Amazing Spider-Man #19
Plot: The story is dubbed “Mirror, Mirror,” just like the Star Trek episode where Spock has the Fu Manchu thing going on. Apparently the human half of Venom (who is ironically really the costume, as the symbiote has always been the controlling factor of Venom), Eddie Brock, wants to get back together with his ex-wife Ann Weying. He goes to visit her only to find that she has developed an overpowering fear of leaving her apartment. Brock opens the window and, of course, that is exactly the moment Spidey just happens to swing by, wearing his black-and-white costume (his red-and-blue togs having been stolen in a previous issue). The sight of the black-and-white costume disturbs Ann as she mistakenly believes it to be the alien, come back to bond with her again. Venom ambushes Spidey and the two go at it for a few pages. The story tragically ends with Ann committing suicide.
Likes: It’s great to see Spidey battling Venom in his black-and-white suit again, the first time since ASM #300. Ann Weying’s trauma caused by having once been bonded to the symbiote is well-explored, as is the contrasting of the deaths of Peter and Eddie’s respective wives. Spider-Man’s stamina, far too often downplayed, is excellently displayed here, as well.
Dislikes: The nightmare scene takes up far too much space in this issue, a whopping three pages! For that matter, it was a really lame nightmare to begin with. The Spidey/Venom battle is too one-sided, as Venom is the only one actually getting in any shots. Yes, the battle ends in a stalemate, but Spidey still looks like he’s fighting too far below par here. I also have to admit to not being too thrilled over Ann’s death…this may be horribly tacky of me, but I would have liked her to join with another symbiote and truly become Venom’s mate.
Rating: All in all, not a bad issue, but very little we haven’t seen a hundred times before. I’d give it
web-heads out of a possible 4.
James Dynart
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Geiseric on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “The funny thing is this feels like an extremely convoluted series of events to get Peter back to infected by…” Jun 21, 22:57
Hornacek on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “@Michael: Well, Jonah, Connors and Doug know her last name now. At the way TWB is freely calling her “Ms.…” Jun 21, 15:06
Michael on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “@Hornacek- no, Ms. Marvel’s identity is not publicly known.” Jun 21, 11:39
Hornacek on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “@Michael: “I think that the reason why Norman is putting his businesses in Peter’s name is to frame Peter for…” Jun 21, 04:34
Hornacek on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “@Evan Berry: So what you’re saying is that Chasm should be able to get the Statue of Liberty to walk…” Jun 21, 04:23
Michael on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “I think that the reason why Norman is putting his businesses in Peter’s name is to frame Peter for whatever…” Jun 20, 23:53
Evan Berry on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “By the way, the last time I thought of psycho-reactive goo was Ghostbusters II. “Mood slime.”” Jun 20, 19:56
Hornacek on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “@Evan Berry: Yeah, I know that Spencer was the one who came up with the idea of Norman’s sins being…” Jun 20, 18:11
Evan Berry on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “@Hornacek — “Could he have excreted it onto himself and had the same effect that it had on Peter?” Oh…” Jun 20, 17:55
Hornacek on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Legacy #946): “Goo Ex Machina!” or “How Can We ‘Rek’ This Story?”: “@Geiseric: I do like Peter having a contingency plan in case Norman ever turned evil again, but the gas that…” Jun 20, 15:47