Review – Doc Savage: The Spider’s Web #1 (Dynamite)

Publisher: Dynamite
Writer: Chris Roberson
Artist: Cezar Razek
Release Date: 2nd December, 2015

I decided to give Doc Savage a go, purely for nostalgia reasons. For those of you that don’t know, the Good Doctor has been in pulp print, movies and comics since 1933. He was created to be an amalgam of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, Craig Kennedy (Wikipedia tells me he was another detective in the vein of Sherlock Holmes) and Abraham Lincoln. Our Doctor was created to manifest “Christliness” and he is such a good guy that he has his own oath:

“Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it. Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.”

What a proper hero. His first name is Clark, and he is the man of BRONZE!. Hmm, has some other Messianic creation been lifting things from the good Doctor? Anyway, down to this issue, which sees Doc Savage in the modern era with his new sidekicks, helping people survive through an unnatural earthquake. The story then leads us back to 1933 and really starts building from there.

I’ll be honest, I thought this would be a fairly easy jumping in point being a first issue and not having read anything of Robersons re-imagined Man of Bronze since his return in 2013. Unfortunately it doesn’t invite you in with a welcoming hug, slap on the back and an introduction around the room, so I felt on firmer ground when we flashed back to 1933, where I at least knew who the Doc was chatting with.

The writing is solid enough – after all, Chris Roberson is a very accomplished wordsmith. The art is also solid. Cezar Razek does a good job with the dynamic poses, but some of the panel framing feels a little odd, forced even. Overall, the story is, again, solid, nothing more, nothing less. A decent lead into what could, with a little work, be an interesting series.

Rating: 3/5.

PREVIEW ARTWORK
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