Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5 #9/810 Review: The Bogenrieder Perspective

“Gotta be honest, was feeling naked without those for a while.”

Hijinks with Felicia, Peter, MJ, and today’s mystery guest! I smell shenanigans!

Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5 #9/810

“The Heist, Part 2”

Writer: Nick Spencer

Pencils: Humberto Ramos and Michele Bandini

Inks: Victor Olazaba and Michele Bandini

Colors: Edgar Delgado and Erick Arciniega

Editors: Nick Lowe and Devin Lewis

Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski

Plot:

As Peter calls off the fight between himself and Black Cat, it’s quickly explained why Felicia attacked Spidey: the split version of himself made a pass at her before they reintegrated. After some light banter, the two decide to team up to get back everything back. (After a brief exposition where Felicia reveals that she is a member of the Thieves’ Guild.) They infiltrate the TG’s hideout, making their way to the loot, where Felicia tells him that she’s getting half of the gear; that plan doesn’t last, as they are surrounded by Odessa Drake and her minions.

Meanwhile, MJ meets up with everybody’s favorite love interest, Carlie Cooper, who reveals that she has come home to New York after a couple years in New Orleans (More commonly known as Thieves’ Guild territory, hmmmm?) and has joined an anonymous support group known as the Lookups, for people who know superheroes personally. MJ goes to a meeting, to find it is led by Jarvis, and genuinely considers coming to sessions.

Thoughts:

This comic is still good, but the arc has yet to hit those same highs that the first seven issues landed.

For one, and I have to repeat what I said on the podcast, there is a serious understanding that Nick Spencer knows the craft of writing comic books; panel choreography and dialogue timing is excellent; it also helps that he understands the character relationships of the players in this book. Peter and Felicia’s relationship is exactly how it should work prior to Peter unmasking; they like each other, but it will never work out unless there is that sincere level of trust that they have for each other circa Marvel Knights. (Aside from Felicia constantly lusting for Peter from afar a la Evil That Men Do.) I think that Spencer has to take baby steps towards completely fixing Felicia, but he’s well on his way and I applaud him for that.

Today’s guest, Carlie Cooper, was a very unwelcome surprise, but she gradually warmed on me once I was aware that she wasn’t going to be competing in the “who wins Peter’s heart?” competition, a race in which MJ is coming out as the clear winner. (If you needed more convincing, take the scene where Carlie asks MJ where Peter is for her; “He is” totally seals the deal that Spencer is more than aware that MJ is the one for him.) That said, returning a character that in this universe is fundamentally broken could work (So long as they give her a purpose besides lusting after Peter too.) but judging from the podcast somebody else would have been more preferable. If Carlie is going to be here long-term, so be it; Spencer writes her well enough and she served her purpose to introduce MJ to the lookups and prop up the Peter/MJ relationship (Though I suspect that she’s here for more sinister ulterior motives, but we’ll get into that in a bit.)

Artistically, I also feel that Spencer has found a fun way to work with alternating perspectives while also meeting art deadlines. Michelle Bandini (Formerly that one Captain Marvel artist) was a great choice on the Mary Jane bits and pieces, and the different artists popping up feels like Spencer is intentionally using different artists to tell of a perspective change. (Ramos for Peter, Lieber to return to Boomerang, Bandini for MJ, etc.) It gives the sense of general understanding of how to structure a comic and it’s great that it’s no longer a forgotten art form where an artist is indispensable.

To be honest, I have far more interest in the concept of the Lookups as opposed to the Thieves’ Guild. Something tells me that it is making itself easy to infiltrate with all of the safeguards put in place for somebody to sneak in through that one crack and/or exploit all the anonymity. (Mysterio and Chameleon come to mind easily with this, the former more so because of his affiliation with Centidemon.) Regardless, I’m glad this has been established, because it gives Mary Jane something to do, and is also a concept that would be able to reach across the greater MU. It’s stuff like this that keeps my interest up for stuff that Peter’s not doing, and has the potential to be a universe-spanning concept; this is where Spencer shines the most.

However, the issue suffers from some issues; primarily, Carlie’s return and the lack of action. Carlie Cooper is a character I don’t like, and though Kevin Cushing’s take on her and now Spencer’s has convinced me that she can be retooled under proper conditions, I don’t think she would’ve been necessary. I have the suspicion that Carlie’s return is a bit too well-timed with the reappearance of the Thieves’ Guild (Not to mention that she exposits (poorly, mind you) that she just came home from New Orleans, which is more infamously known for being Thieves’ Guild territory if you’re a well-acquainted X-Men fan) and that the Goblin Formula isn’t confirmed to be completely out of her system. That said, the issue is a bit too beefy on exposition and very little on actual action, which I’m seriously hoping is an issue that will be resolved next issue and the upcoming Jonah arc.

The issue isn’t bad, I promise. It’s just that the first two arcs set a seriously high bar for this series, and the return of 616-Carlie doesn’t inspire confidence for this arc in particular. Still, it has the opportunity to turn around in the final issue, and this volume so far has proven my faith in it right; I have no reason to assume it will falter now.

Final Grade: B+ (But higher than my last B+; B++?)