Alford Notes: ASM #48/849 – Sins Rising Part Four

Wow!  I mean… this issue, WOW!  Guys, there is no way I can break down this issue in a 50 word blurb, but WOW!  I mean, nothing happens, BUT SO MUCH HAPPENS.  OK, enough of this.  Just read the issue and then IMMEDIATELY come here to read my analysis and discuss it with me!  I’M WAITING!

 

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Story Title:  Sins Rising Part Four

Writer: Nick Spencer

Penciler: Marcelo Ferreira

Inker: Roberto Poggi

Colorist: David Curiel

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga

Cover Artist:  Mark Bagley, John Dell, and Jason Keith

Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki

Editor: Nick Lowe

Published: Sept. 9, 2020

 

Remedial ASM 101

Kindred has resurrected Sin-Eater who is now shooting criminals, stealing their powers, and killing them, but they come back to life cleansed of their sins and powerless.  He just gave Spidey a butt whoopin’ that would make George cry during Friday Night Fights.  He and all of his new followers are now after Norman Osborn.

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

Spidey fights Sin-Eater followers with Miles Morales.  Miles says, “Let Norman eat Sin-Eater’s shotgun.”  Spidey says, “Nope.”  Spidey talks to Ghost Spider about Gwen.  Ghosty says, “You know I’m not her, right?”  Spidey talks to Madame Webb who says, “There is a great disturbance in the web of life!” OK, not really, but that’s what she usually says.  Now she just points out that it wouldn’t be so bad if Spidey just Norman eat Sin-Eater’s Shotgun.  But Spidey decides to swing in a help out Norman anyway.  The new Spider-Squad (or Amazing Friends or Spectacular Six or whatever you want to call them) consisting of all the spider-heroes decide to stop Spider-Man.

 

OK, I’m skipping my usual line up and jumping straight into –

 

Analysis

OK, this is a setup issue.  I’ll give you that.  And some readers will not get past that.  I get it.  Spencer has been tantalizing us with these plot threads for much too long.  We should have been getting this around issue 30 or before.  OK.  But when Spencer delivers, he delivers and this setup issue is HOW YOU DO IT.  There is so much to unpack in what is going on here and if you read it too fast looking for action or something more eye-catching, you missed a bunch.

Spencer’s Commentary on Current Politics – I stay out of the politics on a regular basis.  I don’t care which side you vote for and I don’t see why I would need to ram my side down your throat. So let’s get this one out of the way.  Go back and read the first few panels again.  I’m willing to bet that everyone who read them and picked up on his political sentiment felt that he was talking about the side opposite your stance.  I’m here to tell you that he was talking about YOUR stance.  Yep.  Read it again.  Your political side falls into that category too.  We are not so different from each other as we would like to think (and those in power from both sides of the aisle would have us believe).

Sin Eater’s Followers – They’ve been given power, but we didn’t see how that manifests itself, exactly.  I’m ok with the cult of Sin-Eater since that goes right along with Spencer’s flipping the character (before he was primarily Stan, now he’s primarily Sin-Eater; he had no real powers, now he has all the powers; he killed other, now they live; he was a loner, now he has a posse).

Now, I can believe a man can get bit by a spider and gain spider powers.  I can believe that Sin-Eater can steal powers by shooting people with a demonic shotgun.  I draw the line on my suspension of disbelief, however, when it comes to all of these cultists being able to find enough green Sin-Eater masks!  I looked.  You can’t find them in green, at least without the mouth hole. I found this and this, but neither are really Sin-Eater Green.  However, what is even more disturbing to me than all these people getting green masks so easily is this squirrel mask I found:

I’m sure Neil will look at this say, “Oh!  That’s such and such fandom! I watch it all the time!” because he’s just weird and disturbing like that. If you just have to have that mask, you can go here and get some squirrel stickers to boot.

Harry Osborn – Just one thin panel, but this panel COULD MEAN EVERYTHING.  The panel is from Spectacular Spider-Man #200 and depicts the death of Harry in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

The reason this one panel is much more than it seems is that Harry’s death was undone after One More Day.  Peter’s life resets and Harry is alive with no explanation of his previous death. So, why is Spencer now referencing Harry’s death?  If this were other writers, I might would entertain that they just don’t have a firm grasp on continuity, but Spencer’s understanding and refusal to ignore what has happened previously is a hallmark of his.  And, of course, this reminder that Harry did die – even in this altered world – is yet another brick in the foundation of Harry is Kindred.  I said it way before the big clues were dropped and I’ve seen scant to really dissuade me.  I think the idea that it is Harry is less the mystery and the bigger reveal is WHY is it Harry and HOW is it Harry and WHAT does he want.  The ONLY other possible explanation is that this panel is a red herring in an effort to lead us away from Kindred being Norman (the idea that Norman stayed dead while the Green Goblin persona came back).  However, I don’t think the dialogue completely matches up to that, so I’m sticking with my Harry theory.

Miles Morales – I defaulted to Crawlspace Miles Morales expert Grant “Carnage Swarm” Alford for if Miles was written properly here.  Grant’s response – “Can we get Spencer to write the Miles book as well?” Spencer does two things well here besides nailing each’s characterization – he gives Miles good moral points to make.  Why should Peter risk his life to save Norman who is, to his core, a rotten person?  We know from reading Spider-Man all this time that Peter is not going to do it, but it is refreshing that there is someone bringing up a good point.  When is it OK for the hero to say, “I’ve responsibilities to my family, myself, other people in need so it will be OK for me to sit this ONE out”?

The other good thing done here was Peter’s response to Miles.  He treats him like an equal.  We’ve had enough of the “You’re a kid, I can’t let you endanger yourself!”  Peter recognizes Miles as a legitimate hero.  He gives Miles the boost and credit that he would have liked to have had.  He’s being a good role model here. This is so much better than a Peter fighting a Tony so that they can get the attention of a teenager (as seen previously in these pages).  Miles’ response is classic!

Gwen – This is the clunky part.  It didn’t have to be.  If Gwen swung in, gave her, “Looks like you’ve seen a ghost line,” and then lets us know that she’s here because Miles texted her, then OK.  Even with Peter wanting to ask her a Gwen question – still creepy – but, hey, she’s there and he’s stressed and it came out.  OK.  Works.  However, even though Spencer does give us the Miles texted me line, he also gives us the line that Peter texted Gwen and asked her to come talk to him.  In the education career world, that’s how you get fired.  I will forgive this awkwardness by acknowledging that Kindred has been manipulating Peter’s dreams.  Gwen’s death is high on his mind.  He’s dealing with Sin-Eater going after Norman, so it is even higher on his mind.  So I will allow it.  Also, I love her entrance, which brings us to…

OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)

 

On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), SNAP rates a 10.  OK, it doesn’t follow my usual guidelines for a ten, but the placement, the reference, and the sheer UMPH factor raises this mediocre sound to something worthy of Mjollnir.  Even Thanos couldn’t have made that sound better.

 

I also like the angle that Peter is wrestling with allowing Norman to die, or to kill Norman himself, even, because of the promise he made back in #121 and #122.

The only nagging issue I have with this is that he’s come to terms with this before.  Several times.  Even recently in Clone Conspiracy.  I guess some wounds never truly heal, though, and again, Kindred is manipulating things here.

Did you notice Gwen echoing things that have been stated time and time again on the Crawlspace?

Madame Web – yeah.  Madame Web.  Well, she is not as annoying as she usually is.  The only storyline she really seemed like she would fit in would be the Spider-Verse since it dealt with that Web of Life she keeps rambling on about and she was unconscious the whole time!  So, I guess she is deciding to make up for lost time by showing up here and putting her two cents worth in.   The thing is, she seems to be pushing for Peter to allow Norman to be “cured” before going after Sin-Eater.  That doesn’t sound like her to me.  That and the fact that she seems to be the one pulling the other spider heroes together after we saw those same spider heroes in the Kindred dream makes me think that she is being manipulated by Kindred.  Whether willingly or not remains to be seen.  Sin-Eater is the smoke screen here to deal with Peter’s big mistake (in Kindred’s viewpoint), which I think is going to multi-faceted, but centered around allowing Gwen to die (or Gwen dying because of Peter allowing her into his life).

Whatever the case, she’s now got the League of Spiders together.

The Moral Dilemma – So, is it better to let Norman be cured?  Would Sin-Eater’s action really be a cure, or is there a trap involved?  And really what is happening with all of these characters that Sin-Eater kill-cures?  The assumption from reading comics practically forever is that normalcy will return, but I think there is another step involved.  I don’t think it will just be Sin-Eater dies and all returns to as it was.

 

The Marriage – And finally, we have a few nods to the marriage and the importance of Mary Jane.  Gwen references a deal with the devil (not a coincidence) and we get this scene that shows what finally urges Peter to act.

I think Kindred is upset about two things – Gwen’s death and Peter throwing away MJ’s love – an act that shows he doesn’t value the love that has been present in his life.  If that’s the case, Kindred wouldn’t be wrong.  Uncle Ben – dead because Peter failed to act; Aunt May – often neglected because Peter is too busy as Spider-Man; Gwen – dead because she was in Peter’s life; MJ – abandoned by Peter; Harry – neglected when he needed his friend most.  Well, as Obi Wan would say, these things are all true, from a certain point of view.

Norman Osborn – Well, I’ve got to leave something for Chi-Town and Neil to talk about. And really, I want to hear JR’s take on Norman in this issue. I’ll just share with you something I found on Reddit:

 

Plus I, didn’t even get into WHAT’S BEHIND THE DOOR?!?!?!?!  (I really want to know!) Or the fact that the cover, again, had little to do with the actual story.

Extra Credit

I’m naming the team of spider heroes the Legion of Spiders.  You come up with a better one in the comments section!

 

Final Grade

Nothing happened, but man I loved this comic!  If you are enjoying this, I’m so sorry, because I am loving every panel!

A

 

Your Turn

What grade do YOU give it?

 

What’s Next?

Norman Osborn Returns as the Insidious Green Goblin in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #850

Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, and a veritable Hall of Fame of Spider-Creators celebrate a web-swinging landmark this September!

Spider-Man will have his hands full with the Sin-Eater’s reign of terror in the upcoming “Sins Rising” epic – but things will be getting much, much worse. As revealed on Comicbook.com, Spider-Man’s greatest foe, Norman Osborn, returns as the Green Goblin in the over-sized AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #850! Writer Nick Spencer and artists Ryan Ottley, Humberto Ramos, and Mark Bagley will be joined by a veritable Hall of Fame of Spider-Creators to chronicle this climactic chapter in the wall crawler’s years-long conflict with the Goblin-masked madman. And as if that wasn’t enough, the issue will also boast a collection of prestige short stories by Tradd Moore, Kurt Busiek, Chris Bachalo, Aaron Kuder, and Saladin Ahmed!

 

You know, I’m not wanting to pay $9.99 for this one, but I’m much less rankled by it than I was the last time.  That’s not because I’ve been conditioned in to believing that it is OK to charge that much (I’m just as cheap as ever), it’s just that I really want to see what is in this issue!  Plus, with me getting this comic digitally rather than actually forking over the money, it makes the pill a bit easier to swallow.

 

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!