Fialkov's stories aren't ones you should take lightly. He's known for throwing major curveballs at readers. This issue sets up what comes next for the kid superhero that almost had it all. He may have made mistakes and is trying to avoid new ones. That doesn't mean he won't make more. Read Full Review

It's the second new issue this week with a teenage character set to be the main hero. I'm not fully sold yet as I strongly disliked Alpha in his premiere in the pages of Spider-Man. I won't lie that I want to see what the consequences of what happen on the last 2 panels in this book are and also what Doc Ock (Grr I mean Spider-Man) has up his sleeves for the boy. I'm going to give this a tentative 4 stars with how much my interest has peaked but it's going to have to pull some amazing punches to keep me this interested for it as an ongoing series. Read Full Review

A good alpha issue for Alpha #1. This kid's a wiener. Fialkov's got his work cut out for him, making us like the guy enough to follow his story. So far, it's working. Read Full Review

And it is precisely the enthusiasm that makes this book work. While, to be fair, the much-discussed location of Pittsburgh was never utilized, the book feels like its carving out a little corner of the 616 for Alpha to play in, which is precisely what the character needed. There are a lot of supporting Spidey characters; for this character to succeed, Marvel needed to take him out of the shadow of the Spider, and place him somewhere he could take root. They did that and, with any luck, this is the start of Alpha's integration into the Marvel Universe as more than just a Spidey wannabe. Read Full Review

Whether those consequences actually come to pass remains to be seen, but it's a bold image on which to end. Fialkov can't be accused to taking his time to get to the story, and it's the sort of cliffhanger that's going to bring readers back. It's not a perfect first issue -- it has a lot of exposition to slog through and some fairly perfunctory scenes of, "Let's give back Alpha his powers," not to mention that Fialkov seems to stumble a little over the voice of the Doctor Octopus Peter Parker. However, if teenage superheroics are what you enjoy, this is a good version of the classic setup starring a newly-sympathetic Alpha, and an enjoyable read overall. Read Full Review

Unfortunately the scriptdoesn'tgive this much justice as it mostly continues to not find any real redeeming qualities about for Alpha and as someone that has been holding out hope for so long it comes as a real disappointment, hopefully by the end of this mini-series itll make a return in the future less frustrating to go through. Read Full Review

Alpha: Big Time #1 is hardly essential, but it is surprisingly fun. Fialkov and Plati work well together, and actually manage to make Andy seem relatable and human even when hes making the most horrific mistakes possible. The book sets up two major conflicts to play out over the course of the mini-series, and thankfully theyre both fairly compelling, while focusing on the difficult task of making us give a crap about Andy Maguire. They dont fundamentally change the character in any way the sense of entitlement is still there in full force but they make it work, and they make you want to read more. Read Full Review

If Alpha: Big Time is going to make Andy Maguire into a hero, it needs to do so quickly. Maguire is not a likable character, and this introductory issues doesn't go far enough in making him into more than "not Peter Parker." My one hope is in the artistic team. Fialkov has proven his ability to write a strong story, and Plato has what it takes to make Alpha look good. Now, they need to get beyond the character shell and show readers that despite his initial run in Amazing Spider-Man, the character still has a lot to offer. Read Full Review

While writer Joshua Hale Fialkov does his best to keep the pace going, Andy is not really someone to invest in. He comes off as just a whining teenager talking about how difficult his life is without powers. The cover art is done by Humberto Ramos but I have always been partial to his work on Crimson rather than any super-books. Nuno Plati's art looks sloppy. Overall, I have to give the whole Alpha experiment a definite pass. Maybe it will work in a few years when Andy grows into his powers but I'm not optimistic about such an unappealing hero. Read Full Review