It’s podcast time! No, I don’t mean the Crawlspace one, I mean the all new J. Jonah Jameson Podcast! And of course, his first guest is none other than the old webhead himself. Meanwhile, Chance’s got a bet he just can’t afford to lose. Catch it all here, dear reader, as we dive into ASM #39!
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Story Title: Breaking News part 2
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Iban Coello
Colorist: Brian Reber
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga
Cover Artist: Patrick Gleason and Marte Gracia
Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki
Editor: Nick Lowe
Published: February 12, 2020
Remedial ASM 101
Spider-Man, in an effort to be nice to a neglected JJJ, told the reporter about a super-secret mission to recover S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons stolen and sold by the Chameleon. JJJ, naturally, ran with the secret as a headline.
The Story – Pay Attention, This Will Be on the Test
Spider-Man lets off some steam at JJJ for blowing his secret, but soon feels guilted into helping the old geezer out by being his first guest on the all new, all daring J. Jonah Jameson Podcast. The two start cordial enough until they don’t. Meanwhile, Chance and the Foreigner begin to needle at each other until the Foreigner tricks Chance by betting he can’t steal Spider-Man’s web shooter. Chance takes him up on it since he’s not one to back down from a bet and because every villain at the casino has something to lose if Chance can’t do it.
What Passed and Failed
PASS – No Teresa Parker – and, if Spider-Man is correct about being in trouble with her, maybe no Parker sis for a while now.
PASS – This clever pun
PASS – The casino – I love this! It is like the Bar with No Name, but with a little class! Plus, anytime you get Spencer writing bad villains? Take my money!
OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)
On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), SLUUURPPP rates a 5.5. I threw in a few bonus points for the spelling, different size lettering, and the importance of the sound to the immediate story. Hey! We take our onomatopoeia ratings seriously here! People like Evan only read these reviews for the high-quality onomatopoeic analysis!
POP QUIZ
We haven’t had one of these in a long while! OK, you know 8 Ball, Chance, Mole Man, and Batroc the Leaper, but who’s that weird guy on the left-hand panel wall?
Pick your answer and then click the image to reveal the name of our mystery villain gambler!
A. Shuma-Gorath
B. Big Zero
C. Master Pandemonium
D. Sugar Man
E. Turner D. Century
Analysis
JJJ and Spider-Man – Spencer is taking his time on this (I mean, not Bendis-style, but still), but he is finally starting to iron out this dynamic with JJJ knowing and wanting to help. The idea was never able to be explored enough before that satellite title went away. Slott did address it, but then he went away. So here is this fairly major game changer without development. So of course Spencer is going to come along and fix this. He’s The Fixer. Now this could go either way. Either JJJ becomes similar to when Fireheart took over the Daily Bugle and gave Spider-Man too much good press, or they will still be on each other’s side, but at each other’s throats. The latter is what intrigues me the most and it appears that Spencer has JJJ going in this direction. My feeling is that whatever it is next issue is what the standard JJJ/Peter dynamic will be going forward.
Chance and Foreigner – This appears to be just what it appears to be – a good B/C list villain struggle that will rope Spidey in in some shape or form. That’s not a bad thing. We don’t need every story to be a shocking revelation that changes everything we know about the wall crawler because fans demanded it! In fact, I LOVE the Chance/Foreigner interaction. I want more of that!
VWOTI (Vocabulary Word of the Issue)
Just kidding, Zach! It’s no more than 25 minutes tops!
Final Grade
My only real complaint with the story is I wanted more! I love the interaction between the Foreigner and Chance and am looking forward to seeing how that all plays out next issue.
B+
Your Turn
What grade do YOU give it?
What’s Next?
- J. Jonah Jameson’s new gig has proven to be nothing but trouble for Spidey.
- As you are well aware, JJJ doesn’t take “no” for an answer, so even if Spidey is knee-deep in a world-saving situation, JJJ will always be there to “help” him.
- But while Spidey is dealing with JJJ and Chance, something is brewing with Kindred and it can’t bode well for Peter.
That’s right, folks! Kindred is coming back next issue!
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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Listen Notes
Stitcher
@Mark — You mentioned “Slott’s run” in the same sentence as “poop.” I think those new to the Crawlspace can figure it out. 😉
@ George Berryman & @ Evan Berry – Glad I could be of service to both of you! And of course you’re part is the family, Evan! If I send the poop, I’ll attach my name to it (and now people who haven’t read the reviews from Slott’s run are wondering what in the heck we are talking about)!
@Mark — And the best thing about “SLUUURPPP” is that I know exactly how it sounds! (Now I want some coffee.) Don’t worry, Mark. Even though I could technically stop reading after the OOTI panel, I have to scroll down to make a comment anyway, so I might as well read the rest of the review on the way there. When you referred to Nick Spencer as “The Fixer,” I couldn’t help but think that the current run of Spider-man is like how The Rise of Skywalker would be if J.J. Abrams had more than a single film to “fix” The Last Jedi. Also, I’m using my full name from now on, because, hey, why not? All of you do it, and I feel like part of the family. Just promise not to misspell it if you put it in a Seinfeld reference. If I get anonymous poop in the mail, I’ll know who it came from Seriously, though, I was having a long day until I opened up the Crawlspace, so thank you!!
This is why we keep Dark Mark around! 😉