Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #511 Review

Amazing Spider-Man #511 (#70)
“Sin Past-Part Three”
Writers: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Mike Deodato Jr.
Inker: Joe Pimentel
PLOT: A perplexed Spider-Man is still reeling from the information Lt. Lamont provided him on the contents in the back of the one page letter he received from Gwen.  Peter decides to do some tests to be certain the twins are Gwen’s kids.  He goes back to Gwen’s grave to exhume some of her DNA.  He then crosses that with the DNA from the licked envelopes he received from the twins.  Before he finds the results, Gwen’s daughter Sarah shows up to tell Peter to give up before her brother kills him and all the people he loves.  When Sarah becomes distracted, Peter takes the opportunity to attack and unmask her.  To his surprise, she looks almost identical to Gwen.  Sarah’s brother, Gabriel, comes to her aide and they escape.  Peter confirms what he feared, they are Gwen’s children, and they believe that he is their father.  Back home, MJ rips open the results of the letter.  When Peter gets home, MJ apologizes for opening the letter and explains that she knows who the father of Gwen’s children really is.

LIKES:

• This storyline has one blockbuster turn after the other.  We finally confirmed what we already believed to be true, Gwen had children!!!  Now, who is their father, and why do they look older than they should be???
• It’s wonderful to have the cover art coincide with the story inside again instead of using the generic and pin-up style covers.
• I like the way JMS used Peter’s scientific mind to work out the problem of Gwen’s children.

DISLIKES:

• I’m all for introductions of new supporting cast, but I’m not really interested in Mary Jane’s acting partners.  They are pretty bland and forgettable so far.
• Sarah waiting for Peter at that particular research lab is pretty over the top even though they staked out a few other labs.

FAVORITE QUOTE: MJ telling Peter why she knows that he and Gwen were never intimate “Because I know who the real father of Gwen Stacy’s children is.”  

RATING: 4 and ½ webheads out of 5.  Great issue over all, except for the few pages devoted to MJ’s acting.  This is one hell of a cliffhanger that JMS has left us with.

Reviewed by AC-WEB (Ariel Chaidez)