(Writer) Nick Spencer
(C0-Writer) Mathew Rosenberg
(Artist) Federico Vicentini
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 12/25/2020
Issue Number #52.LR
Price Tag: $3.99
HAPPY HOLIDAYS CRAWLSPACERS! T’was the day before Christmas Eve when this issue came out, so is it a gift and answers that we have been patiently waiting for? Read below to see who has been naughty and who has been nice, What has been set in motion for the upcoming new year. Or more appropriately, what set to conclude in Amazing Spider-Man #55 on sale next week. You can read Dark Mark’s review about it the DAY OF, how exciting! This is my last review for this year so I like to thank each of you for taking time out to read it and wishing you all the healthiest, happiest, and safest holiday season as we head into the new year!
Story Time: Few pages from SSM #200 showing the bridging (see what I did there?) dialogue between Harry and Mary Jane. Cut to today, Norman and Mary Jane (who is not buying Norman’s “Cleansed Act”). are having a chat before she walks into the graveyard to help Peter and confront Harry. Sin-Eater (now with the power of Morlun) fights the Order of the Web, before he’s tricked into shooting Madam Web and absorbing her powers in seeing the future. Sin-Eater commits suicide after seeing the visions. Order of the Web is captured by Kindred and Norman steps out of the car awaiting Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. Yep, Norman isn’t cleansed, it was all an act and a trap to capture Kindred.
The Breakdown
- SSM/OMD/LR.
- Dazed and Confused.
- Listen to JR.
- Final Thoughts.
- Nitpicks.
- Grade.
SSM/OMD/LR: The first four pages are reprints to ASM #200 written by J.M. DeMatteis and art by “Our Pal” Sal Buscema. It’s focuses on Harry trying to make Mary Jane understand that he would NEVER hurt her and his reasons behind his actions. Spencer has acknowledged that he is a fan of JMD and JMS, so taking this particular story and fusing it with his own shows that he cares very much and respects when it comes to continuity. This isn’t the first time SSM#200 made it’s appearance in Spencer’s run. We’ve seen cameo’s, but today’s issue really brings it into light. It plays a heavy part within this story and Harry (as Kindred) has kept his word, he hasn’t harmed MJ and stated that he wouldn’t. I’m starting to think there’s isn’t two Harry’s. I’d figure Spencer would have addressed this by now.
So here’s my theory. Why wait so long to make his move? Peter and MJ got back together and that is what triggered Harry to make his move as Kindred. I think our ol’ pal “Harry Lyman” knew about Doc Ock being in Peter’s body which is why Kindred wasn’t triggered in that moment when SPOCK was dating MJ. That wasn’t Peter and Mary Jane. I believe this all goes back to OMD and the Mephisto deal. MJ did say to Peter in that story, that they would find each other again, their love is just too strong. Mephisto is aware of that and if they by chance did find a way back to each other (which they did), he created Harry/Lyman/Kindred as a fail safe.
It actually would make perfect sense. * Peter having relationships with other women to distract him from Mary Jane. So Kindred didn’t have to come to light and Harry could live another life. That played out for a long time and when Peter realized that he couldn’t do anything right as Spider-Man without Mary Jane with both of them not remembering OMD and getting back together. All other attempts have failed and Kindred needed to step in. Here’s some bullet points to think about…
- The Deal has been done. Does that mean Aunt May will die? The whole point of that deal was to save Aunt May. Aunt May may come to realize OMD happened and not allow it, we know how stubborn she can be. SHE’S the one that set Peter/MJ up! Mary Jane was always her favorite for Peter.
- Is the Marriage coming back? Back then, editorial thought Spidey being married made him old and unrelatable. Quesada wanted the “Bart Simpson effect” on Spider=Man. Thing is…Peter is not Bart Simpson. Stan Lee wanted Spider-Man to GROW into a man, which is why scraped the BND scenario in the Newspaper Strip and brushed it as a “bad dream”. They also stayed that their wasn’t any history between the two…with Spencer’s run reflecting on continuity and creating NEW Peter/MJ moments in 60 plus issues, throw AMJ into the picture, that’s enough to even convince the people at Marvel “Okay, we can see them married now.”.
- Quesada has stated during the BND era “I never said they couldn’t get back together!” when fans were frustrated for what he had done (rightfully so). Fast forward 10 years we get this on Twitter…
Dazed and Confused: “Not all there” Sin-Eater fights off the Order of the Web after drinking “Morlun-Poweraid”, but Madam Web is a crafty Spider. From his vision…Peter, Mary Jane, and Kindred are going to dinner together and what’s more interesting is that he realizes who Kindred is and that he’s “breaking bread with the devil.” Does my theory sound clearer now? Does to me. Editor Nick Lowe has made a PSA addressing Sin-Eater committing suicide. Kudos for Lowe for addressing that but if you ask why is he doing it now and not when Kraven did it? Short answer…It’s the times we live in and all Lowe is doing is showing concern for the fans and legally covering Marvel’s bases. Don’t think we’ll be seeing Sin-Eater again but is it me, or does he look like Cobra Commander here…
Listen to JR: “Norman is always planning and scheming. That’s just who he is.” JR has said that many times in our podcast reviews and in Spider-History. This issue is no different and even Mary Jane saw it. Norman is back to his evil self and is cahoots with The Kingpin! THIS I’m actually excited for! They both have a beef to pick with Kindred and that’s a showdown I believe we’ll see next week in ASM #55 along with what been already set on our plate. With Sin-Eater dead, did Norman’s craziness come back to him? No, I think go ol’ Norman knew of Sin-Eaters powers and prepared for it so when Sin-Eater shot him, he “acted out” being cleansed. Placing the pieces on the board so to speak in order to get what he wants. Like JR has said…he’s always planning ahead.
Final Thoughts: This is a good issue. At first I was afraid it what prolong what we’ve been waiting for. This issue however does add MORE story. Especially with the Kingpin/Norman team up. If it’s written that Kindred never saw that coming, I will be utterly surprised by that. He’s been seeing everything else around him. However, if he didn’t see it coming, only confirms Kindred is Harry, because Norman would pull the wool over his son. Rosenburg does a good job writing this characters out of Spencer’s outline and I don’t mind Vicentini’s artwork. Easy to see and read along to and more importantly, enjoyable to read. Still I wish ASM #55 came out the same week as this issue did, be finally rewarding to have this come to a good conclusion. Still… gotta give it to the cliffhangers splash pages in the Last Remain arcs. They have been pretty amazing and makes you want to see more.
Nitpics:
- McNulty is right….Julia Carpenter IS the worst psychic in the world. I mean…really? You could of shared your vision EARLIER that would have saved us a lot more time!
- “your stinking HUSBAND!..” It’s canon. Written in a recent 616 ASM book.
* It is believed editorial just wanted to live out (and give the writers the same chance) their single glory days to one of the most popular superheroes of all time.
Grade: A-
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Pandora
Amazon Music
iHeartRadio
Podbean
Amazon Alexa
Player.fm
Listen Notes
Stitcher
With Marvel getting rid of the Spider-marriage, then saying “everything that happened, happened, but Peter and MJ weren’t married, they were in a committed relationship” for so long, I was actually surprised they didn’t change the “your stinking husband” word balloon in that reprint.
Spider-Woman instantly recognized Sin Eater’s new powers as belonging to Morlun. First, this is ridiculous. SE shows barely any unique powers in the few pages that he battles the Spider-jerks before SW makes this statement – nothing that screams “Morlun”. I mean, if he had shot an optic-blast from his eyes than I’d accept her saying “He’s got Cyclops’ powers!”. But all we see SE do is to them is (a) use super-strength, (b) invulnerability, and (c) have some lights come out of his eyes to attack SW – how does SW, let alone anyone, see these 3 things and say “Those are Morlun’s powers!”? And of any of the Spider-jerks to say this, SW is the least likely one, since she is the most removed from Spider-Man’s world.
Haven’t read #55 yet but I’m still thinking that Norman after being shot by SE was genuinely sin-free and a good guy, and that it wasn’t until the sins were removed from the Spider-jerks that he turned evil again and made this plan with the Kingpin. At first I thought it was SE’s suicide, but that doesn’t give Norman enough time to contact Kingpin and make this new plan.
Also, the reveal on the final page that Norman’s partner in this plan is Kingpin was kind of spoiled by the preview of the future issue cover of Kingpin and Norman ripping a Spidey mask apart. Although was that preview available when this issue first came out? Might just be my own fault for taking so long to read these issues.
@Jack Brooks- they were working together in the Ravencroft limited series, the same one where Kafka returned.
@Evan — maybe Kingpin just didn’t want to get slaughtered?
I wasn’t aware there were any doings between Kingpin and Norman in the past. Unless something developed in the 1980s, when I wasn’t reading. Is this a retcon Spencer is introducing, to further the plot?
I’m just wondering how to reconcile the Kingpin’s kneeling to Kindred in a previous issue. Did he know he was Harry at the time? Was it just a way to suck up to him so that he would be inclined to resurrect Vanessa? Chi-Town, when you said, “P…eter realized that he couldn’t do anything right as Spider-Man without Mary Jane,” it made me think, “Wow, an in-continuity explanation for Peter’s idiotic, out-of-character behavior during Slott’s run. Wow! It all makes sense!”
Merry Christmas, Crawlspace!
@Michael Pretty sure that’s not something you’d chalk up to Harry’s madness, not in the context of the conversation they were having but if that’s how they play it then so be it.
Really hoping Spencer nails the landing on this one. Just one regular sized issue seems awfully small to wrap it up fully, but I think he can do it.
@Franz29- I’m not so sure about that. I think that even if she remembers Harry saying “Husband”, she assumes that it’s because he was out of his mind at the time. We’ll find out on Wednesday.
Not only does it make the marriage canon again, it proves MJ remembers the whole thing – it was HER flashback after all. For years most of us have believed MJ was both aware of the wedding and the deal and this pretty much confirms it.
It’s always nice to see Sal B’s artwork again, I always did love it.
*This move the plot along a little bit… But aside from the first 2-3 pages and the last 2 it’s only filler.
Damn autocorrect
This move the plot along a little bit… But aside from the first 2-3 pages and the past 2 it’s only spoilers. The whole ootw/sin-eater/morlum was useless. All of these characters stopped serving a purpose waaaay back 3 issues ago. Add to that the last 2 main ask issues that were useless and we now have 6 out of 12 issues that could have been cut out without skipping a beat.
I honestly think I’ll just stop reading spiderman altogether. I’ll just stick to Venom, cause this nickel and diming is getting ridiculous.
One More Day is just a piece of this puzzle. Don’t get sidetracked by that, guys. It is certainly a big factor, but Kindred was already in the works BEFORE One More Day. He brought Mysterio back from hell and that was during Civil War, so Kindred was already planning his revenge before then. I think this has to do with Peter not getting Norman the proper help he needed and just hoping that the amnesia would stick. Think about it – he KNEW Harry’s father was a murderous psychopath and yet he just put him right back into Harry’s life. The deal with Mephisto is just another example of Peter’s selfishness / recklessness, albeit a BIG one. My theory is that Harry will make Peter remember the deal and then we will have the next year of Peter and MJ trying to deal with that. Kindred will still be in the background making Peter suffer more and more.
Norman and Kingpin teaming up? I’m game!
Chi-Town, did you get this out today just for me? Aww! Merry Christmas to you too, buddy!
I feel this story has been stretched for too long that the pay off better be the undoing of one more day. no other pay off will suffice. now its going too long, lots of filler, with only a snip of answers here and there and now we are one issue from the end? or will it stretch some more? the other spiders serve no business in this story, they don’t fit at all and it shows I rather have an issue of dialogue between Norman and MJ then the rest of this order of the web nonsense what the hell was the point of the sin eater? a long diversion this was pointless. so he shoots sins off of people but he dies if he pulls his own sins? what the what?? now the kingpin is involved sorry this is even more silly. a demon from hell that is looking less and less like one is to be taken out by two men? I don’t know about you but I predict a huuuuuuuge disappointment. Aunt may isn’t anywhere at all but you have web warriors, you don’t even have ben Reilly and Kaine in this and no explanation on why not. this is frustrating me now with every passing issue. I vowed I wouldn’t pay for another book until the marriage is back and I will stick to it! for now continue on with my means of reading without dropping a dime. all this changes once they undo the injustice that was done onto Spiderman. so much glimpse of greatness in this book with a lot of bs ruin it. this whole story could be be done in a like 4 issues if they remove the crap, I give this issue a c+. this idea of bread crumbs to keep you invested spending money every month doesn’t work on me. I work hard for my money to pay for subpar crap, I love the character but I’m tired of the crap already. Undo one more day, grow peter up already and stop with gimmicks that don’t last long and end up right back where it was every single time. its getting ridiculous now.
If Marvel does not undo One More Day in 2021 or at least at some point in Nick Spencer’s run as writer of “The Amazing Spider-Man”, I will throw the biggest s#%!-fit the likes of which that Marvel and the internet has never seen. There is too much set-up over the past 54 issues (and counting) to say that having Peter and Mary Jane back together as a married couple is not Spencer’s ultimate goal/endgame. Since Spencer’s first issue, we’ve been seeing hints everywhere, from the “something’s missing” panel that shows a close-up of Mary Jane’s hand without her wedding ring up until the “your stinking HUSBAND” line in this issue, if Marvel doesn’t have Peter and Mary Jane together, then what is the point of Spencer’s run? What else is Dr. Strange saying “I knew it” about? How much longer can Marvel keep getting away with being coy, dropping hints every other issue and the jabs at One More Day before it’s worn too thin (which, in my opinion, it already long since has) and fans want the marriage between Peter and Mary Jane finally back? And since Marvel has already teased a “rebirth” as the 2021 theme for the Marvel Universe after their “Enter the Phoenix” arc of The Avengers comic, I could see the return of the Spider-Marriage as part of their “rebirth”. After all, what else about Spider-Man could make a big return that would make as big of a positive reaction to fans than the return of Peter’s marriage to Mary Jane?
Anyway, thanks for reading my nonsense. I hope you all are having a great day. Stay safe, everyone, and Happy Holidays!
Is Kingpin always that enormous? He’s like the Hulk, next to Norman in that picture.
@Michael You should definitely check out our discord page! There’s a theory going on that totally makes sense and you should check that out.
I don’t think Norman was faking all along. I think he returned to normal when Kindred removed the sins from the Order of the Web.
I’m curious as to how next issue will play out. It’s been very strongly implied that Kingpin wants Harry to resurrect Vanessa but I can’t think of any way Fisk could force Harry to do that except by threatening Liz and Normie, and if that’s all he needs to do, why not do it 50 issues ago?