Alford Notes: ASM #46/847 – Sins Rising part 2

BLAM!  Sin-Eater’s on a roll, folks, and the body count is racking up!  Well, not exactly body count, per se, in fact I’m pretty sure more people die from swing sets each year* than have died from Sin-Eater’s reappearance so far, but…  Well, you know guys, the issue is still good!  Read on and find out why I’m going to give this story a higher grade than I have so far this year (and how it has something to do with Hornacek)!

 

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Story Title:  Sins Rising – Part Two

Writer: Nick Spencer

Penciler: Marcelo Ferreira

Inkers: Roberto Poggi

Colorist: David Curiel

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga

Cover Artist:  Casanovas

Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki

Editor: Nick Lowe

Published: August 12, 2020

 

Remedial ASM 101 – A MUST READ!

Sin-Eater has been released from hell and he’s back to cleanse the world of sin!  Overdrive took a shotgun to the chest and died, but not really?  The Lethal Legion (well, A Lethal Legion – there are at least seven of them out there and this one appears to be a new eighth version based loosely off a 1977 version) took a wrong turn in Albuquerque and left The Avengers to stumble their way into a Spider-Man comic and they are out for … well, we don’t quite know, but it’s going to be deadly (they don’t have the word ‘Lethal’ in their name for nothing, mind you)!  And Kindred!  Yes – Kindred is doing things!  Well, more like walking around whining about things and dripping bugs on the carpet, but that counts as things!  Yes.  That should catch you up.

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

ESU is hosting some super powerful energy demonstration in a world with supervillains who always crash such events and apparently forgot to get proper security (public education budgets) so there is no one to help out when a group of supervillains crash this event.  Count Nefaria wants a better way to be immortal and the renewal energy machine ESU is showcasing is the ticket.  The Lethal Legion get all lethally and Spidey, fresh off the scene of Overdrive biting the bullet, jumps in to save the day, only to find that he is distracted by OD’s death.  People are dying left and right and that’s when Sin-Eater enters.

When Spider-Man gets turned to stone after Sin-Eater shoots the Grey Gargoyle, Spidey realizes that old Sinny isn’t just taking people’s sins – he’s taking their powers as well.  Once Sin Eater saves everyone, Spidey is appalled to see everyone clap for him.  Later, the dead Lethal Legion come back to life and this time they are lovey-dovey.

Later, the Lethal Legion turn out to be model inmates at Ravenscroft and Nora Winters gets her interview request granted by the new head of Ravenscroft, Norman Osborn!  We get a look at the mysterious vault seen earlier before finding out that while Overdrive came back to life, he is not doing so well and is on life support.  Nora, after teasing us that what she found out from the Legion is something we’ve just got to hear, gets blown away in her car by Sin Eater.

What Passed and Failed

PASS – Osborn’s back – I know some people are upset that he seems to be back without any explanation, and while I do feel that an editor’s caption box would have been nice, I do appreciate Spencer not sidetracking us with a recap.  For those of you wanting more background, read Absolute Carnage #4 & 5, Ruins of Dracula: Ravenscroft #5, and the Ravenscroft series (specifically #5).  I looked at a summary of those stories and am not in the slightest interested in reading more.  Instead, Spencer trusted the reader would go out and read those other stories if interested and moved forward without wasting ASM pages.

PASS – The art – Check out those camera angles!  Ferriera certainly paid attention to his How to Draw the Marvel Way when he was kid.  I recognized the characters (always a must) and nothing was distracting (with the possible exception of Norman having a little trouble with his face again):

I’m just messing.  I was completely fine with the art in this book.  Sure, Norman looked a little odd there, but overall, I’ll give it a passing grade.

FAIL – Spider-Man is overly whiney in this issue – This is not exactly out of character for him.  He often gets himself sidetracked, but I felt in this case, it wasn’t just a robbery going on and he’s busy thinging about something else, this is MASS MURDER going on right in front of him.  Innocent people, many of whom may go to classes with him, are being brutally killed by Whirlwind’s spinning blades.  I think it would take a Mary Jane, Aunt May, or Deb Whitman in danger scenario to distract him in this sort of mayhem.  Though, I do guess that Sin-Eater is one villain that tends to really put Peter out of sorts more than others, so I can probably let it slide.

PASS – Nefaria’s monocle – I love how that after Nefaria is now cleansed of sin and a good person that he still wears the monocle that is clearly designed to make him look like an evil master villain.  It  made me think of Hornacek always losing his and that made me smile.

PASS – It is a very noisy book this week!   Speaking of…

OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)

On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), CRRRKKKK rates a 9.   Go ahead and shout that one out loud and then let us know in the comments section about the weird looks those nearby gave you.

Analysis

I felt like for the last few issues, nothing was happening, but in this issue, we are going places.  I was engaged on every page.  I liked the fight between Spider-Man and the Lethal Legion and the mowing down of the Legion by Sin-Eater.  Spider-Man narrates almost the entire issue, so even when he is frozen in rock form, he is integral to the story.  There is the ending that is away from Spider-Man, but even that kept my attention since it advances the story.

Sin-Eater’s legacy – This version of Sin-Eater is unlike the original Stan Carter and I can buy into that as it is not being advertised as Stan Carter.  In the second Sin-Eater saga, we see that Stan and Sin-Eater are two distinct people.  What we have here is pretty much the reincarnation of just Sin-Eater.  The question now is – what is Sin-Eater’s end game?  He has made it pretty clear that he is building up for some “gift” that he will give the people.  How does this dovetail with Kindred’s plans?  I noticed that Sin-Eater made the crashed truck start back up again and did not put it together that he was using Overdrive’s powers, so I was surprised to see him start using the powers of the Lethal Legion.  And the fact that they all act like Stan  Carter, well, the only person to truly beat Sin-Eater was Stan Carter, so his making more of them might backfire. OK, Spencer – you’ve got my attention.  Here’s to hoping I don’t have to wait until issue #74 to find out.

If Sin-Eater retains powers after “killing” people (and they do die – the EMT confirms that they are in fact dead before they come back to life sin-free), then this is what he has so far:

Overdrive – vehicular tricking out powers

Living Laser – the ability to turn into a laser beam and travel at the speed of light

Whirlwind – body rotation (400 rpm), super strength (can lift 1000 pounds), super speed, super balance, super reflexes, flight, force filed of wind, the ability to ride whirlwinds, tornado creation, and wind blasts strong enough to rip through brick walls

Grey Gargoyle – the ability to turn all matter into stone for one hour, the ability to take on the durability of stone, super strength (can lift 11 tons)

Count Nefaria – can create simple objects out of energy, healing powers and immortality, super strength (can lift 100 tons – enough to hold his own with the Hulk), super speed (5,000 miles per hour), super senses, resistant to injury, super agility, laser projection from eyes and hands, teleportation, the ability to control gamma-powered beings

Nora Winters – journalistic writing abilities, bowling, the ability to cause Randy to cry

According to Marvel Fandom, when Sin-Eater takes their powers, he is not just mimicking them, he is taking them, leaving them with no powers, so will we see Sin-Eater rob Spider-Man of his powers before this is all over?  Or will he go after Kindred?

Norah Winters – I’ve seen a lot of comparisons here to Jean DeWolf, but I jut don’t see it.  I feel that the comparison is more along the lines of the Betty Brant failed murder in the original saga. The scene where he shoots her in the car was super impactful and the art was well done there! To top it off, she learned something important about their revival, but before she can tell anyone – BLAM!

The Vault Door – OK, so now I know where this door is.  So, who or what is behind it?  Well, in the original reveal of the door, we saw Sin Eater step up to it, walk away, then an explosion.  This left me wondering if Sin-Eater had made whatever was in there explode at the time, but now it is clear that Sin-Eater could not, at the time either penetrate the door with his powers or could not handle the entity that was in there yet.  With the powers he now has, I would expect that he is ready.

Extra Credit

The big question here is not why is Overdrive alive, but in critical condition while the others are seemingly in good health, nor is it what Norah found out in her interview, nor is it what is behind the vault door?  The big question I want you to answer for me is – WHY IS CARLIE COOPER CRYING HERE?

Final Grade

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was not eagerly awaiting this issue due some to the fact that this is a busy week with the return to school for me and also due to the slow movement of this story, but now I can’t wait for the next issue!  The only detractor for me was that  Spider-Man whined a bit too much over the fact people rejoiced and clapped when the murderous villains died instead of themselves.

A

Your Turn

What grade do YOU give it?

What’s Next?

SINS RISING, PART THREE

• Sin-Eater has leveled up and is looking for more sins to eat.
• His new target? A place with plenty of sins to go around: Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane.
• Spider-Man faces a conundrum he hasn’t faced before, and it is messing him up.

We are one month from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #49 (LEGACY #850) and it is going to be a doozy.

 

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!

 

 

* It’s true!  About 20 people die from swing sets every year making the swing set far more deadly than Sin-Eater’s entire existence!

‘Nuff Said!