AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 656
- Writer: Dan Slott
- Penciler: Marcos Martin
- Inker: Marcos Martin
- Story Title: No One Dies Part Two: Resolve
Sorry this one is a little on the late side, folks. In any case, this time out Spider-Man has to go into action without one of his iconic super powers. How does he compensate? By going all ‘90s and putting on some wicked cool armor…that’s how.
Plot
No spider-sense. Massacre kills again. Shot in the line of duty. Massacre’s origin. Spider-armor. Another rooftop oath.
The Commentary
This issue was a mixed bag for me.
On one hand it had some great action, moved at a good pace and was rather clever in places. Slott packed a lot into this issue and I will admit that I was surprised that we got the origin of Massacre so quickly. I was expecting this story to last a few issues but it didn’t work out that way and I think the story benefited from that. Slott once again played up how smart Peter is as well. Peter is presented with a problem and has to use his intellect to solve it. There were even some legitimate surprises like Spider-Man getting shot. That made me think that, relatively speaking, anything could happen in this issue. I even liked Massacre’s origin even though he seemed a little more like a Batman villain than a member of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery but he served the story well.
On the other hand this story felt…forced is the best word I can think to use. It has all of the trappings of a good story but it feels one dimensional with how Peter got to this point. Slott killed off Marla for a shock ending and is using that to have Peter do something he would have done anyway. Before Marla’s death Peter would have stopped Massacre and kept the police from killing him. Peter is just a little more high strung about the whole endeavor.
This detracted from my overall enjoyment because it weakens the emotional foundation of the story. Spider-Man feels bad about the death of someone he knows so he goes out and saves lives. He’s been doing this for nearly fifty years. Slott adds a qualifier at the end that he’s not just doing it because of Uncle Ben or Gwen but for everyone but again he’s been doing that for nearly fifty years as well. If Peter didn’t care about humanity in general he would never have continued being Spider-Man. Why help out someone being mugged or stop a bank robbery or save the city from some threat if you didn’t care about the people that could be hurt or killed? This whole, “No one dies,” thing just doesn’t work for me.
One aspect of the story that I am on the fence about is the loss of his spider-sense. Slott played with this concept well and obviously put some thought into what it would mean to Spider-Man if he lost that power. I liked that but I hope that it doesn’t go on for too long. This is a sub-plot that doesn’t have a long life span at least to my thinking. Still, I enjoyed what Slott did with the idea in this issue and look forward to the resolution.
I wasn’t all that hot on the armor either but it at least served the story and looked better than the armor from Web of Spider-Man #100 but then again just about anything would look better than the armor from Web of Spider-Man #100.
Don’t get me wrong…I like that armor but only because I “came of age” as a comic book reader during the nineties.
Parting Thoughts
This wasn’t a bad issue by any stretch of the imagination. I liked it even with the problems I had with Spider-Man’s overall motivation. It was a solid read and I continue to enjoy Marcos Martin’s art and look forward to him returning to the title.
3 out of 5 webheads.
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my fondness for the spidey armor comes from the Spider-Man PS1 game! My son likes it, too!
singing truth once again.
I pretty much agree w/ the review. I don’t think that the artwork was “horrible”, but I was disappointed in some of it, and really liked other parts. On balance I felt that it was the coloring that let me down, more so that the pencils / inks.
Hahaha “Super Genesis Peter Parker”. That’s rich.
I think the artwork is horrible. I also hate the loss of spider sense. Sorry, just my opinion.
@John – lol reposting comment from the other review.
For myself, I am getting tired of the Super Genesis Peter Parker. Yes, he is intelligent. Smart enough to have created web shooters, and web fluid, but he is not Reed Richards. Peter Parker lab at his new job is starting to feel a bit like the Batcave. How many suits does he have locked up in that vault now? Three? Magnetic Webbing? How about the R & D time for all these suits? Also feel all these new costumes are a way of justifying new action figures. Shoot me if Slott writes in a Water Blaster Spidey Suit.
I know, he had a Spidey-Mobile at one time.
Sigh, seems like my Spider-man been gone for a while. Around issue 300. Before the return of Aunt May, Osborn, the Clone Wars, his Robot Parents, Civil War, and that deal with the Devil.
I picked up Big Time, to see how the new direction might be going……..but..sigh. I digress.
I like his resolution and what he said to Massacre. There is a way to win and he will find it every time. Its nice to see confidant spidey
Nice review, captures my feelings on this issue pretty well though I think I would have given it a little higher score. I get why some people don’t like the “no one dies” and I had the same thought; how is this different than any other time? But it makes sense for Peter to really put an emphasis on this right now and it may prove to be more difficult without his Spider-sense. Also, I totally agree with the Spider-sense angle here. I think it works right now, but I hope it starts to come back soon, and not even all at once but a gradual thing where sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t, keep Spidey on his toes for a little while.
Redundency aside, that final pafe monologue is very well written. THAT SOUNDS LIKE PETER PARKER.
Two amazing reviews without 48 hours, oh boy. Nice review! I probably would have slapped a 3/5 on it as well.