Amazing
Spider-Man #540
Title: “Back in Black” Part 2 of 5
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Ron Garney
Inker: Bill Reinhold
Colorist: Matt Milla
Plot:
Aunt May is in a coma, Peter is angry, and now it’s time for some
Spidey payback! After
smacking a few dirt bags around, dangling one out a window, and
borrowing an NYPD computer without permission, our morally liberated
hero identifies May’s shooter as Jake Martino.
He visits Martino’s apartment only to find out from the land
lord that the assassin plans to skip town on the next train out.
Spidey shows up at the station in full regalia to provoke a
spider-sense-triggering reaction from the shooter.
It works, and the guy whips out a submachine gun and starts
spraying bullets at the wallcrawler.
Of course, Spidey moves too quickly and he chases the assassin
onto the platform where he bashes the would-be killer’s face into a
column. Peter tells the guy
that he will kill him and he’d better say who hired him if he wants it
to be quick. But before the
terrified sniper can rat his employer out, someone else from across the
platform guns him down.
Spider-Man tracks the new killer with a spider-tracer, and drops in on
him later while he’s on the phone with his boss.
Spider-man recognizes the voice on the other end as the
Kingpin’s, and he informs the crime lord of his vengeful intentions
with a classically awesome line.
Likes:
-
I
like seeing Spider-Man work close to the streets again.
For all its hype, the “Back in Black” arc so far has a nice,
down-to-earth feel to it. It’s
a simple revenge story, but there’s something about watching Spidey
use his detective skills and shake up a few lowlifes who need shaking up
while wearing that kickass black costume which satisfies my animal
craving for fun and awesomeness.
-
Peter’s
exploitation of his sixth sense in this issue was very clever.
I enjoy seeing an old power used in a new and interesting way.
The spider-sense’s equally creative visual depiction earns
Garney and Straczynski even more kudos.
Dislikes:
-
A
very good point which Morbius brought up on the message board is that
since this story takes place before recent events in Daredevil where the
Kingpin is freed from prison and leaves the country, it’s safe to say
that the Kingpin probably won’t end up dying.
That kills much of the suspense which hinges on the question of
whether Spider-Man will kill him or not.
Hopefully, we’ll see the story catch up chronologically with
Daredevil in the next couple of issues, and I believe JMS is capable of
doing that smoothly by glossing over the details.
Even that does happen, I’m still certain
Spidey won’t kill the Kingpin. I’m
not sure enough to make the kind of bets we’re seeing on the message
board (I’m looking at you, Morbius and F. N. Spider-Man), but I really
don’t see it happening. I
don’t want it to, either, both because it would mean loosing one of my
favorite villains and because of what it would mean for Spidey’s
character. I doubt Marvel
will let their greatest icon stoop to premeditated murder for something
as petty as revenge.
-
Aunt
May’s shooter needed to be taken out of the story because he
distracted from the real conflict with the Kingpin, but Spider-Man
couldn’t very well be directly responsible for his death, so Martino
conveniently gets shot by another guy before our hero can do the deed
himself. I wouldn’t have
minded the cop-out if it weren’t for the déjà vu it caused.
The same writer did pretty much the same thing with Morlun in his
first arc, and the burglar falling out the window in the first movie was
really just a variation on the same boring theme.
Favorite
Quote: Kingpin: “Well, hello, Mr. Parker.
And what may I do for you?”
Peter:
”Just one thing, Mr. Fisk. You
can die.”
Rating: 4 out of 5. Another engaging, fun read. The Amazing Spider-Man has returned to form.
Reviewed
by: CrazyChris
The
Amazing Spider-Man #539
Title: “Back in Black” Part 1 of 5
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Ron Garney
Inker: Bill Reinhold
Colorist: Mat Milla
Plot:
Aunt May just got shot and Peter Parker is pissed.
So pissed he throws a Jeep at the sniper!
A Jeep! The would-be
killer runs away to get his butt kicked another day.
Pete swings his Aunt over to the hospital and drops her off in a
bed. With no secret
identity, staying by May’s side would just bring her more trouble, so
Peter has to leave her behind. Over
at the penitentiary, and oblivious guard gives the Kingpin a cryptic
message indicating one of Spidey’s loved ones has been taken out.
The big bald evil guy grins and recites a relevant quote from
Euripides. Apparently
king-pinning requires an education. Peter
scours the sniper’s perch for clues and finds a snapped-off piece of
scope. His next stop is a
warehouse full of gun runners whom he pounds for information.
The level of violence our hero unleashes clearly shows he’s
snapped.
At
the hospital, a doctor informs Mary Jane that May has fallen into a coma
and, barring a miracle, will die.
Peter retrieves and dons his black costume.
It’s his way of telling the world that he’s had it.
No more mister nice guy. He
vows to find and kill the person responsible for shooting Aunt May.
Likes:
-
We all know that this whole black costume
thing is a blatant attempt to cash in on the upcoming movie, but JMS
makes it real. Peter Parker
has lost his mind. Who
wouldn’t? In the last few
years’ worth of stories he’s: met his dead girlfriend’s love
children from his arch enemy, died, resurrected, revealed his identity,
gone fugitive, and watched a hole get brutally blasted through his
elderly aunt. Oh, and he got
his eye eaten too. It is
jarring to see Spidey go this dark, but the important thing to remember
is at this point he’s running on pure instinct and anger.
- The Kingpin is only in this issue for two pages, but they are two of the best pages of villainous dialogue I’ve read lately. Wilson Fisk is just one of those personalities who’ll be Kingpin no matter where he goes, even prison, and that’s what makes him an A-list villain. Even his guard addresses him formally as “Mr. Fisk”. He’s right to be terrified, because the Kingpin doesn’t merely kill his victims; he systematically destroys their lives.
-
Spidey threw a Jeep at a guy.
That’s the coolest thing since catching a bullet.
Dislikes:
-
I can’t help feeling we’ve tread much
of this territory before. Peter
obviously isn’t really going to kill the Kingpin.
That would never happen. I
say he’ll freeze right before delivering the final blow and realize
he’s gone to far, just like he has a dozen times before with a dozen
other villains. Paul Jenkins
perfected that formula in his “A Death in the Family” storyline, so
I really hope Straczynski surprises me.
-
Most of the complaints I’ve heard about
this issue revolve around a few apparent continuity errors.
One involves where Peter stored his black costume.
The other is Peter getting his Aunt’s maiden name wrong.
The editor has said that mistake will be fixed in future
printings.
Favorite
Quote: Kingpin: “Euripides.
Greek Playwright. 480-406
BC. Wrote Alcestis, Medea,
Electra … he loved tragedies, which, I suppose, gives us something in
common. He wrote what is
probably my favorite line of all time.
‘Whom the gods would destroy … they first drive mad.’
Prolongs the pleasure, you see.
Intensifies it a thousand-fold.”
Rating: 4 out of 5. A Jeep!
Amazing
Spider-Man #538
Title: The War at Home Part 7 of 7
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Ron Garney
Inker: Bill Reinhold
Colorist: Matt Milla
Plot:
After a brief phone call to his wife, Spider-Man throws himself
into the massive super-hero clash that’s turned
Meanwhile, the Kingpin, using Bluetooth from prison, orders his
sniper to hold off on killing Peter’s family until the hero returns
from battle. Another
jailbird points to the TV and tells the Kingpin to check it out, but Mr.
Footnote says we’ll need to buy Civil War #7 to find out what he’s
talking about.
Anyway,
the sniper sleeps on the job to keep his mark’s spider-sense from
going off when he arrives at the motel.
When the webhead opens the front door, he trips an alarm which
buzzes the shooter’s earpiece and wakes him up with enough time to
make a quick shot before our hero can react.
However, Peter is fast and manages to dive under the bullet with
Mary Jane. We all breathe a
sigh of relief. Then Peter looks
up and sees Aunt May bleeding from the side of her chest.
Likes:
-
IT’S OVER!
I can’t express in words how ecstatic I am that after 10 issues
of Civil War tie-ins over the course of a year we have finally come out
the other end! Looking back
at mine and Morbius’ reviews from the beginning of the event, it’s
clear that it started out strong, but after months of soul-killing
delays I don’t care how it ended just as long as I don’t have to
look at that hideous, gargantuan Civil War banner any more.
Now we can get back to regularly scheduled Spidey stories that
aren’t part of some over-hyped event.
Well, we can do that after the “Back in Black” event, at
least. Oh, and then
there’s “One More Day”. Okay,
maybe there really isn’t an end in sight.
-
Once again, the art takes center stage.
Garney and company are making fantastic use of their extra lead
time, so the characters really jump off the page.
It’s ironic that in the beginning of this arc I loved the
writing and merely tolerated the art, but now it is just the opposite.
-
The idea of the sniper sleeping and waking
up to take aim whenever someone opens the motel door is genius.
It helped maintain the suspense level through what would
otherwise be an unbearably slow issue.
Dislikes:
- Go to your local comic shop, pick up this issue, read the last two pages and put it right back on the shelf. Use the $3 you saved to buy ice cream. Those of us who’ve already blown that precious currency find ourselves stuck with a comic in which absolutely nothing happens until the very end. The bulk of the magazine could have been used to explore Peter’s thoughts on Civil War’s controversial ending, but Marvel opted not to reveal the battle’s outcome in this book. Instead, characters speak vaguely about it without mentioning what actually happened. Civil War #7 came out on the same day as this issue, so they aren’t protecting us from spoilers; they’re blatantly trying to sell more books, and the storytelling’s quality and efficiency suffers because of that.
-
It looks like this series is falling into
the disturbing pattern of hitting us with shocking twist after shocking
twist to keep the story and reader interest afloat instead of using
compelling plots and good character development.
This particular twist isn’t even that shocking to begin with.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve hit my saturation
point for “life-changing” events for Spider-Man.
How can we let the unmasking sink in properly when we’re
already being rushed on to the next thing?
Favorite
Quote: “Part 7 of 7”
Rating:
2 out of 5. Seeing
as how you already know this issue’s only important plot point from
reading this review, I can’t think of a good reason not to skip it.
Reviewer: CrazyChris
Amazing
Spider-Man #537
Title:
The War at Home Part
6 of 7
Writer:
J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler:
Ron Garney
Inker:
Bill Reinhold
Plot:
A prostitute recognizes Peter at his motel hideaway and sells him out
to the Kingpin’s people. Though in prison, Wilson Fisk’s salami-like
fingers still pull a few strings, and he directs an associate through
sly innuendo to give Peter Parker what’s coming to him.
Meanwhile, Captain America, concerned over the attention
likely drawn by the previous night’s televised address by Spidey,
arranges a meeting with the webhead on some rooftop. The Falcon warns
Cap that Spider-Man might still be manipulated by Stark and not even
know it, but the captain risks contact nonetheless. He congratulates
our hero on his bravery and gives him a nice, long lecture on the true
meaning of patriotism before taking him back to headquarters to prepare
for the final battle.
The Kingpin’s associate drops a sniper off near the motel
instructing him to kill Peter Parker or, if he isn’t home, anyone else
who’s there. The sniper acknowledges his assignment, shoots the
henchman so there’ll be no direct connection between him and the job,
and sets up shop in an adjacent building. Peter isn’t home, so the
gunman sets his sights on Mary Jane and Aunt May instead. The
crosshairs meet right on MJ’s stomach.
Likes:
- What a cliffhanger! That final page is symbolic of the general feeling among fans who fear the open contempt for Mary Jane and Peter’s marriage held by Marvel’s editors has numbered the redhead’s days. My hunch is that this is just a tease, but I’m on the edge of my seat.
- For once, Ron Garney carries the issue and not JMS. His bold penciling and creative panel lay-outs save the magazine from being dull. Some of the drawings are downright iconic here, especially a full-page picture of Captain America that stands out as one of the most stirring images I’ve seen of that character for some time. The inker and colorist deserve their share of the credit too, of course.
- The Kingpin’s moment was excellent. It’s a shame JMS uses classic villains so rarely since he writes them so perfectly.
Dislikes:
- The cover lies! No, Spider-Man does not charge into battle with Captain America and the Punisher in this issue. Instead, we have yet another 22 pages of people standing around talking about their political philosophies. Now, I must admit that Captain America’s speech in this installment is the most powerful and inspiring yet from any Civil War tie-in, but does anyone actually care at this point? Or would we rather something … oh, I don’t know … happen in a comic book we’ve waited six weeks for?
Favorite Quote: Captain America: “When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world ‘No, you move.’”
Rating: 3 webs out of 5. Well written and drawn filler.
Reviewed By: CrazyChris
Amazing
Spider-Man #536
Title:
The War at Home Part
5 of 6
Writer:
J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler:
Ron GarneyI
Inker:
Bill Reinhold
Plot:
The impact of a defenestrated Spider-Man quickly reduces an
innocent hotdog stand to a crater of crumpled steel and shattered
pavement. Iron Man arrives to condemn his former teammate’s betrayal,
only to be plowed into a brick wall by a well-deserved slug to the
face. Spider-Man pounces on his ex-mentor, but Iron Man utters a
passcode which seems to lock up Spidey’s new costume. Big surprise.
The joke’s on Iron Man, though, because the possum-playing Spider-Man
had found and disabled the override already. Spidey webs up Iron Man’s
face when he least expects it, clobbers him once more for good measure,
and flees to the sewers.
Sometime later (we’re told in an editor’s footnote to “pick up Civil War
#5 and #6 to fill in the gap!”), Peter visits Aunt May and Mary Jane at
their highschool hideaway. Peter tells them he’s joined Captain
America’s resistence (as seen in Civil War #6, coming soon to a retailer
near you!) and they tell him that they’ll go underground with him
despite his wishes. Peter decides to go outside and have conversation
about life with the memory of his 16-year-old self, and then the family
checks into a seedy motel for the week.
Our hero slips on his old red and blue tights and swings over to a
local news station to make a statement to the world. He declares that
though everyone wants to feel safe, to sacrifice liberty and justice for
security would be to destroy what makes America great. Watching
remotely, Iron Man tells his agents to bring
the webhead in.
Likes:
- The beginning was good. I know I’m not alone in thinking Iron Man has needed a good beating for the better part of a year, and, although it was over too quickly, seeing Spider-Man deliver it felt very good. I must admit that Peter pretending to be disabled and smacking Stark down when he let his guard down was something I predicted would happen, but it was a classic moment nonetheless. I just hope Tony could feel the blows through that metal armor of his.
- The end was good. It should be obvious by now what Spider-Man’s speech is really about in regard to real world events, and it is a message delivered with eloquence and passion. It’s a pivotal moment in the context of the story too, because Spider-Man has rarely if ever in his career been forced to make a firm ideological stance like this. But part of the responsibility the icon of Spider-Man represents is not sitting idly by while the values composing one’s very identity are quietly eroded.
Dislikes:
- The beginning was good, the end was good, but that leaves a dozen or so slow pages in the middle that seem rather pointless. Now is the time for rising action; the pace should be racing to a climax instead of creeping to a halt. I’m completely numb to touching moments now, so instead of being poignant it falls flat and takes up space that could have been used to draw out the fight with Iron Man or to actually show Spider-Man teaming up with Captain America. Or perhaps time could have been taken to flesh out some of the events that were mishandled in Civil War #5, like Spidey’s fight with the Thunderbolts.
It’s one thing to need to read another series to get background on what is going on between issues, but requiring one to read two additional comics to know what happened between pages 6 and 7 in this one, individual issue is just poor organization. The crossover used to be seamless. Now I need to use scissors to put my comics in chronological order. I’m reading both series anyway, so when all is said and done it isn’t that big a deal, but it makes the flow of the story jarring and Civil War #6 isn’t even out yet.
Favorite Quote: Spider-Man: “If the cost of silence is the soul of the country ... if the cost of tacit support is that we lose the very things that make this nation the greatest in human history – then the price is too high.”
Rating: 3 webs out of 5. This was a really hard one for me to rate. It disappointed me overall because it seems like JMS is treading water so as not to give away any Civil War plot points. Maybe it is unfair for me to expect this to be a complete story in of itself rather than a companion to the real action in Civil War, but it started out that way and now the story feels minced between two books. However, there were one or two moments that shined brightly enough to carry the rest of this otherwise wasted issue’s weight. All that averaged out makes for an issue that’s worth buying but could possibly take this arc out of the running for all-time classic status.
Reviewed By: CrazyChris
Amazing
Spider-Man #535
Title: The War at Home Part 4 of 6
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Ron Garney
Inker: Bill Reinhold
Plot: Watching the news report from
his Stark Tower Suite, an insomniac Peter Parker learns Stark Enterprises
and Fantastic Four Incorporated have secured a $200 billion no-bid
contract from the government to build a holding facility for unregistered
superhumans. Tony is confronted by Peter and reluctantly agrees to show
our hero the detention center. Reed Richards opens a portal to the
Negative Zone where, to Peter's dismay, the prison is located. Peter's
shock grows when he sees the facility itself: a chilling technological
fortress surrounded by futuristic guards and robots. It really does look
scary. Tony takes Peter for a tour. The place seems relatively humane and
the prisoners are well kept, but they are confused and begging for help.
We even see some whose entire bodies are restrained. Peter starts to say
it is acceptable for an interim solution, but Stark interjects by
asserting it is permanent. Unless these people register, they are there
for life. They don't
get trials or lawyers and the courts are powerless to interfere. The two
heroes exchange bitter stares before returning to the third dimension.
Peter asks Reed why he supports this, and he explains his uncle lost
everything by telling the House Un-American Affairs Committee in the era
of
McCarthyism to "go to hell". Peter commends the uncle's bravery, but Reed
tells him he's missing the point. His uncle was wrong and we must obey
the law no matter what because without it we are savages. Iron Man asks
Peter to fly to California for something called the 50- State Initiative
and, with a sinister glint in his metal eyes, promises Aunt May and Mary
Jane will safe with him. Stark soars off, and Spider-Man takes the
opportunity to attempt sneaking his family out of Stark Tower. He tells
them that he realizes he's been on the wrong side and that it isn't safe
for them there, but before they can ask too many questions Iron Man
crashes through the wall and tackles the webslinger.
Likes:
- It's ON, baby! After months of tension, Spider-Man has finally seen the
injustice of the Superhuman Registration Act and now it's time to show
Iron Man who the real boss is. It isn't hard to consider Iron Man a full-
fledged villain at this point, and some of his fans may be upset to see
their hero cast in this role, but it is written very believably. I still
think he is trying his best to do what is right, and I can't imagine he'd
ever really threaten Mary Jane and Aunt May as was implied. But enough is
enough. He's gone too far and I hope with every ounce of my being that he
gets the beating he has coming to him. Considering Iron Man used to be
one of my favorite characters, that's saying a lot.
- The political commentary is being laid on thicker than ever, and I dig
every bit of it. This installment touches on war profiteering,
McCarthyism and especially the detainment of enemy combatants. It is rare
for a comic book to make a meaningful statement on just one such issue,
but here we get
them all seamlessly woven into one powerful story.
- Ron Garney still isn't my personal favorite artist to work on Spider-
Man, but I like his pencils more with each issue. Most improved are the
facial expressions, which really make the issue this time around.
Especially impressive is the way he manages to make Iron Man's
expressionless metallic
face look alternately angry and sinister.
Dislikes:
- As well written as it is, Reed Richards' speech doesn't seem very true
to his character. His argument is reminiscent of Thomas Hobbes' theory
that life in a state of nature is nasty, brutish and short, so we give
unlimited authority to the law. I'd expect a man who's spent so much of
his time
fighting Doctor Doom, the embodiment of authoritarian government, would
have a different attitude regarding unjust laws and attacks on human
liberty.
- I have no problem with another character development issue when it is
done this well, but I really hope the next episode can deliver some
serious action.
Favorite Quote: Iron Man: "But I agree with you on one thing, Peter. It
would be a terrible thing. To be here. For the rest of one's life.
Wouldn't it?"
Peter: Yeah . A real terrible thing.
Rating: 4.5 webs out of 5. The wait
for this issue was very long, and so will be the wait for the next one.
It is well this story is so good, because otherwise I'd feel like my
patience was being tested. However, I'd gladly suffer delays twice as
long for quality this high.
Reviewed by: CrazyChris
Amazing
Spider-Man #534
Amazing
Spider-Man #533Reviewed by: CrazyChris
Amazing
Spider-Man #532
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