Monday, January 5, 2004

Kingpin #7 - A Review

Written by: Bruce Jones
Penciled by: Sean Phillips
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Editor: Warren Simons
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Amazing what difference a few months can make. Originally, Kingpin was meant to be a six-issue mini-series about the early years of Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin of Crime. Sometime along the way, it was decided to turn the series into a full-length retro-series (ala Emma Frost) and to add an issue to the mini-series turned opening story arc. Now, sometime later again… the regular series is now a mini-series and is ending with this issue. And sadly, this issue looks like what it is… an editorially-mandated extension onto what was a done-deal story.

This is not to say that the issue is bad or bad reading. It just has a lot of scenes which are clearly filler and have no directing bearing upon the events at the start of the issue or indeed some of the events of the whole series.

I cannot say enough good things about the art. The covers by Tony Harris, while portraying the classic Kingpin, are gorgeous and I think any fault in the depiction probably lies with the editorial staff and not Mr. Harris, who likely painted the covers months ago. The interior artwork is just as gorgeous, with Janson’s inks giving Phillips pencils an appropriately dark aura not unlike that of a more gritty Steve Ditko.

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