Alford Notes: Amazing Spider-Man #74 / 875

This is it!  The long awaited for CONCLUSION to the Kindred story!  Will it deliver the goods or will it have been dragged out too long beyond redemption or worse – will Spencer have pulled a fast one on us and all this promise of change was for naught?  Well, only one way to find out!  OK, there are many ways to find out, but one of them is to jump on in and read the review!

 

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Story Title:  At What Cost?

Writers: Nick Spencer with Christos Gage

Pencillers: Mark Bagley, Marcello Ferreira, Ze Carlos, Dio Neves, Carlos Gomez, Ivan Fiorelli, and Humberto Ramos

Inkers: Wayne Faucher with Marcello Ferreira; Andrew Hennessy and Andy Owens; Ze Carlos, Dio Neves, Carlos Gomez, Ivan Fiorelli, and Victor Olazaba

Colorists: Andrew Crossley, Edgar Delgado, and Alex Sinclair

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga

Cover Artists:  Patrick Gleason and Alejandro Sanchez

Asst. Editor: Lindsey Cohick

Editor: Nick Lowe

Published: September 29, 2021

 

Walloping web shooters!  That’s a load of artists!

Remedial ASM 101

An entity calling himself/herself/itself/themselves Kindred has been stalking our webbed hero for 74 issues (plus bonus issues).  It appears to be Harry or Sarah or an AI computer program gone wonky or really who knows at this point?  But the recap page tells us that there are indeed two Kindreds and one is Sarah and the other is Gabriel.  Spider-Man can’t beat Kindred on his best day and today is far from his best.  He’s bleeding out from an attack by 1.4 trillion villains (or so, I lost count after 30 – hey, I teach English, not math!) and is one step away from collapsing.  Norman is dealing with an AI Harry.  MJ is dealing with what appears to be a Sarah Stacy Kindred.

 

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

Harry wakes up from a dream of his death only to discover that it was all true.  He pleads to Mephisto that he died a good man, redeemed and Mephisto pokes holes all in that.  Back to modern day, MJ and Norman join the party as everyone falls through little mirrors to get to the final boss battle.  Dr. Strange and Mephisto are still betting on the outcome of the fight, this time Strange puts his soul on the line for Harry.  Meanwhile, Harry Lyman reveals to Carlie that he is a clone living a lie and wants to do something worthwhile before turning into a deconstructed biscuit.  He and Carlie leave the morgue to enter his home? while Spider-Man gets the ever-loving crap beat out of him in a VERY loud fight. Harry decides the only way to be of any use is to attack with goblin-gear, though he will not be going as the goblin, but as HARRY OSBORN! He and Peter team up and do pretty well while Norman cowers in the corner with MJ.  The Kindred twins tear into Norman and Harry and Peter save his sorry rear end.  Norman tells the twins the truth about their parentage.  He also reveals that it was Mephisto pulling the strings all along.  Harry sacrifices himself to save dear old daddy and now Peter wants some revenge.  Apparently, getting revenge will somehow void Peter’s soul and Mephisto will win the bet.  But right as the twins literally bring down the house and all seems lost and Peter can’t even do his magic super lift, MJ is there to help him.  That gives him hope, which wins the day.  The Kindred twins disintegrate and return to Mephisto’s Realm.  Dr. Strange and Mephisto talk about why Peter is important to Mephisto and Peter and MJ get a happily ever after.

OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)

On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB),  KATAMMM! Gets a 9.  Sounds like lightning is about to strike and turn Spidey into Captain Universe again! There were so many good onomatopoeias to choose from here!

 

Rubric

We are looking for a wrap up to Spencer’s run, so did it fulfill all the metrics we were looking for?

Cost Analysis – I think it is fair to point out that we at the Crawlspace have been very critical of $10 books – and rightly so.  In this case the book is 80+ pages long (plus more for ads if you have a print copy).  That in itself is not enough for me to forgive the price.  If over half of those pages are back up stories that I don’t care about, then I’m still feeling jipped in the end.  In this case we get 62 pages of story.  A standard comic has form 20-22 pages of story.  So, I’m getting roughly just shy of three comics for the price of a little over 2 if they had spaced it out.  I’m OK with that.  Now it is just a matter of if the main story was worth it.

Kindred’s identity – Something is screwy here.  Kindred’s earlier talks with Norman in the asylum do NOT match either Gabriel nor Sarah.  There is no reason for Gabriel or Sarah to talk about the old party or the return of Harry party.  I am not at all upset that it was not Harry all along, but I am frustrated that the reveal does not match the clues.  At all. And where exactly does the AI fit into all of this?  Do we need an AI Harry if Mephsito is the force behind it?  I also know that it could just be that I did a poor job reading it and missed something along the way, but I think there is more to it than that.

I think making the twins Kindred is a fine idea and it does bring back in the two different colors of his jacket (thought he coloring of those jackets in this issue doesn’t match how they were done up in early issues, so it really doesn’t settle that problem), but I can’t shake the feeling that it was not them to begin with.  I know some are speculating that Christos Gage was brought into “fix” a few things and if he was and this was part of the fix, I don’t blame him.  He’s just doing his job.

It also brings in a weird implication.  They are lab creations that have souls for Mephisto to torture?

Oh, and I guess I should cancel that run of MARK WAS RIGHT T-shirts after all.  I hope I can get back my deposit…

With Mephisto being behind them all along (you know you are singing it in your head), that would explain how Mysterio and Sin-Eater could come back to life and other amazing demonic things Kindred has been a part of. But it doesn’t explain one thing that I will get to later.

Harry Lyman/Harry Osborn – I know some of the commenters on the front page had some serious issues with Harry’s redeeming death still leading him to hell.  I had no such qualms, but I think the scene with Harry and Mephisto at the beginning is a great way to reconcile that.  Yes, it was one redeeming act, but there was the others that he let go.  However, I thought for sure that when clone Harry redeemed himself there at the end, it would have freed his soul, leaving Mephisto in a lurch with Strange.  Alas, that was not the case.  As it stands, though, Harry’s original death is back to being canon and Harry’s soul can finally be at rest.  I think this was a good ending for Harry.

Dr. Strange and Mephisto confrontation – I found this whole thing confusing and Dr. Strange leaves never knowing what happened to Peter.  All this gambling for souls and it was Harry’s soul they were gambling for?  Then there is this:

Is he referring to losing his deal with Peter and MJ?  Is that what he is not referring to?  If so, then I guess the implication is that the deal is done and over? Dr. Strange won that without ever knowing what he was fighting for?  At one point, Mephisto said he wanted the stakes made clear, but Mephisto’s Realm if I know what they were.  It truly seems like this did not resolve itself the way it was originally envisioned.  My assumption is that the deal is done and we can move forward, but I just felt there was too much promise for a more direct attack.  So let’s get to that.

Addressing the Deal with the Devil – It appears Spencer pulled an alternate assignment here.  Does he address the deal? Not directly.  Apparently, all the mentions of the deal with the devil were in regards to Norman’s deal with Harry’s soul (I still find it unsettling that we can now have other people bargain other people’s souls – and yes, I know it is only a fictional accounting, but that is what these reviews are all about, right?  Deep diving into the story?  To that end, I am not a big follower of stories that Mephisto normally treads in, so maybe this has happened before, but my understanding is that your soul belongs to you and you alone can decide what happens to it).  So did I find it disappointing that Peter and MJ leave this book without the deal being officially and finally reckoned with?  YES. (See above point)

However, let’s review this a bit.  What did I want from the deal being addressed?  Ultimately, I wanted Peter and MJ to be able to move forward in their relationship.  Do we get that here?  YES.  Since I was not expecting a reinstatement of the marriage (Spencer has been quite clear that he is NOT for just erasing continuity, but dealing with the consequences of the bad storytelling), so I was not upset to see that they are not married again (though I like that concept).

You know what else labeled unbreakable?  1970s Tonka Trucks.

That didn’t stop me from spending an entire afternoon with my friend proving them wrong.  I broke that sucker!  My mother was not as thrilled about my accomplishment.  Anyway, the point is, I both like the term ‘unbreakable’ with Spencer’s end here and now you know why I am a bit suspicious of anything labeled as ‘unbreakable’.

And then Spencer, ever one to suggest something different, leaves us this panel:

Let’s look at this.  Mephisto is scared of Peter Parker because one day Peter will bring about his downfall.  So he tries to derail Peter.  But Dr. Strange points out that he doesn’t just go after Peter, but also after MJ.

Why?

My reading on this is to look back at that panel and get a good glimpse of Peter’s face.

Those are some serious angry eyebrows.  That is a man who is ready to inflict some serious pain.  Yes, I know I have an unhealthy fascination with comic book eyebrows, but go with me here for a moment.

We have only seen Peter pushed to that limit twice.  Once when Gwen Stacy was thrown off the bridge.  Once when Aunt May died.  And both times, he reins himself in before the killing punch.

But Mephisto sees this ending differently.  So what could make Peter finally snap?  MJ.  Something is going to happen to MJ.  Mephisto knows that when MJ dies (or other similar catastrophe) during his big take over, Peter will flat-out end Mephisto.

That’s why he wants the marriage.  That’s why he wants Peter to corrupt himself here against Kindred – not to sully a hero’s soul, but to end MJ and Peter getting back together.  He wants her disgusted with him or he disgusted with himself to the point where they cannot form that bond.

And he failed.

He’s failed twice now.

So, we get that bond here, but now we wait for some major Mephisto plot.  That will be the (potential) end of Peter and MJ.  Of course, it looks like all the other heroes are dead, so that doesn’t mean she’ll be dead after the fact.  There might be a deus ex machina event that fixes things afterward, but then again, maybe not.

What I’m still left with is, if Mephisto wants Peter and MJ out of the picture, why let Kindred resurrect Peter all those times?  Can someone with more Mephisto experience reading explain to me if Mephisto’s hands are tied when it comes to killing people?  It seems to me he could have just solved the who problem by leaving Peter dead at Kindred’s hands.

Extra Credit

Goes to Spencer.  His parting message to us the reader is:

That was a big undertaking and he has my respect for the attempt and the end product.

Final Grade

What do we grade here?  The issue?  The entire run?  Why not both!

Amazing Spider-Man #74 – I was engaged the whole time.  The Stacy twins seems a bit overly complicated to me and the art was wonky at times (but the story so compelling, it didn’t take me out of it), but in the end, I think Spencer stuck the landing – mostly.  I feel like the parts that didn’t land may not have been Spencer’s but a rewrite, but I don’t know for sure.  Because of that, it leaves me feeling, once again, that we were this close to greatness…  I want to give this an A-, but I think upon a reread of the comic, I am going with

B+

Spencer’s Run as a whole – I am very happy with his run.  I have one complaint with his writing – the pacing.  I felt that a lot of the enjoyment I would have had from this run was tainted by the just under Bendis-style pacing.  That said, Spencer reset SO MANY THINGS.  That was not easy.  He clearly did his research on everything (except Goblin formula application).  We are left with several hanging storylines that may never get resolved, but that is life in comic books. Plus, so many bad villains (OK, maybe a little too many bad villains at the end)! The biggest factor in this run, for me, is that I found myself eager to read the next book often.  I have not felt that way in quite a long time.

A-

Your Turn

What grade do YOU give the book?

 

What grade do YOU give Spencer’s Run?

 

But Wait!  There’s More!

There are two backup stories (maybe more) that I am not going to tackle here.  Chi-Town will grab them in his review.  I felt that no one came here to talk about backup stories.  I haven’t read them yet, so maybe I’m making a huge mistake here.

 

Was It Worth More Than…

This entire run of 74 issues cost you well over $300.  Was it worth more than this equally priced electronic toilet seat/bidet?

Well, both are cleaning up crap, that’s for sure.  The bidet has a heated seat, adjustable spray, and an air dryer to make sure my cheeks are completely dry.  That’s pretty hard to beat.  But as I am 50 and there’s a colonoscopy in my near future, I’m betting I just don’t need anything else shooting up in that area, so I think I’ll stick with my ASM run for now.  It’s certainly better than the 10 gallons of actual gorilla crap* I could buy, which, sadly to say, I cannot always say is true about comics I have reviewed.

 

What’s Next?

We have something new coming!

Yikes!  It’s like Spencer knew what was coming next.  I know that many of you are hesitant to buy into this new Spider-Man Beyond thing, but I’m going to go ahead and tell you this – YOU CANNOT BACK OUT NOW!  If Chi-Town, Ryan, and I have to go through it, you better be there with us and commenting right along!  That said, here’s a video sneak peak at what’s to come.

 

Your Assignment

Get into the comments section and tell me what you liked, disliked, hope for the next run, fear from the next run, praise for my quick turn around, condemnation for getting something wrong, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!

 

 * I put that in there just for you, Evan and Hornacek.

 

‘Nuff Said!