In Avenging Spider-Man #5, Zeb Wells teams our favorite web-slinger with the heart of the Avengers, Captain America. Joining Wells as the artist is fellow Marvel star talent Leinil Francis Yu. Rounding out the creative team are inker Gerry Alanguilan, colorist Sunny Gho, and letterer Joe Caramagna.

First off, the first page will come off quite confusing because the reader will not likely understand what it happening. That’s until you get to the second page. One of the panels features a character who may just be one of the worst looking characters ever drawn. There’s no cause to be turned off or downgrade this book. This is because the character is someone Steve Rogers created as a kid. This was of course when he was looking at another career path. But thankfully, he took the military route. Good call Steve Rogers.

Contrary to what may have been believed about this series in terms of expectations, this entry isn't focused on tag-team action, not in the traditional sense anyway. That in no way is a complaint. What happens here is an example of not judging a book by the cover. There is some action if you're looking for it (why wouldn't you when the title of the book features the word "Avenging"), but it's sort of just there. This book is about the characters. Our two stars engage in some heroic bonding the likes of which have unlikely been seen before. It's not completely mutual until later on.

Visually, if you know of Yu, then you know what you're going to get from him. He has a ton of work under his belt and he never disappoints. There's only one problem and it involves a panel where Spider-Man looks real funky. It sticks out because his look in that panel doesn’t match with the rest of the book.

To get an idea of Wells’ work in this issue, combine Peter’s "charm" with Steve's more stoic demeanor. Fans of either character are likely to feel right at home with how they’re portrayed here. Peter spends much of the issue trying to connect with Cap in a way that differs from the superhero teammate.

Without giving away every detail, that's what this issue is about. This story isn’t about the greater Marvel Universe or stopping some evil conspiracy. It goes beyond the masks. It’s not about Spider-Man and Captain America, but rather Peter Parker and Steve Rogers. Some fans may have questions about Spider-Man’s identity, which would be fair considering how it’s still secret in other books. However, that would lessen the effect of this books’ effort to get at the personalities of our stars. It all works out well.


This comic book was purchased with my own funds.