ALL NEW! ALL DARING!
This is the issue we’ve been hopeful and dreading. Which Nick Spencer will we get? Superior Foes Spencer? Hydra Cap Spencer? Some new variant? Will he come out of the corner swinging or dragging? Folks, we’ll answer all these questions in this post, but let me say this first – you have GOT to read this issue!
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE
Story Title: Back to Basics
Writer: Nick Spencer
Penciler: Ryan Ottley
Inker: Cliff Rathburn
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga
Cover Artist: Ryan Ottley and Laura Martin
Designer: Anthony Gambino
Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki
Editor: Nick Lowe
Published: July 11, 2018
Remedial ASM 101
Over the past several issues (and volumes), Peter Parker has risen to great heights, been taken over by Doc Ock, who got a doctorate degree in Peter’s name as well as establishing a multi-national corporation, then Peter got back control of his body got saved a lot of times by other heroes, lost his multi-national corporation, and decided often that he and MJ we never meant to be.
The Story – Pay Attention, This Will Be on the Test
The story is a nonlinear narrative* which I normally do not like. Peter’s roomie Fred Meyers (Boomerang) is not a joy to share an apartment with. ESU is launching a new super-plagiarism detector that puts turnitin.com to shame and they test it on Peter Parker. It discovers his dissertation was written 100% by Otto Octavius. He is disgraced, loses his job at Daily Bugle, and embarrasses his Aunt May. Mayor Kingpin has declared war on all superheroes except Spidey, which makes other heroes distrust Spidey. The city is being attacked by aliens that the Avengers can’t seem to get a handle on, but Spidey discovers that it is just Mysterio faking an invasion. Peter realizes that there is one thing missing in his life. So he makes up with MJ and they kiss. Mysterio has his day in court and we realize that Scarecrow is behind it all. Peter gets a second chance to earn his doctorate by taking classes with… the Lizard!
Wow! Reading this story, it didn’t feel like a lot was happening. Recapping this story – a lot happened!
What Passed
Why even beat around the bush –
What Failed
Nothing failed. I do not care for telling stories out of time order, but I understand why he did this. It made it feel like not much happened, but I trimmed the story recap to the basics and you can see how long it is. Part of me was hoping for a full story in this issue to start it off fresh, but Spencer did it this way and it works. He went straight for what the fans wanted.
Also, I’m moving the OOTI to this section of the review.
OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)
On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), Bang Bang Bang rates a 1.
Folks, there are only two onomatopoeias in this issue. Two. The other was BOOM. I rate them both a 1. Evan, this feature may have to go away. It will be the price we pay for having a new writer.
Analysis
The title for this story is “Back to Basics”, but it could also be called “Rebirth Marvel Style”.
Everything about this issue screams that this is not the past ten years. Even the art. Sure, it looks like Invincible and Atom Eve are cosplaying Peter and MJ, but I like the art. It’s clean. The colors are bright and cheery. Best of all, no one has to tell the reader who is which character. After all, that is my standard for good art.
Superior Foes Spencer is in full force. This was made known to us by the FCBD issue (which I am very pleased was its own story and not the first few pages of this issue, which is what I figured we were getting). This is also made apparent by the choices to put the old B list villains on the cover.
This issue was Nick Spencer setting up the pieces on the board. I was dreading that because often a new writer will set up the first issue and you are left feeling like nothing happened. But Spencer does this to set his mark directly on the book.
He starts with the Peter and MJ scene, even though it is a dream sequence, to tell us the reader that he acknowledges that there is a connection between these two. I figured that would be it for MJ in this issue and that he would come back to it later. My hopes were high at this point that maybe we will get to see a slow build to a potential rekindling of the relationship about ten issues later.
He nods to his set up in FCBD with Boomerang as the roomie, but as Spencer has more important things to set up, he quickly moves on, saving that story for another issue. I loved how Fred is playing Call of Duty: Latveria. I’m sure our Crawlspace friend ActionGamer will be running up to GameStop right away to get his copy.
Then Spencer starts to wipe the table of almost everything we’ve had over the last ten years. He does it in a way that doesn’t undo the work of his predecessor, but rather acknowledges that they happened and then tells the reader that he isn’t doing it that way. He takes a few digs along the way. I read that as it being all in good fun between the two writers, but it could easily be jabs.
- Spider-Man being a neighborhood Spidey is made loud and clear (twice).
- Spidey being distrusted by other heroes is back. This will obviously not be a Marvel Team-Up substitute. I doubt we’ll be seeing Spidey getting his butt saved by others.
However, Spencer does do a good job capturing the other heroes in the big Avengers get their rear handed to them by Mysterio scene. It’s his way of saying that he can write these other characters, but he’s not going to do it.
- The most out there jab he makes toward his predecessor is when he acknowledges how irresponsible he has been in not coming clean on his doctorate. The scene is a bit over the top when Cindy Lawton (yes, she is mentioned as a former ESU student with Peter – no, you are not a bad Spidey fan for not remembering her – she’s made up) drags him up in front of the press to expose him to demonstrate her new program WATCHR. The following scenes, though, are spot on. Peter Parker continuing to work at the Daily Bugle as science editor is gone. I liked that position, but Spencer needed to sacrifice it to make his point and if that is what it takes to get to our other point, then RIP Science Editor. Aunt May is disappointed in a very realistic way. He goes to MJ as a confident (which is what she should have been all along – even if they weren’t supposed to be in a relationship). Then he accepts responsibility. Sure, it wasn’t his fault that Doc Ock got the doctorate, but he understands that he needs to take the blame for keeping it and benefiting from it after the fact.
- During that scene with MJ, he makes a reference to the missing marriage. At this point, I’m sure that Spencer is going to let me down by setting me up for nothing.
This is not the same character we’ve been reading for the past ten years. If anything, I feel like I have my 1980s Spidey back!
Spencer makes it as clear as he can without flat out stating it that Robbie KNOWS.
The Mysterio scene at the end is an absolute blast to read and I’ll read comics like this all day long. I like the Scarecrow reference and set up. I also like that Peter is getting a chance to get his degree back by taking classes with the Lizard at ESU.
Of course, this whole issue really hinges on one thing. The MJ scene. So we get a page where he is obviously building up that he is finally going to fill in that missing void in his life. If you read this comic before any spoilers got to you, you have suspense building up. Now, Slott could have written that same scene, but when we turned the page, it would have been Black Cat or it would have been MJ, but she would have turned him down (again). But will Spencer do that? I was expecting the worst. There is no way, I figured, Spencer was going to jump into the MJ story this fast. Glad to say I was wrong and the impact of that page was immense. Spencer just winks at the reader and says, “I know what you want. Here it is, buddy!”
It’s no Deb Whitman, but I’ll take it.
For the first time in a long time, I am excited to read the next issue! For that matter, for the first time in a long time, I’ll go back and read it again to see what I missed my first time around!
Extra Credit:
I know that Neil is going to go into it in his review, so I’ll leave it out of mine. However, those of you who wish to beat him to it, the extra credit is – where does the Scarecrow/Mysterio storyline come from?
Final Grade:
A
Your Turn:
What grade do YOU give it?
What’s Next?
A revelation from the past puts Peter Parker’s job, relationships, and whole life in jeopardy while an alien invasion hits New York City!
Hmmm… This seems like the blurb for this issue, but it’s the blurb they give us for next issue. OK. So who’s up for seeing Peter and MJ get back together again next issue?
* like that fancy phrase?
‘Nuff Said!
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Chase the Blues Away & Jason –
@Chase the Blues Away – Welcome back! It does feel good!
@Jason – I believe the program was able to note Octavius’s word choices, phrases, and other things that make up a writer’s “fingerprint”.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m in love with Spider-Man all over again. Good riddance to Slott – we finally have a magazine worth reading again. The writing is fantastic – the narrative and dialogue is well-written, detailed, and doesn’t jump all over the place. Spencer tells a story without leaving gaping holes. I no longer have to guess about the action taking place. I was a bit confused about the paper Peter “plagiarized.” Otto submitted it with Peter’s name on it, but did a previous copy exist with Otto’s name? I don’t recall this. Bringing MJ and Peter back together in issue one is just a slap in the face to Slott’s run. The relationship and some inkling of something from the past has been teased a number of times, only to leave me let down when it leads to nothing. I really hope this is the beginning of the journey toward them being married again.
I just paid money for my very own issue of ASM for the first time in a decade.
It feels so good to read a literate issue of ASM that doesn’t insult the reader’s intelligence.
It feels so good to see things like characterization and story logic and action/reaction in ASM.
It feels so good to finally have Peter Parker and Spider-Man back where they belong.
To the one who graded it F – I would like to know what you didn’t like about it. I won’t try to convince you that you are wrong, I just want to hear what didn’t work for you. Shoot me an email at lordalford@gmail.com if you don’t want to post it here.
@PeterParkerFan & @George
@PeterParkerFan – re:ooti – and here I thought only Evan read that part! Well, if the fans demand it…
@George – I will assume your “amazing” comment is in reference to my stellar review. 🙂
Oh, and I forgot to mention… I’m so glad Felicia and Spider-Man are friends again. Seriously, turning her into a full-fledged edgy villian was a terrible decision on Slott’s part.
@Mark, please keep the OOTI portion. It’s one of the unique features of your reviews and I really like it.
I was already excited for Spencer’s run after reading the FCBD issue… but after this issue my excitement level has gone through the roof!! #802 was simply MARVELOUS!! Man, I haven’t enjoyed an issue of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN this much since early JMS’ run (TASM: Renew Your Vows is great too, but it’s not about the 616 Spidey).
I admit was a little worried when “Peter’s” plagiarism paper was discovered and stuff happened, but in the end it all made perfect sense. Yes, Peter didn’t actually steal Otto’s paper, but instead of trying to clear it up… he just kind of went with it. On top of that, he used it advance his own career. It’s a serious flaw of Slott’s run that always bothered me, so I’m glad Spencer undid all of that and gave Peter a chance to actually EARN his academic credencials. Truly a fresh start! I’ve got a feeling that Peter is going to earn back the respect of his friends throughout the run.
Oh, and that last page with Dr. LizardConnors being a teacher was glorious… but that’s not even the best part of the issue! The part was obviously page 30. Wow, I still can’t believe Peter and Mary Jane are back together!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Take that, Mephisto! *ahem* fangasms aside, Please Marvel, don’t break them up ever again. They BELONG together.
Then there’s the art! Man, I love how good Ryan’s Spider-Man and Peter looks… and kudos to him for giving Spidey his Webpits back. Inker Cliff Rathburn did a good job with the inks, and Laura Martin’s colors nicely complimented his art. The issue, especially the first two pages, looked simply beautiful because of the coloring!
Also, did I mention that Spencer knocked it out of the park with Peter’s dialogues on Page 29? That’s is the Peter I grew up with, not the man-child from Slott’s run.
Overall I am more than pleased with #802 and I give this AMAZING issue of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN an A+!
I hope Spencer continues to deliver in the future issues of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Peace out.
“… Amazing.”
Loved the issue! Best ASM story since JMS.
I think the Mysterio plus the mysterious character stuff goes back to Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man where Mysterio while in Hell was messing with Spider-Man. During the story Mysterio was informed that Hell had other plans for Peter Parker, and this was writer Peter David laying track for the upcoming OMD story. As far as I’m aware Dan Slott never explained how Mysterio came back to life, one day during the Big Time arc Slott just started using him again and that’s it. So this is Nick correcting / explaining all of that.
I, too, was expecting the usual Marvel trolling, as Peter is giving his monologue to someone at the end, and we are to turn to the page to see who it is.
As for the villain, Spencer did say that he was creating a new bad guy for this issue.
I’d love it if he’s picking up on PAD’s “I Hate A Mystery” storyline from FNSM. Then I thought it might be something that happened to Mysterio in Spider-Man / Deadpool that I missed, though.
Well, I am going to retract my assertion that the mysterious Mysterio figure is Scarecrow now that I have had some time to go back and read what I thought I had remembered. In my mind, I knew that Mysterio and Scarecrow had attacked Peter after he revealed his identity in Civil War. However, the two stories did not connect with each other other than time period. It seems that the mysterious figure may be some entity from hell that Quentin dealt with after his suicide in Daredevil.
Whatever the case, Spencer has bought my interest and willingness to give him time to play it out!
@Mark — I really enjoyed your review as usual, and, while I’m sad to see the OOTI portion go away, it’s completely understandable if that’s what we have to work with. I know that if something comes along to rival “BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB” you will be the first to mention it, though I hope we don’t have to get through another Amazing Grace to find it. If this issue is any indication, it seems to me that we can safely put that far out of our minds, and that itself is a huge relief. I’m really eager to see where Nick Spencer takes us. It’s wonderful to read so many positive comments, as well. I can’t believe it’s been ten years, but it feels like this is the real Spider-man: Homecoming. I hope Marvel takes the positive feedback to heart and lets it inform the direction of their storytelling and creative decisions.
I found some of the dialogue just a little *too* meta for my liking, but it was at least wittier and more natural than Slott’s. I’m just impressed that Spencer’s managed to undo so much of Slott’s crap, and he’s done it all so seamlessly! That kiss between MJ and Peter is something I’ve been waiting for for so long, and the fact that it felt so natural when it happened shows just how badly they’ve been written for the last few years. One thing I will miss is Peter’s editorial job, but I’m sure this new status quo with him being taught by The Lizard will be incredibly interesting in its own right!!! I remember thinking that the Peter from before OMD would’ve tried to graduate on his own terms after Superior, and I’m so glad we’re seeing that now.
Spider-Man saving the Avengers made me feel great, it’s sad that him being the hero in his own book is a relief, but I expect that’ll finally become a regular occurrence again! I was sighing a bit at the alien invasion aspect since I don’t think that kind of plot is a good fit for Spidey, but when it turned out to be Mysterio (my favourite B-villain) behind it all, I cheered! The dialogue for him was perfect, and by the looks of things, he’s gonna be quite prominent in the coming issues!! While he’s being treated in a pretty comedic fashion, the fact that he managed to give the Avengers a hard time was awesome.
Overall, it wasn’t a perfect issue, but it finally gave us the real Peter back, and for that I’m eternally grateful. I’m looking forward to seeing what Spencer can do now that he’s gotten all of that out of the way.
This was an amazing issue, I absolutely loved it. I was a little disappointed we got no mention of Flash, especially since it would have fit in with things that have got Peter feeling bad.
But other than that, everything else was almost perfect, and MJ and him getting together feels so right.
And as someone who loves the Lizard, having him as Peter’s new teacher is just the cherry on top.
Also, I really don’t think that’s the Scarecrow.
This was the best ASM issue since Straczynski was forced to do OMD, man. I cannot POSSIBLY express how happy it made me.
Even if Spencer DOES pull a “it was an illusion” gag on us, at the very least it shows they’re far more open to it than Slott and Editorial under Alonso were.
I need to re-read this properly because I speed read/skimmed it upon someone insisting I check it out. Then I saw why and lost my mind!
There were some continuity characterization issues BUT…I think they owed more with the baggage Spencer had been handed by Slott, BND and OMD rather than a fault in characterization on Spencer’s part. E.g. he gave an incorrect explanation as to why Peter and MJ broke up but I think this speaks to how asinine and messed up OMIT was more than anything.
I think he’s trying to fix things but he’s doing it the Garth Ennis Punisher way more so than the Steven grant Punisher way.
In the 80s Bill Mantlo wrote the Punisher as a lunatic so Grant retconned in an explanation as to why he was so OOC and moved on. In the 2000s Ennis picked up the ball from when Punisher was like…and Angel or some shit like that I forget it was dumb, and just basically acknowledged that happened before just moving on.
Spencer is somewhere in between but leaning more towards Ennis than Grant. He’s not merely shrugging his shoulders and moving on, but he is also not like retconning in an explanation as to why Spider-Man was so OOC over stuff like accepting the diploma he never earned.
It’s funny you compare MJ and Peter to Atom Eve and Invincible because IIRC the latter were to some extent inspired by the former.
As for the romance…look in terms of just getting the romance back in there beyond fixing OMD itself, this was kind of the neatest way to do it.
I know it ignores all the stories between OMD and this issue and isn’t the slow more organic build up to reconciliation I think people wanted.
But to be honest I think we need to recognize a few facts here. One, NONE of those post-OMD stories ever made sense in regards to how Peter and MJ’s relationship was handled. There mere fact that they broke up, stayed broken up and then acted upon the fact that they were broken up by not trying to reconcile was itself inherently OOC, if you do not think so read the JMS run.
Two, a slow build would’ve been nice but Slott already did that prior to 700 before baiting and switching on us. Enough is enough.
Spencer basically snapped his fingers Thanos style and said “And now they will both act in character again for the first time in over 10 years” and then they immediately got back together seemingly handwaving the BS they’d been through since OMD as irrelevant. Because again…it was BS and if they were allowed to act in character they WOULD have just gotten back together with a grand “Why did we break up again? Nevermind lets just move on”.
And btw I think Spencer was totally making jabs. I really felt in the subtext of the story he might as well have been whispering “get rekt Slott”. Hell he even said “No Doc Ock is really not my #1 enemy lol, maybe a close runner up”. Which is accurate!
“Cindy Lawton (yes, she is mentioned as a former ESU student with Peter – no, you are not a bad Spidey fan for not remembering her – she’s made up)”
Mark I have another shocking reveal for you tonight…Spider-Man himself is made up too. In fact every character in the comic book was. Including Nick Lowe.
… one issue and he got you. You don’t even know if it’s permanent. Meanwhile we STILL don’t get a resolution to the devil deal. Still no marriage. But they kissed. Small victories, I guess.
And I’m sorry, but that’s not Peter Parker. That’s Mark Grayson.
Simply one of the best ASM issue in a very, very long time. Immediately addresses the “Doc Ock got me my degree” problem and clears out Slott’s status quo in one fell swoop. Tons of continuity references that feel organic. Excellent reference to Sensational Spider-Man Annual 1, circling back to MJ with Peter at the end. Mysterio, a new villain (Scarecrow per the review, but I think I missed the name drop in issue?) Better humor, Spidey saving the day from the Avengers (instead of the other way around). Need I say more? Quality start, and I hope Spencer keeps this up. Grade: A
Everyone was hyping this up, so instead of waiting for my Campbell cover to arrive in the mail, I bought the issue digitally and was not disappointed! This is the most I’ve enjoyed the main Amazing book in…TEN YEARS! I really appreciated how he didn’t just sweep the last decade under the rug and is reintroducing maturity, accountability, and RESPONSIBILITY! And the MJ scenes were simply the best! I really dug the art, too!
Slott’s first ASM issue: SCREW YOU SHIPPERS! Here is Spider-Man kissing some random woman. Taste that reality slap mwuhahahahaha!
Spencer’s first ASM issue: *quietly whispering* get rekt Slott
I’ll hopefully have my review up later tonight, but man was this just a great issue. I’ll state my cons with the story, but really. Wow! This is the Spider-Man we have needed for a very, very long time.
Mark I give this an A+, best Spidey story in long while I loved everything about it
It was the fist Spider-Man issue thar I desperately tried to avoid for, I wanted to be surprise and I am so glad I did
I even loved the one panel cameo with Black Cat, seeing her fight along side him, wearing her classic costume and calling Spider, made my hear sing.
But no more so than seeing Peter and Mary Jane finally together.
I really enjoyed Slott’s end with Going Down Swinging and I cannot wait to see where Spencer is goung to take Spidey. This is what fans want. If they pull the rug out from under us at this point I think Marvel will be shooting themselves in the foot. Hopefully it is an exciting journey getting them back together. Can’t wait to see where Spencer takes us!
Thwip!
“I’m sure our Crawlspace friend ActionGamer will be running up to GameStop right away to get his copy.” LMAO!!!
Great Review and I agree with all! I just called my local comic shop and had them put Amazing BACK in my pull box. This Peter/Spider-Man feels right. This is the one that I have been wanting for a decade now and I had to get my fix with Alternate Peter/Spidey via Renew Your Vows (FYI, GREAT BOOK!)
I’m excited for this and next issue. I too believe Robbie knows, I think he’s known all along since DAY ONE! I think Spencer set us up for a future issue where Peter does have that dinner with Robbie and reveals the truth and Robbie says “Bout damn time, son.”
“So who’s up for seeing Peter and MJ get back together again next issue?” ME!! I want that so bad and it looks like it’s going to happen! I’m doing the Carlton Dance right now!!! You know me DM (I can’t believe I just called you “DM”) I’m a huge Peter/Mary Jane relationship fan!!! This issue alone brings back the Spider-Man I love. Mary Jane is a key ingredient to what makes Spider-Man better and I’m glad Spencer is following through with that. He wrote that issue for all die heard Spidey fans and I can breathe a sigh of relief for now. If this issue heart is where it’s headed, then I’m on board 110%!