Following the events of Minimum Carnage where does our Texas tied and truly beleaguered clone go from here?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Marvel:

MERRY CHRISTMAS, SCARLET SPIDER. HOPE YOU SURVIVE THE EXPERIENCE!

• Kaine goes head to head with the Hand and Bruiser!

• Come celebrate the conclusion of Scarlet Spider’s First wonderful year with Chris Yost and Reilly Brown!

It’s the holiday season guys and like any good comic fan should know it’s time for the various companies to attempt to deliver some yuletide adventures, be they naughty or nice.  Well rest assured webslingers this is one of the better ones, as the creative team succeeds in delivering a tale that carries a bag full of goodies even as it sidesteps a few lumps of coal.

Chris Yost once again handles the script and the series writer by this point has Kaine and his supporting cast down to a science.  I’m not going to lie I’m still astonished about how far he’s taken this complex hero.  He successfully moved a Peter Parker clone to a place where he was given a home and a family while throwing all of these unimaginable obstacles in his ways, least of which would be his back story baggage.  In short this latest romp highlights the features of this character that have been built up since the first issue, while allowing our protagonist to bask in the glory of his rather wonderful life.

Reilly Brown steps in to handle the art and he does an excellent job balancing the varied styles that have graced this relatively new series.  His pencil strokes elevate the quality of the script by offering quirky designs and some stable panels that easily flow with the narrative.  Specifically, near the end, there’s a glorious shot of the Scarlet Spider as he leaps at villains followed by numerous shots in the background, this page absolutely nails the cadence thereby elevating the quality of the moment.

Scarlet Spider #12 has got to be one of the most entertaining comics I’ve reviewed for this site so far.  On almost every possible level the creative team knocked this story out of the proverbial park.  Highly recommended.

4.5/5