Alford Notes: ASM #15/816

Aunt May is dead!  Well, at least there is no way she could have survived that blast from Black Ant last issue!  So what will Peter do now?  Kill Black Ant then agonize over the guilt?  Quit being Spider-Man?  Go on a ten-issue rant about how this is all his fault?  Break it off with MJ because it is too dangerous for her to be around him? Make another deal with Mephisto?  Keep reading, folks, and let’s find out together!

 

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Story Title: Family Matters, part 2

Writer: Nick Spencer

Penciler: Chris Bachalo

Inkers: Al Vey, Wayne Faucher, John Livesay, Victor Olazaba, and Tim Townsend

Colorist: Chris Bachalo and Jim Campbell

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga

Cover Artist: Paola Rivera

Designer: Anthony Gambino

Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki

Editor: Nick Lowe

Published: February 13, 2019

 

Remedial ASM 101

No time to waste here!  Aunt May was in a restaurant that was blown up by Black Ant before Spidey could stop him!  AHHH! Let’s get reading to find out what happened!

 

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

Billy Connors 2.0 is being a little teenage angst machine (granted, he has more reason than the typical teenager) and is defying his father (a.k.a. The Lizard) and communicating with some kids that don’t live in sewers.  Tired of his home schooling, he has decided to sneak out and hang with the guys.  Meanwhile, Peter is ripping through the wreckage to find May, pausing only to quickly beat the snot out of Taskmaster.  Black Ant and Taskmaster have Rhino trapped in a giant marble (presumably happened between issues) while Spidey ignores them leaving to keep searching for May.  He finds her, not crushed, but in some large air pocket assisting others (of course).  The homeless guy May saved early repays the favor by saving her life and taking the falling debris at the expense of his own life.  Turns out he is Ned Leeds’s clone and begs Spidey to protect Betty.  After his burial, Aunt May restarts F.E.A.S.T. and strong arms what appears to be a 13 year-old version of Randy into helping. We end with Kraven using Arcade to create a shield (not to be confused with S.H.I.E.L.D.) around New York so that he can use it as his personal villain hunting grounds.

What Passed

Peter’s recognition of Aunt May’s influence on who he is.  We often give Uncle Ben praise for dying, but Aunt May is the one that Peter gets his real strength from.  She always stands up for what is right even if she has no chance of winning.  The fact that Peter recognizes that without her, he wouldn’t be Spider-Man was a nice touch.

Also, it was good to see that Spidey didn’t even hesitate to search for her when Rhino was begging for help as they rolled him away.  Sometimes writers have him completely neglect those important to him because of whatever crime he is trying to stop.  This makes more sense.  Plus, now the Rhino is going to be gunning for Spidey next time they meet (in “Hunted”, probably)

Oh, and seeing Taskmaster get taken care of so easily (well, “seeing” is probably the wrong word, more on that later) was another nice element in this scene.  I like how Spider-Man often has difficulty with a villain until he is pushed and then you realize how strong he really is.  All we were missing was a thought balloon from Taskmaster saying, “All this time, he was holding back on me!”

OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)

Another issue is packed with onomatopoeias to choose from!  

On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), DOOM rates a 7.  If only Dr. Doom’s face was somehow in the background…

 

What Failed

The Art – I am not a fan of this art.  I’m sure Bachalo is a fine artist on other books and he certainly can draw better than I can.  I have two rules for art – 1. I want to recognize the characters and 2. I want to be able to follow what is going on.  Last issue I had problems with his Peter Parker and this issue I could not follow what was going on in that fight scene between Spidey and Taskmaster.  I miss the good old Romita Sr. fight pages where you could visualize all of Spidey’s non-stop action.

And there seems to be this same onomatopoeia, presumably for when Taskmaster is getting hit, but the words just seem random in the panels.  Plus, I’d give THACK a 2 if it were the OOTI.  Sounds more like his superior web shooters jammed while switching to cartridge 6.

I will give bonus points to the artist because of a background scene.  When Billy Connors is sneaking a cell phone out of a plush Deadpool, there is a poster of a nude She-Hulk (but the guitar head is conveniently in the way).  Because in a world with superheroes, of course that would exist and be hanging in some teenage boy’s room.

Analysis

This isn’t so much the character defining arc for Aunt May as the other arcs were for other characters, but it does set Aunt May up for future story lines.  I like her getting back into helping others.  This is a path she’s taken many times in different ways.  I am assuming that this will be a subplot that will be better developed in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and I like that the two authors on these books seem (we need more issues to be sure) to have similar visions.

Aside from the Aunt May development, there is not a lot to be thrilled about in this issue.  Spidey is stressed, so there are not a lot of quips (rightfully so), and the other subplots only serve to set up upcoming issues.  I am not at all interested in the angsty boy-lizard and the fact that he now exists makes me hate the Clone Conspiracy all the more.

Clone Ned is dead.  I really figured he would join Peter, JJJ, and Norah in whatever job Norah is putting together (maybe resurrecting the old Now magazine into a web format?), but his death doesn’t upset me.  However, I am really not digging his last words:

Great.  A Betty story coming up in the near future.

I am excited about the Kraven set up.  Bad villains is what Spencer does best, and this new arc promises a bunch of them, all trapped in Central Park being hunted a la “Most Dangerous Game”.

Homework

The concept of Kraven is based upon the short story “Most Dangerous Game”.  You probably read it back in 7^th or 9^th grade, but in case your teacher was not as cool as I am, you should read it before the next arc comes out.  You can find it here: http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/dangerous_game.pdf.  Yes.  There will be a quiz on it.  It will be open notes.

Was It Worth More Than…

It was a two-part filler arc with some nice Aunt May development.  But for $8, I could have bought this bar of soap with a razor blade in it to spice up my morning routine.

The description assures me that it is indeed a real razor blade that has not been dulled down.  However, I think in this case, even with the irritating art, I’m going with the Amazing Spider-Man.  My life has enough spice for my boring palette.  

 

Final Grade

I would give the story a B.  It was enjoyable, but I would rather have had more interaction between Rhino, Spidey, Black Ant, and Taskmaster than to see Billy Connors.  Too much story space is being given to set up future stories.  The art is bringing the grade down to a:

C

This is the lowest grade I’ve given the Spencer run.  I have high hopes for the next arc (notice I didn’t say the next issue…)

Your Turn

What grade do YOU give it?

 

No Letters Pages

I think we can see an obvious pattern here… Thanks to he-who-shall-not-be-named.

 

What’s Next?

THE ROAD TO “HUNTED” STARTS HERE! The biggest AMAZING SPIDER-MAN story of the year starts next month, so don’t miss this prologue! The Kraven thread gets woven into Spider-Man’s life in a terrifying way that puts Spidey on the road to ruin!

Well, can’t say putting “The Road to” in front of a story arc inspires any confidence in me.  Another set up issue.  I am excited about Hunted, though.

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!

 

* Today’s Silver and Blue color scheme are in honor of Aunt May and her victory over death this issue.

‘Nuff Said!