(Writer) Nick Spencer
(Artist) Mark Bagley
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 1/13/2021
Issue Number #57
Price Tag: $3.99
Story Time
Kindred has lost (or has he?) and the Order of the Web completely ruin what could have been a great Peter/Mary Jane moment! Now called “The Order”, the five Spider-Peeps swing off to stop the sins that have returned to the original hosts. Spider-Man demands answers from “Cleansed” Norman and states that he has had enough of the Osborn temple of horrors that caused so much grief in his life and refuses to help Harry. Norman tries to negotiate with Peter and says Mary Jane’s name. Peter is automatically triggered and goes full throttle on Norman and stops himself before he does something he may regret. Carlie does a solid for MJ by checking on the corpses that Kindred dug up. Notices a dead body that’s NOT supposed to be there and a centipede attacks Carlie before she can finish her voicemail to MJ. Peter confirms to MJ that all this isn’t over yet.
The Breakdown
- MATURE PETER
- KINDRED’S PLAN
- MYSTERY BAG
- IT’S NOT OVER
- NITPICS
- GRADE
Mature Peter
“With great power there must also come great responsibility” For a long time and if I’m being honest, most of his super heroic career, Peter has always put people/strangers that were in need, first before him and his loved one. He feels that it’s his responsibility. Now he’s learning that, it’s the loved ones that really give a damn about him that he’s responsible for, not just as Peter, but as Spider-Man too. Spencer brilliantly pens Peter telling Norman and his son to take responsibility for their OWN actions. When PETER PARKER tells you that, it hits home. “Cleansed” Norman felt that and I’m sure Kindred just would make us some excuse to deny that. We are seeing a lot of maturity and development in Peter’s characterization and Spencer is cementing in stone that if you mess with Mary Jane, the gloves are off!! He came to the breaking point of almost killing Norman when Norman mentioned her name. I also loved Spidey sneaking into MJ’s apartment to get in bed with her. Just takes me back to the times when they were married. It’s been missing for so long now and it’s so warm and welcoming to see this once again and even MJ knows that this fight with Kindred isn’t over.
Kindred’s Plan
I knew it!! I knew Kindred was too crafty! In my last review I was a bit disappointed that he was caught and beaten so easily. Harry said he was past his “daddy issues” and to lung at Norman in a feat of rage isn’t like the Kindred we’ve been seeing since day one. He expected and WANTED to get caught. I did theorize that this could be his Plan B, but I think now, this is still his Plan A and getting caught was a part of it. We still don’t know where “Norman’s Sin” flew off too and I don’t want say, but it’s my job to, maybe some of it went into Peter. Peter almost killed Norman and we know Pete can be a hothead sometimes, so maybe that was Kindred’s sick plan. To reverse the roles. Norman wanting to help and go above and beyond and Peter just ignoring and lashing out, almost crazy like. Even Peter’s facial expressions via Bagley’s art shows Peter as extremely tired and a bit over the edge.
Mystery Bag
What is behind the mystery sheet? What happened to Carlie (do we care?) Spencer has brought a lot of “likability” to this character and is already pairing her with Overdrive in the foreseen future. I don’t see Spencer killing her (at least not yet). The more probable cause is that it’s Harry’s corpse on that table which would cement that Harry is Kindred and everyone can stop saying it’s someone else. Carlie has no clue what’s going on with Kindred so her startled by the body belonging to Harry would make sense. However, when she calls Mary Jane to inform her, she’s cut short by Kindred’s centipedes. Kindred knew full well that MJ knows, that play of attacks seems like a waste.
Some say it may be Peter. Kindred did in fact “kill” Peter, but has revived his body. So Carlie startled would call MJ if only just to warn her, but why have a corpse of Peter laying around when Kindred “killed” him multiple times, there should be more right? Some speculate that it may be Mary Jane, but why would MJ have Carlie investigate if only to find a MJ corpse? Again, the more probable suspect is Harry and would make more sense than others, our pal Mike “StillANerd” McNulty suspects that Carlie may have been chosen as Kindred demonic puppet now. His outside source while trapped inside.
It’s not over 
So now the Order of the Web is now called “The Order”. I feel like they are the narrative of us, the reader, wanting to know more of what’s going on in the story. Madam Web keeps telling them “It’s not time yet.” at certain key points that I’m sure will arise in the future. It does feel like this story has been playing out a bit longer than expected and this would be true, you gotta factor COVID delays in there, but even at a normal pace, I’m ready to get some answers. Kindred seems to be playing the really long game and in not only torturing Spider-Man but I feel it’s torturing us as well. The cliffhangers in each of these issues makes us yearn for more. I believe that we will get some more answers by the time ASM 60 rolls around in Feb, so we just gotta buckle on in and enjoy the ride until it comes to a complete stop.
Nitpics
- Order of the Web. They are boring and want them to go away. Sure they bring some context to the book, but I want more focus on Peter/MJ and Kindred.
- Where is Mysterio? He can’t still be in Cali on the final edit. He’s gotta realize that MJ is in danger.
- What happened to Dr. Strange? Is he still fighting Demon-MJ in the astral plane?
- What about Black Cat?
Grade A It’s a good issue and Bagley’s art reminds me of Ultimate Spider-Man art, but now the characters are all grown up. Spencer still delivers us more story telling that we crave and even though it’s a slow ride to get to the resolution of OMD (how I’m looking at it) it’s still a fun ride never the less.
Special thanks to Nicole and Tommi for providing the voices.
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Thanks Peter! A great review as always…
To me, this gets a B-. “Last Remains” needed to be over, like, 5 issues ago, if you count the .LR tie-ins/not-so-subtle backdoor pilot for “The Order,” which, you are SO right about them having less than NO place in this story. Ben, Kaine, and Venom would have been much better fits for this story if we absolutely HAD to include more Spider-People, but even then, as you said Chi-Town, this story was at its best when it focused on Peter, MJ, Norman, and Harry.
If the audience needed a cipher, it should have been Felicia. She’s always been an outsider among Spidey’s friends, being that she wasn’t one of the original Coffee Bean crew, which a good writer could mine some tremendous potential out of. Gwen-65’s indignance in this issue, for instance, would have been much more effective coming out of Felicia’s mouth, “We just went through a lot for you!” Felicia, you don’t even know the half it – next to Peter, MJ, and Aunt May, no one was more hurt by OMD than Felicia!!
Still down for what’s coming (except for the Dustin Weaver suit), as this is the best Spidey’s been in 15 years, which I honestly don’t mean as a backhanded compliment, given that, as [I think] hornacek pointed out on the podcast: “that’s a pretty low bar.”
Thanks again, Peter! Viva Crawlspace!!
I didn’t mention “Ben 27” in my review on the Podcast. Just shows how stronger Peter is compared to Ben. 😀 I like McNulty’s theory as well! However, she may be a pawn now, but maybe she’s not when she was first introduced (despite Bagley’s artwork giving her a sinister look in a flashback to 545)
@Mark: Nah, he just waited for them to go away and said “Finally! Now, let’s get REALLY STRANGE.” Then did some really powerful frightening stuff that he didn’t want the spiderlings to say.
@Zach
I’m glad I’m not the only one to think about what Ben has been through, seeing all this!
Luckily for us, Ben died many more times and in even more painful ways, so Peter shouldn’t be at “Jackal’s level” of madness yet. Still, I’d love to see some kind of acknowledgement to the damages done to the soul with these kind of death and return cycles, as we saw in BR Scarlet Spider.
I don’t think getting caught was his plan A, but I think he is so pathetic that he even acts like he is on full control even when just talking to himself. And to answer your Dr. Strange question – turns out he DID need the Order’s help and was thoroughly defeated by demon MJ.
I think Mike McNulty’s suggestion that Carlie might be Kindred’s pawn is a good one, as well as the idea that maybe he wants to have a great vantage point from which to see Peter and Norman switch roles, however briefly. I guess Strange will return to play some part in Kindred’s final demise. Maybe once the truth is made apparent or revealed in the manner that Kindred wishes, he will have no more power to wield, especially if Peter and Mary Jane are at peace with it. Therein might lie his final defeat.
The fact that Kindred states that he is right where he wants to be (indicating that readers’ concerns that he was defeated too easily were premature) illustrates that the arc cannot be accurately judged until it’s seen as a whole, but where is the fun in that? Especially because, given that there’s no end in sight, it looks like we’d have to wait a long time.
It makes sense that Peter is not himself seeing how he has been killed and resurrected multiple times in one night. Ben Reilly was driven nuts by experiencing the same thing.