Spider-Man Annual #1 Review

Written by: Stephanie Phillips
Art by: Alberto Foche
Colors by: Raúl Angulo
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover art by: R.B. Silva
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: August 9, 2023

Spider-Man Annual #1 finds Spider-Man magically transported to a city that doesn’t exist when Wolverine shows up, forcing the two to fight over an enchanting globe that drives all who see it to greedily possess it.

Is It Good?

Oof! What a dog of an Annual. Spider-Man Annual #1 leans into the Contest of Chaos event/story/crossover with the first matchup between Spider-Man and Wolverine to capture a purple, glowing orb on behalf of Agatha Harkness. It’s unclear what story direction the creative team was given, but it’s a safe bet “dumb” wasn’t the intended result.

Stephanie Phillips’s script follows a typical day in the life of Spider-Man when he returns to his apartment through his window, which magically teleports him to an unreal city in the Brazilian rainforest. The trip comes courtesy of Agatha Harkness, who intends to use the recently-acquired Heart of Chthon to create a new Darkhold as a defense against some impending Darkness. No sooner does Spidey try to figure out where he is when Wolverine teleports in from elsewhere, and the two join forces to investigate their surroundings. When Spider-Man accidentally opens a secret passage, revealing a purple glowing orb, both heroes suddenly fly into a greedy rage to be the first to possess it. Wolverine ultimately comes out on top and teleports away to give Agatha Harkness the globe.

“Wait. What? If Agatha Karkness wanted the purple glowing globe, why did she send two heroes to fight each other to get it???” you’d rightly wonder. The answer is, “I don’t know why, and it sure seems dumb when you read it.”

For whatever reason, Harkness sends both heroes to get one object. Why? Who knows. Either way, that’s the biggest, but not the only, problem with this comic.

Why is there a Spider-Man Annual that has nothing to do with the main Spider-Man title? Given all of Marvel’s manufactured, disingenuous hype for Spider-Boy, you’d think this would be the obvious opportunity to introduce the character in a meaningful way, instead of through pointless cameos.

Why are Spider-Man’s jokes so terrible in the prologue? Spider-Man’s jokes should be corny or even eye-rolling, but not nonsensical.

How was Spider-man unable to avoid Wolverine’s slashes and blows when he has the benefit of Spider-Sense? Who knows? Character research should have avoided that error.

When Spider-Man is magically transported back to NYC, why would he contact Jessica Jones for help with a clearly magic-based dilemma? Did he forget about Dr. Strange? Wong? The Agents of W.A.N.D.? Literally anyone in the Marvel pantheon of heroes who are experienced magic wielders?

The bottom line here is you have an overpriced annual that has almost nothing to do with the main title, contains terrible dialog, and has bigger plot holes than sink hole at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. This annual is, in every respect, a waste of time and money.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces

Spider-Man Annual #1 begins the Contest of Chaos crossover with a contrived fight, a nonsensical plot, and terrible dialog. Whatever the goal of this issue, the net result is a dumb waste of time.