AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 619
Writer: Dan Slott
Penciler: Marcos Martin
Inker: Marcos Martin
Story Title: Mysterioso Part 2: Re-Appearing Act
Plot
Daddy comes back from the dead. Spider-Man fights old and supposedly deceased foes. Hammerhead’s struggle. Spider-Man’s guilt. Aunt May lays into Harry. Another resurrection.
The Commentary
Amazing Spider-Man #619 had a really nice cover.
And that’s nearly all the good I have to say about this issue.
Well, that might be a tad on the unfair side, but I am rather conflicted about this issue. It wasn’t a bad issue. In the end I was entertained but frankly I also found it to be a bit of a mess. This chapter wasn’t hard to follow, mind you, but the problem was in the pacing. Slott threw so much at us in such a small amount of time that it was almost confusing. Maybe that was the point and I applaud Slott for not pacing the story so slow that it doesn’t seem worth the money I spent on this issue but at the same time I just didn’t care for this installment of Mysterioso.
There were some aspects of the issue that I did like. For some reason I responded to Hammerhead and his dilemma, which is odd because I never really cared for the character one way or the other before but I felt for the guy this time out. I also liked Peter struggling with the fact that he might have killed someone. As corny and hokey as it may sound I like to see heroes worry about using too much force. Personally I think there are some people walking planet Earth right now that just need killing and I like to read stories where I can live vicariously through the carnage as opposed to living vicariously through Carnage, which would be creepy. At the same time I equally like to see the type of character that doesn’t cross that line easily or at all.
Outside of the cover and the above points I just didn’t care for the book. The return of Carlie’s father was supposed to be a major plot point and it fell flat for me. The return of Captain Stacey was just silly and didn’t have any impact on me at all. I understand what Slott was going for here. He wanted a resurrection that would hit Spider-Man hard but given all of the other characters coming back from the dead this time out it just didn’t have the punch in the gut feeling that I think Slott wanted. This could just be me, though. As usual, opinions vary.
And was it me or did that Karnelli guy look like J. Jonah Jameson?
That was kind of annoying.
Speaking of annoying I still think the whole “Negative” Aunt May sub-plot is boring. The whole idea feels like contrived drama.
Again, that could just be me. Opinions vary. Etc.
Parting Thoughts
I was very disappointed in this issue. I wasn’t all that hot on the first chapter and the second one didn’t do anything to improve my opinion. Again, it’s not that it was bad or that Slott can’t write because it wasn’t and he can. This is just one of those stories that just doesn’t engage me at all. It has happened before and it will happen again.
I will say this though; while I don’t care for what is going on I do think this is a good Mysterio story.
See? Conflicted.
2 out of 5 webheads.
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Why would Mysterio think that Spidey seeing Captain Stacy alive again would unhinge him? Spiser-Man was obviously blamed for the death of Gwen’s dad many many years ago, but that didn’t make any sense to me. But then come to think of it, ever since “Brand New Day,” The Amazing Spider-Man title doesn’t make sense. full. stop.
Besides us, would anyone even know who Captain Stacy was? He’s been used so little in the book since Stan killed him.
“Negative” Aunt May? *sigh*
Everything else sounded ok….but at this point they need to just let Aunt May drift.
She’s returned to being a useless character in the Spider-man mythos. =/
Aunt May being evil won’t be addressed untill her next appearence in ASM #700 (in 2 years).
I respectfully disagree, I thought this was a great issue. A lot of neat ideas, especially the ending, though I do agree on the think with Carlie’s father. The fake Captain Stacy was entertaining too, even though Spider-Man saw through it right away.