AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #621
Writer: Dan Slott
Penciler: Michael Lark
Inker: Stefano Gaudiano
Story Title: “Out For Blood”
Plot
Field trip to Mister Negative’s place. Black Cat helps out. Negative Aunt May strikes again. Mary Jane’s new roomie. Carlie takes a stand. Pig’s blood.
The Commentary
This issue was a solid one and done. There were parts of the story that I didn’t care for and there was one element that introduces a bit of drama that I am pretty sure is going to annoy me in the weeks and months to come but overall I was satisfied with the total package.
I was rather surprised that I liked the scenes with Black Cat as much as I did. I have found the Brand New Day Black Cat to be a little too…overt for my tastes. I could be wrong since it has been quite a few years since I read her initial appearances but it seems to me that she was flirty and forward but not to the degree she has been portrayed lately. Still I kind of dug her part in this issue and thought that the scenes with her and Peter breaking into Mister Negative’s place to be a lot of fun and I enjoyed that end of the issue because of that.
I dug the scenes with Carlie as well. Slott did a good job of resolving the sub-plot with her father coming back from the dead and managed to further Carlie as a character to boot, which was a nice bonus. The only quibble I have with the scene where she fakes him out with the supposed Devil’s Breath is that she distances herself from her father a little too quickly. I think I get what Slott had in mind when she calls Captain Watanabe and says that her prisoner is nobody special but there’s this part of me that imagines the next scene of Watanabe showing up and saying something to the effect of, “No one special? This guy is not only supposed to be dead but he’s also your father!” This is a minor quibble, though and didn’t detract from my enjoyment of that scene and the follow up where she and Peter have a heart to heart.
Negative Aunt May continues to be my biggest complaint with this series as of late. As I have stated in the past with the exception of how certain writers have handled the character I have never really liked Aunt May and while she is not of her right mind here I still find the whole “tell it like it is May” kind of annoying because it seems like we are getting the same scene over and over again. I hope this sub-plot is resolved soon and that I can get back to not liking Aunt May because her Brand New Day characterization is annoying and a throwback to previous versions of the character.
I am also un happy with the Mary Jane/Harry sub-plot that kicked off this month. It smacks of unnecessary drama. Sure there is something to be said of Peter having to deal with his best friend rooming and possibly getting together with his former fiancé and long time girlfriend but didn’t we see this played out in SPIDER-MAN 3? I halfway expected that Mary Jane and Harry would be dancing to an oldies tune while he made breakfast for her followed by him reading the play he wrote for her back in college. I just plain don’t like the idea and I am fairly sure that I will continue to not like it unless something drastic happens.
Parting Thoughts
Overall I was happy with this issue, which was nice because I really didn’t like the last three. The art was strong in this issue and in places I didn’t recognize it as Michael Lark but the style I am accustomed to from him came through in certain scenes, like the one where Carlie confronted her father. Even Michelle was tolerable this time around snarky remarks and all. Slott delivered a satisfying issue, which is a nice thing to be able to write in one of these reviews.
3 out of 5 webheads.
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I don’t think Harry represents Franco at all. He represents Michael Rosenbaum in Smallville’s earlier seasons, MJ is Lana Lang. Carlie is Lois Lane. It’s all frickin’ Smallville-level crap.
@FrakTheRules–While a lot of what you say about Peter, MJ, and Harry I agree with, you also have to take into account that, thanks to the Spider-Man movies, the perception by most is that there is a Peter/MJ/Harry love triangle and it wouldn’t be much of a stretch that Marvel would try to capitalize on that. After all, Harry in the comics now is much more like the way James Franco portrayed him in the films than in past comics. I also agree that Marvel has essentially turned MJ into Spider-Man’s version of Pepper Pots, and I do believe you’re right about MJ helping Harry raise Norman and Lily’s baby. Hence why they could establish that despite MJ still loving and wanting to be with Peter, she feels she can’t abandon Harry since he has no place to live and now has a half-brother he’s trying to raise as his son.
Which is quite funny because there’s never been a love triangle. MJ dated Harry as just a “scene” in college. She was always in love with Peter even before they met, that’ll continue even when she’s dating Harry…which will lead Harry to become the Green Goblin again just when he thinks his life is on the mend and he’s got a healthier relationship.
MJ doesnt love Harry. She never did. Their relationship had always been platonic with smutterings of dating and romantic affection. Sean McKeever’s Spidey Loves MJ series painted a brilliant portrayal of that relationship….MJ being with Harry made her uncomfortable, and she was always set to dump him as soon as Peter got away from Gwen, and even if he didnt.
As for what happens to her in the summer…that’s MJ basicly raising Norman and Lily’s kid with Harry. There going to be not only a live-in couple, but also PARENTS (aging the characters, but hey, we can’t POSSIBLY make Peter older with responsibilities, even if that’s Stan’s blasted MANTRA for him), MJ will deem Peter “unfit” to raise the kid with her because of his wall-crawling duties (but raising the kid with the second Green Goblin is acceptable in this “intelligently crafted reality”), all this despite having a great relationship with Peter with the addition of two kids in Spider-Girl and Peter being a HANDICAPPED COP, which I would suggest is ten times more challenging than leaping around with two legs in spandex. At best, we will see a “Peter babysits his two best friend’s baby, HILARITY ENSUES”.
I’m reminded of Tony Stark’s relationship with Pepper Potts getting sour when she married Happy Hogan. Potts was another classical redhead confidant that Marvel have only now managed to “fix”, because she had to be relatable again after the Iron Man movie came out, and that sadly meant her marraige to Hogan had to be ended by killing him off (the two had been married twice, so she’s a great example of a true love making amends with her signficant other too by the way). As Michael Cole would say, VINTAGE Marvel (That one’s for you Steve “I hate wrestling” Wacker ^_^, no offense)
Marvel are taking the most iconic women in comic books and dismantling them before our eyes. MJ would completly entrust a kid to Peter…but this isnt the real MJ, this isnt the real Peter, I don’t recognise Harry. This is NOT Amazing Spider-Man. This is fanboys writing fanfiction on deviantart and they think there untouchable.
I thought Steve said Peter and MJ WOULD get back together later this year(I read a post from JeffParker about that)…now he’s saying something will prevent that. (presumbly more out-of-character behaviour so that the ends justify the means), I thought Steve was a guy that was more “on the level” with us fans than the others. What happened to the Steve that said “you won’t like what’s coming up” around the time MJ came back on these very bulletin boards?
I appreciated Steve being clued in to us finding questionable content in the product, I appreciated that he was aware there was two mindsets and wanted to be fair to both, after all, he’s the one that likes the marraige’s potential even if his job isnt currently to hoist it’s flag.
Marvel hate MJ period and will never bring back the relationship let alone the marraige as long as the “Bush/Cheny era” of Marvel Comics remains in power. It’s sad and sickening…and doesnt sell the comics in that “underdog can’t reunite with his or her true love” kind of way, because that HAS to be beleivable in order to work. Marvel’s whole mantra on BND is “suspend your beleif”, meaning they KNOW this is just b.s and you have to eat it because it’s that or Spidey “grows old and die”
Keep it up Marvel, we all know BND is a crock and a cheat doomed to be rendered non-canocial under a future EIC who was burned by it, just as Joey Q was “burned” by the marraige. Nothing lasts forever…and crap doesnt last a day, brand new or not.
Sooner or later, you’ll push too many wrong buttons without a care for who it affects…suppose somebody commited suicide? Suppose the comics get into the heads of some disturbed people who see the world in grey? Or people who beleive there is hope and trust in their one true loves to overcome everything? Suppose ONE of these comics gets into their head and hands and they off themselves, WHAT examples would you be setting?
You better hope and pray that never happens.
The scenes with the Black Cat in which she’s obviously trying to distract Spidey lead me to believe that she’s secretly working for Mr. Negative and didn’t want Spidey to know about it; which also explains why she didn’t want Negative to know she was there as well.
I agree about Carlie Cooper, as her scenes and development were the strongest elements of this issue; course we know that the reason she now has this new “take charge” attitude as a result of her run-in with her dad is so she can be a more credible love interest for Peter.
And yeah, that whole business with Harry moving into MJ apartment is all but telling readers that these two are going to hook up and become a couple. Which given how Steve Wacker has stated on the CBR message boards that there are currently no plans to bring Peter and MJ back together “especially after what happens to her this summer” leads me to think they’re going to do exactly that, and thus bring back the whole Peter/MJ/Harry triangle.