Spider-Man: India #3Marvel
Written by Jeevan J. Kang, Suresh Seetharaman & Sharad Devarajan
Art by Jeevan J. Kang & Gotham Studios Asia
Review by Fletcher Adams
The Least You Need to Know After having his destiny revealed to him, Pavitr Prabhakar learns through the murder of his Uncle Bhim that with great power there also comes great responsibility.
Evil industrialist, Nalin Oberoi, has razed Pavitrs village, killing everyone but the young hero and his Aunt Maya. In the process, he gained a mystical amulet that turned him into a supernatural monster. In an effort to thwart fate, Oberoi bestows a portion of his power on a scientist, turning the meek doctor into a six-armed monster.
When I first read the press release on this series, Ill admit I was intrigued. I ordered Spider-Man: India, armed and ready to enjoy it. Three issues in, and Im forced to admit that Im under-whelmed by this project. While the comic does a good job of transplanting the Spider-Man saga into a different culture, I had been under the impression that the intention had been to re-interpret it into the Indian culture. Kang and his co-plotters show no lack of talent or ability, but they are essentially retelling a story that has been told many times before, in many different variations. Certainly, you want the essence of Spider-Mans origin to be retained, but I havent found very much new added to it. It is interesting to see how the science fiction aspects have been changed to fantasy, which is really the most radical change from the traditional Spider-Man. The scenes involving Pavitr are interesting, and seem to recast many of Peter Parkers old supporting cast in an interesting light, but very little space is devoted to it. The dialogue is enjoyable, but I dont think Kang has quite got the hang of Spider-Mans banter yet.
Artistically, the book flows fairly well. There were some points during the fight with Doctor Octopus that became a little muddied. Despite that, most pages are nicely laid out, creating some nice visual elements (the scene of Pavitr sneaking home over Aunt Maya stuck with me, as an example). I also like the proportions that he gives Spider-Man. Much like Bagleys Ultimate Spider-Man, this hero is seems to have an arachnid-like shape to his muscles, while Pavitr retains a distinctive look that actually seems like a teenager. My only major criticism of the art, is the splash pages and double page spreads. 6 of the 22 pages are at least full page panels, leaving me feeling the comic lacks a little in story quantity.
The Bottom Line Spider-Man: India is an interesting venture, but one that leaves me luke-warm, at best. The book was originally created in India, for an Indian market, so perhaps Im holding it too close to the North American counterpart. In hindsight, at $2.99 US ($4.25 Can) an issue, I would have been better off waiting for the trade paperback (due April 2005, for $9.99 US) collection to sample this experiment.
