Alford Notes: ASM 8/809 – The Heist part 1

What do you get when you pit the world’s greatest thieves against the world’s greatest heroes?  A bunch of heroes missing their stuff, that’s what.  Join me as we take a look at Spencer’s next arc – The Heist!

 

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Story Title: The Heist, part 1

Writer: Nick Spencer

Penciler: Humerto Ramos

Inker: Victor Olazaba

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga

Cover Artist: Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado

Designer: Anthony Gambino

Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki

Editor: Nick Lowe

Published: October 24, 2018

 

Remedial ASM 101

Peter’s got no job and lives with a supervillain, but at least he has Mary Jane!

 

The Story – Pay Attention, This Will Be on the Test

Odessa Drake is approached by shady businessman Dave McCauley about increasing her wealth.  She shoots him down (metaphorically) and then he realizes that everyone in the night club is staring at him.  Turns out, they are all thieves in a sort of League of Assassins vibe going by the name of the Thieves Guild.  They are quite upset that he hasn’t paid his ten percent to them by dumping cash into a fountain (and I bet he didn’t pay his church tithe, either).  So they proceed to get their pound of flesh in a more literal sense.  Odessa Drake vows that since they have been in the shadows too long, it is time to make themselves known.  And they proceed to do so by stealing from every superhero in New York.

Meanwhile, Peter and MJ are having some quality time when he gets a call from Iron Man to go meet the Avengers.  Spidey runs off to save the day, only to find out in mid leap that someone has stolen his web shooters.  He is saved by Black Cat who in turns scratches his face due to their “unfinished business”.

 

What Passed

Peter and Mary Jane – Spencer continues to hit it out of the park with their relationship.  More, please.

 

OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)

On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), BZZZT rates a 3.  It is only slightly better than the CLICK we get when he hangs up the phone, but at least it isn’t a stupid ringtone pop culture song. Spencer continues to vex me with another silent issue.

 

What Failed

WHERE ARE THE LETTER PAGES?  Why ask us to write in if there aren’t going to be a letters page?

Would have liked to have had a bit more Spidey in a Spider-Man book, book, as it looks that it is setting up a story that has other heroes, but that they aren’t going to be able to do anything but watch Spidey save their hash, then maybe I can overlook it.

Three issues ago, we were promised Kraven.  Where is he?  Maybe there will be a new epilogue running through all titles – The Search for Kraven and each issue can have a page at the end that shows Kraven in another country slowly making his way closer to New York.

Analysis

This is a set up issue, to be sure, but it does have some interesting qualities.

The Thieves Guild –  It’s a new group and no, we haven’t seen nor heard of Odessa Drake, Dave McCauley, or the Thieves Guild before.  To set them up as a threat for our hero, they are ramped up to super ninja thief status by taking out all that every superhero has.  Each one of these thefts could have been the focus of an issue in itself.  I’m a bit split on this group.  On the one hand, I’m typically against throwing a new threat out there and having them do the impossible just so we’ll know they are a threat.  Supposedly they’ve been around for ages in the dark. They are dressed like they just stepped off of the set of Green Arrow during a League of Assassins story line and all of them must be thieves of the highest caliber.

So where have they been all this time? On the other hand, I loved seeing Iron Man’s defenses as worthless and the other scenes of heroes wondering what happened.

Here is what they steal:

1. Every costume from the Avengers Hall of Costumes
2. All of Iron Man’s armors
3. Ghost Rider’s bike
4. Cyclops’s eyewear
5. Thor’s axe (while he is fighting, by the way)
6. Captain America’s shield (in mid-flight even)
7. Strange’s Eye of Agamotto
8. and, best of all, the entirety of Punisher’s arsenal

The title of The Heist made me think we were going to get an Ocean’s Eleven type story but with people like Eight Ball and White Rabbit (Spencer, if you read this, please make that happen!).  I am intrigued about having a villain for Spidey that is not superpowered, but just really good at stealing and being stealthy.  Odessa Drake has potential for future greatness as does any of the nameless thieves in the guild.

Mary Jane and Peter – The relationship works.  I know I’m a broken record on this, but this is how a superhero relationship should be.  When Peter leaves her, she is disappointed, of course, but she is no more resentful than a firefighter’s spouse would be.  Plus, I very much enjoyed her feelings toward Iron Man.  I do not know if she was fired in the Iron Man book or if Spencer is just making it happen here, but I like her standing by her man and not joining the chorus of those making fun of him.  It worked OK with Mocking Bird, but that’s not an MJ/Peter relationship.  And thank heaven that we don’t have a CW relationship where everything is angsty!  I get enough of that in Arrow and Flash.

Mary Jane’s Mysterious Visitor – There are a couple of people that this could be.  Look at the panel:

OK, the facts:

1. It is someone who knows Peter Parker.
2. It is someone who is familiar with Peter running off.
3. It does NOT have to be someone MJ knows, though it does seem likely. It is hard to read her expression.
4. Whoever it is, knows (or at least now knows) Peter’s identity.
5. This person did NOT set off the spider-sense, though I guess it could be said that Peter is not paying attention to it, but that would be poor writing.

So – let’s run down the list of possible candidates for her stealthy stalker:

1. Jonathan Caesar – he’s into MJ and maybe he’s stalking her again. However, I think he would have set off the Spider-Sense.  Crawlspace odds – 5%
2. Carly Cooper – She has #1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 taken care of, however, since Spencer has shown us that he is going to give us what we want, I don’t see this as likely. Crawlspace odds – 10%
3. Silk – see above. Crawlspace odds – 10%
4. Theresa Parker – see above again. Actually, I’m behind on Spectacular.  Is she still even a thing?  Crawlspace odds – 10%
5. Someone we’ve never seen before – By not showing the face, it seems that we are being teased for someone we know. Crawlspace Odds – 15%
6. That freaky girl sitting behind Peter on the bus a few issues ago – MJ’s face certainly makes this more plausible.  It’s starting to make sense now….. Crawlspace odds – 20%
7. Flash Thompson – Sure he’s dead, but he was soaked in magic healing goo, so maybe he had to dig himself out and, not knowing who else to turn to, goes to MJ. He fits all 5 requisites. Crawlspace odds – 25%
8. Robbie Robertson – He stumbled across them and decided to stop keeping this information to himself and finally confide in someone else who knows the secret. Crawlspace odds – 25%
9. Venom – Meets all requirements, plus he has a new connection with MJ after saving her life a while back. Crawlspace odds – 40%
10. JJJ – Is Spencer finally going to acknowledge that JJJ knows? If JJJ going to offer to go into business with MJ and Peter doing some superhero blog/news thing?  Crawlspace odds – 45%
11. Aunt May – Oops! She saw them, tried to get over to see them, caught the tail end of that conversation, and decided to confide in MJ when he left.  Would Spencer bring that dynamic back into play?  Quite possibly.  Crawlspace odds – 50%
12. Black Cat – I think it would totally be like Felecia to want to rub it into MJ’s face that she can be with Peter in his costumed life while MJ can’t. Plus, Cat knew where to find Peter at the right time, so if she trolled MJ a little and took off after Peter, then she would have been there at the right time to catch him. Does she set off the Spider-Sense?  See below. Crawlspace odds – 75%
13. Deb Whitman – Perfect! Fans* demand her return!  We all know she is the one Peter is supposed to be with!  I’m sure BD will not mind me giving her Crawlspace Odds – 100%

 

Venom Cat – So, let’s talk about this panel –

Am I reading this wrong, or is that the Venom suit on Black Cat?  Did she get a symbiote during one of those Venomized arcs that I accidentally didn’t choose to pay for and read?  Maybe I’m looking at it wrong, but that rope looks to me like symbiote webbing.  Since they were focusing on it, I’m assuming it is a plot point.  If it is the symbiote, then she wouldn’t set off his Spider-Sense if it is her instead of Whitman talking to MJ.  Of course, the focus may have just been that she has her claws out and I’m looking at the rope all wrong.  If so, that is one shiny rope.  You know what, the more I look at this, the more I’m sure that it is just to highlight her claws, but I’m leaving all this in here anyway so that Neil can talk about how wrong I am.

Extra Credit

Who did I miss as possibilities of MJ’s mysterious visitor?**  Give a name and your Crawlspace odds!

 

Final Grade

I enjoyed it, but would have liked to see more Spidey.  Plus, it is a set up issue for a greater story (perhaps) and not the story itself.  The arc has potential.

B+

 

Your Turn

What grade do YOU give it?

 

What’s Next?

There’s been a major theft the likes of which we’ve never seen and for once, The Black Cat didn’t do it. But Spider-Man might need the help of his once-foe-once-friend-once-crime-boss Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat!

Nick Lowe has asked people to let the Spider office know how they are doing by sending an email to spideyoffice@marvel.com and to make sure you mark it “OK to print”.  If you get published, make sure to draw our attention to it!  Assuming, of course, that we ever get a letters page again.  Once they figured out who Chi-Town was, they may have decided to stop printing them.

 

 

* Yes, plural.  I’m sure that there is at least one other fan out there of Deb Whitman.  Maybe.

** No, Evan, you cannot name May and JJJ Sr.’s crack dealer as a choice.

 

‘Nuff Said!