Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #548 Review

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #548
TITLE: “Blood Ties”
WRITER: Dan Slott
PENCILER: Steve McNiven
INKER: Dexter Vines
COLORIST: Dave Stewart

PLOT:

The issue opens with a full-page splash of Spider-Man looking down a mobster’s shriveled corpse-face (thank god he’s not sucking it). Predictably, the poison only affects Karnelli blood, leaving Spider-Man un-killed. Mr. Negative’s next targets are the Karnelli children. To the circus!

A hectic taxi ride and a brawl later, Spidey saves the kiddies in the nick of time, but Negative grabs one and holds a knife to her neck. The monochromatic miscreant ransoms the girl for a sample Spider-Man’s blood, from which he could mix a poison to wipe out Webhead’s family. The joke’s on Negative, however, because Peter Parker doesn’t have any blood relatives.

Let’s talk subplots. Carlie Cooper examines a murdered carcass with a spider-tracer jammed in its mouth. Spidey retrieves his web shooter from the Spider-Mugger, who was apparently killed by his fence. Dexter Bennet, new Daily Bugle owner and all-around jerk, shows up and acts obnoxiously. And, predictably, Mr. Negative is none other than Martin Li, Aunt May’s boss at the homeless shelter.

THOUGHTS:

Dan Slott had a tough job. He had three issues to lay the bricks for a drastically different status quo all while telling a story entertaining enough to salvage the diarrhea milkshake that was “One More Day”. All-in-all, he succeeded. I see potential in Brand New Day’s foundation, and by the third issue I was no longer preoccupied with continuity and retcons. Brand New Day is a less enjoyable reading experience for not having Spider-Man’s full history behind it, but it’s nevertheless an amusing romp.

Part three is an incremental improvement over the others because the dialogue sharpened (no distracting hipster slang) and because Slott continues to juggle his story balls deftly, allowing them to intermingle in subtle and logical ways. The core plot is pretty ho-hum and shallow, but fun in a Saturday morning cartoon kind of way (though more graphic).

FAVORITE QUOTE:

SPIDER-MAN: “The important thing is I’m solving all my problems with kicks to the face!”

RATING:

3.5 webheads out of 5. Above average, but not exceptional. This arc never approached the depth and complexity achieved by the last crop of writers, but it’s a good start. It feels fresh, it looks polished, I got my money’s worth and I’m on board for the long haul.

REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris