Spider-Man:
Breakout #5
Title: Part 5 of 5
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciler: Manuel Garcia
Inker: Raul Fernandez
Plot:
Spider-Man is subdued in a corner with a gun to his head being
controlled by the Controller. Crossfire takes this opportunity to
explain to us that this was never about the money, it was about a
chamber Vector had built that Roz stole. Seems the U-Foes couldn’t
control their powers to begin with, so Vector had this chamber built
that would reduce powers if you sat in it long enough. Crossfire figured
he could mind-control all the super heroes into sitting there long
enough to totally remove their powers. That would be the time he went to
jail. The U-Foes are also looking for this chamber because they want to
become human again.
Crossfire has conveniently just finished his explanation
when the U-Foes burst in. They find out that Roz destroyed the machine
because it was too dangerous to keep. At this point we have mindless
battle between the two groups of villains, Controller loses control,
Vector collapses the building out of malice, and Cap and Iron Man show
up to clean things up. In the end, the U-Foes escape, Crossfire’s Crew
and Roz are taken into custody, and Spidey accepts being a part of a
team.
Likes:
-
It’s over! It’s over! I’ve never seen a
prettier “The End” sign in my life!
Dislikes:
- In all seriousness, I didn’t like a thing in this issue besides the fact that it ended. The dialogue was boring, the fighting was just there because it had to be, we totally changed motivations in an uninteresting way, and the art wasn’t even any good this time around. Besides that the whole idea of some random super-villain having a chamber that robs anyone of super powers is ridiculous outside of the simpler times of the sixties. The biggest problem is that the quote I picked sums up this entire mini-series:
Favorite Quote: “I won’t even ask what Spider-Man is doing here.”
Rating: 0 webs out of 5. Utterly worthless finish to an insanely lackluster mini-series.
Overall Arc Rating: -1 webs out of 5. This is the worst Spider-Man story I’ve ever read, possibly my least favorite comic of all time. I gave it an actual negative rating because I sincerely want my time and money back.
Reviewed by: Morbius
Spider-Man:
Breakout #4
Title: Part 4 of 5
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciler: Manuel Garcia
Inker: Raul Fernandez
Plot: Crossfire
is talking to Vector’s friend, Whitehead, who gave the U-Foes Roz’s
address last issue. Crossfire realizes that this is a false address and
figures out the real one. Then the Corruptor, well, corrupts him.
Meanwhile,
Spidey is getting a history lesson. She and Crossfire were co-workers on
a mind control project that would be used to reform crooks. They also
became engaged. Crossfire ran out on the project and her one day with
the completed technology and had a form of it implanted in his head,
giving him his power. When she started working at the prison where
Crossfire, his gang, and the U-Foes were, she saw an opportunity. She
convinced Vector to convince everyone else to bribe her into helping
them escape. To do this, he had to give her his bank account number,
which is how she stole all the money.
In
the present, Crossfire hijacks a school bus full of kids from Roz’s
building, and uses them to ascertain her exact location. Corruptor is
still back at the office watching Whitehead blow away his colleagues.
The U-Foes bust in on the party after finding the address to be a decoy.
They put Whitehead down and subdue the Corruptor. They also manage to
find out the real address and the fact that Crossfire knows Roz.
So
Crossfire and the Controller break into Roz’s apartment during her
conversation with Spidey (in one of the most wretched panels in recent
memory), and the Controller gets one of his mind control discs on
Spidey’s head. To be concluded…
Likes:
- The characters were finally, finally given some back story and motivation.
-
The art was good, except that one panel. Good lord.
Dislikes:
- Am I really reviewing a Spider-Man book here? Seriously?
- It simply did absolutely nothing for me. I got nothing out of it. I was bored. I don’t consider this a good thing.
Reviewed by: Morbius
Spider-Man:
Breakout #3
Title: Part 3 of 5
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciler: Manuel Garcia
Inker: Raul Fernandez
Plot: The
U-Foes have tracked down a former “business associate” of Vector
(U-Foes leader) and taken his entire building hostage. They ask him a
simple favor: find Rozalyn Backus. Seems she cleaned out all of
Vector’s accounts and for some reason, he didn’t much appreciate it.
Meanwhile, Spidey is one step ahead and drops in on her for a chat.
Unfortunately this lengthy chat gives no new information, so I won’t
bore you with it. (Wish Mr. Bedard was that considerate.)
As
the U-Foes are tracking Rozalyn, Crossfire’s gang have tracked them. They pull up outside for some playtime. Then we’re back over
to Spidey and Roz having more conversation that amounts to “Hey, these
super-villains are dangerous. Who knew?” At this point, Vector’s
associate finally manages to track the woman down. The only valuable
thing we get here is that Vector seems to think Roz has something that
can return the U-Foes’ lives to normal. Now it’s time for Crossfire
and co. to come bursting through the ceiling. Seems Crossfire thinks Ms.
Backus has a little something extra too. But will the two villain teams
destroy each other before we find out the secrets?! Kinda doubt it…
-
Finally, each villain is fleshed out at least a bit
-
Mystery is building, adding a small bit of interest.
Dislikes:
- While I wanted some flesh to the characters, I didn’t want long expositions that amounted to relatively little.
- Really, most of this issue felt like the review page at the beginning. Long talks, not much else.
-
The art is really lacking. I was kind of impressed by this
guy in the first issue, but I think he’s getting lazy because his
pencils really aren’t up to par for the most part.
Favorite Quote: Mandrill
to random hostage: “Hello, Miss. Ever wonder how much fun it would be
to jump down an elevator shaft?”
Rating: 1 web out 5. Lackluster is
the word of the day.
Reviewed by: Morbius
Spider-Man:
Breakout #2
Title: Part 2 of 5
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciler: Manuel Garcia
Inker: Raul Fernandez
Plot: We start off with Spider-Man
beating the crap out of Controller and Mister Fear (both members of
“Crossfire’s Crew”) as the battle rages on the streets below. The
U-Foes escape, as does Controller. Mister Fear is taken into custody
when Captain
Likes:
-
The writing in this issue is a monumental improvement over
the last one. We see a lot of Spider-Man action in this one, with proper
humor and intrigue. I’m impressed.
Dislikes:
-
The art took a step down. Thing is, he still does a great
job on drawing the villains. His heroes, however, are lousy. Except
Black Cat. She is quite nice. I suppose I wouldn’t have noticed this
last issue because there really weren’t any heroes to speak of.
Favorite Quote: Spider-Man to Mister Fear: “Better switch to buckshot skully, cuz your aim sucks!” (Sorry, this issue wasn’t very quotable.)
Rating: 3 ˝
webs out of 5. The issue itself isn’t worth quite that much, but I
give it extra for improvement.
Reviewed by: Morbius
Spider-Man:
Breakout #1
Title: Part 1 of 5
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciler: Manuel Garcia
Inker: Raul Fernandez
Plot: Third-string super-villains
Crossfire and Vector, along with some unimportant friends, are planning
a prison break facilitated by a bribed guard. After Crossfire is
questioned, Vector is called in, and the warden knows their plan. Vector
assumes Crossfire told her, and vows revenge. Crossfire knows the truth
– the guard betrayed them. The two of them and all their buddies are
moved to The Raft, where the New Avengers breakout occurs 2 years later.
Vector and Crossfire both escape with their respective teams and go to
war. Crossfire knows who the guard was and is planning to kill her. For
some reason, he and his entire team are trying to kill Vector and his
team, the U-Foes, as well. A fight with bombs breaks out in the street
and Spider-Man arrives to see what’s going on. To be continued….
Likes:
-
The art was great. Really top-notch.
-
I didn’t pay for a U-Foes comic, I payed for a Spider-Man comic
-
In the one Peter and MJ scene (which wasn’t even important enough to mention in the synopsis) she makes a good point: Why can’t the New Avengers be doing this?
-
Generally, this comic just did nothing for me. I’d have to put most of the issue in the dislikes category.
Favorite Quote: Spider-Man: “Just try not to blow up the whole neighborhood, okay? My favorite Indian take-out is around here somewhere.”
Rating: 1 web out of 5. The web is for the art. Unless you can read a comic purely for good drawings and coloring, don’t waste your time with this.
Reviewed
by: Morbius