Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham #1

By Zeb Wells, Will Robson and Erick Arciniega

I know what you’re thinking. Spider-Ham is lame. Having said that, the new issue of Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham is anything but. Spider-Ham got some notoriety after appearing in Into the Spiderverse, which was a huge hit. Now we have comic readers who have an interest in the parody character, and truth be told, I’m fine with that. Spider-Ham is a character for people who can laugh at comics and have fun while reading them. He reminds you of a Sunday morning cartoon strip in the newspaper. With all of that in mind, the series is being written by Zeb Wells, who never disappoints when he does funny books. This just seems like a recipe for success. 

As stated above, Zeb Wells has a great sense of humor and can write humorous characters well. This issue of Spider-Ham feels like an episode of Bojack Horseman. There are so many small puns and little nods that you can’t help but laugh out loud. Squakeye saying “who the peck are you talking to” cracked me up. Wells changed the language and makes everything fit. This is truly a very well thought out issue. From the dialogue to the character names and animals, Wells really put a lot of thought and love into this issue. The Unhumanati makes an appearance, Deerdevil and his tragic past are in this issue. It was a slow week for comics because of the holiday, but Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham #1 is a hilarious debut issue. Zeb Wells crafted a very funny story and put a lot of time and effort into this book. If you’re sick of dark comics, this is definitely an issue you should pick up.

The pencils this issue are handled by Will Robson with colors by Erick Arciniega. The pencils by Robson allow this issue to feel light and fun. His lines are clean, his characters look great and the background and scenery make New Yolk City look amazing. Robson also really gets the animal character to look as close as he can to their human counterpart. When you look at J. Jonah Jackal, he looks exactly like J. Jonah Jameson, except he’s a jackal. The colors by Erick Arciniega are great as usual. Arciniega has the job of making this issue pop, and he does an excellent job at it. Using grays as characters turn works well and really contrasts the page with the normal colored characters. The pencils and colors in this issue really put it over the edge for enjoyment. This is actually a very good issue in all aspects.

Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham is an all around fun book. There are lots of laughs and an interesting story too. Zeb Wells crushes it with all the puns and funny character names. You couldn’t have put together a better art team for this project. Peter Porker is back and funnier than ever before!