The current arc has all sorts of questions hanging over it – will Aunt May win her battle with cancer? How will F.E.A.S.T. become a part of the new continuity? Is Peter ever going to start classes to get his doctorate? What does Mysterio have in store for MJ? What is Peter and MJ’s future? We’ll get some possible answers plus a bombshell (and I don’t mean Theresa’s cat)! Join me as I review ASM #29!
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Story Title: Arrrivals/Departures
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Francesco Manna
Colorist: Carlos Lopez
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga
Cover Artist: Ryan Ottley and Nathan Fairbairn
Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki
Editor: Nick Lowe
Published: September 11, 2019
Remedial ASM 101
Peter and MJ are dating, Aunt May has cancer and is trying to start up F.E.A.S.T. again (this time sans evil gang lord), and Mary Jane, after rescuing an actress friend of hers, has gotten an offer to be an actress from some unknown, but well backed, director (who just happens to Mysterio backed by Kindred – oh no!).
The Story – Pay Attention, This Will Be on the Test
MJ is packing for her new acting job in California. Peter feels bad for not going with her, but he needs to start his classes with Connors. He leaves to help Aunt May promising to be back to take her to the airport. While Aunt May strongly hints that if Peter wants to keep Mary Jane then he needs to put a ring on it, Theresa shows up and takes Peter away on a mission to rescue a man from the Chameleon. They fail in the rescue attempt and Peter fails to make it back to MJ in time before she leaves (driven to the airport by our gal Carlie. Peter was hoping to propose to her that night, but that will have to wait.
What Passed and Failed
Passed: Mary Jane’s characterization – I’ve said this many times before: I love that MJ acts like a human being. She knows what she is getting into by being with a superhero. Does she like being left behind? No. Does she pout and get angsty? No. She knows the price of this life and pays it willingly.
Failed: Theresa Parker – I’m glad that Nick is incorporating what has been done before, but I never liked the Theresa Parker storyline in Spectacular and I do not relish the idea of it continuing over here. However, it does seem like it was a one and done encounter and hopefully she was only there to get Peter away from MJ for a while and now she will return to spy obscurity where she belongs, in my opinion.
Passed: Nick Spencer daring to bring up the marriage – I’ll talk about the failed proposal later, but the fact that Spencer does not shy away from addressing this subject is worthy of praise to me.
OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)
Not a single one. Nil. Nada. Not even a THWIP. Not even a WHIZZZZT!
On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), silence rates a 0.
Analysis
The whole Kindred/Mysterio and Mary Jane situation is going to be. Kindred has shown concern for MJ being a part of Peter’s world. He has also shown that he wishes her no harm. Now, he is a murderous villain, but he is one who has a set of specific morals he follows. This move to California is done to get her out of the picture to prevent her from being a casualty in the upcoming battle – under the careful watch of Mysterio. I believe that if he is able to get what he needs from Peter (death, redemption, suffering, whatever would make Kindred happy), then MJ is left alone to continue her life. That is not to say that Kindred will not be above using her as a leverage piece as a backup plan. Of course, the other option is that by putting her in the hands of Kindred, MJ is going to be used right away to make Peter suffer.
Now to the more dynamic part of this particular story – the engagement ring. I do not believe that the marriage is coming back anytime soon – but the fact that they will tease it in this way lets us know that it is no longer the thing for Marvel employees to flock to message boards and tell us that it will NEVER happen. My prediction is that while MJ is away, there will be some nice-looking actor that appears to be a romantic threat to Peter. Remember, Peter didn’t put a ring on it, so… I completely feel that MJ will stay faithful, but that won’t stop Peter from feeling jealous and feeling that he doesn’t have a chance for a while and will delay the resolution to the engagement ring reveal.
I am confident that MJ and Peter will stay together under Spencer. I do not think that we are being given a long build up just for a Slott-esque trick. However, I think Spencer will address the Mephisto deal before he moves to the marriage stage. Until then, I think we will just be in dating mode.
Also, let’s remember that Spencer likes to tie his stories into past stories and as much as you like to think this scene (ASM 290/292) when remembering the proposal:
But there is also this scene (ASM 182/183):
In fact, Aunt May was pushing Peter in 182, so if we are looking at set up…
Chameleon set up – Another hint of the Chameleon’s plan. He’s looking for a person and I believe he got it from that man he kidnapped, but who it is, I cannot even begin to guess. Chameleon is evolving and is able to bypass S.H.I.E.L.D. security with ease. So when we see him next, he is going to be tougher than ever.
Extra Credit
What did I miss with the Chameleon? When he said, “Where is his hiding place?” should I have known something? Enlighten me! Or at least put in your best guess. Also, the Chameleon states that he is always evolving. What new abilities do you think he now has?
Final Grade
A good set up for a long-term understanding MJ and Peter’s relationship and gives hope for some really good stories to spawn from it.
A
Your Turn
What grade do YOU give it?
What’s Next?
ABSOLUTE CARNAGE TIE-IN!
- Spider-Man has been a huge part of ABSOLUTE CARNAGE, but this is when his part gets REALLY crazy…
- Only Spider-Man stands between Carnage at his scariest ever and young Dylan Brock.
- There is so much more to it, but WE DO NOT WANT TO SPOIL IT!
Oh great. Carnage. Another event….
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!
‘Nuff Said!
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Thanks, Danny! I hope so. That sounds a lot better than little Brock boy.
@ Mark
I believe he may be referring to the solicit from ASM #31, which says Peter has to try to save Norman from Carnage.
@William Sinclair – If you were saying that next year we get the proposal and then there is time after that before the wedding, then I agree. I just feel that they are going to do everything in their power to make it feel as unrushed as possible. I agree with the Chameleon. Spencer has a tendency to write villains as silly, but he didn’t with Kraven and this bit with Chameleon really amps up his spy game, which is where he should have been operating all along. I’m curious to see what improvements he makes. I like your story idea in that he has to save Osborn, but the preview said he is saving Dylan Brock. I have no idea who that is. I assume Eddie’s kid, but I didn’t know he had one. I’ll admit, though, that I’m not really as into the complicated symbiote continuity as I should be.
@PeterParkerFan- funny you should mention the art. I initially had it as a praise, but when I went back to look at it closer to point out specific if what I liked, I didn’t seem to like it so much. I am not sure why I felt different about it the second time. I certainly wouldn’t mind having him back as a full in in the future. I think it was the lines in the faces that threw me off.
Marriage is definitely happening… eventually. Something tells me it’ll be at the end of the Kindred arc though, and we don’t know when exactly that’ll be. I think sometime next year is the soonest a proposal could possibly happen, but I could be surprised there.
Theresa showing up was weird, in that I keep forgetting she exists, for someone who should be a pretty important person in Peter’s life, I feel very little connection between them, and she doesn’t make all that much impact. She also doesn’t have much in the way of memorable character traits. I feel like Spencer is planning to use her for the entire Chameleon arc he has planned, especially since she now has a personal gripe with him, if so, I hope he can improve on her characterisation. I look forward to seeing more Chameleon, it seems like Spencer is writing him as a very serious villain, which will be a nice change considering just how often he’s been shown to be pathetic.
As for next issue, I’m surprised to see Spencer doing tie-in issues with big events, he’s tended to avoid that sort of thing until now, I guess since he’s been doing this for quite a while and established the kind of Spidey stories he wants to tell, he feels more open to them. I’m really looking forward to the issue after next though, the idea of Spidey having to protect Osborn sounds great, and I’m curious to see how Spencer will write him. It’s also been a long enough time since he last showed up in Amazing, that seeing him again feels genuinely exciting.
I agree with you on the Theresa part. I’ve never liked her inclusion in SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, and don’t want her hanging around Peter in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Everything else about this issue, including the bombshell, was great though.
By the way, what do you think of the art in this issue? I think it’s pretty good.
I don’t doubt it is coming, I just think it is going to take a while to get here. I think when Spencer has them get together, he wants to make sure it is not something that later people say was rushed. We’ll go a bit until he finally proposes, then they will be engaged a while before the big ceremony that will take place in a super-sized $8.99 issue. At least, that’s my prediction.
Yeah I think the marriage is coming like Chitown predicted. The relationship is developing too strongly now for it not to. I think that at this point there’s enough single Spider-Man characters out there that Marvel can let is have this one. Guess we’ll see though!