Alpha Big Time #1 Review
Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Penciler: Nuno Plati
Cover Artist: Humberto Ramos
In the long history of Spider-Man, he has never had a sidekick. That is, until he came across a young Andrew Maguire and transformed him into Alpha. Andy obtained his superpowers in the same manner as Peter Parker. Whereas Peter learned the hard way about power and responsibility, Andy never experienced loss or heartache. So he became cocky and selfish. In the end, Alpha was de-powered and sent off to live in Pittsburgh. Alpha Big Time is a limited series that sees Alpha regain his powers. Will he be a better hero than before, or will Alpha revert back to his old ways?
What I Liked
The issue didn’t really pick up for me until Alpha got his powers back. Seeing him try to do the right thing, while also hiding his secret identity was funny. Especially what happens right at the end of the book. These are the things we should be getting in a title like this. Our young hero learning to use his powers, while also trying to do the right thing.
What I Didn’t Like
How many times do we have to sit through the patented “our hero is an outcast at high school” sequences that we got early on in Alpha Big Time #1? Every plucky teenage hero has to deal with being picked on and beat up in school. We get it. It would be nice to see some more creativity as far as this goes.
The art by Nuno Plati was okay, but nothing eye-catching. Andy has a really elongated face which annoyed me. He looks like a character on The Simpsons.
After reading Dan Slott and Chris Yost write Otto Octavius in Peter Parker’s body, Joshua Hale Fialkov’s interpretation of Peter/Otto sounded off to me. Peter/Otto was more entertaining in his dialogue in Superior Spider-Man and Avenging Spider-Man than he is here.
Summary
I was not pleased with how Alpha was originally handled in Amazing Spider-Man. He was introduced with much fanfare and publicity since Spider-Man had never had a sidekick before. But Alpha was never really a sidekick. They never worked together. Alpha was more of a hinderance than ally. Plus the storyline was resolved too quickly and easily. It almost seemed like Marvel got cold feet and pulled the plug.
Hopefully this limited series can redeem Alpha and he will remain a fixture in the Marvel universe.
This review is written in partnership with Pop Culture Network. They can be found at their website http://www.popculturenetwork.com/
Timdogg
#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE
