This is it! We have come the end of Nick Spencer’s run and what he has brought to The Amazing Spider-Man! I have mentioned it before in my reviews and I hope you all took my advice by “Enjoying this ride.” I know I have.
Throughout November of 2007 to November of 2018, we had a decade of trying new things and ideas for Spidey and his friends, interesting ideas that just didn’t seem to fit. To be honest, Otto Octavius seemed to shine out more than Peter Parker did during that time. As a Spider-Fan I didn’t enjoy that time at all. Needless to say, I was unhappy and ashamed to be a Spider-Man fan.
- I’m not a fan of “man child” Peter Parker spitting out pop culture references to enforce humor.
- I didn’t like the “character assassination” of Mary Jane or the many enforced “love interests” to replace what was never broken.
- The supporting cast didn’t fit into the continuity at all.
- Peter never excepted accountability or responsibility for his actions, even when they weren’t actually “his”.
I tried to accept the “New Norm” but just came to the realization that, that is not the Spider-Man I know and love.
It only took Nick Spencer one issue of him helming ASM to FIX a lot of what has been considered (and rightfully so) WRONG with the character and his supporting cast. After that first issue, it was like my old friend welcoming me back! Within the next three years after his first issue, Nick followed through on what he was set out to do. There have been delays (out of HIS control) and at times when we felt like the kids in the back seat asking “Are we there yet?”. He had a plan and stuck with it. Even through the Marvel Universe Events that crawled its way into ASM. He has honored the past continuity and acknowledged that it did happen instead of telling us “Move on from that already.” or “Pretend that didn’t happen.” Can’t pretend we don’t own those issues or shelled out the money for them no less, can we? If that were the case, Marvel would send us refund checks.
No, Spencer heard our concerns and tries to deliver a conclusion that will make all Spider-Fans copacetic and for the most part, he did. In his stories he made an attempt to assure us that the current and past issues we have read, were “worthwhile” of our time and money. I surely will miss his pen on this title and wish him the best of luck in his future career. Also very honored to have met the man after his first issue came out! Always greeting fans with a warm smile and a sturdy hand shake, he took time to listen on what you liked and didn’t like about the book and never argued back or block on you social media because you thought differently. He respected the fans and the fandom when it came to Spider-Man. He didn’t lie because he thought that’s “what storytellers do.”. Tom Hanks portrayed Walt Disney in the movie [Saving Mr. Banks] and in a scene he said…
“Because that’s what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.”
Nick Spencer did that to ASM. He restored order with imagination and instilled HOPE.
So THANK YOU Nick Spencer. You delivered the goods and mixed in some wonderful entertainment! You UNDERSTOOD the character and his supporting cast. Also thank you Spider-Office for publishing me in the letters section, not once, but FIVE times during his run. Much appreciated and very thankful! That is something that most fans, especially Dark Mark, could not achieve! Hopefully Marvel will ask Nick to come back for issue 900! I could go on and on to what Nick did right for this book, but it’s time to “Move on from that already.”😂
That being said about Nick Spencer, we now sit in the seats.
This game has been a long one!
The bases are loaded!
It’s 2 outs and Nick Spencer has come up to the plate with a 0-2 count.
We are expecting a a grand slam with this issue!
Here comes the pitch aaannd…
…..the umpires…they..just called the game!!
Wait what..how the?!….that wasn’t supposed to happen. Let’s find out how that happen together Crawlspacers and why it’s only 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth, We got a lot to unpack, RIGHT HERE, on the Spider-Man Crawlspace!
Required Reading
Before you move on, here are the links to the previous written reviews of Sinister War!
The Chi-Town Breakdown: Prelude: Amazing Spider-Man #871
Alford’s Notes: Sinister War #1
The Chi-Town Breakdown: Amazing Spider-Man #872
Alford’s Notes: Sinister War #2
Alford’s Notes: Sinister War #3
The Chi-Town Breakdown: Amazing Spider-Man #873
Alford’s Notes: Sinister War #4
The Chi-Town Breakdown: Amazing Spider-Man #874
Want to go further back? How Mary Jane got a part in Mysterio’s Movie?
Alford’s Notes: Amazing Spider-Man #826
The Bogenrieder Perspective: Amazing Spider-Man #826
Then OF COURSE there’s the journey they took to complete this film
The Chi-Town Breakdown: The Amazing Mary Jane #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, Soft Canceling
(Writer) Nick Spencer & Christos Gage
(Artist) Carlos Gomez, Marcelo Ferrira, Ze Carlos, Dio Neves, Ivan Fiorelli, & Humberto Ramos
(Colorist) Alex Sinclair & Company
(Letterer) VC’s Joe Caramagna
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 9/29/2021
Issue Number #875
Price Tag: $9.99
For a different perspective:
Alford’s Notes and Read’s Reads
Story: We cut to Spectacular Spider-Man #200 where Harry dies and arrives in Hell with Mephisto greeting him. Confused Harry thought he was cleansed from all his sins, dying a hero. That is true, Mephisto assures him, but then he reminds Harry that he forgot to warn Peter about “Life Theft” and “Sins Past” that Peter will embark on. Now Harry realizes that he left the stove on before he left, Harry accuses Mephisto of his downfalls in life. Smirking as the demon has been known to do, Mephisto lets Harry know that he was just a pawn to a much bigger scheme. We then cut to Spider-Man getting his butt kick by Kindred. There is time to breathe as Mary Jane escapes through a mirror and into Peter’s arms for a kiss. The moment is spoiled when Norman reveals that there’s not one, but two Kindreds! Mephisto and Dr. Strange play their game of chance. If Mephisto champions win, he keeps Harry’s soul and Dr. Strange’s soul. If Strange champions win, Harry soul is freed and (from what I gathered) the tampering of Peter Parker’s soul is undone.
Harry Lyman confesses to Carlie that he is just a clone of Harry Osborn. They return to the Osborn Mansion in the states via teleportation mirror and Harry grabs the Goblin gear to fight Kindred. The two Kindreds gang up on Spidey and it looks like he is down for the count with Clone Harry joins the fight to even the odds. Clone Harry and Norman reveal that the Kindreds are regenerated clones of Gabriel and Sarah Stacy. It was Mephisto that brought them back to life after they turn to bisquick and controlled them via AI Harry. Realizing the truth the “Kindred Spirits” rage on against Spidey, Clone Harry and Norman. Clone Harry dies protecting Norman. Peter gives a good fight against the “Kindred Spirits” but despair engulfs him after losing his best friend, again. Kindred(s) take advantage of that and bury Spider-Man alive deep within the ground with no means of escape. Mephisto thinks his champions have won the day, but Strange assures him that Clone Harry wasn’t his other champion, it was actually Mary Jane! MJ claws, lifts, and digs up Peter out from the debris confirming that saying “Love conquers all.”. Strange won the game. Kindreds fail and turn back into bisquick. Peter and MJ head on home and Strange finds out the reason Mephisto messed with Peter in the first place. Issue ends with Peter and MJ taking a webswinging joyride and making out on top of an antenna tower above the New York City skyline.
The Breakdown
- OMD Classified
- Unbreakable
- Kindred Spirits
- Behind the Scenes
- Reilly Onward
- Nitpicks
- Grade
OMD Classified: Let’s not beat around the bush, we all know the true purpose of OMD was to make Peter single so writers could relive their fictional single glory day via Spider-Man. We know that, Marvel editorial knows that, and more importantly Nick Spencer knew that. Which is why he wanted to tackle it and CORRECT IT, like he did with “Sins Past”. The question was, how to actually explain why the demon would WANT Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage. Nick Spencer’s Answer:
The demon had a vision that Pete/MJ’s daughter May”Day” Parker aka Spider-Girl would dethrone Mephisto during his dark time of reign over earth sometime in the future. Mephisto figured that if he were to take their marriage and enough love from them, that May wouldn’t be born. If you think about it, it’s really the ONLY thing that would make “sense” and “explain” the uncharacteristic nature of Peter and his supporting cast over the last decade. Spencer actually gives a better explanation to OMD than the “Editorial Mandate” back then, ever could!!! You gotta give props to him for that one. He DID correct it. Now, is this MC2 Spider-Girl or 616 Spider-Girl? Mephisto thinks it’s 616, but is it? That’ll have to be answered for another time.
Unbreakable: Dr. Strange narration descripts Peter and Mary Jane’s love and support for each other as “Unbreakable”. Throughout the years, and even during Post-OMD, that has become as clear as a sunny day blue sky. In Spencer’s run, he only amplified it! Now they are stronger, more supportive, and even Marvel Editor Nick Lowe stated that Peter and Mary Jane are “The best couple in comics being great and there for each other.” I did enjoy Dr. Strange when he informs Mephisto that Clone Harry wasn’t his second champion. I have said it time and time again, that Mary Jane, when written correctly, is a VERY STRONG character. It’s nice to see that this relationship between these two still hold strong to what Spencer had planned out. However, given the teases in the issues before, there was no proposal…or was there? More on that in a bit…
Kindred Spirits: So it turns out that Kindred or Kindred(s) were dead clones of Gabriel and Sarah Stacy that were brought back to life thanks to Mephisto and controlled by AI Harry who was ALSO under the control of Mephisto. Apparently the sins that they wanted Norman to confess to was not being a good dad and Peter to confess to that he wasn’t there to save them. That’s basically the gist of it, but I’m not buying it. It doesn’t fit to all the clues Kindred left behind during Spencer’s run. Dark Mark was extremely attentive to accuracy and cornered every detail when it came to that. All signs left to damned Hell-Ridden Harry using clone bodies of Gabriel and Sarah to exact revenge on Peter and Norman. That makes more sense in the clues left behind and the confessed sin should of been Norman selling off Harry’s soul and Peter/MJ making another deal that kind cost them having a kid. That makes more sense!! Gabriel and Sarah had nothing to do with the dialogue that Kindred spoke of in previous issues. They knew they were clones and their motives just don’t line up, expect the coats they wore WEREN’T an artistic choice. So why the change? That brings me to my next topic.
Behind the Scenes: I believe Spencer had this plan in mind. Kindred would be Harry using “clone bodies” to get Peter and Mary Jane to confess that they made a deal with Mephisto to undo their marriage that prevented them from having a child, which was Mephisto’s plan all along. Kindred also wanted Norman to confess to his sins, by selling him off to Mephisto. At the end of this run, Strange wins the day over Mephisto freeing Harry and breaking the deal that Peter and MJ made, therefore resulting (possibly) the death of Aunt May and memories returning of their marriage. The last page would be Peter proposing..again.
That didn’t happen. Here’s my brilliant theory on how we got here.
Editorial stepped in and ask Spencer to hold off.
Spencer said “No” because this was his plan and his “swan song” to end his run.
Editorial wants the “Wedding” issue to be in issue #900 that would run to June which also happens to be the 60th Anniversary of Spider-Man.
Spencer said he can’t drag it out any longer, especially for 25 more issues.
Editorial pushes back on Spencer.
Spencer decides to quit.
Given the outline, Editorial hires Gage to fill in the missing holes and preform some rewrites on ASM 875.
Peter gets put out of commission.
Spider-Man Beyond will feature Ben Reily playing the hero mixed in with Peter/MJ stories to fill up 25 issues.
Issue #900 comes along with variants galore to promote Peter’s return and the Spider-Wedding.
This OF COURSE is a theory based on what happens in ASM #876 and #877.
If you saw the Gleason Cover of ASM#877 you see Mary Jane wearing a ring on her right hand. Most people fear the worst in thinking Peter has passed with MJ being a widow. That is assuming that’s a WEDDING ring, NOT an ENGAGEMENT ring. Here me out, let’s say Peter did propose to Mary Jane in #876 and they both wanted to get married right away and according to engagement ring placement…
“just before the wedding ceremony, the engagement ring is exchanged onto the right hand so the wedding ring can be placed onto the left hand, to be worn closest to the heart. After the ceremony, the engagement ring is then placed on top of the new wedding band.”
After Peter get badly beaten and hospitalized, that wedding is placed on HOLD. Ben takes over for the next 25 issues then Peter comes back in issue #900 as Spider-Man and ties the knott with Mary Jane. That’s at least what I suppose is going to happen, we’ll find out more next week, until then, hold on to hope that this is the outline that does place out.
Reilly Onward: Ben is back! Why? I already gave me thoughts on that. So know the Beyond Corporation that makes Choco-Little Snack Cakes have made Ben Reily their Official Spider-Man. Fitting since Ben is made from flour. Oh come on..you couldn’t ask for a better set up than that! Much like Peter need a Mary Jane in his life. Ben needs a Janine Godbe in his life, who happens to actually be Elizabeth Tyne. For those of you that want backstory on her, just click here. The Beyond Corporation values her talents and hired her, so count on her helping out Ben during is Spidey take two, days. So a reunited story from new writer for Spider-Man Beyond, Zeb Wells.
Nitpicks:
- Ramos art on Peter and Mary Jane making out. Why does it look like Peter is eating Mary Jane? I understand a passionate kiss, but for my money I would say give those two pages to Carlos Gomez. He would illustrate that scene better without making it look like “lunch time.”
- There’s a nice Uncle Ben story in there to give readers a reminder on why Peter does what he does. I would prefer more on Peter/MJ story line to fill those pages, but hey. Todd Nauck. Can’t go wrong there.
- Carlie Cooper is not dead! Why not?!
Grade: Giving this one a B-. I did have certain expectations on this one and it just seemed rewritten. Throughout Spencer’s run, I have enjoyed his ride and I honestly hope you have too. I’ll be covering the review for next week and hopefully the outline that I guessed is where we are going. Join me then Crawlspacers and please comment on Dark Mark and Ryan’s reviews. With ASM going 3 times a month, we’ll be splitting up the duties. No worries though…I know you like me best. 😀
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@Paul – Yep, she is Mayday. Now all she needs to do is get reborn consistent with all this retconning and go after Mephisto.
@Aqu@
Annie Parker AKA Spiderling wears a blue costume and red domino mask. This is clearly Mayday’s costume, which is based upon her Uncle Ben Reilly’s. I mean, this could of course be an amalgamation, or third daughter, but this characters look is clearly based on Mayday Parker, who was born at the conclusion of the Clone Saga.
Certainly the implication of Annie’s creation by Dan Slott was she was an alternate version of the girl who turned up in OMD. But even if she wasn’t, Spencer made the conscious choice to give this version of Spider-Girl a costume which matches the one worn by Mayday, and not the one worn by Annie.
Don’t forget, history was altered from the day of the wedding. After that event, Spider-Man lived a different, if similar history. So, the change occurred long before May was born… or, as the case may be, not born.
If Mephisto had wanted to change the future, he could’ve killed Peter or MJ, or found a way to keep them apart. Instead he changed their past history.
But that’s why I think this is Mayday/Spider-Girl, rather than Annie/Spiderling. Of course, this could be a third daughter, which has yet to be born (or unborn), but given that this looks like Mayday, I’m pretty sure that it is meant to be Mayday.
I will admit, that yes, it being Mayday is a use of rather overcomplicated continuity. But frankly, this issue makes use of a lot of overcomplicated continuity. It’s the choice that Spencer made when writing the issue, although to my mind including Mayday was one of the better choices that was made in this comic book.
@Mark
Yeah, that tends to happen with the panel view. While it’s ok for just reading the story, comics are still made with a page format, so artists put thought in that too and not being able to view the whole picture takes away from the experience. That’s why I prefer the page view (that and because sometimes the panel is cut). Obviously it’s only possible with a big enough screen.
@Paul Penna
Don’t let the costume fool you. They used that for convenience (instead of creating one). The girl has red hair and, considering we’re talking about the deal with Mephisto and his gain from it, I think there’s no mistake she is meant to be the unnamed daughter they could have conceived without the deal (the same one from OMD). Annie, May, the name doesn’t matter, since she isn’t born (yet?) in 616 reality. But it would have little sense if she was the lost daughter from the clone saga (and please, let at least this thing have some logic in an issue which has so little!).
@Dark Mark
My understanding is that Marvel’s view is that if Peter and MJ hadn’t been married, that MJ would never have gotten pregnant. This isn’t exactly spelled out in the books, but that seems to be the way Marvel is playing things. So, by preventing Peter and MJ from getting married, Baby May was erased.
This panel would suggest that she was alive, but not anymore. By making the deal, Peter and MJ essentially erased their daughter from history.
Now, in OMD the girl clearly wasn’t meant to be May, but instead the character than evolved in Annie Parker in Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows. A second daughter. But this Spider-Girl is shown to be wearing Mayday’s costume, so I would think that what is being suggested by this retcon is that it was still Mayday that Mephisto was trying to erase.
But yeah, this is clearly a retcon, but I think it’s at least a clever retcon. More clever than Mephisto wanting Peter and Mary-Jane’s marriage, anyway.
Hey chi-town! Great review!
I agree with you that Spencer’s run rights a lot of wrong. He washed away (along with superior spiderman v2 and venom v5) most of the s**t that Slott did. And for that I’m sooo grateful.
However this issue was disappointing. As the grand finale to Spencer’s run it feels disjointed. Like it doesn’t belong there. It actually creates more plot holes than it solves. It’s just… Weird.
Even the pacing is weird. There is a ton of action, then it stops for exposition, then action again…. It’s just not up to par. Especially after teasing us for 3 years.
OK, so I’m sitting here beating myself up over how I missed the Spider-Girl panel and then I pulled up the issue on Comixology. When I read it for the review, I was looking panel by panel and when that panel is repeated, I didn’t pay much attention to it because it was repeated art (my mistake there). When I went back for images, I didn’t go to the second panel, just the first, which is certainly Peter. Your panel used here is the second one, which is most certainly NOT Peter. But just now I went back and pulled it up on Comixology agian, and I put it on two page spread like you would see by holding the physical copy and the differences in the two panels jump out at you. Still my bad, but at least now I know why I didn’t notice it in the first place.
Nice job, Chi-Town. So I completely misread the panel of Peter’s daughter coming after Mephisto. I was so focused on the eyes that I failed to notice that it was obviously a female in a Spider-Man suit. So when everyone said, “May is back!”, I was scratching my head at what I missed! Well, I’ll own up to it. It’s the second mistake I made in my life and one has to be ready to admit when they messed up.
I do agree with Evan – I don’ t think that is May Day – here’s why I think that:
May Day is the baby born to Peter and MJ during the Clone saga that was stolen by Norman Osborn. She either died in child birth, was killed by Norman or that Mongrain woman (don’t remember the exact name), or she is still alive and being raised by people paid off by Norman.
If she is dead, then that’s not her (unless, I guess, she returns from Mephisto’s Realm, but if he already has her, then it is unlikely that he is concerned about Peter and MJ on earth). If she is alive and being raised by others, then I guess is *could* be her assuming that Peter will only find her if MJ and he are together.
When Peter and MJ give up their marriage, Mephisto goes out of his way to show them what could have been – a little daughter. Doubtful this was ever meant to be May Day, but rather a different daughter since the dissolving of their marriage makes he not exist. May Day, if alive, already exists. However, I guess we could say that he was showing her May Day because them not being together removes the possibility that she will ever be found and become Spider-Girl.
Whatever the case, it still doesn’t explain one thing to me. If Mephisto is worried about Peter and MJ being together, then why does Kindred bring back Peter from the dead so many times? Why not just leave him dead? I guess it could be interpreted that Kindred never killed Peter, but rather just made him believe he was dying multiple times, but if you had him in a state of consciousness where he was that far gone, why not just kill him for real?
Uggh! I like Spencer’s run and I so enjoyed putting those clues together with you. I hope that the next run is enjoyable as well.
I enjoyed the ride with Spencer for a little over a year. I thought he was doing a more than solid job all the way through Hunted and a little past that. After that, I started to question how much fun the ride was, and if it was still fun at all with a not-great Absolute Carnage tie-ins and an awkwardly conceived 2099 arc. I felt encouraged by Sins Rising but once we got to Last Remains, the ride became a mostly miserable experience. I almost bailed on the book then but the five postmortem issues that followed were surprisingly good and put the wind back in my sails in hoping for a strong back end of Spencer’s run. Sadly, things quickly went to sh*t after that. Arcs with mediocre to poor art written with a dutiful professional diligence but zero enthusiasm or flair and an ending that failed to make the big pay-offs that it needed to and that, indeed, that it openly teased from the start. What happened behind the scenes with Spencer’s run will likely remain unknown – at least until all involved have retired – but whatever happened, the result was a poorly executed run that does not reflect the talent involved. I believe Spencer had a great Spidey run in him but sadly this was not it. For me, this was – in its back half – the worst that ASM has been since Mackie/Byrne and the first time since then I was tempted to drop the book from my pull list. More power to those who found this run to be to their liking but, for me, I’m just glad to have it be over.
@Aqu: I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks that. Don’t get me wrong, for me, Ramos had his time in ASM years ago so now let other ones make their mark. Peter with that grim look may mean that he’s thinking “Just propose to her now!” and then we get the kiss of approval. Wishful thinking.
@evan: We’ll never get a straight answer on which Mayday that was. Interesting to hear what Kelly would have to say about that. Thanks so much for the kind words, man! I enjoy writing them. I’m very grateful that I can express my passion for Spidey here at the Crawlspace and I hope Spencer sees it too. Besides, my expressions are yours since we agree so I know what true Spidey fans want and desire and more importantly DESERVE.
@xonathan: I’m there with you, we all are. A means to an end maybe when it comes to character thinking, but who knows. That Gleason Cover may indicate that proposal and it’s possible that they are keeping it hush hush. Remember this issue sparked a lot of backlash, so a proposal next issue or issue after that would calm that storm. Not to mention sell more books. Only makes logical sense right? No need to apologize. You are just passionate about your fandom and frustrated at the end result, which we all are. Spencer did fix a lot, just the main thing we wanted is still dangling uncertain.
@Micheal: I read that article. Not buying it at all. Sure BC could have called their sources at Marvel to get the scoop, but there have been plenty times that when Marvel was upset at BC for spoiling issues before release. They could of told a “story” without revealing what “really happened.” Who knows. Reading this issue simple looks like Editorial put a stop to what Spencer was going to give us with Peter and MJ getting engaged (at least.)
Love all your comments here on the Crawlspace guys! Appreciate you taking time out of your day to read my reviews and the other content on this site (yes…even Dark Mark’s) 😀
Now Bleeding Cool is claiming that Spencer’s run on Amazing ended quicker than he liked but this was the ending he had planned:
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/did-amazing-spider-man-74-really-end-the-way-nick-spencer-intended/
@xonathan — You needn’t apologize for being negative.
In my comment on Mark’s review I jokingly apologized to Nick Spencer for suggesting that he was like J. J. Abrams if the Strange/Mephisto confrontation was all about Harry the whole time and not OMD. In other words, a fake-out meant to draw reader excitement.
But in terms of fixing continuity problems of the previous writers and not telling a good story, maybe the comparison to J.J. Abrams is apt. It’s not like I’m bitter about Star Wars or anything. Who, me?
Something else that occurred to me that irked me. If the plan all along was that Harry went to hell because of his wrong doing (robot parents and Gwen babies) and Norman selling his soul, then Harry would have NEVER been privy to the OMD deal Peter and MJ did. Why would Mephisto share that with Harry? We assumed Harry went to hell as a consequence of the OMD, but that was wrong all along. Therefore the sins Harry/Kindred/vessel-clones wanted Pete to confess were of Sins Past. It was never about OMD. Despite of 3 years of teasing the intention was never to directly address OMD. That sucks.
I hope you’re right that the proposal will come in the next two issues, But covers have been proven to be wrong.
Marriage in #900? Please… #900 will be the triumphant return of Peter Parker with a new costume justifying the 20+ different covers.
Sorry if I sound negative, but the last 3 years have only been attempts at fixing continuity. In itself, that’s not great storytelling.
There is so much to discuss here, but one question I have pertains to the identity of the Peter and MJ’s daughter in the panel at the end. I initially assumed it was May Parker, but thinking back to One More Day, I remember a redheaded little girl that represented their daughter, and in this panel, May Parker’s hair looks red, too. (I suspect that’s probably just a reflection of the surrounding fire, but it crossed my mind.) I don’t remember the details of OMD (thank goodness), so the child there could have just been a vision representing their daughter rather than what she would actually look like, and furthermore, from the readers’ perspective, red hair would be the simplest and most direct means of conveying her significance. So it probably is Mayday, but it’s something that just crossed my mind.
I really enjoyed your review, Chi-Town — and I think it’s awesome that you had a place where you could express your gratitude and appreciation for Nick Spencer. I hope that he sees it, for both of your sakes, and for all of us who agree!
xonathan has a point. All those three years of promises end with staying at the same spot. If the ending was actually facing the consequences of the deal with Mephisto,Peter and Mary Jane realizing their sin, and they need to redeem themselves, plus Aunt May realizing her nephew sold away his marriage (and daughter) just to keep her alive (obviously, Aunt May getting furious would be a saving grace), followed by her death, Spencer’s run could have been great.
Whether or not Peter and Mary Jane get back together or not, the deal with Mephisto and the reason for that stupid mandate still stain the characters.
I think that’s 616 “Spider-girl”, aka the unnamed daughter of Peter and MJ we saw when they made the deal. Note the seemingly red hair under the mask.
Yes, Ramos art for the final page is a terrible choice: look at the panel when Peter remove his mask, before kissing MJ. He is so grim and serious! He seems ready to push her down!
I really liked the backup story on the complete history. The graveyard one was drawn so well I wish Nauck was the regular artist.
And to answer Lowe in his last sentence (“how gorgeous does this look?”): it looks terrible. Two previews from two different artist and we’re already getting the suit drawn differently. Great, just great.
I honestly agree with xonathan. All that promise on resolving OMD and its reasons of existence since 2018; and look where it led us: no proposal or Peter and Mary Jane learning of their transaction, just Marvel Editorial with their same crap. Even if Peter and Mary Jane are unbreakable in a pop-cultural standpoint, they’d be tampered nonetheless.
Spencer has some good ideas, the issue is a mix on how to execute them because it’s a slow burn, and Marvel again.
If it were up to me…the Spencer run could have focused on Felicia Hardy getting closure while having a more professional reveal, no more Kraven clones, no “Web of Order”, no Sinister War or Chameleon Conspiracy, have Carlie and the other unnecessary dead weight (especially the tramp Cindy Moon) be exposed as constructs of Mephisto, just a streamlined version of the “Kindred Saga”, actually dealing with Mephisto by the end of the run, and Aunt May permanently dying, and the timeline restored.
@Michael: Interesting, I sure we’ll hear the full story from Spencer 10 years from now on what happened. That’s what JMS did with OMD
@Adam: It was wasn’t it? I totally forgot about the Carlie/Overdrive shipping. I do like that you called her Charlie though, I could have fun with that if she continues to show up. It’s a good run to read even though the ending kinda fell flat.
@Old Guy: Covers now and days are just for show, not like back then when it gave you a page tease of what to expect.
@Xonathan: No worries, The Spider-Man Crawlspace reads good/bad books so you don’t have to and provide edutainment for you that makes it easier to digest. I hear you and right there with you. However, Spencer did create some good stories. You didn’t enjoy the Spider-Trivia one, or Grog issues? ASM 25 was a MJ solo book, I enjoyed that.
This is why I stopped reading comics. Nothing matters. Nothing happens. 3 years of teasing about the marriage and proposal. 3 years of teasing about OMD at least being addressed. Then editorial comes and nothing gets done. We got some BS resolution about Harry’s soul. Now he’s dead. For now at least. No resolution on the marriage or proposal or OMD. Nothing. MJ and Pete are back together. Just like they were back in the first issue. So 3 years of going around and ending in the same spot.
Spencer tried to fix a lot of stuff that was wrong, but that was all he did. He did not deliver good stories. Just fixes. More like teases of fixes. Idk. I’m not happy with this half-assed ending. Reeks of editorial meddling.
I managed to successfully cancel my pre-order of the Alan Quah variant Homage cover for Amazing Spider-Man #875. Apparently Mr. Quah did not get the memos regarding how various aspects of the story were going to play out.
Great summary of the last few years. What a ride!
Charlie’s not dead, as she and Overdrive must find each other. Don’t know why, but this is the ship I will die on (now that Pete and MJ are unbreakable).
I’m going to give it a few weeks and then reread the run, I think I might tweak the story in my head cannon that Hell Harry was involved in the plot, just so the clues all work a little better.
I have issues regarding your theory.According to Lowe, Beyond was first discussed during a retreat in December 2020. Spencer’s leaving was announced in June. It doesn’t read like Spencer knew he was leaving for months. I have a feeling Spencer was fired without being told.