By d. emerson eddy — “Go get 'em, tiger.”

Not my words, the words of one Mary Jane Watson-Parker letting her husband off the hook as he heads out into the night to stop evil as your friendly-neighborhood Spider-Man. Words that actually come back to haunt Peter Parker as he tries to navigate his way through a New York City under the paramilitary heel of an increasingly authoritarian mayor and his jackbooted thugs in the dystopian future of Spider-Man: Reign, brought to us by Kaare Andrews, Jose Villarrubia, Chris Eliopoulos, and Rus Wooton.

This series came out in the mid-aughts when Marvel Knights as an imprint had kind of moved on from what it started as with in-continuity soft reboots of largely street level heroes under the guidance of Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, growing into what were prestige format minis with loose continuity and sometimes wild reimaginings. Spider-Man: Reign was a take on Dark Knight Returns, even with “Miller Jason” and “Varr” as television news personalities in the story to give a nod and a wink. It follows an old, beaten down Peter Parker who has given up his tights in an increasingly fascist New York City. It takes an even more curmudgeonly J. Jonah Jameson to snap Parker out of his funk and fight back against the authority.

It's different for a Spider-Man story, even when we're now used to him being beaten down in the occasional nihilistic tale, as Kaare Andrews took it in a fairly unique perspective. While the world was dark, there were still hints of humor, the shell of wisecracking Spider-Man waiting to be reborn, even as there were hints that the poor man was losing his mind. In the wake of 9/11 and George W. Bush's second term, it was laden with references that could be chalked up to social commentary on giving up freedom for the illusion of security, but Andrews still worked it in through traditional Spider-Man mythology. Especially as the newly named Sinner Six make their appearance.

Andrews' artwork is a highlight of the piece. He has an exaggerated, fine lined style that shares some influence from Frank Miller's work, but I also see some of Miller's manga inspiration in Andrews' work, and some bits and pieces shared with other artists like Ted McKeever and John McCrea. The Miller influence tends to come on more with the approach to how the story is coloured, both by Andrews and Jose Villarrubia who joins in the second chapter on. There's a use of highly obvious computer generated effects that reminds me more of Dark Knight Strikes Again than the original. These backgrounds give the story a somewhat unreal feel that kind of puts you on your toes. The lettering from Eliopoulos and Wooton give us a nice differentiation among styles for narration boxes and dialogue. I think it's always interesting to see both mixed case and all caps appear for different uses in a story.

I know that this story can be polarizing, from what I've seen people either love it or hate it. I'm in the former category. Even though it does show an influence from Dark Knight Returns, I think that Spider-Man: Reign is a more hopeful, optimistic story. Andrew, Villarrubia, Eliopoulos, and Wooton delve into the Spider-Man mythos not to beat us down, but to rise above.

Spider-Man: Reign

Spider-Man: Reign
Writer & Artist: Kaare Andrews
Colorists: Kaare Andrews & Jose Villarrubia
Letterers: Chris Eliopoulos & Rus Wooton
Publisher: Marvel Comics / Marvel Knights
Release Date: March 19, 2008
Collects Spider-Man: Reign #1-4. In the future, a cold and hostile Manhattan has long ago traded freedom for security, imposed by the brutal soldiers of the Reign. But the long-vanished hero is a tired old man now. Can Peter Parker rediscover his once-great power and responsibility? Or is the Spider's mask too heavy a burden to bear in this harsh new reality?
Price: $6.99
Read It Digitally: Spider-Man - Reign via comiXology
Read It Physically: Spider-Man Reign via Amazon

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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.