AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 595
Writer: Joe Kelly
Penciler: Phil Jimenez
Inker: Andy Lanning
Story Title: “American Son Part 1”
Plot
Peter and Harry at the park. Wolverine and Spider-Man have a chat. A dinner party ruined. Menace returns. Spider-Man vs. Norman Osborn.
The Commentary
Before I get into the review proper I am going to spend valuable time griping about the cover to this week’s issue. Oddly enough it is not the art that bugs me, though I will admit that I am not a huge fan of Phil Jimenez’s artwork. Nothing against him personally as I recognize he has talent but I just don’t care for his style, especially when inked by the equally talented Andy Lanning. No, the problem I have with this issue’s cover is the UPC box. Hokey smokes does that thing make an already busy cover look bad. I realize that the powers that be probably didn’t want to cover up any of the art in the lower left hand corner but wow, that just stares at you, mocking you, making you question things about yourself and all you believe. It really takes away from a rather nice composition kind of like checking out a man or woman and thinking they have a very attractive face until you notice the giant pimple on their forehead.
So through no fault of the artists involved this issue’s cover was kind of ruined, which is sad.
This was a very strong issue and had just about everything you could want from the opening chapter of a big storyline. Creative Writing 101 will teach you that through the course of the story the protagonist and other characters should go through some sort of change and should be somewhat different at the end of the story than they were at the beginning and Joe Kelly really took his time in this issue to set up where all of the major characters are emotionally. I know what headspace Peter and Harry are in and the scene with them in the park was a nice way to show that Harry is in a good place and that his friendship with Peter is rock solid. The playful banter between the two and Harry helping Peter get the phone numbers of the women in the park was fun and a quiet way to kick things off. The characters around Peter, much like Peter himself, are usually doomed to have terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things happen to them so by starting this arc with Harry having come through yet another bad time it makes the eventual drama that is going to ensue that much more tragic because this guy just can’t catch a break. Ever. That’s the sort of soap opera drama I can sink my teeth into.
The scene at the Front Line offices changed the tone slightly and brought us back to the mission Peter took on for himself last issue. He brought up…concerns that fans have had about the legitimacy of an Osborn in charge and explains why they really don’t matter to Dark Reign in general. Peter blows up at Ben, which makes sense and made for a dramatic moment. It was also indicative of how driven Peter is to bring Norman down because he normally isn’t the type to accuse Ben Urich of being scared.
The conversation with Logan was also a strong scene and brought up a question that once raged through fandom back around 1993/94; should Peter have killed the Green Goblin when he had the chance? This was a very heated debate around the time of Maximum Carnage and I distinctly remember it raging through the letters pages of Wizard Magazine back when that publication mattered. It’s a fair question too and brings up the endless debate of should heroes kill for the greater good or is that a line they can’t cross? Logan is an interesting character choice for this scene because here is a guy that has and will kill if he feels it necessary. The dynamic here was great and I especially liked the fact that Logan pointed out that killing Osborn and taking him down are two very different things. The advice he gave was sound and the capper that if he gets the chance Peter should end things permanent like that he should do so was a great moment.
There were a lot of good character moments during the dinner scene as well. It is hard to deny the comic possibilities of J. Jonah and Peter being related, even by marriage. Sure it is not as awesome as Aunt May nearly marrying Dock Ock, but still. The start of this scene was a lot of fun, which make the drama of Norman showing up and the offer he made to Harry that much better. In an issue of a lot of people talking this was by far the most riveting scene and probably one of the best Kelly has done on this title. In a way it reminded me of the Thanksgiving scene from the first movie in terms of mood and setting.
The resentment building up in Peter came to a head in the severe beating he gave to Norman. In terms of pacing the scene began with a punch to the stomach because we have the relatively pedestrian conversation between Norman and his holographic friend followed by the roof of his limo being ripped off and Norman getting carried off Amazing Spider-Man #39 style which I have to admit was a great splash page. The look on Norman’s face is priceless made all the better by the savagery of Peter’s attack. There’s no holding back here. He has to seriously weigh killing Norman or not when the call by Harry ends the butt kicking.
The last page and the revelation that Lily is from the looks of it around six months pregnant would have had more impact if the solicitations from a month or so back wouldn’t have ruined it. Even still the scene where Lily shows up at Harry’s place had, “Oh, by the way I’m all about some knocked up,” written all over it. Still it was a good enough ending and was the only part of the issue I didn’t like. Not that Lily being pregnant and this being the impetus of Harry joining up with his father doesn’t work. It does. Actually it works perfectly and makes the scene where Norman welcomes her to the family all the better because you can see that he did it mainly to manipulate his son.
The Final Analysis
This was a really good issue. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Usually I can breeze through an issue of ASM24/7 made the first part of American Son even better because it feels like there is serious movement in this title for the first time and looking ahead things don’t appear to be letting up any time soon. One of the marks of a good comic is how much the story makes you want to read the next issue. In that respect, and in others, this was a fantastic issue of ASM. pretty quick but this one seemed to take some actual time to read. The writing was very strong and I can’t complain too much about the art because it worked even if I don’t care for the artist’s style. Having this storyline come right on the heels of
In fact I am going to go ahead and give it…
5 out of 5 webheads.
This issue made me reevaluate the rule I set for myself when I started reviewing this book. Didn’t think it would ever happen but there you go.
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Was anyone really surprised that Menace’s baby was really Norman’s and not Harry’s? I wasn’t. I feel so bad for Norman right now because he went from being a tragic villlain to a walking plot device thanks to the higher ups at Marvel. I wonder what else Norman is going to be responsible for now-the death of Peter’s dog?
Norman: It was I who killed your dog when you were 12 years old!
Peter: Rover? I thought he got he got hit by a car!
Norman: I was the one who was driving the car! Ha ha ha ha ha ah ha ha!
I guess Marvel learned nothing from when they overexposed Venom during the 90s. Welcome to reduncancy corner, Norman!
Wait a minute, Harry is going to be a father? But he’s Peter’s age! That ages him, and by proxy, Peter, in the eyes of the readers! People won’t be able to relate to a super-hero whose best friend that is the same age has a kid.
Wait, he already has a son! Where was Quesada years about when little Normie was born?
1) That was not a bad comic but, because of all the things that Scooter, explained I wouldn’t ever give this issue 5/5.
I think a 3,5/5 or a 4/5 (at most) would be ok.
2) I really like the art of Phil Jimenez even though I’m not sure if I can explain why. I guess it reminds me of the good old days (early 90s and before) that the pages were more like comics (sketch, where you can see the pencils, like Todd McFarlane’s art) and not like a 3D Videogame.
3) Michael Bailey you’re not working in Marvel, do you? 😛
Just kidding, and that has to do more with the 24/7 reviews that this.
I can see how you could like this story. The plot is intriguing and it was fun to read at times, but Scooter explained exactly what makes this so difficult to like for everyone who grew up with Spidey. They say nothing changed aside from MJ not being married to him anymore and it just continues to be simply wrong. Everything changed … or Spidey would not contemplate to kill Norman. This is not our Spidey! It’s some weird version of Spidey – the BND Spidey who I still secretly hope will return to the mature and honest Spidey from before BND.
NickMB speaks the truth. Heck, the cover art board I use even has a rectangle in that spot to remind the artist not to draw important stuff there.
I think 5 out of 5 is way too high a rating for this issue. There are several reasons for this. For example, the scene between Wolverine and Spidey didn’t ring true when you stop to consider Spider-man vs. Wolverine #1 back in 1986, when Spidey accidently kills Charlie. As that issue shows, Spider-man, as a character, is incapable of murdering anyone. True, he came close to killing the Kingpin during Back In Black, but that was a reflex emotional reaction due to Aunt May getting shot. The same holds true when Norman murdered Gwen. When Peter stopped and thought about it, he realized that he couldn’t do it. Period. Contemplating the murder of someone for the sake of contemplating it -even if that someone is Norman Osborn -is just not in his nature, especially when it comes from out of nowhere, as everything in the BND universe seems to do. Compound that with the beating he gave Norman – and yes, he’s done that before, but only when Norman was purposely trying to provoke him as opposed to making and offer to a family member- and you have a situation which is way out of character- which is another characteristic of BND. Speaking of which, the scene between Peter and Harry in the park with the girls was so out of character for both Pete and Harry that, if this is the way they are, I tend to wonder where Peter got all of his confidence back in the Lee/ Romita era when the 2 were double-dating MJ and Gwen. Besides those points made above, I feel the need to point out that this is only the 1st part of a 5 part story. What follows will either make or break this issue. I’m very happy to hear that you liked the issue, and I’m not saying that this is a bad issue per se, but be careful when handing out a perfect score. The Flash Thompson issue deserved 5 out of 5. This issue simply does not.
To be fair, it is a LITTLE the artist’s fault that the barcode has to be placed in that odd position, since he’s got relevant bits of the image in every other place they could put it. Just like an artist drawing a comic cover has to leave space somewhere (normally at the top) for a logo, they must be aware of other things that appear on covers by default.
I always pay attention to the 5/5 reviews, because that’s the highest recommendation possible. The one thing that’s really keeping me from coming back to Spidey for this arc is my extreme aversion to Menace. She’s a lame character to begin with, but the image of her pregnant on one of the covers is so disgusting that I don’t think I could take it to the cash register without losing my lunch.
No offense, Mike… but I think that you’re becoming my polar opposite. I mean have you reviewed ANYTHING after BND that you haven’t liked? Because I STILL refuse to give it the time of day.