I must first commend the attitude of King-Size Spider-Man Summer Special. The first page promises that you don't need to worry at all about Spider-Man's "Brand New" continuity. It's nice that somebody has figured out that not all are happy with the Marvel universe at the moment. With this book, they try to offer an alternative but one that still features the characters that disgruntled readers like. Spider-Man is married to Mary Jane; Hellcat and She-Hulk haven't thrown their lots in with the Iron Fascist; Wanda and Jean Grey are still alive and heroes.

In "Un-Enchanted Evening," Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover combine their talents and Marvel's female forces to face the Enchantress. The story and art are absolutely charming. That's to be expected. More importantly, the story makes sense, depends on characterization consistent with the cast's histories and spreads a wide web of intelligence that adheres to each of the players. For instance, you would think that Clea would be wise to the Enchantress' scheme, and she is.

Clea's savvy takes the tale out of the realm of mind-control and into the realm of teamwork. The story doesn't rely on the heroes doing stupid things and acting outside the lines drawn by their characterization. It instead hinges upon their smarts and the Enchantress' arch control of magic.

There's a simple cleverness in Tobin's writing. The creative team on Batman: The Animated Series had the elegant idea of making Zatarra one of Batman's teachers. Zatanna, his teen-aged daughter, would have a crush on Batman, and this almost relationship serves as the foundation for their interaction as adults. That makes sense. Likewise it makes sense that all of Marvel's models, M.J., Patsy Walker and Millie would know each other.

Because of their personalities, the gals wouldn't clash but compliment, and that camaraderie comes in handy. Tobin while crafting a general common attribute for the gals never the less shows them to be different people. Once again, the characters do not blend together. Their dialogue and their behavior are distinct. She-Hulk acts like She-Hulk. M.J. acts like M.J., Scarlet Witch acts like the Scarlet Witch. About bloody time.

Coover's sublime artwork bestows distinctiveness and cuteness to each member of the team. Every one of the gals sport different hairstyles, unique facial shapes, stand at various heights and possess intrinsic body language.

Her non-exploitative artwork is a godsend. The woman behind the adult comic-strip Small Favors knows exactly where explicitness belongs. For instance, five panels comprise four shower scenes that leave everything to the imagination but nevertheless stimulate through either the translucence of a shower door, the sensuality of water sliding from skin or an expression of contentment. Coover should give lessons.

Given Coover's understanding of friendship, romance, humor and sex, there is a danger in her being typecast as a "chick" artist, as in "chick flick". Coover, however, has become very fluent in the tongue of kickassery. The denouement is a particularly sneaky, well-staged kibosh.

In "Street Monsters" Dan Didio is a black-market arms dealer. No, seriously. Take a look.



This brings him to the attention of everybody's favorite web-slinger Spider-Man. The story is almost fun, but Giffin's wide departure for the Falcon distracts the reader.

Giffin succeeds in combining intelligence with humor for a canny, comedic Spidey, but since when has the Falcon been so gruff? When has the Falcon carried a gun? What? Since Bucky is carrying a gun as Captain America Lite, all of Cap's former partners must now pack heat? Where are the Falcon's wings? The Falcon is supposed to, you know, fly. Originally the Falcon was earthbound, but I thought continuity wasn't an issue here.

I kept wondering if this story wasn't meant to be the focus of an inventory issue set in Spidey's past where he teams up with a foul-mood, flightless Falcon predating Cap's untimely demise, but that doesn't quite work because the original Falcon wasn't a vigilante type. He was a modern day swashbuckler. That's why he complimented Cap so well.

The Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover stories in King-Size Spider-Man Summer Special are absolutely perfect. However, while Rich Burchett and Wil Quantana's artwork in the Spidey/Falcon team-up is utterly gorgeous, Keith Giffin has plucked Sam Wilson's characterization and left behind a mostly unrecognizable sour hero.

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