As of this writing, forty-two replies grace my last review. FORTY-FREAKING-TWO! Folks are giving New Ways To Die a ton of attention. Well, I’ve got your third helping of criticism right here, and all you’ve got to do is click the link, read the entry and comment when you’re done. Let’s go for forty-three!
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #570
“The Killer Cure” (Part 3 of “New Ways To Die”)
WRITER: Dan Slott
PENCILS: John Romita Jr.
INKS: Klaus Janson
COLORS: Dean White
PLOT:
Spider-Man, Venom and Anti-Venom fight while Norman Osborn observes from the sidelines, instructing the Thunderbolts to let the battle play out for now. Anti-Venom nearly destroys Gargan’s symbiote with his healing power, but gets distracted when he senses traces of the alien in Spider-Man’s system. Brock decides to purify Spidey’s blood, radiation and all.
Meanwhile, Menace strike’s Bill Hollister’s home, but with an apparent hidden agenda as he claims his mayhem somehow benefits Hollister. When the police arrive, Menace flies away to go “menace” someone else instead: Norman Osborn.
THOUGHTS:
My synopsis’ brevity suggests that Slott curbed his tendency to pack issues with plot in order to get the inevitable Brock vs. Gargan grudge match out of the way while readers still care. Unfortunately, the violence stays mindless and unexciting until near the end. The most visceral fights in Spider-Man’s recent history, like the Electro battle in Marvel Knights or Spidey’s first encounter with Morlun, conveyed a real sense of unpredictability and brutality. Here, the Venoms look like big pillows knocking each other around with no real impact or consequence.
The script, not the art, deserves all the blame. Spider-Man writers have to balance the character’s humor with knowing the time for straight-faced storytelling and action. The dialogue errs too much on the goofy side for a fight between badass monsters. Also, references to Spider-Man “blowing [his] wad” and Venom calling Anti-Venom “whitey” make me wonder if Dan Slott spends hours on Urban Dictionary, collecting kernels of dialog without worrying how silly they sound or what they really mean in most contexts.
I’ll reserve judgment on Anti-Venom until someone clarifies his origin and motivation. A healer whose remedies are often worse than the disease is a great, unique idea, but I’m not yet sure how it jives with Brock’s recent character arc.
Menace got a bit more interesting here. He works better when the writers quit taking him seriously and just use him as a minor nuisance to make other characters’ stories less predictable. Slott slips in some juicy hints toward his identity, but how long do the writers plan to drag the mystery out?
John Romita Junior just plain rocks. The splash page is, as the kids say, made out of win, and Anti-Venom standing over the conquered Gargans with finger-tubes running into him makes for a classic visual. What the hell went wrong with Norman’s hair, though? The colorist only bothered to fill in the place where Romita drew his curls, so it looks like he has a horrible cornrow Mohawk.
RATING:
3 webheads out of 5. Worth it for Junior, but not as exciting as the build-up.
REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris
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i guess the whole backstory for venom is wrong not the way JR draws him.
the venom in Spectacular Spider-man show is the best, yet (!)
Greg Weisman has skillfully borrowed the best elements from the Ultimate universe, traditional universe and even the movies and blend them together.
I see how Venom fans get annoyed with JR’s portrayal. It doesn’t really bother me though. Enlighten me, how should he be drawn? Who’s your favorite Venom artist?
Also, among other things, Slott’s simultaneous symbiote punch was silly, but maybe it’s because the writers are rushed with ASM coming out 3 times a month! Slott seems to be the strongest writer in the Spidey bunch, but Chris is right about tempering the humor with the seriousness of Spider-Man. Way back in #472 (or #31 Vol2.) JMS epitomizes this during a highschool shooter scene with lines like “It’s not right. Kids shouldn’t have to come to school thinking they’re going to die. I won’t have it.” As simple as those lines are (our maybe dull with the way I’m presenting them) they really work within the context of that scene and are great suspense builders.
Anyway, whatever, right? It’s just a comic, but Spidey’s a great escapism for me. Thanks for letting me type.
Combustible Pumpkins says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:01 am
Webzpinner says: ‘I hate the “Mr Fantastic” way they treat Venom. I’m sorry, but the way Jr. draws ‘Venom is just disgraceful.’
You seem to have a point there, although calling the art disgraceful is a stretch, no pun intended.
———————
Says you…
Webzpinner says: ‘I hate the “Mr Fantastic” way they treat Venom. I’m sorry, but the way Jr. draws ‘Venom is just disgraceful.’
You seem to have a point there, although calling the art disgraceful is a stretch, no pun intended. Oh, I don’t know, about twenty pages or so there’s a four-panel page that’s classic JRJR (Spidey holding Venom as Venoms burns) and I just stared at it for a while. It reminded me of how he drew in the eighties. Maybe it’s the foamy chemical look that reminds me of those original Hobgoblin fights. Loved the two-page splasher in the beginning too.
Chris, thanks once again for the accurate and colorful review! What IS up with the cornrow mohawk?!?! lol (I’m laughing now, but hopefully they won’t do that again.)
Imagine Doc Ock with the symbiote… a Lizard-Venom… Paste Pot Venom… the options are endless.
they did that on the playstation videogame. but instead of venom it was Carnage ( doc ock was bonded with Carnage as the final boss in the game). i personally dont think the symbiote should jump from host to host that reaks of the 90’s. when it did kind a jump around alot. i actually wish that Carnage maybe even Toxin join the fray and have a war of the symbiotes let Anti-venom have to doeal with the threat of all 3 symbiotes see if brock is capable of defending agaisnt 3. this issue was a little slower than the other Menace is actually starting to Grow on me it might be posssible that its just romita art that draws me to it though. the colorist seemed to have dropped the ball on osborns hair maybe it was a “printer error” still so far im loving New Ways To Die ive picked up the latest 2 issues Loving the route the stories taken… the follwoing issue is particularly fun to read. Good review Crazy. hope u can get the next one up soon.
I don’t have a scanner, Webhead, so it’d be too much trouble to do that. I like the idea, though.
well i think Menace is actually non other than Lily Hollister. when Menace attacks teh home of Bill Hollister, he/she says :
“come on, snap out of it already. You have to work with me here, Okay? you know I am doing all of this for your benefit”
i think she stumbled upon the goblin gear while visting Harry someday.
This issue was a MAJOR disappointment for me. I hate the “Mr Fantastic” way they treat Venom. I’m sorry, but the way Jr. draws
Venom is just disgraceful. Venom is such a joke now. Anti-Venom was an interesting idea on paper, but the execution seems lacking.
They jumped to giving a costume to Brock WAAAAY too fast. They should have moved slowly, building a realistic relationship between
Brock an Peter, and rebuilding the hatred and animosity. Meanwhile, the Venom parasite should jump from super villain to super villain
for a year, while they build Brock’s character, and finally bond with Brock again at the end of the year.
Imagine Doc Ock with the symbiote… a Lizard-Venom… Paste Pot Venom… the options are endless.
Again, tho, making money quickly at the expense of the characters wins over Marvel’s minds, so here we are….
PS… why does Anti-Venom look like Gargan’s Venom rather than taking an inverse version of Brock’s Venom?
Another great review, Chris. Any way you can post a screen cap of some art with each issue? Maybe a favorite panel/least favorite panel kinda thing? It would be a cool added dimension to your already great reviews. and make them stand out more from the crowd!
Somehow I feared a great buildup would playout ho-hum-ish. That being said, I do like the new direction Brock has taken – he has been seeking a way to be rid of the symbiote and the evil it left inside him and now he’s out there trying to cure “evil” in others… the twist that it may do more harm than good is perfect IMO. That being said, I wonder where the “bad stuff” goes?
I haven’t read the issue, so do they address the symbiote wanting to leave Gargan for Brock previously? It wanted to leave Brock when he was sick, but now that he’s healthy, it wants him back? Interesting twist I think – and hopefully something that will be looked at in the future.