the plot: Remember the evil mimes from issue 21? Well they're back to take down their arch-enemy Spider-Man. It's all out action as Spidey has to take down a group of the dealiest mimes ever assembled, and contend with his neighbour Karen, her dog Barker and a little guy in the frigerator named Kevin. Oh, did I mention that this is a Nuff Said! issue?

the review: Right off the bat I'll give Paul Jenkins credit. He really took full advantage of the Nuff Said! idea by bringing back his evil mime gang. By using not only the mimes, but also the monks from #34, and of course the ever reliable Kevin, the first piece of moldy cheese to become a regular cast member in anything, Paul is really creating a unifying sense to his run on Spider-Man. Not only that, but Karen and Barker show up again, and while not much is advanced in the Barker/Spidey sub-plot, it is nice to be reminded of it.

Now...the mimes. I was not all that impressed with them, and unfortunatly, it's the fault of Mark Buckingham. Usually I really like his work, but it really doesn't capture the zanyness that the mimes are supposed to exhibit in this story. Not only that, but it really begins to degrade as the story progresses and sadly looks pretty bad when held up against other Buckingham/Faucher issues.

Oh, and thanks very much guys for having the cobbles to have Mary Jane show up in the core titles again. Even if it was only in a thought bubble, it was very nice, and yes, I did say cobbles.

So, while Peter Parker: Spider-Man #38 was a good idea, it doesn't pan out satisfyingly and therefore only gets **1/2 our of *****. Better luck with the Dr. Octopus storyline starting next month guys.

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