There's been a real renaissance of fun, lighthearted superhero adventures at Marvel lately, and you can add one more book to the pile with Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1. Though little more than a slightly longer installment of the main series, it succeeds in offering another worthy team-up between the webbed wall-crawler and Yancy Street's favorite son.

Rob Williams and Brad Walker step in as the creators for this standalone adventure (though it's not as if Avenging has ever had a stable creative team). Williams kicks off the adventure with a clever idea -- what if two brothers go digging for relics of past superhuman battles in Central Park. The result is the uncovering of a device that makes everyone in Manhattan fill with rage and attack each other. I take it that's supposed to be a change from the usual status quo there.

Needless to say, the script is a fun and breezy read that offsets the slowly darkening tone of Amazing Spider-Man nicely. Williams doesn't always pace his humor well, with too many jokes and pop culture references flying about in the early pages, but in this case too much humor is probably better than not enough. The two brothers and their constant bickering provide a fun counterpoint to Peter and Ben's prickly relationship. The limited invovlement of Franklin and Valeria Richards also adds a ncie touch. Only Williams' choice of villain leaves something to be desired.

Walker's art offers an appreciable shift from his usual harsh style. Most notably, his facial work is more relaxed and expressive. Only rarely do characters suffer from "Brad Garrett face." Walker's Spidey is also highly dynamic and detailed.

If books like Wolverine and the X-Men don't completely fulfill your desire for goofy superhero antics this week, you might consider giving this annual a try.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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