Last issue’s harrowing events left one question on every spider-fan’s mind: What’s Screwball been up to lately? Dan Slott answers that in Superior Spider-Man #6. There’s also some off-hand line about whether or not Spider-Man committed cold-blooded murder against a helpless, unarmed criminal in public, but that’s not what we care about. Bring on Screwball, Jester, and Humberto Ramos! Read the full review to learn my opinion on this issue, and leave a comment!
THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #6 “Joking Hazard” WRITER: Dan Slott PENCILER: Humberto Ramos INKER: Victor Olazaba COLOR ART: Edgar Delgado ”RUNNING JOKE” (sic): Chris Eliopoulos
We get another look at Massacre, who continues doing serial killer things, and Otto tracks him down and ponders whether to end his life. Like Superior #4, this doesn’t get good until the end, resulting in an issue that mostly exists to weave threads for future stories while sacrificing its own.
Spiderpus confronts the devious world of . . . SOFT DRINK ADVERTISING?! Does Superior Spider-Man #5 go flat? Read the review to find out! And leave a comment!
THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #5 “Emotional Triggers” WRITER: Dan Slott PENCILER: Giuseppe Camuncoli INKERS: John Dell & Giuseppe Camuncoli COLOR ART: Edgar Delgado & Antonio Fabella LETTERER: VC’s Chris Eliopoulos
Alpha Big Time issue 1 Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov Pencils by Nuno Plati Cover by Humberto Ramos Hey, remember Alpha? Well he’s back in pog form! (under the cut) (more…)
Otto gets schooled, Massacre catches Ashley Kafka’s eye, and the Vulture Babies find a new guardian angel. Access your memories, Crawlspacers, it’s Superior Spider-Man #4!
THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #4 “The Aggressive Approach” WRITER: Dan Slott PENCILER: Giuseppe Camuncoli INKER: John Dell COLOR ART: Edgar Delgado LETTERER: VC’s Chris Eliopoulos
Superior’s first instance of a Slott-created villain arrives, with Marcus Lyman, a Big Time invention, escaping from prison to kill again. And almost nothing else of interest happens until the last page, in what I think I can confidently call the most purely mediocre issue of Superior so far. Still, that last page has an awful lot of potential…
The Superior Spider-Man #4: The Aggressive Approach
Take a pseudo-vampire, mix with a homeless teenage girl, and throw at a Ninja Turtles cartoon villain, and what do you get? Not sure yet, let’s talk it out after the break.
This will be my final review of Thunderbolts. After I read and reviewed #3, I told BD that I was going to give this book until #6 and if it didn’t improve dramatically by then I would have to drop it and he’d need to find a new reviewer. As soon as I was done reading this issue, however, I told BD he needed to go ahead and find a new reviewer earlier than I’d expected. Read on if you dare to find out why.
When a title ends, it is never easy on the reader, the artists, the writers. But to be honest, there was a group of guys more prepared to take on the role of writing a final issue more so than Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Sal Bucemea. But before I get to them, I’ll focus on Tom DeFalco himself. While Ron and Sal helped do the first issue of Spider-Girl (Issue 0 as it was called later, but originally What If?! 105) He has written so many issues of Spider-Girl its hard to keep count. He’s the been the driving force of this book from the beginning and he’s the reason we kept coming back. Throughout it all, with a fantastic sense of who the characters are, he crafted the Marvel Universe as he saw it going to. MC2 was a very DC-Concept. It allowed the growth of the hero to its end. He was able to craft a world which sometimes resembled “What if Tom DeFalco was still editor in Chief?” Things and concepts such as Character Progression, Deaths that meant something, and Characters such as Thunderstrike (The son of the Character that him and Ron Co-Created in the 90s), Lyja (From his Fantastic Four Run), and in Spider-Man’s case, Black Tarantula all were brought in for this run, so in a lot of ways its a love letter to the past, while being set in the not TOO distant future. DeFlaco and Pat Olliffe were the mainstays for a long time. I would be amiss if I didn’t mention him in some manner, because he was really great on the book. He did the art chores from issue one, all the way through issue 67 before departing the title. (He because he had taken another project, and wasn’t able to come back before finding out that Spider-Girl had been saved.) Flashforward to Ron coming back on the book, and the aforementioned trio had worked together for many issues of Spider-Girl, Starting in 68 of the original Spider-Girl Series, they worked their way through its final issue in 100. Two months later, they relaunched the title as a new #1 The Amazing Spider-Girl this title which ran for 30 issues, before getting the axe. But, it was saved again. Before DC and Marvel had really embraced the Digital Format, Spectacular Spider-Girl would be Digital First, comprising of 10-12 page stories to be debuted on the Marvel.com Digital Subscription service. She would later join up in Amazing Spider-Man Family and it’s later incarnation, Web of Spider-Man. So while she was a pioneer of that new format, she always came home to the printed pages of something.
This was because of her fans.
MC2 was a brainchild of Bob Harras and Tom DeFalco. It was going to be aimed at the mass market crowd, something you’d see in Walmart or K-Mart, something along Archie. The books would last twelve issues, before getting replaced by new ones. This concept brought about A-Next, J2, and Spider-Girl. While A-Next and J2 did complete their runs, Spider-Girl remained the top seller of the line and was to keep on. While this was good news, Marvel wanted to Cancel it at issue 17, but it was saved. Issue after issue came about. If you go back to the original series, every time you saw a Splash Page ending, it was to be the final issue. An issue that was going to be released back in 65 which took us 15 years in the future was to be released. Thanks to last minute saves, fans buying full page ads in Previews, a Grassroots effort never before seen online, the title survived until issue 100 before getting its final axe. Then there was ASG, which lasted 30 issues. Then the Digital/Anthology book came about. Finally, we got here. Her final mini series (which was solited as a ongoing, which hadn’t even been told to DeFalco til he found out it was a mini due to a person asking a question about it on the Spider-Girl Message Board) had four issues, and finally we got that sad news that Spider-Girl was ending. For good.
After 136 issues of books where her name was on the title, she was done.
The Mini series had left many wondering what’s next. There was several plot threads to ‘wrap up’ and so, without further ado, its time for the final issue of Spider-Girl. Flashback review style.
Rumour has it, Spidey is getting kicked out of the Avengers. So much for the triumphant return of the Avenger reviews. It’s not like he was doing much to begin with.
Avengers (2012) #3
“The Garden”
Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artist: Jerome Opeña Color Artists: Dean White & Frank Martin with Richard Isanove Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit Cover Art: Dustin Weaver & Justin Ponsor Variant Cover Art: Mark Brooks; Adi Granov
CBR posted this teaser image with Brian Michael Bendis revealing a time skip in the coming issues of Ultimate Spider-Man.
“It’s a pretty big deal. I got to a place with “Ultimate Spider-Man” where we’re allowed to go a little crazy, and I’ve decided to do so — both with story status quo and in terms of not having to make every issue the next day.”
Could Miles tenure as the Ultimate Spider-Man be a temporary one?
Hello Folks! Kevin Cushing let me take the reigns from his ‘Flashback Series’ of reviews that are filling in the gaps in our reviews of various mini series, or ongoings on the website. This is the first of three reviews that will wrap up the Spider Girl title here on the site.
So endulge me here, while I do my best Kevin impression.
So a brief confession: I was the original reviewer of the book back in 2010-2011. Not having this review turned in was a major faux pa on my part, and I’m here to rectify that for not only Mr. Brad Douglas, but the friends of Spider-Girl who have fought so hard for the title for so many years. These reviews are for you.
Without further ado…. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-GIRL #3 “Caught Between Killers!” & “The Razored Path!” WRITTEN BY: Tom DeFalco PENCILS BY: Ron Frenz INKS BY: Sal Bucemea
The Vulture returns in an issue that puts some interesting emphasis on Octavius’s history of having worked with Toomes before. While the book still seems to be finding its footing, this is a marked improvement over last issue and helps to move the story forward at a respectable pace by cementing Carlie’s suspicions that Peter is not himself and upping the tension around Otto’s proclivity for violence.
The Superior Spider-Man #3: Everything You Know is Wrong
Find out what happens next in the saga of the Superior Spider-Man, the world’s zaniest super hero! Now with 100% more masturbation than last issue! 90% less super villains than last issue! And the most frustrating portrayal of Mary Jane Watson since… well, since last issue. There’s only one way to describe this wacky new adventure: It’s crazy-town banana-pants. Long-time Spidey fans will remember THAT classic phrase. Right?
The Superior Spider-Man’s first full guest appearance! And no surprise it’s here – Mark Waid’s shown an affinity for including Spidey in his Daredevil series with “The Devil and the Details” crossover between ASM#677 and DD#8 and “The Omega Effect” crossover with Avenging Spider-Man #6, Punisher #10, and DD #11.
I review the new Superior Spider-Man costume from my likes to dislikes and also talk about some of my favorite Spider-Man costumes over the years. Including the Insulation Costume by Tom DeFalco and Steve Skroce from their run on Amazing Spider-Man in the mid to late 90s.
Last issue’s harrowing events left one question on every spider-fan’s mind: What’s Screwball been up to lately? Dan Slott answers that in Superior Spider-Man #6. There’s also some off-hand line about whether or not Spider-Man committed cold-blooded murder against a helpless, unarmed criminal in public, but that’s not what we care about. Bring on Screwball, Jester, and Humberto Ramos! Read the full review to learn my opinion on this issue, and leave a comment!
Okay, world — Better hang onto your banana pants! Here comes the Spider-Man!
