Greetings fans of the Webhead! OH BOY, wasn’t last issue something? We saw Queen Goblin taking therapy to a whole new frightening level and it only costs your life! Mary Jane and Black Cat continue their newly found friendship and the one true Spider-Man, Peter Parker, is BACK! Really good art sequence! Really bad art sequence! It was all there, so how does this issue par up? One thing is for sure, it’s not a BEY issue that’s “important” to read when really it’s not. Let’s swing on in together, right here on the Spider-Man Crawlspace.
(Beyond Trust) Patrick Gleason, Zeb Wells, Saladin Ahmed, Cody Ziglar, & Kelly Thompson
(Writer) Patrick Gleason
(Artist) Mark Bagley
(Colorist) Bryan Valenza, Dijjo Lima, & Andrew Crossley
(Letterer) VC’s Joe Caramagna
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 2/23/2022
Issue Number #90 LGY #891
Price Tag: $3.99
For a different perspective:
Alford’s Notes and Read’s Reads
Announcement!
The Amazing Spider-Man VOLUME SIX #1 (Yes, Marvel went there) is just around the corner and ASM will go back to twice a month. Dark Mark and I will still continue to rotate written reviews.
He’ll write a review for #895, I’ll write for #896, he’ll write for #897 …
Mark has been known to slack off every now and then, but I’ll do my best to keep that boy on track. He’ll take one for the team with the BEY issue he’s scheduled for, but don’t be surprised if he tries to weasel his way out of it, we at the Crawlspace HQ expect that kind of behavior from him. Ryan Read will continue on with what he does on the video reviews, pretending that we don’t even exist. Rude…but hey, more power to him.
Story: The villainous (it’s official, now) Maxine Danger can’t seem to get a hold on Ben or Janine because Ben put his GPS on “Airplane Mode”. Ben informs Janine that putting a stop to Beyond is his only problem that he needs to deal with right now, the innocents at the Bugle are somebody else’s. Speaking of which, our HERO, Peter Parker (THE REAL SPIDER-MAN) is duking it out with The Queen Goblin over at the Bugle. After a goblin glider ride through the city, Queen Goblin blasts Spidey with her Goblin Gaze and throws him in the east river. Queen Goblin thinks she has won, but Spidey busts out of the river stating “”Lady, I drink a self-guilt like coffee EVERY morning!” and lands a punch on her chin. The goblin glider rescues QG and escapes while the Coast Guard fishes Spider-Man out of the river. Mary Jane and Black Cat meet up with Spider-Man for a refill on web fluid and discover that Maxine Danger has initiated the “Backdraft Protocol” on Staten Island which is bad news for Ben. Spider-Peter and Spider-Ben meet up and decide they are going to bust into Beyond, via Team Up, 90’s style.
The Breakdown
- Not My Problem
- The Real Deal
- Backdraft Protocol
- The Art
- Nitpicks
- Grade
Not My Problem: Do we really need to get into this one? Tobey Maquire and Tom Holland have said this line out loud on screen and paid the price. It’s one of the core fundamentals of BEING Spider-Man.
To turn your back on people needing help…
To NOT do ANYTHING that can prevent danger to anyone else…
To only take care of “#1” which is yourself…
To take care of YOUR needs and wants over anyone elses…
DOES NOT MAKE YOU SPIDER-MAN!!!
You can dress up like the guy however you want. Cosplay to your hearts content. Make new friends and brag about your adventures till sun comes up. You are still a phony. A fake. A pitiful clown. Ben isn’t the bad guy, but even before he had his memories wiped he was basically doing this job because he was being paid “stupid money”. Now all he’s caring about is his needs. His reputation. His gal pal. Stopping Beyond so they don’t take anymore away from HIM, not anyone else. Really like how Gleason nails that head into the reader. Interesting to see how his character will now focus since he’s having doubts on who he’s “supposed” to be. It’s a ticking time bomb. I know Ben cares, he’s a good guy, but he REALLY cares on clearing HIS name and taking care of HIS needs. This is not something the CLONE of Peter Parker should or would do.
The Real Deal: Feels good to have Peter back in the webs doesn’t it? Same costume, web shooters, telling bad jokes… Fits like a favorite hat. His main focus is on stopping Queen Goblin and protecting innocents no matter how much pain he’s in. He even over comes her Goblin Gaze, like Peter remembers “self doubt is kinda HIS thing.” That goes for Ben Reilly too, since it was Ben who reminded Peter of it. To do what’s IS right, to never give up, to be…
SPIDER-MAN!
Let’s remember, that he’s not at full strength but knows he has an important job to do. He’s “well enough” to take care of what needs to be done. Gleason gets Spider-Man from a writer perspective. Peter wants to shut down Beyond because he knows of the damage it will do to everyone, not just him.
Backdraft Protocol: I have a few theories on what this could be or mean. Usually writers have a way of placing meaning in between their words. A Backdraft is an explosive surge in a fire produced by the sudden mixing of air with other combustible gases…that’s me in the bathroom after eating some Taco Bell. It also could reference the movie Brackdraft, in that movie Firefighter Adcox admits that he set the fires to kill Swayzak’s associates, because Swayzak (political Mayor candidate) was benefiting (money for his campaign) from the deaths of firefighters and closing down firehouses. Kinda like Beyond benefitting from the damage done by Supervillain/Hero fights, so now Ben is kinda like Adcox going after Beyond Corp. Either way, the jig is up for Maxine Danger.
The Art: We all love Mark Bagley, cept for Dark Mark. However, the Dark One has shed some light on us. Bagley makes really great Splash Pages. He’s good with Masked figures most of the time, but with facial figures it can get a bit alarming. Take this panel for example. I honestly don’t know who to blame for this one.
- MJ’s eyes. She go blind? White Sciera Mary Jane doesn’t have the same ring as Green Eyed Mary Jane.
- Peter’s nose bulging out, which might explain why Bagley draws the “dog snout” Spidey mask covering on side views.
- It’s supposed to be Peter putting on the mask, but we get Ben’s gloves. Was it Bagley? The multiple Inkers/Colorists on this book? We’ll never know unless Lowe addresses in the “lack of” letter section.
I’m no artist, but when looking at art, especially comic book art, I like things to stay a bit consistent when looking at it.
Nitpicks:
- Really wanted Peter to address to Ben that he left the Bugle. Especially leaving Mary Jane there at the mercy of Queen Goblin.
- Misleading Cover. Yeah…that image did not happen.
Grade: Giving this one an A-. It’s worth the money. Good story (what we really want to read) and decent artwork (if you can get past some panels/colors). The last page is pretty much foreshadowing the end of the Beyond run. I am assuming Peter will want to destroy Beyond and Ben will try to stop him because he need certain Beyond things to fix his life, needs, and wants.
Dark Mark will take on the next issue!
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Pandora
Amazon Music
iHeartRadio
Podbean
Amazon Alexa
Player.fm
Listen Notes
Stitcher
If anything, the context makes Peter look worse. He was completely sane and himself, while Ben has been suffering from some serious mental damage. Even if he then intervened and solved the situation, Peter still did something quite dangerous, wasting time like that during an already risky plan: things could have escalated pretty quickly.
Anyway, chill, I was just lightly taunting you on this funny coincidence between what you said and what I read (I’m sure there are many other examples, but this was quite meaningful being in the Lee-Romita era).
And no, I did not play Spider-man PS4 and I wouldn’t even if I had the console. I usually don’t like modern games: they tend to be all the same, too focused on graphic and not enough on gameplay. To me they feel like a guided cinematic experience, where all I have to do is push a button when told to do so. You could say I’m a retro-gamer and not just for nostalgic reasons.
@Aqu: No, because that’s not the full story. In that issue Spider-Man revives and fights through all the cons and frees Stacy. Afterward, Stacy tries to convince Spider-Man to stay for questioning and to reveal his identity and try and prove that he is not a criminal. Peter refuses, because of his concern over his Aunt May should his identity become public knowledge. Not to mention that Captain Stacy secretly knew Peter was Spider-Man. Also, he was knocked out before in a fight with The Vulture so cut the guy some slack, he’ll get back into the game, which he did. So he called his Aunt while he was “reviving”. It’s why they have intercoms in their masks now’n’days. Talk to love one while they are fighting. You’ve played the PS4 Spider-Man game, I’m sure. There’s a prime example of that in there.
See the difference between that issue and this one? Peter stopped a prison break and diffuse a hostage situation. Ben saved Janine and BAILED. (dusts off hands)
“To turn your back on people needing help…
To NOT do ANYTHING that can prevent danger to anyone else…
To only take care of “#1” which is yourself…
To take care of YOUR needs and wants over anyone elses…
DOES NOT MAKE YOU SPIDER-MAN!!!”
It’s funny. I recently read ASM 65, written by The Man himself, and in it Peter decides to just stop and phone Aunt May, since it’s been a while…. When he is captive in a police station, in the middle of a breakout of criminals who have Captain Stacy as a hostage!
So, Chi-Town, what do you say, does that make Peter not Spider-man? [cue troll face]
@Mark: Of course you do.
I’m going to have to agree with Aqu@ agreeing with me on the clone hate you keep propagating. Cut the poor guy some slack. It’s not like he’s a mutant or anything.
@Aqu: Again, the MORAL COMPASS OF SPIDER-MAN has been completely swiped from Ben’s mind. It was twisted before, now it’s completely gone. That’s what I’m aiming at in my “hate towards Ben”. That’s not Spider-Man. It’s not because he’s a clone.
I thought the same thing too! MJ with BC going to see Spider-Man. However, MJ and Spidey throughout the years have been close within the public eye. I think the general public know that MJ is a Celebrity and they get certain perks, including being around famous superheroes.
I second Mark on the clone hate. As a clone, I feel quite offended.
At first I too thought it was Bagley’s fault for the wrong gloves, but with a deeper look I realized that there’s no pencil line. It’s probably the colorist who didn’t know which Spider-man he was working on. The fact that there are three of them (of colorists, not Spiders) only adds to the problem.
Again I am irked by the lack of attention to details: anyone who would see MJ, a famous model, worrily going after Spider-man at the dock with Black Cat would start questioning what’s her deal with him.
@Jack: That sounds about right. Pre-Rebirth Era Hal and Batman disagreed A LOT with each other’s methods.
@Mark: Same here on the guilt thing. I don’t have a “Sonar Artist Flaw” detector like you pal, but I’m not going to put a blind eye on something that doesn’t seem right. He’s still a good artist. Like I said, his splash art on comics is something to posterize.
Oh for the love of…I’m not being too harsh on Ben for being a clone! I’m simply stating that he has completely lost his moral compass on what it actually MEANS to be Spider-Man. He can be a rejected design flaw muppet for all I care, he just has to have some sense on what it MEANS to be Spider-Man and follow through with it if he were to honor the title.
I’m very happy that we BOTH agreed on the grade TWO!
I’m glad that they didn’t prolong the whole guilt thing. I think it was just the right amount for the story being told. Once I got past Comixology ruining my day, I enjoyed the issue! Glad you are finally coming around to my point on Bagley’s inconsistency.
Also, I feel you are too harsh on Ben being a clone and not the real deal. Remember, clones are people two!*
I’ll go A- on this as well.
*Chi-Town, that is a pun – you see, the play on the words two/too?
This reminds me of a time when Hal Jordan (as the Spectre) tried to punish Batman by psychically confronting Bruce with his “demons”, and Bruce just shrugged it off with something like, “You think I don’t know my own demons?”
@Sthenurus: Good to see ya again! You can kinda disagree, it’s okay to be wrong. lol
Ben tells Peter that he’s officially Spider-Man now because he’s being paid “stupid money” to do it, right before he leaves the diner in ASM #876. Beyond TOLD Ben that they were going to do it with or without him but they hand picked Ben, not because he died as Spider-Man in Revelations, but because of the psychological disaster he went through AFTER he came back. They knew they could play on that to bend him to their will and add icing to the cake with a “second chance” in life. It’s why Ben’s going after him right now, because he figured out their evil plan.
In the Peter Flashback, I see “Default 27 Ben” after Spider-Geddon, cause he mentioned the hospital. However, if Peter is imagining Ben as right before he died in Revelations, then I’ll bite into that delicious apple.
Good review! I agree with the eating but kinda disagree with the analysis. Ben didn’t just take the job because he is being paid “stupid money”. He did it because they were gonna go forward with or without him, and whoever would have taken the job would probably not have done so for the right reason or the understand what being Spider man means/requires. He does. He IS spider-man. He died being spider-man.
Beside in Peter flashback, you can see the real Ben. And he is as much eaten with guilt as Peter is.