The Chi-Town Breakdown: ASM: 62

Intro:  Take a look at my feature image displayed on top.  Besides the creative juices it took for me to create, I like you to focus on the “Spoiler Review” portion.  I know, I know, the gorgeous artistic talents of Carlos Gomez depicting our favorite redhead Mary Jane taking a selfie with yours truly is hard to resist, but that particular portion does let you know that you have been warned.  You will be spoiled if you haven’t read the book yet.  Or maybe you want to read our reviews first before reading the book, which is all good too.  Now that, THAT has been taken care of, it’s time to sit back, relax and bunker down as we head into another edition of The Chi-Town Breakdown, right here on The Spider-Man Crawlspace!

                   
(Writer) Nick Spencer
(Artist) Patrick Gleason
(Colorist) Edgar Delgado
(Letterer) VC’s Joe Caramagna
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 3/24/2021
Issue Number #62/863
Price Tag: $3.99
For a different perspective:
Alford’s Notes and Read’s Reads

Story Time:  The Kingpin has given the “take the shot” order on our very own “Gog-Zooky”.  Spidey is racing to get to there on time, but it’s too late.  Bullseye shot knocked the pet collar off and so we know have “GOGZILLA!”  As he threatens New York, Toho-Style, Spidey with help from Boomerang, manages to get the collar back on, so now he’s “Gog-Zooky” again.  Meanwhile Robbie Robertson has a meal with his son only to be interrupted with an awkward appearance by J Jonah Jameson.  Mary Jane pet sits Gog, Boomerang swears vengeance against Fisk, and Tombstone and Robbie Robertson have found out that their kids are dating! 

The Breakdown:

• I AM BOOMERANG!
• The Contingency Plan
• Sins of the Father
• Nitpicks
• Grade

I AM BOOMERANG!:  There’s a lot of good directions that Spencer has taken with Spidey, but he also shines on the supporting cast.  From concreting the importance of Mary Jane to establishing the true characterization of The Black Cat.   Hell, he made Carlie Cooper *, LIKABLE.  I thought that couldn’t be possible!  There’s no exception when it comes to Fred Meyers, or better known as Boomerang.  In fact, that’s right in Spencer’s wheel house.  You can tell that he enjoys writing this character that spawned from his Superior Foes days.  He’s so much fun!  When Spencer writes Boomerang, he doesn’t drench pop culture references onto the character, yet he does sprinkles it on him.  Which makes the character relatable to the reader and not implying “I watched that certain TV show!!!  So funny.”  Any monkey can do that, Spencer doesn’t.

His human emotion for Gog, his money making schemes, when he’s doing his thing as Boomerang is all meshed up in humor that just makes you laugh out loud.  The great thing is that you don’t know if he’s being serious or not and I think most of us don’t care, we just want MORE!  He’s going after Kingpin, Kingpin knows it and Spidey is stuck in the middle.  It’s the start to a team up that Dark Mark has been waiting for.   The best part, we have an idea on how this is going to play out and I bet most of us just can’t wait to dig into it.  I know I’m game.

The Contingency Plan:  Fisk has set the board and the pieces are moving along.  It was made very clear that this particular game he’s organizing is his contingency plan.  Kindred is still in the black box, feeling shame! **.  He didn’t give Fisk what he wanted and made him beg for it.  His plan basically is get what he wants, make Boomerang suffer for being a thorn in the side, and gloat in front of Kindred.  The simple “See I didn’t even NEED you to get what I want!” gloat.  However Kindred did express to leave Peter Parker alone, that rule still applies somehow.  Fisk has Kindred locked up, so why is that rule still in play?  Does Fisk realize Kindred still may have a strong attached string to Vanessa’s soul and that can be cut anytime he wishes despite what magical tablets Fisk obtains?  I feel this need to be further looked into.  I want to know what conversation went on with Fisk and Kindred when they met each other.  Hopefully we see more of that in the issues ahead.

Sins of the Father:  It’s here!  Janice Lincoln and Robbie Robertson are going to give their love ANOTHER shot.  It never really left (In Janice’s mind), but this time THEIR DAD’S KNOW ABOUT IT!  This is Spider-Man mythos GOLD.  Tombstone and Robert Robertson go way back and in the 90’s cartoon you actually see an episode or two of their history that reflects off the comics (seriously though..read the comics).  Now their kids have gotten together and there are a few key issues to think about from the father’s prospective.

1. Tombstone:  He’s in a race to get that “Get Out Of Jail” free card immunity that Kingpin is offering.  Imagine what a mob boss like that can do with that kind of power.  It’s two birds with one stone, some sweet revenge on Robert Robertson by getting his son in order to get Fred.  Then he catches his daughter in a lip lock with the person he came to kidnap!  The Beetle will fight for her man and bring on some of friends to insure his safety.  Hell, she may even want that immunity for herself and steal that opportunity from her dad.
2. Robert Robertson:  After that awkward encounter with Jameson, he could use a good story for the Bugle that will generate big sales.  To expose Janice Lincoln and connect it with her dad, Robertson isn’t that far from Tombstone.  He’s ACTUALLY doing the same method by going after his enemy’s kid!  One problem, The Beetle is the chick his son was talking about and that Robertson said “Give it another shot!”.  Course he didn’t know that his son was dating a supervillain who just happens to be the daughter of his arch enemy, but OH WELL!  😀

I love how Spencer tangled these string together!  I know some people think that a Spider-Man comic can be like a Soap Opera story.  That is what we are getting here, but it’s with the supporting cast, not Spider-Man.  Spidey is just caught in the middle and it ties with the continuity of comic.  This is brilliant move by Spencer!  It’s going to be a really enjoyable fun arc.

Nitpicks:

• Not dissing Gleason art on this one, but what is with MJ’s big hoop earrings?  Hoop earrings look good on MJ, but not ones that are big enough you can actually hulla hoop in them.  
• Canon-ball Special is a Colossus/Wolverine move.  They are X-Men.  X-Men are Marvel.  You share the universe Fred, no copy right infringement.  You’re all good, but don’t think we don’t think you dipped into Batman a bit with your vengeance against Kingpin monologue.  
• Peter, you caught Gog and started to reflect while FALLING in midair that ended in crashing on the ground.  It’s a bit cartoony, and I laughed, but c’mon…
  
• “Thwep”?  What is with the “Thwep”?  I do not like it!  Go away!  It’s “Thwip” or I’ll even take “Thwap”, but “Thwep”?…you put an “r” in there and you get “Thwerp”.  That’s just wrong, can we get rid of that?

Grade:  A+!  This was a good read, a fun read and with just a few nitpicks I can’t find anything to complain about.  Diving into the plots that Spencer has already established.  Very enjoyable and I like to believe that Spencer is enjoying writing this comic.  Gleason’s art is really good here too.  I know most of you want the Strange/Mephisto thing wrapped up and so do I, but let’s take a breath from the seriousness of that for awhile and dive into some fun Spidey-Loving Comic lore.  When written correctly, you can have your cake and eat it too!  Spencer is delivering that in this particular issue and personally, I’m all in.

* Yes Carlie Cooper is likable now, by likable she’s a character and not some shoe horned love interest for Peter named after the boss’s daughter to score brownie points.  The way she was introduced in this series and what she was planned for, is the most disrespectful move done in the Spider-Man mythos.  Spencer saved it and makes it wor, under his writing she has become a “likable character”, but I just want her gone.
** Slap Shot reference!  That’s for you Dark Mark.  I may lot like hockey as much as you do, but I do have my moments.