Because publishers want you to buy their product every month, comics are typically serial in nature. However, occasionally (and more often nowadays than ever before) publishers launch a comic title that is only meant to last for one issue. While ongoing series often have multiple chances to hook in new readers, the comics highlighted in this ongoing investigations only had One-Shot At Greatness!
Publisher: Amalgam Comics
Cover Date: April 1996
Cover Price: $1.95
Writer: Karl Kesel
Artist: Mike Wieringo
When the DC and Marvel Universes merged in Marvel vs DC, a new one was created: the Amalgam Universe. This one-shot combined Superboy with Spider-Man.
The not-quite-fully developed clone of Super-Soldier developed gravity powers that allowed him to stick to walls – clearly, Spiderboy was an appropriate name for this young hero. Now he’s out to save the city from villains like Bizarnage (a combination of Bizarro & Carnage) and King Lizard (the Lizard & Killer Croc). But, none of that can prepare him for the scariest thing a teenager can face – a date with Mary Jane Watson the Insect Queen!
Kesel manages to cram in an origin story, two separate battles, plenty of cameos from other characters (including amalgamations created from the FF, Dock Ock and more) and a last page shocker. Wieringo‘s art is dynamic, bright, Crisp and fun – always a treat to behold. But, somehow with all of that great stuff mixed in, it just feels like too much. And, perhaps that’s really the root of the problem. All the story elements shoved into this one-shot could really have been expanded into a year’s worth of story-telling and the book definitely suffers from this attempt at over-achievement.
On Ebay: Amalgam | Karl Kesel | Mike Wieringo
On AtomicAvenue: Amalgam Comics