 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas Review

 

Yeah, bet you weren't expecting a comic book review for the Christmas season. Well here it is and it stars everybody's favorite web slinger.

'Twas the Fight Before Christmas was a 2003 story published in issue twenty-one of the Marvel Comics anthology series, Spider-Man's Tangled Web. The late, great Darwyn Cooke both drew and wrote.

The story is, it's Christmas in New York City. It might be the most wondrous time of the year, but a huge snowstorm is sweeping the city. Just to make things more chaotic there's a evil scheme going on at the mall, and Spider-Man and his allies need to quickly stop or nobody's having a Merry Christmas.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

I've got nothing...again.

• Positives

First let's get to the humor. Since this a more lighthearted story compared to other Spider-Man comics, we're given many funny moments. My favorite running gag is J. Jonah trying to prove Spider-Man is a menace to a bunch of children. Typical J.J.J. behavior.

Then there's Darwyn Cooke's art. Before passing away, Cooke's art was always a beautiful sight to see. Because he clearly has a retro style to and whether you'd like the comic book art of the past or not, Darwyn's captured the old school vibe but he still had a lot of modern twists in his style. But he's style was also very versatile. He could go dark like with his Batman: Ego one-shot, serious like with The New Frontier, or comedic like with this. So if you like artists like who an old school look to like say Bruce Timm, then you'll love Darwyn Cooke.

The last thing I'll credit is the story. Now let me just say, this isn't a mind blowing Spider-Man like If This Be My Destiny, Kraven's Last Hunt, The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, Blue, etc. But it is an entertaining story. It captures what you want a Christmas tale. It's got comedy, heart, people stressing over what to give their loved ones for Christmas, comedy, how crazy the holiday season is, and a happy ending. So if want a chilled Christmas story to read then this one's got you covered.

So yeah, overall a pretty nice comic.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Dec 13th, for my review of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.