Spider-Man: Lifeline #1 synopsis
Spider-Man: Lifeline #3 synopsis

the plot: With the assistence of Arthur Stacy, Spider-Man looks into the Maggia activity surrounding the pieces of the time tablets. Meanwhile as Hammerhead has Dr. Curt Connors looking into how to set up the tablets, Hammerhead's rival for the tablet, Caesar Cicero, has the Eel get the missing pieces and just as Connors learns the truth a battle erupts and the Lizard is reborn!

the review: As I've found to be the case with many Spider-Man mini-series out there, the second part tends to fall shorter than the first. The applies to Lifeline as well unfortunatly. Fabien Nicieza's writing is still as interesting and fast paced as the first part and Steve Rude's artwork is both wonderfully expressive, and beautiful to look at, but the book has a "been there" feel to it. And in the grand scheme of things it actually seems a little boring. The first part was neat because it brought all of those classic 60's villains back, but the novelty wears off here. Nothing of interest really happens to half of the characters in this book. Was there ever any doubt that Spidey wouldn't defeat Eel or Man Mountain Marko, or that the Lizard wouldn't show up?

Aside from the predictable elements that bring this book down, the story is very straight forward and, for the new reader, self contained. Nicieza and Rude's work here is descriptive and easy to follow, and the inclusion of Dr. Strange and Namor, the Submariner should no doubt lead to an interesting conclusion. I'll pick up the final issue hoping it keeps up the energy level and freshness of the first part since it would be a shame considering the obvious effort and interest by the creative team.

Spider-Man: Lifeline #2 gets **1/2 out of *****

send all email to John Cage
this page is best viewed at 800x600, so you can see everything.