Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5 #10/811 Review: The Bogenrieder Perspective

Felicia stole my review. I got it back. (I lied. The file got corrupted.)

Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5 #10/811

“The Heist, Pt 3”

Writer: Nick Spencer

Artist: Humberto Ramos

Inks: Victor Olazaba

Colors: Edgar Delgado

Editor: Nick Lowe and Devin Lewis

EiC: C.B. Cebulski

Plot:

As Peter and Felicia fight off the Thieves’ Guild, MJ gets to sit down with the Lookups and reaffirms the fact that her relationship with Peter is the kino of comic book relationships. (And subsequently reinforced by Jarvis, who consistently proves himself as the best Avenger.) Meanwhile, all the Avengers/Champions/everybody else is trying to figure out how to find their stuff, when Ms. Marvel plays her trump card: her “Find My Phone” app has gone off, thanks to Peter activating it. The Thieves’ Guild retreats just as the other heroes arrive, but the damage is done; the Thieves’ Guild is feared by the criminal element once again.

All’s well that ends well, and Peter and Felicia hang out for a bit, and Felicia comes to the realization that she doesn’t know who Peter is. As a show of trust, Peter unmasks to her and, with everything coming back to her, the two hug; much to the displeasure of Centidemon, who claims that one day it’ll just be the two of them…

Thoughts:

This is potentially the single strongest issue of Spencer’s entire run. Maybe not as good as the first issue. But it’s certainly a top-tier issue that more than deserves the praise it gets.

For one, this issue is probably some of Humberto Ramos’ best work. At this point, he’s fixed most of his proportion issues, and awkward anatomy; his fight scenes are actually quite slick and easy to follow, as opposed to his hyper-kinetic and often hard-to-follow action scenes of just a few years prior. It goes to show that with a good script, any artist can radically improve over their own previous work. Michelle Bandini also does a great job with the MJ scenes, though it’s not as fun to talk about artists who were already great as opposed to artists who have improved radically since we talked about them last.

I think this issue is also one of the most solidly written issues that we’ve had in some time. Like I said, first issue, but also arguably topping the Bar With No Name arc with Boomerang. First off, this issue is flat-out funny; the scene with Kamala one-upping some of the smartest people on Earth with a Find My Phone app was totally out of left field and caught me visibly laughing, along with the rule-of-thirds use of the hyphen joke. It’s moments like these where Spencer proves he’s still got the Superior Foes vibe inside of him.

But I think that for all the humor and sharp wit the book presents, it offers up some important character progression for all the major parties involved: Peter, MJ and Felicia. Peter, for example, is willing to be more open with people; when he learns that Felicia is hurt because her memories of him are blocked, he unblocks them for her, and thus lets her in on this tiny little detail of his life. Felicia’s time as a crime boss is explained away (Not justified, which I’m glad didn’t happen, but rather given a catalyst by Peter that he quickly rectifies.) and we get some insight into her psyche. When the mask comes off, there’s one little line of dialogue from Peter to break the ice; that’s all that was needed afterwards, and Spencer doesn’t try to make it overly-emotional. There’s no need for words between Peter and Felicia; there never was, and I’m glad somebody at Marvel has finally understood that after all this time. (And makes me curious if he’ll unmask to Aunt May given the solicit for ASM #15, where she’s directly placed in Taskmaster and Black Ant’s path.)

But I think the most important character growth in this arc has been MJ.

The four or five pages that we have dedicated to her go a long way to illustrate her relationship with Peter, and how important she is to him. (As well as vice-versa.) It’s that kind of dedication to each other that seems to be lacking in many modern cape comics, and I’m glad that the commitment is acknowledged here. And, if it makes George feel any better, rather than have Carlie say it, it’s Jarvis who says that they need each other. Like I said, he’s the greatest Avenger, especially since he’s the Marvel Universe’s unspoken hero.

I think the last thing I want to touch on is Centidemon, whose real identity continues to elude even Dark Mark and Spectacular Mike. Well, fear not, Crawlspacers, for I, Agreeable Neil, have come up with the answer to trump all answers!

It’s Skip Wescott.

No, I’m not trying to joke. I am legit pulling Skip Wescott from Spider-Man  and Power Pack #1 (1984) as the secret identity of Centidemon!

…On second thought, maybe it is Jean DeWolffe. Because for all of Spencer’s love for obscure characters (Something we have in common) he probably wouldn’t go for Peter’s childhood molester as a demon from hell meant to torment– oh….

Overall? One of Spencer’s best issues. I can’t wait for Ottley to come back next issue, but I’m glad that this book outsold Batman. It deserves to.

Final Grade: A