I love the Domino Lady character. The original stories aren't exactly blazing two fisted adventure, but they have a certain something that I've always appreciated. A high society gal with a secret life as a situation solver! And she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty to finish a mission... and yep, Moonstone publishes some top adventures featuring the character.
Throw in THE SPIDER and I'm ready for something really special to say the least. With this "Return of the Originals" event cross-over you get sex, violence, fangs and flung away clothing. This is a WIDEVISION book, which is basically a prose story with large art pieces placed through the center of many pages. I like the format a lot personally, it has a pulp feeling that doesn't adhere to keeping the spot art small.
Writers Nancy Holder and Joe Gentile have concocted a nice plot that is more violent than the usual Domino Lady and more sexed up than The Spider usually swings through and make for a great crossing of paths. An earthquake starts the story and suddenly Domino Lady is watching as one of her best friends sees her unique marriage endangered as Hollywood grudges lead not just to studio burning and actor endangerment...but people instead BURST INTO FLAMES mysteriously. What is a girl to do but hop into bed with a bad guy to get to the bottom. But a not so little and not so ballistics challenged SPIDER is watching her methods before deciding to employee his own.
SMASH EVIL!!
The villain is revealed and the danger levels rise as high as pulp fans demand. The Spider does his thing, Domino Lady does hers and the writers do a great job of making sure they do it as the characters should. Fast, breezy and a ton of fun, this is a great little pulp tale with an ending that even The Spider smiles at.
The artwork by E.M. Gist is very solid, though The Spider artwork really excels where The Domino Lady illustrations aren't quite as strong. As always there are multiple covers...I love the Stephen Bryant one personally.
A solid buy for Spider fans!
Now, there is a caveat, and I add it because I really like what Moonstone does in regards to respecting these characters and taking great care to give their adventures life in today's market. A lot of the prose tales from Moonstone contain typos, and while they are few in this edition, some are very distracting with some auto-fixed words and "cop cards" popping up. There are a few instances where it appears this is an early and unfinished draft with TK(?) popping up in some cases!
A great story and solid art deserve better and I rely on Moonstone for a lot of my comic shop entertainment. This happens in several prose releases, and some are reprinted in collections such as The Phantom Generations, I hate to be picky, but I'm happily buying words-I'd like to see the polished final product! THE SPIDER demands it!!
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