(Writer) Nick Spencer
(Artist) Federico & Vicentini Sabbatini
(Colorist) Alex Sinclair
(Letterer) VC’s Joe Caramagna
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 5/5/2021
Issue Number #65/866
Price Tag: $3.99
For a different perspective:
Alford’s Notes and Ryan’s Reads
Story Time: Kindred Speaks! Mordo is torturing Harry and during his pain he pulls a Luke Skywalker from ROTJ and says to Norman “Father, please..”. Norman “blackmails” Fisk to stop the Mordo of Madness and Fisk gives Norman ONE MORE DAY *dun dun duuuuuun* to get the answers he seeks from Kindred. Meanwhile Robbie and Tombstone bury the hatchet about their kids dating and decided they need to respect their choices. Still have to save the brats though, so Tombstone hires The Sinister Syndicate to help Spidey rescue Janice and Randy. The fight is won and Randy and Janice announce that they are moving in together. Boomerang is still missing and every gang lord is looking for him, so with Grog on the scent to find Fred, Spider-Man calls upon The New Avengers to assist.
The Breakdown:
- Still Norman’s fault
- Living together
- Avengers Assemble
- Nitpicks
- Grade
Still Norman’s Fault: Poor Harry, he really can’t get over his “daddy issues”. Nothing much to gain here than Fisk giving Norman a little more time to obtain info from Kindred. However, Spencer does put a little mystery in. What’s behind cell number one!? We don’t know, but apparently this patient is a part of Norman’s future plan. Either to help him with Kindred or get Fisk out of his hair. So what DO we know about this “Patient”?
- He/She knows Norman Osborn. That much is very clear.
- Norman is offering a chance to help themself and their “neighbor”.
By “neighbor” Norman could speak of the person that was in the cell next to him. Or maybe a neighbor of the Osborn family. I’m bit stumped. However, our very own StillaNerd McNutly guessed that maybe it could be Sandman. I mean, they do have the same kind of haircut…and he was featured in a solic for Sinster War. Not sure how Marko Flint would help Norman with Kindred, but I’m sure Sandman could cause a distraction or two toward Fisk’s direction.
Living Together: With the approval (whether they like it or not) of their fathers now in-check, Randy and Janice are now moving in together. I really want to focus on this factor, because it’s just fun to theorize.
- It’s really going to cause tension between Tombstone and Robbie which is just really fun to think about. If you don’t get a chuckle out of that, then where is your sense of humor? Our very own George Berryman did predict that Janice could in fact get pregnant in future issues. Grandpa Lonnie and Robbie. Think about that for a second and don’t dare tell me there’s not a grin on your face. Would Janice move it with Randy or vise versa. I have to believe that Randy will move in with Janice.
- So, what does this mean for Peter? For Fred? Or Grog for that matter? Their apartment has been destroyed so it’s unclear if they will go back to it. After this is all over, Fred and Peter may find another place. Still, maybe Fred will find his own place, now feeling the guilt that Peter feels every time he puts on the mask. If Fred goes, I’m sure Grog will follow.
- That leaves just Peter, two words to solve that problem. Mary Jane. It’s really the only bet if Fred decides to go solo. Moving in with Mary Jane, now that she has stabilized that she’s not going anywhere but New York just makes more sense under Spencer’s pen. He’s been writing this couple beautifully. Now, this is Nick Spencer we are talking about and you shouldn’t put pass that perhaps Peter, Randy, Fred and Janice are all living together with pet Grog. Spencer could deliver that perfectly and in a humorous fashion. The thing in his writing that he can do these things and STILL have these characters stay true within their characterizations.
Avengers Assemble: So…another team up, but here’s the good news. It’s not Spider-Verse. Peter called in the team that he worked with during the Brian Bendis New Avengers run. Despite some flaws of that series, I actually did enjoy it. Spider-Man was an official member of that team and he was respected by his peers. I always felt the Avengers (before Disassembled) never gave a THWIP about him. When they started a new, it felt like he belonged. They even took Mary Jane and Aunt May in. So this is a team up that I actually can get behind. All for it.
Nitpicks:
- THWEP! I know, I get it. It’s THWIP and not THWEP. Here me out. It’s part of the costume and part of the show. Look at the bigger picture here, which will be addressed in Chameleon Conspiracy most likely. When Spidey returns to his red and blues, you will see the signature THWIP again. It’s not a permanent change. If I’m being honest, it’s not the most terrible out of character thing we have see Spidey do…seriously read ASM #546 – #800. and brace yourself for FAR WORSE.
- What am I looking at? I had to do like four takes and blow the image up to realize that this was a close up of Luke Cage muscles and Jessica Jones cracking her knuckles. I don’t judge art, I’m not artist and Twitter does most of that anyways, but couldn’t we do a better panel than this one?
Grade: Going to give this one a B+. I think this issue was to “tidy up” things for the Giant Issue that comes out next week and I’m sure we’ll see more content there. The art was okay, but again I’m not an artist. I mean it did look good and I could follow it, but at times I wondered what I was following. I think Sabbatini’s art really falls in the fast action panel aspect than a story. Actually prefer him in Non-Stop Spider-Man. Like I said in last issue’s review, enjoy this ride…
Till next time Crawlspacers!!! Listen, Dark Mark won’t be doing a review for this issue. He’ll cover the next. We are breaking things up during the conclusion of this issue, Chameleon Conspiracy and Sinister War. Then we’ll return to our regular scheduled chaotic banter with two reviews for one issue. He’s a busy guy doing…I don’t know. I think he told we once what he did for a living, but I was texting at the time and all I heard was “pay attention” and “look at me!”
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You know who it might be, the mystery guy in cell one could be Jack O Lantern.
I mean, Kindred can bring people back from the dead, right? If he’s influencing Doc Ock, then maybe he’ll resurrect Electro for his team (or, maybe he already has). That seems the simplest explanation.
Of course, if that is the case, I don’t think he’ll be the patient Norman approached in this issue.
I keep thinking Vermin would be a good candidate for the patient, but of course Vermin isn’t currently in Ravenloft.
@Dark Mark: If you feel the Peter and MJ may have a third wheel room mate, then the cover to Ramos cover to ASM 6 is very fortuitous of how things might end up being. Boomerang and Grog living with MJ and Peter. Yikes. Thanks, I will enjoy my week off. Sit on my couch with a drink and snack while reading the issue on Wednesday and then your review right after!
@Stuart Green and @Michael: Electo is another possibility. He’ll be featured in Sinister War and how he survived will be another tale I’m sure Spencer will rivet us with
@stuart. I believe it was queen veranke (aka the Skrill queen aka “spider-woman”) that hired electro. It would also be a great callback to New Avengers 1 having the team come together to stop a breakout caused by electro!
Nice review. I’m still not a fan of how Nick Spencer’s been writing Robbie in his run, he seems kind of off and at times seems out-of-character. I’d prefer to see Peter and Mary Jane move in rather than have Peter live with anyone else at this point. I’m really, REALLY hoping that undoing “One More Day” is Mr. Spencer’s next move after “Sinister War”. This has been going on for 13+ years now and the deal should’ve been undone looooong ago (actually, it never should’ve happened to begin with and remains one of Marvel’s worst decisions to date, but you get the idea). I don’t mind seeing the New Avengers back with Spidey, but where are Steve Rogers/Captain America and Tony Stark/Iron Man? I’m a bit surprised we’re not getting a full “New Avengers” original roster reunion here, but maybe they’ll join the fight in a later issue?
And sorry, but I still think the “THWEP” substitution is stupid. What’s next? Wolverine wears new gloves and his claws now come out with a “SNEKT” noise instead of the classic “SNIKT”? Oy.
Also, I think Michael’s right, it’s probably the original Electro who will end up being the “neighbor” cellmate. Since the character will be in “Sinister War” due to Marvel spoiling his return on their solicitation cover, maybe this is how we find out how Electro was resurrected, why he is brought back from the dead, and someone of his powers (before Francine Frye’s clone took them when she killed him, I mean) would certainly be someone who could break a super-villain out of their high-tech cell. Remember when Electro did that in the first issue of “New Avengers” by breaking out everyone on the Raft? (As a side note, did we ever find out who actually hired Electro to break everyone out of the Raft in the first place? I don’t remember if that got answered or not.) This would be a great way to build up the return of a classic, fan-favorite A-list villain from Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. Besides, why else would they show all of that light on Norman Osborn and, specifically, over his left hand on the panel talking about his “neighbor”?
Time (and Marvel) will tell…
P.S. I hope you all are having a great Mother’s Day weekend and have a good night. Stay safe, everyone.
I kinda liked this issue. With the appartment being destroyed everyone will need a new place. Randy with Janice, Pete with MJ, Fred with Gog!
@Chi-town great review! It was a nice filler arc and Spencer seems to gear toward concluding some plot thread. I like it!
@Aqua I had the same thought. Definitely a friendly neighbor. Who can it be thought? We haven’t heard from Kaine in a while…
@Marc I hope Pete and MJ move in together. It would feel like another step toward erasing old. B- for me as well
I mean, the neighbor is clearly Kindred in the next cell. Norman is going to use this patient to break Harry out of his containment cell. As to who the patient is, it really could be anyone. There isn’t anything here that definitively hints at the person’s identity.
The last two issues, while not bad in any way, felt too much like fillers waiting for the real deal that happens in the Giant-size. I don’t know if it was Spencer’s or editorial’s idea, but at moments it really felt like they came up with “let’s do a giant-size issue to cash in more!” and the writer had to adapt watering down contents.
Honestly when Randy and Janice announced they were going to live together, I took it meaning she will move in his apartment, since Spidey does a funny shocked face. But maybe he was only worried for the rent!
I didn’t like the art too much, just for the same reason as ever: there was a panel where I didn’t get who I was looking at.
As for the mysterious inmate, I don’t know who could it be, but the way Norman underlined helping the neighbour made me think of someone with close ties to Spidey. You know, like in “friendly neighbourhood Spider-man”.
I have no idea who the mystery patient is, but I do not think it would be Sandman. Kingpin has a guard on whoever it is, unless I read that panel wrong. Maybe the guard was just a standard guard for the hall and not that particular cell. If that is the case, then I think Michael might be onto something with the original Electro or a dark magic user to even the odds.
I feel that Spencer is leading this to be a Peter moves in with MJ, but I’m hoping that the apartment gets a little more crowded.
Wasn’t a fan of the art, either. Look at that – we agreed on something! I also wasn’t a fan of seeing the Avengers coming into the book, but I’m willing to give it a chance.
B- for me. Enjoy next week off, Chi-Town!
I just want to point out how great the colors are being in the last few issues, maybe I exagerating, but I think that it’s the best color work that I ever saw on a spidey comic.
Another great review, and, oof, the pronunciation of THWIPP , THWEP THWEP…what is this? Road Runner?
I also feel like Randy and Janet will want some space together, and that it’s a given Peter and MJ will be moving in. I like the prospect of Fred potentially having a spin-off where it’s just him and Gog, should he make it out of King’s Ransom in one piece, although Pete and MJ together with a pet can easily just be an expy for married life with a baby and a means of testing the waters in the years to come
And how about that? The New Avengers…not my favourite Marvel roster or direction for Spidey back in the day, one of the earliest sign things were going very wrong, but as a tight-knit group of Peter’s street friends, it’s appropriate for the story Spencer is telling…bringing back elements that contributed to the path to One More Day in a way that doesn’t spell it out to a new reader, it’s something we can understand though.
Maybe the patient is the original Electro, since we know he’ll be back for Sinister War. (He worked for Osborn during Millar’s Marvel Knights Spider-Man.)
The other possibility is the Hood, since he’s a dark magic user like Mordo.