Uncanny Spider-Man #2: The World Is Good

Never before has this reviewer seen a writer flip this quickly from abysmally terrible to decent. It turns out that when Spurrier isn’t giving into his obsession with bashing the idea of faith as a concept, and when he avoids being racist, he’s pretty good at telling a superhero story. This issue sees Kurt flirting with multiple women (who never interact: this issue, like everything else Spurrier has done, fails to pass the Bechdel test) while finally starting along the path to uncovering just what, exactly, Orchis has been up to, vis-á-vis their wacky mind control scheme. 

Highlights include hints about Destiny’s involvement in Nightcrawler’s birth, a breathtaking fight-cum-makeout session, and our favorite dashing swashbuckler dropping the Rhino from a very great height. Many Nightcrawler fans hoped Destiny would be retconned to be the birth parent. Mystique is revealed to be the person who impregnated her (as per Claremont’s original plan), but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Given Spurrier’s abysmal track record when dealing with Queer characters, readers should be grateful that Destiny is included. Still, although this setup is interesting, the execution looks like it will be another disappointment. 

It was good to see Nightcrawler turning the tide of a fight with his silver tongue, rather than via the more traditional superhero ‘punch everything’ technique, but Spurrier’s whole ‘dream of math’ schtick felt wrong for the character as though Kurt were someone who thinks in terms of fractals rather than faith. But then again, Spurrier has been eroding Kurt’s faith from the beginning, so perhaps this wrong note isn’t too surprising. Hopefully whoever handles him next will restore what was lost. 

The pacing of this story was excellent, indicating heavy editorial involvement. The storytelling unfolded at a reasonable pace, the action pounded along appropriately fast without losing lucidity, and important character moments were given space to breathe. If Spurrier had managed to maintain this throughout his time with the X-Books, his work would have been much stronger. 

Lee Garbett’s art did a lot of the heavy lifting in this story. His fights are fluid and they feel alive: you can really tell that he’s considered how the bodies these characters have will affect their combat styles. The Rhino doesn’t move like a fully inflated helium balloon: he lumbers: he charges with appropriate force for a person of his bulk. Nightcrawler, of course, carries with proper agility. Silver Sable has her own grace, very human, but sure about her movements. Garbett is a fantastic artist, and he is a large part of the reason that this story works as well as it does. Matt Mila’s colors are bright and beautiful, adding a sheen to the account that the words often lack. 

This was a tremendous improvement on the first issue: action, adventure, romance, decent pacing, and fewer problematic elements made for an engaging and enjoyable story.