THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #549
TITLE: “Who’s That Girl?!?”
WRITER: Marc Guggenheim
ART: Salvador Larroca
COLORIST: Jason Keith  

PLOT:

An unseen, vaguely “goblinesque” assailant decapitates some thugs at a warehouse by the docks.  The following morning, the same menace attacks the former Daily Bugle (redubbed “The DB” by its new publisher, Dexter Bennet).  Our hero Spidey prevents casualties, and Bennet offers ten grand for the first photo of this new maniac.

While on the case, Spider-Man meets Jackpot, a new heroine who looks and talks like Peter Parker’s estranged ex-girlfriend, Mary Jane.  Peter later asks Harry if MJ is back in town, but as far as he knows she’s still in L.A.   Spider-Man resumes tracking his quarry, but finds himself ambushed by a shadow-obscured brute and Jackpot instead.  They tell him he’s under arrest for violating the Superhuman Registration Act.  

THOUGHTS:

            With a seamless transition between creative teams and a well-focused-but-increasingly-complex plot, every issue of Brand New Day improves on the one preceding it.  Whereas Slott tried hard to recapture 80s Spidey, Guggenheim’s voice for Peter Parker feels more contemporary and less juvenile.  He strikes that perfect Spider-Man balance of grit, excitement, and genuine comedy.  I had multiple fits of laughter, and it’s the kind of fourth-wall-bending humor that’ll tickle the more aware comic readers among us.  From Spidey altering the lyrics to his own theme song to his banter with Jackpot over whether or not one can “call dibs” on a super villain, the script reads razor sharp throughout.
            Dexter Bennet is a more rounded character than the Rupert Murdoch stereotype I expected.  He’s a jerk, but he has a distinct personality and a redeeming appreciation for Peter Parker.  Even Jackpot is palatable, and I’ve always hated her, conceptually speaking.
Larroca draws photo-realistic characters, but there’s something sterile about his environments.  It’s still better than a lot of comic book art, though, even if it doesn’t look as outstanding as his Sensational annual from last year.   

FAVORITE QUOTE:

SPIDER-MAN: “What’d he do to you?  Beat you with a cliché stick?”  

RATING:

4 webheads out of 5.  Guggenheim just lubricated the hard pill of Brand New Day with a hearty squirt of Awesome Sauce!

REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #548
TITLE: “Blood Ties”
WRITER: Dan Slott
PENCILER: Steve McNiven
INKER: Dexter Vines
COLORIST: Dave Stewart  

PLOT:

The issue opens with a full-page splash of Spider-Man looking down a mobster’s shriveled corpse-face (thank god he’s not sucking it).  Predictably, the poison only affects Karnelli blood, leaving Spider-Man un-killed.  Mr. Negative’s next targets are the Karnelli children.  To the circus!           

A hectic taxi ride and a brawl later, Spidey saves the kiddies in the nick of time, but Negative grabs one and holds a knife to her neck.  The monochromatic miscreant ransoms the girl for a sample Spider-Man’s blood, from which he could mix a poison to wipe out Webhead’s family.  The joke’s on Negative, however, because Peter Parker doesn’t have any blood relatives.           

Let’s talk subplots.  Carlie Cooper examines a murdered carcass with a spider-tracer jammed in its mouth.  Spidey retrieves his web shooter from the Spider-Mugger, who was apparently killed by his fence.  Dexter Bennet, new Daily Bugle owner and all-around jerk, shows up and acts obnoxiously.  And, predictably, Mr. Negative is none other than Martin Li, Aunt May’s boss at the homeless shelter.  

THOUGHTS:

            Dan Slott had a tough job.  He had three issues to lay the bricks for a drastically different status quo all while telling a story entertaining enough to salvage the diarrhea milkshake that was “One More Day”.  All-in-all, he succeeded.  I see potential in Brand New Day’s foundation, and by the third issue I was no longer preoccupied with continuity and retcons.  Brand New Day is a less enjoyable reading experience for not having Spider-Man’s full history behind it, but it’s nevertheless an amusing romp.

            Part three is an incremental improvement over the others because the dialogue sharpened (no distracting hipster slang) and because Slott continues to juggle his story balls deftly, allowing them to intermingle in subtle and logical ways.  The core plot is pretty ho-hum and shallow, but fun in a Saturday morning cartoon kind of way (though more graphic).  

FAVORITE QUOTE:

SPIDER-MAN: “The important thing is I’m solving all my problems with kicks to the face!”  

RATING:

3.5 webheads out of 5.  Above average, but not exceptional.  This arc never approached the depth and complexity achieved by the last crop of writers, but it’s a good start.  It feels fresh, it looks polished, I got my money’s worth and I’m on board for the long haul.  

REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #547
TITLE: “Crimes of the Heart”
WRITER: Dan Slott
PENCILER: Steve McNiven
INKER: Dexter Vines
COLORIST: Morry Hollowell  

PLOT:

The issue opens with a full-page splash of Peter sucking J. Jonah Jameson’s face.  Actually, he’s performing CPR on “old flattop”.  The paramedics arrive and Robbie takes charge, ordering Peter to score some Spidey pics to save the Bugle.
Boyle, the Spider-Mugger, peddles Peter and Carlie’s credit cards at some waterfront bar, but he can’t get a cent for the web shooter, which his fence mistakes for a cheap watch.  Fiddling with it, Boyle accidentally tags mobster Bruno Karnelli with a spider-tracer from across the bar.
Spider-Man hones in on Boyle, but notices there are now two active tracers nearby.  Goons in a van kidnap Karnelli, so Spidey pursues him instead of Boyle.  Much later, Boyle realizes from whom he must have stolen the web shooter and plans to take another gander at the cards he sold.
While Jonah unconsciously awaits surgery, his wife Marla uses her power of attorney to sell their shares of the Daily Bugle so this wont happens again.
Spider-Man chases Karnelli’s kidnappers to one of Mr. Negative’s hideouts, where Karnelli is already plugged into a blood-extracting machine.  Negative plans to wipe out the two mob families Karnelli is related to by mixing a special poison with his blood, the recipe for which was inscribed on the glowing tablet.  Spidey flogs Negative’s henchmen and saves Karnelli, but not before the boss escapes with his poison.
Karnelli explains Mr. Negative’s scheme, and Spider-Man swings off to warn the gangsters, who are meeting in a hotel.  Red gas floods the room shortly after our hero arrives.  He drops to the ground as hoodlums shrivel up and die around him.  

THOUGHTS:

Best.  First page splash.  Ever.  The way Slott turns last issue’s opening “reality slap” on its head is brilliant.  I’m still laughing.  It doesn’t hurt that Steve McNiven and company draws all this.  Those guys are gods.
Slott can cram more story into an issue than any other modern writer I can think of.  There’s no denying this issue is well-crafted, especially considering the multiple concurrent subplots.  Spider-Man 3’s screenwriters should take note.
I’m interested in what’s happening with Jonah and the Bugle, because Marla’s well-meaning betrayal is a genuinely good twist.  Mr. Negative’s gang war is fairly exciting except for the weak cliffhanger (the gas is clearly keyed to Karnelli’s bloodline, so Spider-Man won’t be affected).  The prospect of Boyle discovering Spider-Man’s identity is completely boring.  That they’d go to that well again so soon after Mephisto’s mind wipe is, frankly, pathetic.  

FAVORITE QUOTE:

MR. NEGATIVE: “You realize I took the precaution of writing it down?”  

RATING: 3.5 webheads out of 5.  I’m enjoying the tone and style, but I can’t forget the revamp’s inherent problems.  Murky continuity makes it very hard to become attached to the characters.  The same story could have been told with the status quo from 2 years ago, and I probably would have liked it more.  

REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #546
TITLE: “Brand New Day”
WRITER: Dan Slott
PENCILER: Steve McNiven
INKER: Dexter Vines
COLORIST: Morry Hollowell  

PLOT:

The issue opens with a full-page splash of Peter sucking some random chick’s face, followed by an image of Spider-Man pointing a gun at the reader, shouting “Just shut the @#*% up and give me your money!”  Oh Slott, you’re a cheeky one.  Symbolism aside, this is actually a mugger who enjoys terrorizing New York in our hero’s guise.

More mundane matters than street crime, such as poverty and unemployment, have kept the real Peter busy.  In the middle of a moping session, Harry Osborne invites Pete to chill at a nightclub with him, his girlfriend Lily Hollister, and Lily’s forensic scientist roommate, Carlie Cooper.

Meanwhile, China Town ’s crime lord, Mister Negative, introduces himself in an awesomely violent way, resulting in him acquiring a spooky glowing tablet.

At the nightclub, the kiss from page one is explained.  The random chick, Mia Flores, wants to “nab” Peter to get into Harry’s entourage.  Peter slinks away from the club to avoid her, but he runs into Carlie.  They start to get friendly when the Spider-Mugger shows up to snag one of Peter’s webshooters, mistaking it for a watch.  Pete tags him with a tracer and gives chase in civilian garb so as to not give the Bugle more cover fodder.  That move costs him the perp, because Peter Parker cannot prevent the escape with his webs.

            The pursuit leads Peter to a soup kitchen where Aunt May happens to volunteer.  May introduces her nephew to the proprietor Martin Li, who looks a little like Mister Negative.

            Peter visits the Bugle looking for a paycheck, but he finds Jonah busy preventing a hostile takeover and unable to pay anyone.  Peter blows up in the old man’s face, causing Jonah to erupt in a fit of anger that ends in a heart attack.

            A couple of vignettes (read: glorified advertisements for future storylines) compose the rest of the issue.  There’s also a two-page spread with art by John Romita Jr. that summarizes Spider-Man’s post-OMD history, but it doesn’t satisfactorily answer many of my burning questions.  

THOUGHTS:           

Mephisto and Joe Quesada lied when they said everything but the marriage still occurred.  What I’m seeing here amounts to a total reboot.  Perhaps ironically, Peter’s new marital status has fewer ramifications than the other changes, especially Peter’s completely secret identity.

Harry’s resurrection fits comfortably into continuity, but the way they deal with the unmasking raises many questions.  Apparently, some people still remember Spider-Man revealed himself during Civil War, but they can’t recall who was under the mask.  Does that mean the denizens of the Marvel Universe know that someone tampered with their memories?  Does Spider-Man himself remember unmasking?  If so, then why doesn’t he seem more concerned that this huge event in his life suddenly seems not to have happened?  Or if not, then why doesn’t he care that other people remember him doing something that he has no recollection of?  Did part of Mephisto’s spell subconsciously compel everyone, including Spidey, to accept what they see and stop asking questions?

            I’d normally give the writers time to address these issues before getting confused and upset over them, but it looks like they might never address them.  In writer Bob Gale’s words, “There's going to be some geeks out there who try to fit all this into a particular time bubble and piece together what happened. They can waste their time doing that, but I say just read these books and enjoy them.”  In other words, we should accept what we see and stop asking questions.

            That’s actually the best way to approach this issue, because it serves as a pretty decent and functional tour of Peter Parker’s new world.  The subplots are intriguing so far, and the supporting cast is already broad and well developed.  Dan Slott does an eerily good job of channeling “classic” Spidey both in the main character’s voice and the in the story’s overall tone. 

            I’m not sure if I like this take on Peter Parker yet.  He’s completely self-absorbed, rash, and immature.  It isn’t necessary to recapture the early 80s feel by abandoning all the growth Spidey has undergone since then.  He should be a relatable hero with human flaws, but a character can only be so flawed before he becomes pathetic.  His reasons for not changing into Spider-Man to catch the mugger were petty and this could very well lead to another Uncle Ben-type tragedy.  I hope that we’ll start to see some of the positive attributes the protagonist, and not just his capacity for mistakes.

Also, the altercation with Jonah came out of nowhere.  Now that Mephisto deleted their post-unmasking confrontation from memory, Peter and Jameson haven’t interacted for months.  So why does Peter lash out now?  Surely he’s taken worse abuse than this in the past.  The moment isn’t poorly done, but it hasn’t been earned yet.  

FAVORITE QUOTE:

HARRY OSBORNE: “You know, earlier, Carlie was telling us you can tell a lot about someone from the inside of their mouth.”

RATING:

3.5 webheads out of 5.  A good start, all things considered.  The reboot was a misguided move, but at least Marvel is taking this new direction seriously and using their top creators to turn out a quality product.  There’s plenty I haven’t addressed yet, like the mind-blowing art, but that’s what next week’s review is for.  

REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #545
TITLE: “One More Day” Part 4
STORY: J. Michael Straczynski & Joe Quesada
PENCILER: Joe Quesada
INKERS: Danny Miki & Joe Quesada
COLORISTS: Richard Isanove with Dean White  

NOTE:  The first 3 parts of “One More Day” can be found in The Amazing Spider-Man #544, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24, and The Sensational Spider-Man #41.

 

PLOT:

            May flatlines and our heroes consider Mephisto’s offer.  Mary Jane broaches rationality, suggesting that it might simply be May’s time to pass, but Pete whimpers about his guilt.  They spend their last day huddled together on a motel floor in the dark.

            Mephisto reappears and, after some deliberation, they agree to his terms.  The Devil will heal May, sweeten the deal by returning Spider-Man’s secret identity, and rewrite history so that Peter and MJ never married.  Mephisto explains that depriving God of a love so pure will be his ultimate victory.  Furthermore, he torments the Parkers by showing them their future daughter, who will never come to exist because of this pact (the daughter Peter and MJ already had isn’t mentioned, but let’s not pick nits). 

MJ secretly offers Mephisto some unknown thing in exchange for Peter’s happiness.  She tells her husband that they were meant to be together and that they will find each other again.  The world fades to black.

            Peter Parker awakes in Aunt May’s Forest Hills residence with no recollection of anything that has happened.  He is single, May is healthy, and he has mechanical web shooters instead of goopy wrist anuses.  MJ is still around, but she and Peter only dated, never married. 

Also, Harry Osborne is alive.  He introduces Peter to his girlfriend, Lily Hollister, and her best friend, Carlie Cooper.  Oh dear Lord.

 

THOUGHTS:

            In my naively optimistic Sensational #41 review, I wrote that I didn’t think editor/artist/co-plotter Joe Quesada was stupid enough to dissolve Spider-Man’s marriage “in such a transparently forced way”.  I hate being wrong, but I’ll happily eat crow if it tastes better than the rank, sewage-smeared pages of “One More Day”.

Let’s reiterate to eliminate confusion: the reality of Spider-Man’s world has been magically altered so that events depicted over at least twenty years of comic books have no longer happened, or at least not the way you and I remember reading them.  As someone who has spent his entire life invested imaginatively, emotionally, and financially in this character, I take that as a personal insult.  I can’t ascertain how much has actually been deleted yet, but an alive, unmarried Harry Osborne already violates several cherished stories.  This also erases the past couple of years, which I’ve enjoyed under the assumption that the story wouldn’t culminate in some deus ex machina copout.

            Spider-Man’s marital status never struck me an important aspect of the character.  It doesn’t warrant the controversy or the passions raised by either side of the debate.  Married or single, he’s still Peter Parker: Spider-Man.  He’s still going to put on the mask and fight crime, and he’s still going to deal with human problems.  The fault with “One More Day” isn’t its result, but how Quesada and his flunkies have discarded logic to get there.

            I won’t evaluate the new status quo just yet, but I’ll have a hard time caring about it now that the precedent for quick magical fixes has been set.  Quesada admitted to CBR that Spider-Man only revealed his identity because editorial knew that a cosmic reset was around the corner.  That’s an unforgivable cheat against the fans, and it obliterates the illusion that actions have consequences.  That damages the book’s integrity infinitely more than Spider-Man’s marriage ever did.  It damages the integrity of the entire medium!

The new Peter has undergone a severe character regression.  He looks, talks, and acts at least five years younger, and he’s written with a voice void of the maturity he’s gained over his superheroic career.  The character we have watched form over decades has been suddenly replaced.

Marvel gave our Spider-Man the worst possible sendoff.  Every signal has painted Mephisto’s offer as something selfish, unnatural, and contrary to May’s wishes (remember the séance from Sensational #39?), so the story ends on a note of triumphant evil.  Spider-Man should not have accepted either option.  A real hero would go out fighting, but our hero leaves the stage impotent and beaten, less relatable and more pitiful.           

RATING:

0 out of 5.  What an inauspicious end to J. Michael Straczynski’s 7-year tenure!  I grew up along side his run, and I will always consider him my Spider-Man writer.  But this is atrocious.  Our hero isn’t merely destroyed; he’s reduced to a despicable, sniveling child and then destroyed.  I know JMS only squeezed this nugget out under editorial mandate, but that excuse didn’t work at Nuremberg and it won’t fly here.

            The obvious solution is to vote with our dollars, and many in fandom are doing just that.  But, God help me, I find my curiosity sparked.  I’m so mentally and emotionally exhausted by “One More Day” that I just don’t have it in me to fight it any more.  All I want are good Spider-Man stories.

            Besides, these reviews are too damn fun to write.

 

REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544
TITLE: “One More Day” Part 1
WRITER: J. Michael Straczynski
PENCILER: Joe Quesada
INKER: Danny Miki
COLORIST: Richard Isanove  

PLOT: 
    Aunt May is STILL in the hospital.  She’s STILL in a coma with no hope of recovery.  Peter and Mary Jane are STILL too broke to keep the machines running.  Luckily, the doctor owes one to Spider-Man and he recognizes the Parkers, but they still need to come up with some cash fast lest May be smothered by the cruel market’s invisible hand.
            Peter decides to ask Tony Stark, A.K.A. Iron Man, for money.  Since their relationship has become a bit strained over the Super Hero Registration issue, our hero does what any rational person would do when asking a former friend for an important favor; he breaks into Stark’s building, kicks his ass, webs him up in an alley, and sends him on a guilt trip.  Oddly enough, this tactic doesn’t seem to work at first, but Mr. Stark eventually comes around and sends Jarvis to the hospital with a $2,000,000 check.
            Doctor Fine explains that they can make May comfortable, but it isn’t humanly possible to save her life.  But “humanly possible” has never been much of a limit for Spider-Man!  He swings off into the night, hell bent on finding a way to save his Aunt.

LIKES:  

-          The best part of this issue is the coloring, which is something I don’t usually notice at all unless it’s done exceptionally well.  Everything positively glows, and I bet a coat of polish this thick would make any penciler’s work look great.   

-          Speaking of pencils, I quite like Quesada’s art.  The previews I had seen made me wary at first, but now Peter’s face is the only thing I think is really ugly.  Everything else is spiffy, especially the webs.  I know a vocal lot of you out there think Joey Q sucks, but he could be much worse.  

DISLIKES:  

-          Sure, this one’s about as entertaining as any JMS issue, but I’m getting tired of the plot only progressing incrementally each month.  It’s time for May to either die or get better, because I’m bored of watching Peter and Mary Jane stand around the hospital, spouting the same four or five lines of dialogue.   

-          If this was last September, then I would have been thrilled just to see Spidey beat Iron Man good and proper, but I’m past that now.  I also hate it when heroes are written unrealistically just so they can have an excuse to fight.  No matter how desperate Peter is, he should know that a punch to the gut is not the best way to appeal to someone’s sympathies.  

-          There are only 24 pages of story, but the issue costs four bucks.  So what does that extra dollar buy you?  For one, you’ll get an encyclopedia-style profile of Spider-Man which summarizes his entire history in six pages of excruciatingly detailed text.  I tried really hard to read the whole thing, but it’s too dryly written.  There’s also a diagram of Spidey’s organic web-spinners, a gallery of costumes, and a page of art in various stages of completion.  Maybe somebody out there is interested in this stuff, but I can’t imagine who that would be.  An extra dollar really isn’t enough to quibble over, but the principle of making me pay for something I don’t want is.  

MOST HILARIOUSLY PRETENTIOUS QUOTE: 

“Tune your ear to the frequency of despair, and cross-reference by the by the longitude and latitude of a heart in agony.  Listen.  Listen.”  

RATING:  

3 out of 5.  That’s average.  I happen to think the average comic book is pretty good these days, so there’s no shame in producing a 3/5 book.  There is, however, shame in charging extra for one.  

REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris

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The Amazing Spider-Man #543
Title: “An Incident on the Fourth Floor” (Part 5 of “Back in Black”)
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Ron Garney
Inker: Bill Reinhold
Colorist: Matt Milla  

Plot:   It turns out that the transfusion didn’t help Aunt May one bit because she’d built up an immunity to radioactive blood (nonsense count number one).  In other news, the cops grow suspicious and when one detective tries to bring Mary Jane in for questioning, Peter kills the lights and decks him.
            Parker ties the officer up, horrified at the line he’s crossed.  He and Mary Jane hatch an elaborate caper to smuggle May into a different hospital now that the you-know-what’s hit the fan.  Along the way, Peter commits several felonies, which he keeps track of in much the same way that I’m keeping track of the unjustifiable recklessness of detaching May from her life-support system (nonsense count two) long enough to cart her into an ambulance that has a key happily left in the ignition (nonsense count three).  They manage to transfer May into a cheapo hospital with forged paperwork.
            The situation’s gravity gut-punches Peter.  He’s a full-fledged criminal now, and he’s left behind enough fingerprints to put him away for at least ninety years.  

Likes:  

-          I’m glad the cover is a fake-out.  Peter realizing he might not be any better than the crooks he fights is a much more interesting idea than yet another impermanent death.  I honestly have no idea how he’s going to get out of this one, and that’s good old fashioned suspense for you right there.  

-          Peter’s bedside monologue at the beginning conveys a subtle mix of sadness and humor which proves JMS has Peter’s voice down pat.  

-          This isn’t Ron Garney’s best work, but his pacing and storytelling are still smooth and cinematic enough to make note of.  This is his final issue and I’m going to miss his art.  

-          It warrants analysis that, though Mary Jane told the hospital chaplain that they’ve “never been big believers in the power of prayer”, JMS has consistently presented Peter as a man who talks to God.  Heck, this very issue closes with him thinking “God help me, I’m so lost.”  Could Peter’s spirituality be something he doesn’t share with his wife?  It makes sense to me, because one of the most important aspects of Peter’s character is his hidden inner-self.  No one, not even his wife, can truly understand him, and in a way that makes him even more relatable to the readers who get to glimpse into his private world.  

Dislikes:  

-          Is Peter breaking the law really that new of a development?  He’s committed crimes like wrongful imprisonment, breaking and entering, and assault and battery countless times.  I suppose the difference is that it can now be traced back to Peter Parker, but it’s not like he’s never punched a cop before (see issue #148).  

-          There’s no reason to show this much of the police investigation.  Watching people figure something out that I already know is always boring.  

-          I think Peter’s actions are mostly justified, but I’m stuck on his quickness to drag Mary Jane down with him.  I admire her loyalty, but Peter should realize that she has more to lose than he does, and he should figure out a way to protect Aunt May while doing the dirty work himself.  

Favorite Quote:  All of page two.  You just have to read it.  

Rating:  Quite entertaining and exciting out of 5.  Oh, you want a real number?  Okay, uh … 4.  

Reviewed by:  CrazyChris

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The Amazing Spider-Man #542
Title: “Back in Black” Part 4 of 5
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Ron Garney
Inker: Bill Reinhold
Colorist: Matt Milla  

Plot:   Wilson Fisk, The Kingpin, throws some uncomfortably true taunts at Spider-Man, who responds violently with his fists.  Fisk stays cool, mocks Spidey a little bit more, and gets beaten up a little bit more.  Our hero sheds his shirt and mask, explaining to Fisk that Spider-Man isn’t there to kill him; Peter Parker is.  He then pulverizes the Kingpin into a tenderized sack of blood and lard.
           Peter informs his enemy that he will kill him, but not right away.  Fisk will die when Aunt May dies.  Until then, he’ll have to stew in the humiliation of having been yanked up by his fat and bitch slapped into submission in front of every convict in New York.
            Peter returns to the hospital, where Mary Jane alerts him to their dwindling finances.  They’ll either have to move May into a cheaper hospital or find a new, perhaps unseemly way to fund the treatment.  

Likes:  

-          Spidey disrespected the Kingpin’s face!  I’ll admit that this was a cheap way to let Pete keep his edgy attitude without actually killing somebody, but it beats any of the obvious clichés like him faltering at the last second.  It’s also clear that Fisk’s punishment isn’t as simple as mere humiliation.  “Kingpin” is more than a position or a title to him; it’s part of who he is.  He’s always been the top dog in every situation, even in prison, but Spider-Man just took that Kingpin-ness away from him.  

-          The art is mixed this time, but parts I like include a striking two-page spread of Peter clocking Fisk in the jaw, the aforementioned slapping sequence, and the prisoners’ disgusted and pitying stares at the once-mighty Kingpin.  

Dislikes:  

-          Sadly, the fight wasn’t very exciting.  I know the story wouldn’t have been as effective if Spider-Man didn’t utterly dominate Fisk to get his message across, but I barely got the sense that Kingpin was even trying to defend himself.  Better art might have conveyed more of a struggle.  

-          Some of the Kingpin’s facial contortions look dangerously Ramos-esque.

Favorite (Cheesy-Yet-Awesome) Quote: Spider-Man: “I’m not here to kill you.” (He takes off his mask.)

Peter Parker: “I am.”  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.  A satisfying beat down.

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