Well, this issue marks the first of 3 issues that will be drawn by Chris Bachalo and written by Zeb Wells.
I'll start with the writing. I actually thought the writing was pretty good. I am unfamiliar with Wells, and not much was revealed in the form of plot for this issue, but the dialogue and interaction between the characters had just the right touch of humor.. maybe even more on the lighter side. Some of Spidey's comments to Wolverine in this issue could potentially be referred to as classic in the near future. I'm looking forward to the rest of the story although I couldn't help but feel that Wolverine only cameoed in this issue as fodder for the writer (
to use some banked up Spidey/Wolvie dialog that he no doubt has been hanging onto for quite some time, lol). Logan hardly served a purpose here. As if Spidey couldn't take out 3 Ninjas on his own.
As for the art. I know there are alot of Bachalo lovers out there, but I was far from impressed by his pages in this book. We saw the best parts in the previews. Frankly, Bachalo is not suited for a Spider-Man book. For some reason, Spidey looked slightly different in almost every panel. He looked old and bigger in one scene, and almost childlike in the next. It's also like Chris cannot stand to have a "clean" page and I feel like they set this story during a snow storm just so Bachalo could draw in a "Big Mess".
Overall though, the art wasn't terrible. Everything moved at a good pace and the various character "entrances" and "exits" were well handled. Bachalo has decent storytelling style, his Wolverine out shined Spidey though, but that's not surprising considering his history with the X-Books.
Bottom line: The issue was entertaining and what you'd expect from Bachalo. Wells did a decent job, but it's slightly hard to tell as this was just the setup for this 3-part arc. Great interaction, humorous and light, even under Chris' slightly gritty art style. I'm curious to see more story development from the upcoming issues.
3 out of 5 stars