Who knew Kaine could be so funny? I know he’s a clone of Peter Parker and everything, but he’s usually a sourpuss straight man. I guess with Aracely mostly sitting this issue out, somebody’s got to keep up the chuckles. Because what would a book like Scarlet Spider be without some humor? And Wolverine isn’t about to deliver. That guy is as sourpuss as they come. But I’m not going to complain when Scarlet Spider gets some attention from the rest of the Marvel Universe.

Scarlet Spider #18

The continuing Scarlet Spider/Wolverine team-up is as entertaining as it was last issue, albeit for different reasons. Writer Chris Yost is doing a team-up right.

Comic Rating: 4/5 – Good.

Somehow, seemingly against all reason, Scarlet Spider is still chugging along 18 issues later. I’ve never seen it mentioned as a comic due for cancellation. Does it have an audience? Is it actually selling? Because that would be fantastic. Maybe this Wolverine cameo will help punch up sales for a little bit. It was a classic maneuver back in the day for new comics to guest star Wolverine or Spider-Man as quickly as possible. What better way to sell a new hero to audiences than by giving him or her some team-up time with the big shots? That’s kind of what happens here. Maybe this is even an homage. Scarlet Spider and Wolverine team up to take on some colorful bad guys. It’s as classic as comic books get.

The art by Carlo Barberi and Ale Garza is, likewise, top notch. It’s clear, detailed and full of action. I was unhappy for the longest time with Scarlet Spider‘s artist, but now the series has got that taken care of. So at this point, Scarlet Spider needs to take the comic to the next level. It’s got solid storytelling, solid characters and solid art. It’s entertaining and fun to read. But it could stand to be…something more. One can’t exactly say what it could use, or what exactly could be done. Deeper stories. More meaningful character development. Maybe a hot romantic relationship? Who knows! But when you’ve got a good, quality comic, you can’t just rest on your laurels. Kick things up a notch, Chris Yost! Take Scarlet Spider to the next level!

Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!

So, Wolverine is dead. Scarlet Spider tore out his very heart in front of the other X-Men. But considering he’s Wolverine, he gets better a few pages later.

Just a flesh wound

The other X-Men don’t take kindly to teammate murder, and they beat up Kaine and have him pinned against a wall by the time Wolverine wakes up. Wolvie is very angry, and he knocks Kaine out for killing him – but at the last second, Wolverine pulls his claws, because this is actually all part of the plan. Seems that Kaine knew all about the assassin with the sniper rifle waiting just outside the school, and in fact, he had Aracely warn everyone last issue, asking Wolverine to just play along.

“Fine…as long as he doesn’t stab me in the heart.”

That’s kind of neat. Wolverine is a little to quick to agree to the plan, especially when it leads to him temporarily dying, but it’s nice to know Kaine isn’t an actual murderer…maybe. I dunno. I kind of like the idea of Kaine having an edge. I like that he’s the kind of guy who really would just kill Wolverine because that’s what is required of him. But he’s the hero of the series, so we need to know that he’s really a good guy. So off-panel, Scarlet Spider fills in Wolverine on the Assassins Guild’s plans, and Wolverine agrees to team up with him to take down Belladonna. Wolverine even busts out his classic gray-colored X-Force costume for the occasion.

Aracely, meanwhile, stays behind at the Jean Grey School, where Beast runs some tests on her. He finds out that Aracely might not be the only person (or thing) inhabiting her body.

Sweet Cecelia Reyes cameo!

So Scarlet Spider and Wolverine head off to the Guild’s secret lair in New Orleans and use their stealth skills to sneak inside. They kill guard after guard, and then when they’re found out, they just keep killing everybody. Seriously, it’s like a video game where you take out all the henchmen on the level first.

Killing is so much fun!

Then, of course, there’s the boss fight. All of the Guild members we met previously show up, and the battle continues. There’s Harvest, with the swords, and Smithy, with the guns, and then the little girl, Flower, who can influence emotions. Our heroes do battle with our villains, to varying results. It’s all incredibly well drawn, and fairly exciting. Belladonna shows up and the fight continues, with Kaine remarking that she’s kind of hot. If she wasn’t trying to kill him, he might fall for her.

See? Funny

Belladonna gets angrier and angrier, shouting about some other woman who will kill them all. Kaine sneaks around and comes up behind her, taking Belladonna hostage with one of his wrist spikes. But Smithy and the others are back on their feet, and they take Wolverine hostage, creating something of a Mexican stand-off. Nobody is willing to put down their weapons – but the stand-off doesn’t last long at all, because the other woman Belladonna was screaming about shows up. She kills Smithy and grabs Kaine and Wolverine.

It’s the Red Death!

‘Death’ isn’t the word that comes to mind…

Who looks just like any other blonde woman in a red cloak. I don’t see what the big deal is.

This was one of the quickest synopsis I’ve ever written on one of my big reviews, because it’s a pretty simple issue. I didn’t go into detail on Kaine’s inner monologue or the specifics of the fight scenes because I didn’t need to, they’re all quality and entertaining. I have nothing bad to say about this issue, and nothing great to say about it either. It’s as straight forward as a team-up with Wolverine is expected to be. The villains aren’t that deep, but at least they connect to earlier issues, so Kaine has some history with them. I might have liked more exploration of what it means for Wolverine to team up with Scarlet Spider, but I can’t always get what I want. They talk briefly about the fact that Kaine is Spider-Man’s clone, but Wolverine just grumbles that he has a clone too, and then it’s dropped. I would have liked more emphasis on something as important as Kaine teaming up with one of the greatest heroes in the Marvel Universe. Especially considering Wolverine’s friendship with Spider-Man. But oh well. It happened, and it was fun, and promises to be even more fun next issue.