Raven's issue of tangled web

[Guest areacode212]

I posted this over on the Wrestling board of tvshowboards.com (the sister site of comicboards.com), as well as WDI just now. Since there really hasn't been a lot of publicity about it, I figured I'd stick it here too:

 

Just to remind everyone, the issue of Spider-Man's Tangled Web co-written by former ECW World Champion and current star of Heat Raven will be out this Thursday (not Wednesday, due to the Memorial Day holiday). He plotted the story (about Crusher Hogan, the character who Sam Raimi morphed into Bonesaw, Randy Savage's character in the movie), which was scripted by Brian Azzarello of 100 Bullets, Hellblazer and Cage fame. I forgot who the artist was, though.

 

Anyway, I'm not sure how many of you read the title, but the past 3 issues of Tangled Web have been excellent (with Darwyn Cooke's issue being my favorite comic of the year), so Mr. Scotty Flamingo better keep the streak alive.

 

There's also an article in the latest RAW Magazine about it, which has quotes from Axel Alonso and a few other familiar names. Raven and Azzarello met each other at a comic con a few years ago when Raven was walking around wearing a Sandman T-shirt that featured art by "Azzarello's wife".

 

I was a bit disappointed that they didn't mention her by name, given that she has a wrestling connection of her own. Azzarello is married to the AWESOME Jill Thompson, who's famous for her work on Sandman, Scary Godmother, The Invisibles and....Mick Foley's Halloween Hijinx!! She was also attached to the Chyna comic book before Chaos decided that her style didn't really fit (which is kind of understandable).

[Guest Karnage]

Well I gotta call my local comic shop to reserve me a copy.

[Guest areacode212]

Did they even mention this on RAW? This is probably the best time to plug anything Spidey-related. Maybe on Smackdown.

[Guest starvenger]

I actually got my copy today, but this may be due to the fact that there wasn't a holiday up here in the Great White North...

[Guest]

this is a very good issue. reading it as a wrestling fan, i loved the way it showed how things are done in the back, and reading it as a comic fan, it's nice to read about a back ground character such as crusher hogan. i can't wait for issue 15

[Guest areacode212]

Back in the 80s, they actually did a story (set in the present) about Crusher Hogan, and how he had become a somewhat down-on-his-luck wrestling trainer (or something). He gets to meet Spider-Man again and teams up with him against some mob guys. It was a pretty good story from what I remember, though I preferred this one by FAR (because of the wrestling business aspects). I'll post the issue number if I remember it.

[Guest One Bad Apple]

Tangled Web was the thing I was looking forward to the most this week.

 

I loved it.  Great story, and even though anyone reading a Spider-Man book would know the ending, it was executed perfectly.  Hammerhead appearing was also kinda cool for some reason.

 

I woulda liked if there'd been a page in the back telling readers that Scott Levy is actually a professional wrestler himself ... too bad.

 

There were some parts that seemed a little off to me, but that was probably because I was tired.  I'll look through it again soon.  

 

I'm not gonna dissect this thing and give it a full review, because I liked it, and that means I can't amuse myself ripping it apart.

 

Definitely pick this book up, even if you're not into Spider-Man.  The only bit of backstory you'd need to know would be explained by Randy Savage in the movie. Or some website, I guess.

 

And where did you hear that he plotted it, areacode?  I was trying to find out how much he contributed and I haven't heard anything until the topic post.

 

Either way ... hope to see Raven doing some more work in comics.  Plotting and scripting.

[Guest areacode212]

I read that he plotted it in either that RAW Magazine article or the Newsarama story that first reported the project. But I'm sure he worked really closely with Brian Az on the script, especially the narration parts with the carny talk and describing how you're supposed make the other guy look good, etc. Some of the dialogue actually came off sounding a little clunky, which surprised me because Azzarello's dialogue is usually pretty authentic-sounding in 100 Bullets. I don't think I've ever heard anyone use the term "mamby-pamby" outside a comic book.

 

But that's minor. The book rocked.

[Guest starvenger]

>Some of the dialogue actually came off sounding a little clunky, which surprised me because Azzarello's dialogue is usually pretty authentic-sounding in 100 Bullets.

 

Yeah, but he was dialogueing Sports Entertainment, so it was actually better than about 70% of what the wrestlers might actually say...

[Guest]

maybe it was just me, but did anyone notice how much the wrestler that hogan was fighting in the begining, looked like jericho??

[Guest]

Yeah! I showed the page to my roommate, and he immediately said "Oh wow! Jericho!"

[Guest Karnage]

Isn't the Jericho look-alike Raven? Because it kinda looks like Raven.

[Guest]

well i could have been raven, if raven dressed like jericho, and looked like jericho

[Guest One Bad Apple]

Anyone have a link to that Newsarama story?

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

I read about this comic book in Wizard. They said that Raven was going to write the story there. There is also a Wizard that's somewhere in my house where they interview Al Snow.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

I just bought this comic book today. It was kind of a fluke because I saw it in the grocery store and recognized what it was. I saw the wrestler on it and saw that it was Tangled Web. I read a little bit of it on the way home, and it looks like it could be pretty good. So far, I think Raven did a pretty good job.