Can the story of a teenage hero really be worth following in the age of Superior Spider-Man?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Marvel:

• Alpha, inarguably the greatest super hero of his or any past and future time, has been restored to power by the Superior Spider-Man!

• He’s saving damsels in distress! He’s leaping tall buildings! He may have accidentally murdered someone! Wait…what?!

• Josh Fialkov & Nuno Plati (Amazing Spider-Man) reunite for the tale of the next great hero!

I’m not going to lie, when Alpha was initially introduced for his brief three issue arc in the Amazing Spider-Man I honestly didn’t know how to digest this character.  On one hand he’s literally an obnoxious and utterly intrusive stereotype birthed form an aged generation’s interpretation of modern youth, but then again when handled right he has it within himself to be just as much a source of empathy as Peter Parker.

Joshua Hale Fialkov pens the script and the writer excels at distributing convincing dialogue.  He seamlessly takes Andy Maguire and gives him enough development to allow the audience to feel for his current predicaments in life.   Originally I thought Alpha was destined to be a super villain but instead his odyssey has led him here to a second chance and to our young hero’s credit he’s trying not to waste it.  With that said there are still hiccups here and there that prevent the pacing of the book from yielding something more than the sum of its parts.

The art by Nuno Plati at first glance may seem a bit too stylized.  His character work is stiff and rather rigid which differs greatly from the featured cover image.  But from the first page to the last panel the talent does his thing and trust me when I say by the final page you’ll find yourself appreciating his visualizations as you embrace the entirety of the property as a whole.

Alpha: Big Time #2 is not a perfect affair but it certainly does more than enough to earn an audience in its own right.  Recommended.

3.5/5