AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #616 REVIEW

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 616

Writer: Fred Van Lente

Penciler: Javier Pulido

Inker: Javier Pulido

Story Title: Keemia’s Castle Part 2

Plot

Spider-Man vs. Sandman. Flint Marko talks with Flint Marko who talks with Flint Marko. Sandman; large and in charge. Keemia’s relocation.

The Commentary

I’ve been trying to put my finger on what exactly bothered me so much about this issue and after some thought it hit me.

I hated the ending.

I had some issues with the beginning and the middle to be sure but mainly I enjoyed this issue and the Keemia’s Castle story as a whole. I liked the fact that they brought back a classic villain. I liked the scene between Spider-Man and Keemia, especially the line, “Though personally I wouldn’t turn my back on today’s grittier, darker and more “morally ambiguous” super-heroes for five seconds…” I actually laughed out loud at that one.

The art was solid as well. Pulido drew some very dynamic action scenes but at the same time he also gave us some really nice shots of Spider-Man in general. The scene that I referenced above is a good example of that. The dialogue was good but Spider-Man looked really good in the scene. Pulido also did some neat things with Sandman, who has to be a pain in the butt to draw.

I also liked the concept that Sandman was suffering from some sort of breakdown that caused him to create different bodies complete with different aspects of his personality. That’s neat and Pulido sold it with the art, even the ugly seventies outfit.

So overall I liked what I was reading but after finishing the issue I said to myself, “Self, you have some problems with this issue, but what?” After some deep soul searching (i.e. I mulled it over while driving to work) I realized it was indeed the ending that really bugged me.

Why in the hell was Keemia placed with child services?

I mean I know on a story level Van Lente added it at the end to show that even though Spider-Man did the right thing by taking her away from Sandman it turned out badly because now she’s in a foster home where people are mean to her. Thus Peter gets to feel guilty even though he won, which is quintessential Spider-Man. I get all of that. My problem comes from the fact that Keemia was taken away because her grandmother told the police that she let Keemia outside so she could watch TV.

The kid was sent out to play and this makes her an unfit guardian.

She wasn’t beating the child. She wasn’t sexually abusing the child. She wasn’t withholding food. She was told to play outside with two neighbor kids so her grandmother could get some alone time.

By this thinking I should have been taken away from my mother when I was a kid.

I just can’t get behind that. It’s stupid and done solely to make us feel bad for Keemia. Oh look at the poor little princess that was taken away from Sandman only to be placed into a home where someone pushes her down.

This just about ruined the issue for me.

Parting Thoughts

All in all I liked this issue and I liked the story as a whole. It wasn’t as good as the last arc, but mostly I am happy what we were given and impressed that it was just a two parter. In a day and age where six issue storylines are the norm it was kind of refreshing. If it hadn’t ended the way it did I would have a much higher opinion of it.

I am left with one question; why was this part of the Gauntlet? Did I miss the scene where Kraven’s kid showed up to talk with Marko? This felt like just another Spider-Man story in the Brand New Day style. It didn’t detract from the story but at the same time it’s something that occurred to me.

2.5 out of 5 webheads.