Ben Reilly has been character assassinated “BEYOND” repair. Too soon Clone Fans?…oh well. The Beyond era has ended (Thank Odin) and now we start a NEW volume of The Amazing Spider-Man! Greeting Crawlspacers! I’m back from my vacation and I need a vacation FROM that vacation, but more on that later. So Peter and Mary Jane finally agree to move in together when a person basked in glowing blinding light says “Come with me.” Personally, Peter should have said “Nah, I’m good pal.” and then made out with MJ followed by a proposal. Obviously, that didn’t happen so let’s jump into this brand new volume together Crawlspacers and see where this takes us, right here on the Spider-Man Crawlspace.
(Writer) Zeb Wells
(Artist) John Romita Jr
(Colorist) Brian Reber
(Letterer) VC’s Joe Caramagna
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 4/27/2022
Issue Number #1 LGY #895
Price Tag: $9.99
STORY: Spider-Man is sitting in a crater, something terrible has happened. Six months have passed since then and apparently Peter is on everyone’s block list. Aunt May has a heart to heart with her newly formed scruffy -looking-lying nephew. Peter is avoiding dept collections when he runs into Randy Robertson who tells him he is going to propose to his gf, Janice Lincoln. First Randy needs Tombstone to agree to the proposal, so he asks Peter to make sure he’s still alive after he asks the mob boss for her daughter’s hand and for Peter to loose the beard. Moments later Peter, now beardless, has a not so pleasant conversation with Johnny Storm, before leaving his apartment. Tombstone doesn’t want to do any kind of business with The Rose because he has no territory and The Rose brings in Digger (from the JMS era) as muscle to get a deal done. Peter sees that Tombstone has given his blessing to Randy and then follows White Rabbit down a particular rabbit hole where illegal shenanigans are taken place. Things go sideways when Spider-Man interferes and a fight between him and Digger ensues. Afterwards an exhausted Peter gets a call from Mary Jane who wants him to stop calling her and because that deal went south, Digger blows up Tombstone’s house in the middle of the night. Things get really weird the next morning. Peter walks around the city not getting anything important accomplished while Tombstone tails him. Peter stops outside MJ’s place, when Tombstone drives up to deliver a message, “You tell your buddy Spider-Man, that The Rose and I are going to war and it’s all Spider-Man’s fault!”. Peter shrugs it off like he doesn’t give a crap and MJ watches him from inside. Some douchebag named Paul shows up with two kids who run to MJ and embrace “their mother”. The issue ends with Doc Ock is being held hostage by and unknown man.
Just a few things before we head to The Breakdown…
WHAT TOOK SO LONG?:
As you are aware of by now, this book has been delayed a few times. There’s been some speculation on why over on our discord chat, which I highly encourage you to check out. Gonna name drop a few of our users to show you what they think.
- mjaafar: “My hope, which I am sure is highly unlikely, Is there’s a rewrite regarding Peter and Mary Jane.”
- Javi: “I’d be surprised if it’s JR Jr related as we’ve already seen pages for a while now, he’s usually pretty quick, and he’s pretty good about meeting deadlines. I’m wondering if it’s a paper thing, too. I wouldn’t want my new #1 to be on the shoddy paper we got last week. It would be pretty embarrassing for Marvel.”
- Dark Mark: “It’s Chi-Town’s fault, they had to squeeze the letter’s section in there.“
I’m going with the paper issue as well. Highly unlikely that there were rewrites on Peter and MJ, JRJR is a beast when meeting deadlines, and this is in no way, shape, or form, my fault. If you are unaware, Marvel is now using Penguin Random House to distribute Marvel Comics and Graphic Novels. You can read all about it here. Some people have been quite unhappy with the quality of paper used since Marvel switched to Penguin, so that seems to be the likely case on the delays. ASM isn’t the only Marvel book that has been effected by it. I actually GLAD this book was delayed because I’m still recuperating after…
VISTING DARK MARK:
1st Editor’s Note: Chi-Town, when Crawlspace Staff meet, it is required for you to snap pictures of said meeting. It’s in your contract that you signed! You are NOW on my list! – Brad Douglas
2nd Editor’s Note: Chi-Town, I do believe you making “censored” up again! – J.R. Fettinger
Aaaaaaaanyways, when I got there…
Now I am in no way stating that Dark Mark was purposely steering me into danger. I’m just so glad to be home safe and sound. Bless the brave Firefighters that got this fire under control and that there were no fatalities.
ASM VOLUME SIX:
So why is there a new #1 when legacy number #900 is five issues away? Why can’t we start after that one like they should have done when Nick Spencer took over? Why is there like 50 variants for this particular issue?
Marvel’s Answer
Logical standpoint, Marvel is a business and needs to produce profit. They want to profit huge from this kickoff issue AND legacy issue #900. I believe issue 900 has 12 variants already, but that number may grow. That’s my best guess and it does make sense, from a business prospective. Also, you could argue that THIS ISSUE is their “900” for the simple reason that stretching out the Beyond Arc for five more issues would be too much of a strain so they are kicking off the new story line right here.
THE BREAKDOWN:
- Six Months
- “Mommy” Mary Jane?!
- Wedding Bells
- Dig it?
- Doc Ock
- Nitpicks
- Grade
SIX MONTHS: Peter has reacted to something that is apparently catastrophic. Then we are taken 6 months ahead in time to see what has happened to him since then. Let’s break it apart…
- Peter had gone MIA: There seems to be a period of time that Peter just suddenly vanished off the face of the planet. Despite everyone trying to get a hold of him it’s unknown to where he has been. Randy has been paying rent at his place while he was gone and sending ETA text messages. My best guess is that either at the end of ASM 894, Peter followed that glowing light bright man and was gone for awhile OR after that catastrophic event, Peter left to figure the best way to handle things. Honestly, your guess is as good as mine.
- Aunt May is Upset: During these six months, Aunt May has stood by Peter as best as she could. She’s living in a smaller place now and she knows she’s been lied too. Something has happened to Peter, but she doesn’t know quite exactly what “that” is. All it has done is “cost her dearly”. The ONLY logical reason I can think of right now, is that she knows Peter is Spider-Man and she doesn’t want to hear any more lies. I would say that maybe she’s aware of the OMD deal Peter and MJ made to save her life, but I think that’s really stretching it.
-
- Unemployed and Broke: He doesn’t have a job. That’s typical of Parker to be unemployed. Which does beg the question, how can he afford…ANYTHING? Last time we checked, web fluid was expensive to make. Did he get his doctorate in science? Apparently he’s also avoiding debt collection services for his hospital stay during the Beyond era.
- Stole from The Fantastic Four: According to Johnny, what Peter really needed was for the FF to “look the other way”. Besides “checking out for awhile” the FF knew that whatever Peter was about to do or take from them was going to ruin his life and they wanted to prevent that. There’s a good bet there was confrontation and fallout.
During Nick Spencer’s run we had the Kindred Mystery. Zeb Wells is taking us on the Six Months Mystery for his run. With every issue that goes by we will get closer and closer to what has happened to Peter during those six months and maybe a little before that. The lead to, the event, and aftermath. The Kindred Mystery played in the shadows while the characters drove the stories along, with this one if feels like the story/plot are driving the characters. Not a big fan of “the story driving the characters” or “moving the plot along” comics. There’s no character depth or development. Instead of the character development that lead to this event, we are reading about the event that lead to these character developments. Which brings me to our next UNPLEASENT breakdown point.
“MOMMY” MARY JANE?!:
Find my happy place…take a breath…feel your zen.
Okay…I..I can get through this…
No..problem..
……………………………………………………….
When last we saw Mary Jane, she was agreeing with Peter that they should live together. Flash forward to now living with a guy name Paul and two kids that call her “Mom” and telling Peter to never call her again…
How to tick off Chi-Town in ONE issue of The Amazing Spider-Man! I guess I know how Ben Reilly fans feel now. Crawlspacers, I gotta be honest with you, I thought about just handing it all to Dark Mark, but then I would have to take the next issue and I doubt I’ll be able to do that. This isn’t as bad as OMD, but damn near close to how I felt back then. We don’t know the whole story so lets go with what we know…
- Dark Mark is having a field day off my misery. That is for damn sure! I know that even before he admits it.
- Who is Paul?: Don’t Know and Don’t care! Want him gone! I guess we are going to find out next issue (maybe).
- “MOM”: Who are these kids and doesn’t JRJR draw them like miniature versions of Peter and Mary Jane? No, I doubt these kids are Mary Jane’s, unless time shenanigans are in play and I’m hoping that’s not the case. It would be very uncharacteristically of MJ to hide that she gave birth to kids while they were separate. It would also confirm that Marvel wants to “shelf MJ” so they can have focus on Peter. They tried that before, it didn’t work out. JMS did that in the beginning of his run but he ALWAYS intended to bring Peter and MJ back together. MJ could be playing the part of “stepmom” or the “sergeant mother” type that Aunt May is to Peter. I’m also playing with the notion that MJ has gotten a part in some sitcom and these kids are actors playing the parts of her character’s kids. Paul could be her agent, actor, director..
- Peter’s actions: Why is he acting like a stalker around MJ? I get he’s just making sure she’s safe and desperately wants to set things straight with her, but he comes across stalker-like.
Judging by the dialogue between Peter and Mary Jane, it seems that there was a fallout. We probably won’t know until next issue. Does it look like I’m thinking of other possibilities that it can be other than the worst case scenario?
YES,
but that’s why you come to this site to hear what goes on in our heads. Mary Jane could also be protecting Peter. She could have been taken hostage by Paul and is forced to play the mom to these two poor kids in order to keep Peter safe. RIGHT?! Look people, I’m just spinning the thoughts that are going through my mind and your guess is as good as mine, but I’m not happy about this.
* MARVEL KNOWS THAT TOO!!!
WEDDING BELLS: There is a wedding planned in the future, shame it’s not the one we were hoping for, but still it’s very welcomed. This is probably the ONLY thing I am looking forward to in this book. I remember George suggesting that these two get hitched on our podcast and how hysterical it would be. Ronnie and Robbie planning the wedding while trying not to kill each other. The syndicate being bridesmaids and Peter defaulted on being the best man. I know Spencer could write that in a heartbeat, but I’m curious on how Wells would treat it. Not to mention there’s the war going on with The Rose that will probably factor into this somehow. Good to know that Gog is still there!
DIG IT?: Interesting choice here to bring Digger back, but a logical one I suppose. This is a gang war set up and Digger is a bunch of dead gangsters mutated into one green gamma powerhouse. I’m actually giving props to Wells on this one as well. Spider-Man is and really should be a down to earth street level superhero. So seeing something like a gang war story arc is welcoming and is a good start for this new volume. It’s just unfortunate, that there’s a catastrophic event that’s mixed into it that is taking the helm on the main character and his supporting cast. I saw Hammerhead in this issue and rather Spidey face a legendary villain like him over Digger. Honestly thought Digger would be a one time villain during his JMS premier.
DOC OCK: I’m not sure who is holding Doc Ock hostage…is that The Leader? I mean Digger is gamma infused and that falls in The Hulk supporting cast territory. Whomever is holding Otto hostage, basically wants every scheme he has ever pulled on Spider-Man. It’s kinda weird that they both know that Spidey is at his weakest point right now and for Doc Ock, isn’t worth bringing him down. I suppose this is Wells “Kindred Mystery” villain. I’m curious to say the least.
NITPICKS:
- The conversation between Tombstone and Peter Parker. Peter seems a bit out of character, he was playing it kind of cocky with a sly smile on his face. Why just hop into a limo with Tombstone? Why didn’t Peter use his smart phone to secretly record his session with Tombstone thereby exposing him and clearing any wrong accusations on Spider-Man. Doesn’t Tombstone have other way to inform Spider-Man that the upcoming war will be on his hands? Peter doesn’t even take pictures of Spider-Man anymore.
- Fine, Peter can’t call Mary Jane, talking is out of the equation. What’s wrong with texting? They can still talk it out via messaging. I would give the reader a bit more explanation and more bang for our buck when shelling out the cash for this comic. I know that if I can’t talk to my wife, texting and replying is always an option. Sure I get “something between them” has happened, but MJ did call Peter. Something is still there than just “don’t call me” warning.
GRADE: D. Not thrilled on Wells writing Spider-Man. It’s the same guy who wrote The Lizard eating his son. Nick Spencer gave us “Hydra Cap” so I wasn’t thrilled when he took over, but his first ASM issue gave us the best gift a writer could give to a fan. It gave us what we actually wanted!! Wells is setting up by bringing Spider-Man down, how could you hype that up to excitement? John Romita Jr has returned! Still he already had his run with JMS and THAT was a good run. I know Mark gets on Bagley’s case a lot, but JRJR art can seem too blocky.. He’s a far superior artist than I’ll ever be, but for a new volume I rather have someone else put his or her art stamp on it. Randy/Janice Wedding and GangWar set up is all I’m hyped about. Honestly, this is NOT how to start a new volume. It brings more questions than hype of excitement. Especially if you are a NEW reader diving into this book. I mean the main problem I have to this issue is concerning the main character of this book and his regular supporting cast! For me, personally, it’s destroying the very foundation that Spider-Man was built on. Aunt May and especially Mary Jane are the glue that holds Peter and the inspiration he gives as Spider-Man, together. Now that’s been taken away, at least that’s how it seems in this first issue. I’m not looking forward to the next issue where as I should be. It gets a passing grade for the art, Robertson Wedding, GangWar subplots, and that I don’t know a better detailed story behind the major horrific event.
* For my next trick, I will make it into the letter’s section without publishing a letter!
That’s got to be a record setting for me. I remember back in the 80’s there was a fan that wrote in a few times with published letters that hated everything about Spider-Man and called him/herself “The Fish.” I think I surpassed him/her. It’s nice to know that Nick Lowe thinks of me from time to time. I wonder if I’m his favorite..probably not after this review.
Yes, I have wrote back to the Spidey Office with my “complaint”. Highly suggest that you do the same! Love it or hate it, you got to let Marvel know. Been reading other reviews online and they are on the same page/opinion as I am. People are considering dropping this title because its a mess of OMD and Sins Past. I can see that comparrison.
Well folks! Dark Mark has the next one. I’m actually glad, I feel it’ll be a heartbreaker for me.
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Great disappointment. JR.JR. totally wasted.
A bad Spider-man issue that feels like I’ve read before.
Finally read the issue on MU.
The shock of “Mommy” MJ? Cheap. It’s obvious there’s an explanation there, which will either be acceptable or infuriating (for the sake of it).
Also I realized I get much more enjoyment in reading old issues, so I sent an e_mail to the Spider-office lamenting the general trend with Marvel comics today. We’ll see if it gets printed. I have my doubts, since I have the feeling they don’t publish very negative letters where Lowe is the editor. I hope to be proven wrong.
Not finished with the issue yet, but why is Peter calling his Aunt, “May,” instead of Aunt May?
Peter stole from the Fantastic Four in issue 34 (of the current run)? How come when I look up this issue I see no mention of Spider-Man making an appearance? Can anyone confirm it’s #34 Vol 6?
@Robin: So for I like Godzila Vs Power Rangers.
@Adam: Agreed.
@Sthenurus: I’m right there with you. I don’t like the main tease direction, but I guess we’ll find out more given the solic and cover for ASM #2 unless THAT’S a fake out as well.
I’m with most of you here. I HATE this direction. While Peter does have a tendency to push people away, he is supposed to have grown and moved on from that. It’s just character regression at this point.
The MJ mommy thing… Ya no. No matter how they explain it, there is NO scenario in which it’d make sense.
I have very little hope. Usually with Spidey titles the ride is great and the finale falls flat. Now it seems the ride sucks too.
I liked the the gang war storyline with Digger and Tombstone. It’s the kind of street-level stuff you’d expect from a Spider-Man comics. Having JRJR back on the art was nice too.
The “mommy MJ” thing smells like a big fakeout. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
This read like brand new day 2.0. The only difference is that the reason for the first one was the stupidest reason ever, spider-man making a deal with the devil, this time we don’t know the reason. Could there be a good compelling reason for all of these out of left field changes? Maybe. but I doubt it. Most likely, the reason all the characters know what happened, and we don’t, is because it is on a level of stupid to rival brand new day, and the creators know it.
I do know this. I don’t even have it in me to be angry any more. Or care. I might follow the reviews, but I’m done with the comic.
I hope I’m wrong. I hope people will get enjoyment out of the storyline. Maybe a year from now I’ll look it up online, based on reviews. But for me, I’m going to follow George’s example and break the cycle of abuse.
I enjoyed the Gang War stuff, the return of Digger, and Randy wanting to propose to Janice moves their story nicely forward.
As for Peter having fallen out with the supporting cast, that story hasn’t been told yet, and it isn’t the first time that Peter has fallen out with people. I’m happy to see where this goes.
As for MJ, and Paul, and his kids… I don’t like it. I fully accept that Marvel doesn’t want Peter and MJ together, and how you do that is by throwing roadblocks in their path. And I even like the idea of giving MJ a boyfriend that could be a viable romantic rival to Peter. It’s another angle to complicate their relationship and it would work.
But Paul doesn’t seem like a viable romantic rival. He isn’t an established character, and the only significant thing we can see about their relationship is that MJ is now a stepmom to his kids. So, apparently they started dating about six months ago, and Paul is already letting the kids call his girlfriend “mom”? The only thing I can take from that is he’s massively irresponsible. No matter how great MJ is, there is no guarantee that a relationship of six months is going to last. That’s an unstable situation to put your kids into.
And taking a step back, and looking at it as a writer, I can’t help but feel that they didn’t feel they could create a true romantic rival to Peter, someone that MJ’s character could genuinely fall in love with, that instead the weight of the situation is going to come down to whether she wants to be with Peter, or be a mom to Paul’s kids. And I know MJ comes from a broken home, so there’s drama there, and I have no objection to having MJ date a character who has kids, but it just seems lazy to put the focus on the kids right away, rather than developing the character of Paul.
Now, this is just one issue, and maybe they’ll make this work, but I think this was a poor way to introduce a new romantic interest for MJ (unless they do something really unexpected, like MJ chose to adopt a couple of kids, and Paul is just the nanny, but I feel that is unlikely). If I were to introduce a new romantic interest for MJ, I’d want the readers to genuinely feel like there was a shot MJ could end up with him, rather than Paul or Ollie Olivera, who feel/felt like mere distractions that would quickly be overcome when MJ and Peter resolved their differences.
@Chi-Town Spidey: Yeah I always try to give a new series at least half a year to see if I keep it. Like giving the writer sometime. For me it’s not even about the relationship more or less it’s about the 3+ years they spent showing they were a good couple that I feel like that time was now wasted.
Also is Godzila Vs Power Rangers good? I know little of PR but I love Godzlia and other kaiju stuff.
That one holding Doc Ock hostage seems to be the Chameleon.
Maybe they’re Kristy’s kids, but I have no idea why they would call MJ mommy. Kidding of course; they’re probably Norman’s with a previously unknown clone of MJ….. :p
Well, I have to admit that the kid looks more like Peter Parker than whoever that is on the cover of the next issue (ASM #2).
@Mario: I feel ya, I do. Even Nick Lowe praised the Nick Spencer #1 issue which was a grand slam out of the ballpark. It’s a business and he’s doing his job to tease the excitement, no matter what Marvel puts out. It’s not a good start, but it may finish strong.
@Aqu: You like us! You REALLY LIKE US!! lol. Digger came back because of the big green door, the story involves gangsters, and Wells was inspired by JMS run. So there you go. Your joke, like I didn’t hear that EVERY DAY while I was there. I want to assume that’s what May is talking about as well. That is the ONLY thing that would really get her upset that she didn’t know about. Also, I didn’t ASK to be in the mind of Nick Lowe…I just wound up there somehow…maybe it’s my charm that Dark Mark is so keen to point out. MJ does have a sister, Gale. However, Gale’s kids outta be much older than the kids we see at the end of this issue.
@Anthoney: I hear you! I agree. George is a smart man and he cuts through the BS to tell you how it is. It’s frustrating to see this done and as much as I hate it, I still need to point out that I don’t know the whole story. There are many sites out there that you can see reviews on and I’m very grateful that you come to the Crawlspace to see what’s been happening. We’ll offer you entertainment as well. Things that we KNOW you like. Spidey-Fans are welcomed here no matter what era you are found of.
@Robin: Another one bits the dust. lol. Who knows though…maybe ASM #2 will make things clearer than we ever thought it would. Dark Mark will cover that one for you and he’ll leave no stone un-turned.
@Otakusama: Man, I feel like a broken record stating “I hear you and feel you!”. lol. It SUCKS, it really does! However it is getting people talking, not sure the negative is the way to go, but we’ve seen crazier things. I do have been reading “Godzilla vs Power Rangers” and LOVED..ABSOLUTELY POSTIVELY LOOOOOOOOVED that Godzilla kick the crap out of Green Rangers Dragonzord!!! The knock off MegaGodzilla wannabe…it brought me so much joy! Wish this issue brought me joy..
@Kenneth: How right you are! So you gotta look at the other reasons on why Peter and MJ mini me’s exist. Time displacement, actors, droids, clones, ect…
How could the kids be MJ:s if the story takes place just “six months later”? I mean, a pregnancy is nine months.
…… Man, I should not have started my day with this book. I had a sizable pile this week, with fun books I was looking forward to: The finale of “The Last Ronin,” issue 2 of “Godzilla vs Power Rangers,” but I had to start with this cuz it was the first issue with a new writer that would set the curve of where the series went. By the end, I was too depressed to read another book. Hopefully thing will look better by issue 900, otherwise I don’t know how much more my heart can take
I won’t be able to get my books for a bit but honestly might not even bother with this. I’ll wait till #2 and if what they are hinting at happens I’m done. Been pretty much just bored and done with the big 2 for a while
Hated this issue so much I took The Amazing Spider-Man off of my pull list immediately. I don’t think I’ll ever come back unless they remarry Peter Parker and Mary Jane. Loved Spencer’s run, the Beyond era wasn’t mind blowing but at least Peter and MJ were progressing as a couple. This issue was a huge step backwards. I’m out.
Like George said, Marvel no longer respects us readers. Here’s your brand new day gruel once again. Enjoy! (?)
Unfortunately I couldn’t read this one and I probably won’t be able anymore from now on (catching them 3 months later on Unlimited, I will).
Anyway, I decided to get a bit of spoilers continuing reading your reviews, at least for now. That shows how much I like you guys, since I hate spoilers.
“Ben Reilly has been character assassinated “BEYOND” repair”
Not to soon, IMO, actually that was funny!
Could someone tell me how Digger came back? Is it at least mentioned in the issue? Because, you were right, Chi-Town, it should have been a one-time character.
LOL on your vacation. Now we heard both versions. But I have to say, I don’t know the place, but it must be called “Smokey Mountains” for some reason…
I don’t know how the scene is depicted, but I’m pretty sure May isn’t referring to OMD. NOBODY will ever refer to the fact Peter made a pact with the devil, that much should be clear from how Spencer’s story “ended”.
AH! I don’t know if being in the mind of Nick Lowe is a good thing, but it’s sure worth mentioning.
On JRJR’s depiction of the children, if they’re really that alike Peter and MJ, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, because Romita Jr. has been known to draw the same faces since he got his style. Once, some time ago, when I knew JRJR only from ASM, I saw one of his drawing of Bobby Drake and it really seemed like a blonde Peter Parker to me.
Speaking of which, didn’t MJ have a sister? Could Paul and the kids be related to her?
Nick Lowe Got to Go!! Spencer’s fun crashed and burned after starting great, beyond urge glad it’s over and now this is where we are. This was supposed to get us excited? Spencer was on the verge of fixing everything! Dam you spider office!
@Chase: Now only if I could see what he sees in ASM and get a better idea of what to expect. I suppose that’s the catch of living rent free in his head. It’s nice to know that some people do agree with me and not like the ones that are praising this issue with high grades while getting paid underneath the table, speaking of which…
@Dark Mark: I know you skim through my reviews, instead of READING them. Still let’s go through your points…
1. I stated that I am excited about the upcoming gangwar. Spidey should be a street level superhero.
2. Bad Villain’s is your specialty. So I can see why your a bursting through the seems of joy.
3. Peter’s voice – Very True. I actually liked the way Peter got “dark” during the Back and Black storyline and completely beat the thwip out of Kingpin. This issue, it’s that attitude mixed with cockiness which sadly makes him look like a douche.
4. Wouldn’t this fall into what you didn’t like about the issue.
5. Agreed.
6. You can’t say things twice!!!
What you didn’t like as much –
1. Agreed
2. Six MONTHS! Did you just skim through the issue too?!! God, I hope it’s not six years! No wonder you gave it a high grade. “Chi-Town is ticked! Easy A!”
What doesn’t bother you –
MJ as ‘Mommy’. This is obviously a red herring, meant to shake us up. I supposed it worked for me! I shook me up. Now explanation and it’s supposable teased that these answers will get revealed in ASM 2. HOWEVER, if there were a thought balloon on MJ stating “Tiger, hurry. Our kids need us”. My grade would have gone from D to B. Yes, there’s not much more explanation but that’s a tease that would get a lot of Spider-Fans (the majority) to wonder what happens next.
Peter’s douche attitude just really irritates me along with the sudden living condition of Mary Jane. Really shakes the core and foundation for Spider-Man. I hope I am wrong and this run will be a good one. Of course Spencer’s run was enjoyable but fell flat at the end because of “reasons” and we both know Beyond was the complete character assignation of Ben Reilly. There’s no doubt in my mind, when you got the comic you flipped to the letter’s section first to see if I was there. Leader is the best guess, but I don’t think he’ll be involved with the GangWar. He’s more interested in what Doc Ock knows.
@Josh: I hear you and all I can really say is that you should voice your thoughts to marvel. Write it and let them know what you think. I’ll keep fighting for Peter and MJ. Don’t give up, that means they win.
Oh and regarding Mary Jane hooking up with another guy and apparently having kids with him…I’m not even sure I have the energy to get angry anymore.
I liked Tombstone a lot in this issue, but everything else…I really don’t know. Marvel has consistently mishandled Peter Parker/Spider-Man for almost 15 years now and I have no reason to believe this will be any different. Brand New Day was a misguided mess that desperately tried to recapture a former glory that it didn’t understand, Dan Slott’s decade-long tenure mostly consisted of him throwing things at the wall to see what would stick (almost none of which did), Nick Spencer’s run was really good until editorial completely derailed it at the end, I didn’t even bother with Beyond because the premise didn’t interest me in the slightest and I’ve heard nothing but bad things about it anyway, Chip Zdarsky and Tom Taylor turned in some pretty solid work, but both tenures were ultimately too short and not given the focus they deserved.
At this point, I really just don’t think the people in charge at Marvel understand Spider-Man or know what to do with him. For all of Marvel’s talk about how One More Day was necessary to save the franchise, they’ve done little but flounder around with the character since then. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some good stories since then, but the bad outnumber them in my opinion. With all that said, I’m not sure I can bring myself to care anymore. I suppose I’ll give Zeb Wells a chance, but I don’t think my expectations for Marvel’s once-greatest character have ever been lower then they are right now.
Also, the letters page was crap, but as it triggered Chi-Town so much, it became a major plus for me. 🙂
Speaking of my BFF, Chi-Town, I thought your guess of the Leader was good, especially with the Green Door reference. I’m a little behind on my MU reading, so I am not sure how that Hulk story finished out. I hope you are wrong, though. I do not want the Leader interfering with the gang war.
Well, I know it will be a surprise to everyone, but I am going to have to disagree with my best buddy on this. I enjoyed the issue tremendously. Here’s what I liked about it:
1. Gang War! We are long overdue for a good old fashioned gang war! Street level, get your hands dirty, Hammerhead, Tombstone, the Rose – YES!
2. White Rabbit as Tombstone’s muscle – YES! Plus, since Rabbit works with Janice, it actually makes sense. That’s always a plus when dealing with bad villains.
3. Peter’s voice – I know some of you have mentioned how you hate it; however, to me it sounds like Peter David’s Peter’s when he had been pushed to the limit and was just pissed at everyone. This is something that is not sustainable. He will get his act together sooner than later, but it is not out of character for him to act like this. Sure, he usually isn’t cocky to people like Tombstone out of mask, but he has been plenty of times in his long history.
4. Peter on the outs with everyone – I like it when Spider-Man is on the outs.
5. Supporting cast – Randy getting married adds a bit of personal touch to the whole upcoming gang war. Aunt May upset with Peter, but still standing by him despite being hurt both emotionally and financially by him.
6. Gang War! Wait, did I mention that already? Doesn’t matter! Deserves to be mentioned twice!
What I didn’t like as much –
1. JR jr’s art – I’ve never been a fan of his art, but I love his father’s art and I love it so much that I want to give him some leeway. It’s consistent, which is a plus, but just not my favorite.
2. The six-year mystery – I like it, but if they drag it out in a Spencerian fashion, then it will get old quick. It was good to pique my interest, but I need something to move it from here.
What doesn’t bother me –
MJ as ‘Mommy’. This is obviously a red herring, meant to shake us up, but the timing doesn’t work and it is most likely Paul’s kids who just love MJ so much, that they have taken to calling her that. This will not last, but will be used to create a will she won’t she feeling. I believe that when this is over, MJ and Peter will be closer than they were before. It all comes down to if Peter can resolve whatever it was that he did.
I look forward to either trying to figure out what he did or watching it unfold, hopefully in the next few issues. I give it a B+ and thought seriously about giving it an A- on potential alone.
Hey! Congrats for living rent free in Nick Lowe’s head! That made me laugh when I read it.
Great review as always! I always read, even if I don’t chime in. But I wanted to say I completely agree about this: “Not a big fan of ‘the story driving the characters’ or ‘moving the plot along’ comics. There’s no character depth or development. Instead of the character development that lead to this event, we are reading about the event that lead to these character developments.”
And in this case, the only suspense is on the reader’s side. The characters know what they did, but you can practically see Zeb Wells holding his hand over their mouths to keep them from revealing all to the reader. When the narrator withholds information the narrator knows from the audience just to build suspense, TVTropes calls it “Tomato Surprise” – named after those old SF short stories in which you get to the end and it’s revealed the narrator has been a tomato the whole time. I just hope this tomato turns out to be fresh and not rotten…
(I also think the boy doesn’t look like Peter – he seems to have Paul’s coloring, not Peter’s – but I’m sure it’s all a fakeout in one form or another. The only question is how long until the tomato is unveiled).
@franz29: Corrected! Thank you. Hopefully JR will return and let us know when the podcast comes up. If that game is being played by Marvel, it’s only going to hurt them.
On the JR Fettinger scale, this is an F. I found it personally offensive to read and it’s just the Spider-Office trolling long time fans (especially Peter/MJ fans) to the fullest. Feels like Lowe et al are just playing a game of “how far can we push the fans before they quit” and laughing at us.
Wells has no seeming respect or knowledge of the characters – I don’t even know this Peter, and he never wrote a good Mary Jane. JRjr’s art was lacking too, he’s regressed (as Neil B has said often on the podcast).
This mystery box storytelling is plain awful – the creators need to realise that for most of us (at least for me) – the mystery isn’t more fun than the resolution, they are equal parts of the journey. When coupled with the blatant mis-directs, trolling and seeming re-hash of past stories, this is possibly the worst number one of any series I’ve ever seen; not aimed at long time readers, but nothing to keep any new readers happy. It’s just a mess, and as I said, it felt almost personally offensive to me.
I’ve left before (Slott’s Superior) and I’m going to do it again. George B summed it up, it is like an abusive relationship. If it turns out it’s a fake out and it is actually good moving forward, I’ll pick up the trades.
Great review though; far more enjoyable than the issue. One typo for you – I think you meant doctorate not doctrine.
@Micheal: I suspect because he interfered with that goblin glider deal, which triggered Digger to blow up his house. If Spidey didn’t interfere, that deal would have gone to Tombstones liking. I saw that too about Norman! Get ready for those 6 month flashbacks…
@Geiseric: You are not wrong.
@Big John: Thanks man! That’s great that you got a shout out as well! No matter how verifiable it is, it’s nice to be noticed. Just wish this issue was more exciting.
@Fiaz: “MJ is one of my favorite characters” My man! We have to speak our mind and protect our favorite redhead characterization.
@Jack: I appreciate that, I hear you, I agree, but it’s sad. I wish I could “candy coat” this issue, but I just can’t. I suppose for both of us, the only positive is the subplots gearing up and that we don’t know what is coming down the pipeline in future issues.
JRJR back on the art is keeping me here as I felt very let down by the Beyond storyline. This latest comic left me feeling apprehensive… It didn’t read like the Peter we know at all, more like we were in some parallel world. There’s a lot left to be revealed and it was exciting to get to the cliffhanger. That last page was a shocker but I’m guessing those kids are linked to the opening scene, some nefarious plot that cause these mini mees to appear. MJ is one of my favourite characters so that Paul had better be her awesome gay babysitter 🙂 The whole thing reminded me of that Captain America Dimension Z storyline JRJR drew before he moved to DC… where he basically raised a kid as his own. I don’t want this dragging out for months but I’m along for the ride for now.
I only read the review, and I already hate this.
Nice review, Pete, I am in agreement with all of it. And I’m also fairly certain the reference to JRJr.’s creation of Hobgoblin in the letter page was for my benefit (“John from Tulsa”), but it’s not nearly as verifiable as your shout-out!
One other thing some of you might not have noticed- Peter thinks “May, Randy, NORMAN- they’re all right.” So now Peter thinks of Norman the same way he does of May and Randy?!?
I feel at this point the whole mommy thing is definetly going to be a twist at some point but to be honest?
It’s lazy writing. This whole run is just throwing gimmick after gimmick hoping the mystery will keep you engaged, but Peter returns to his exact same status quo that he returns to constantly isn’t very intriguing.
One thing that might not have been clear from this issue- the reason why Tombstone blames Spider-Man for the war between him and the Rose is because of the events of King’s Ransom. Rose was dead, the Kingpin was seeking a magical tablet, Peter and the New Avengers were trying to stop him, Peter trusted Boomerang despite the New Avengers warning him Boomerang would betray him and Boomerang of course betrayed him and turned the tablet over to the Kingpin, who used it to revive Rose. That’s why Tombstone wants to show Spider-Man how stupid his ideals are- because none of this would be happening if Spider-Man hadn’t trusted Boomerang.