Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #26 and 27 (Lgy #827 and 828) Review: The Bogenrieder Perspective

Spider-Man joins the Superior Foes!…. Right? Right?! Then, the power of feminism comes to strike against the Marvel Universe’s newest Dynamic Duo… Spider-Man and Boomerang?!

Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #26 and 27

“Who Run The World? Parts 1 and 2”

Writer: Nick Spencer

Pencils: Kev Walker

Inks: Kev Walker and John Dell

Colors: Laura Martin

Editor: Nick Lowe and Kathleen Lewinski

Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski

Plot:

As Kingpin is thwarted yet again by Boomerang, it turns out that Fred has been spending some quality time with our man Peter, and is unintentionally using him as a human shield per Kindred’s request to Kingpin back in issue 7. At the same time, Janice Lincoln convinces Electro to join the Syndicate, an all-female supervillain team that’s constantly on the fringes of breaking apart over the slightest details. Their first target? To attack the FEAST center where Boomerang is at, while Peter and Aunt May are in the crosshairs.

Boomerang tries to draw them away, and Spider-Man joins the fray, but due to Boomerang’s shenanigans, Peter gets knocked out and the Syndicate make off with Fred as their prize. While celebrating their first victory, the Syndicate fails to realize that Beetle has sold them out to Kingpin. As Peter is convinced by May to go after Boomerang, Peter heads home to find his Spider-Tracer tracker, only to find out the identity of Randy’s new girlfriend… Janice Lincoln, accompanied by her fetish for washed-up divorcees.

Thoughts:

First off, apologies for the delays. Several real-life things prevented me from getting around to pumping out a review for either issue faster, so here we are.

To begin, I think that the main issue going through the arc so far is Kev Walker’s art. As I mentioned, going through the first issue, he looks off in terms of his character design, which is a far cry from his quality of work on Doctor Aphra. That said, given more time and an inker in the form of John Dell in issue 27, he slowly improved and started to grow on me. I’m still somewhat disappointed that we haven’t been getting more Ryan Ottley, but this isn’t bad as a placeholder, and allows for Ottley to be more effectively used as the interiors artist for the Absolute Carnage tie-ins. What I think does work, however, is Laura Martin’s colors, which, while over-saturated in some places (Particularly the opening between Peter and Boomerang, which makes the odd anatomy choices pop out glaringly) do help tell the characters apart in the more cluttered scenes. The colors are a double-edged sword at first, but I think that it improves alongside the lineart and I’m hoping that for the last issue it comes out firing on all cylinders. That said, I don’t necessarily think that the lackluster art is entirely Spencer’s fault; I’ve maintained that Marvel gave him his choice of opening artist and then just gave him whoever else they had on hold to do fill-in work. (Which would explain the appearances of Bachalo and Sandoval when they have very little connection in terms of style to Ottley, or even Ramos/Gleason.) I’m just saying, when Gleason gets to come onto the title, I’ll be a very happy man.

Writing-wise, I think that Spencer is always at his best and most comfortable writing comedy issues. Part of the problem with Hunted wasn’t necessarily its tone, but that it ran on for too long and felt like it was having to correct a problem that wasn’t even his problem; but giving him bite-sized arcs to cut his teeth on ideas, like the feminist corporate startup and Boomerang’s “Redemption” arc, and being allowed to expand upon them later is an environment he’s far more comfortable in. He clearly enjoys working in that environment, at least, so it’s better to keep him there and energized rather than go stale fast writing dour storylines with nihilist undertones.

Character-wise, I think Spencer nails down the relationship between Peter and Fred down pat. While Peter is slowly learning to trust Fred (And Fred is slowly learning to become a better person, albeit succumbing to his own nature once in a while) he’s still keeping his eye on him and I’m glad that the overall Fred/Kingpin storyline hasn’t been dropped; if anything, this is the climax to that arc and I’m happy knowing that it’s concluded but also can set up more strings to keep on chugging along.

Regrding the Feminist Corporate Startup that’s also called the Syndicate, I think it was hilarious and delved a good deal (if subtly) into Beetle’s character; somebody who wants to be seen playing with the big boys, and wants to put in meticulous planning and strategy, only to look foolish and short-sighted in the long-term. (See: her picking out a rocket launcher that she’s barely able to hold with her suit on instead of a more powerful pistol, simply because the rocket launcher looks cooler.) It continues the smart characterization that Spencer defined for her in Superior Foes, and shows that she’s genuinely not a good person going off her multiple backstabbings that totally won’t come back to bite her in the end. It’s good character writing, and works even if you haven’t read Superior Foes, based on the comedy of preaching empowerment and kumbaya, only to immediately sell out the people you were just empowering.

The rest of the Syndicate members were also written well, not to mention in-character. Scorpia’s obsession with arm-wrestling and Lady Octopus’ (A character suspiciously and conveniently redesigned after her far more popular rendition from Into the Spider-Verse) vegan lifestyle are played for laughs, as are their disgustingly petty infighting. Normally, the speeches Beetle and Syndicate make could have easily come off as Spencer patting himself on the back, but he’s got the tact and grace to make sure you know that since these are the villains, you’re clearly not supposed to agree with their positions; that, or at the very least he takes various stereotypes and ramps them up to eleven and to their logical extremist conclusion, which works to contrast how Beetle’s want and need for professionalism clashes with a group of all-female villains that is doomed to fail.

I’m looking forward, in a weird way, to the inevitable drama between Randy and Janice’s families; it’s a good ol’ Romeo and Juliet situation, and I’m hoping Spencer takes the time and advantage of the relationship between Tombstone and Robbie in order to give us something fresh and new. It was something I called way back in December when the first hints of Randy’s girlfriend were being dropped, and I’m glad that paying attention to detail is being rewarded with more little nuggets in this book, especially as somebody who has read most of Spencer’s portfolio at Marvel.

ASM 26 was a solid and entertaining read, but it felt more like setup for the arc rather than its own issue where the story was being told in a condensed manner. (Though this is something I should expect in current industry standards.) Issue 27, however, steps up and ramps up the pace a notch, and feels like things are actually happening. I’m enjoying the arc, though not as much as I was hoping (The lack of a promised Superior Foes reunion is a little disappointing, for one thing) and I’m hoping that the final issue wraps things up and keeps me engaged.

ASM 26 Final Grade: B

ASM 27 Final Grade: A-