This story took two introduction issues to make! Will Spider-Man hook up with Black Cat? Will Ghost Rider get his bike back? Will Squirrel Girl defeat all the Thieves’ Guild off panel? And most importantly, was it worth more than a Mr. Food Face Plate? Read on, dear Spiderphiles! The answers to these questions and more awaits! Excelsior!
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Story Title: The Heist part 3
Writer: Nick Spencer
Pencilers: Humberto Ramos and Michelle Bandini
Inkers: Victor Olazaba and Michele Bandini
Colorists: Edgar Delgado and Erick Arciniega
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga
Cover Artists: Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado
Designer: Anthony Gambino
Asst. Editor: Kathleen Wisneki
Editor: Nick Lowe
Published: November 28, 2018
Remedial ASM 101
The Thieves’ Guild has stolen something from every hero (even heroes with nothing of value to steal). Black Cat and Spidey are on the case while all other heroes sit around and moan much like the teachers did in the episode of the Simpsons when Lisa stole all the teacher’s editions textbooks. Meanwhile, MJ is checking out Look Ups, a support group led by Jarvis for those who have superheroes in their lives.
The Story – Pay Attention, This Will Be on the Test
The Thieves’ Guild, led by Odessa Drake, has caught Black Cat and Spidey, but Cat will not give up her take of the cut, so Drake decides to put our hapless heroes in The Vault – not the super villain prison, but instead a mystic place that all Guild treasure goes, but never is seen again. Spidey, thinking fast, turns on Ms. Marvel’s phone so that her Find My Phone App can lead all the other heroes to their location. Drake, sensing defeat, leaves, but is now more respected in the underworld than ever before. Peter reveals his identity to Felicia. Plus MJ goes to a meeting and Centidemon throws a hissy-fit.
What Passed
The Hyphen Joke – At first I thought it was a letter’s mistake, which, seeing how we still have Joe Caramanga and he has been doing a top notch job all this time, seemed a bit odd. Then we have it again a page or two later:
And I loved this scene –
If for no other reason than that I knew when Chi-Town and George saw it, they would flip. But it got even better than a simple Crawlspacer trolling when he threw it aside as useless and used Ms. Marvel’s phone instead.
OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)
On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), BOOM rates a 4.5. Normally a simple onomatopoeia like BOOM would be low, but after the dearth of sounds in the last few issues, we had a plethora of noises this time (a total of four including a much missed THWIP).
What Failed
Failed would be a harsh word to pin on this, but this story, while enjoyable, didn’t seem to merit TWO lead-up issues.
Analysis
The issue, as a whole, was a rather enjoyable read for me. The jokes were funny –
But the real treasure of the issue was what it set up for the future –
THE THIEVES’ GUILD – I love that they got away to steal another day. I also hope to see a Foes series in the somewhat near future that has Boomerang running afoul of the Guild for not dropping his cut into the fountain. Black Cat leads us to believe that there is something more to the Guild than just what we saw.
That said, I do have some problems. We have a bunch of ninja-thieves who are so good that they can pickpocket web shooters off a guy with Spider-Sense, quick enough to steal Captain America’s shield in mid-air, able enough to steal magical items such as the Eye and Ghost Rider’s bike, tech-savvy enough to steal ALL of Iron Man’s armor, and brave enough to steal the Punisher’s guns, yet they just live in hiding off of other people’s take? Plus, Spidey can just hang out around the fountain and bust criminals coming to pay their dues. It does offer up some new story ideas and ones that can bleed easily into other books.
SPIDEY’S ROLL IN THE MU – All the heroes are here and not a single one of them could do what Spidey did, and all he did was turn on a phone. They never thank him and to me this cements that Spidey’s roll now is as his own man. Others may pop up in the book, but they won’t be the main focus. They won’t be there to save his hide. And they are not likely to be embracing him anytime soon.
BLACK CAT – People posted last issue quite a bit about there being some confronting Felicia on her recent heel turn. For those of you in that camp, I’m afraid all you are going to get is this:
Spencer has no desire to spend more time on the subject. Why spend another panel on Evil Mob Boss Cat when you can go forward? I cannot say that I would enjoy it and what could he say that would fix such an awful character arc? However, we do get her as a human again.
Of course she is still hung up on him and before any of you think that Spencer is saying that her not being able to remember Spidey’s identity being the thing that drove her to being evil, go back and read it with a little less anger and you’ll see that is NOT what was being said here. How do I feel about him showing is face to her again? Not sure. It is definitely not my first choice, and I am not a fan of his id being widely known, but I have faith in Spencer that he is using it to build the character, rather than change or destroy it.
MJ – Much like Sam is the real hero of the Lord of the Rings, this is really an MJ story. Her talking to the Look Ups and Peter revealing his identity to the one ex of his that gives her the most concern could have easily taken her down a road of angst and bitterness, but Spencer uses it instead to build their relationship even stronger. MJ knows her roll in his life and her importance and instead of holding a grudge at his confession (one that I could hardly have faulted her for), she instead says:
Future writers, take heed of this issue. This is how you write a superhero couple. Compare that to the overdone I-Can’t-Be-With-Her-Because-It-Would-Endanger-Her or the You-Don’t-Love-Me-Because-You-Didn’t-Tell-Me-Every-Secret-in-Your-Secret-Super-Life relationships. I’ll take Spencer’s viewpoint any day of the week. There is enough drama in Spidey’s life without adding relationship angst to it.
CENTIDEMON – So our mysterious villain is back, this time with a clue – whoever it is hates Peter being nice to Felicia. So here are our clues – whoever it is, it is:
- someone who knows Peter well,
- someone who doesn’t like the idea of Peter and Felicia being on friendly terms,
- someone who has some reason to be a magical demon-esque underworld creature,
- and someone who was around in power before Vanessa Fisk died.
So what is my PWP (Probably Wrong Prediction)? Centidemon is none other than… Jean DeWolff. She had a crush on Spider-Man in life (kept a virtual shrine to him), knows the Kingpin well, has reason to dislike Spidey and Black Cat romance, and is dead, so would have reason to be made into a demon-creature by Mephisto or something. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it! It very much felt like a crazed-ex to me, but if that is the case, who else could it be? If Gwen became a demon, I think people would run Spencer out. Peter’s other crazy girlfriends (Betty, Carlie, and Debra) are still alive. So what’s your theory?
Was it worth more than…
a Mr. Food Face Plate?
At three issues, this story arc cost me $12. For $12 I could have bought this Mr. Food Face Plate so that I could play with my food as I eat. Was this story worth it? That’s a tough one. I liked the character development of Peter, MJ, and Felecia, but a three-issue story with two of them being introduction? Hmmm…. With the holidays coming up and with all the food that comes with it, I’m going to have to go with the plate, but I can say I’m not upset that I got the issues instead.
Extra Credit
This time, instead of one of us getting the extra credit, I’m awarding this issue some for this panel –
My son Grant is a huge Miles fan and to have Miles in there trying to bum some free tech off of Tony Stark and Mr. Fantastic was something I’m sure made his day.
Final Grade
I’ve really debated on this one. I keep oscillating between a B+ and an A-. In the end, it was a good story and set up a great foundation for Peter and MJ, but I’m going with
B+
Your Turn
What grade do YOU give it?
What’s Next?
JONAH JAMESON has a new job as a shock jock, but is the world ready for a pro-Spider-Man JJJ? More importantly, is Spider-Man ready? His post-secret-identity relationship with Jonah was already complicated, but this very public embrace may put him over the edge! Spidey’s definitely not ready for the Enforcers to come at him harder than ever!
Yay! Ottley’s back!
Nick Lowe has asked people to let the Spider office know how they are doing by sending an email to spideyoffice@marvel.com and to make sure you mark it “OK to print”. If you get published, make sure to draw our attention to it!
‘Nuff Said!
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@Will – what rules that out for me is that whoever Centidemon is, he/she was around in power back during Civil War when Mysterio was dead. That, I think, rules out a lot of possibilities. However, I could be, and frequently am, wrong, so we’ll see soon (or not, Spencer could drag this out for five more years, I guess).
What if Centidemon is Flash Thompson twisted by Mephisto? Remember his soul was tarnished a while back in his title when he had that sidekick…
@Mark Alford
That doesn’t work. I don’t hate everything about the book. In fact, it is pretty well done. It’s just thathe problems I have are big, long standing problems that I’ve always had, and to date have only been referenced and addressed as opposed to fla out resolved. It’s almost as if someone won’t let him undo it, despite them pretty much admitting it was a glaring mistake.
As a Felicia fan this made me immensely happy. I’ve been unsatisfied with her portrayal since BND and after the events of Superior it was only made worse with her Queenpin status . Nick Spencer GETS Felicia though. In a way many of the current Marvel writers don’t. Also, Mark, Felicia did already pay for her crimes in the Bendis Defenders run. She turned herself in saying she wanted to change and gave up the dirt on the Hood and other supervillains which led to a massive takedown for the heroes. Because of that Felicia got a shortened sentence.
@Nik — Crawlspace odds (of course, by that I mean whatever I want to give and I just assume the rest of the Crawlspace falls into line with) on each on of your guesses: Jean DeWolff – 100% (because I’m sticking to my prediction no matter what) —- Ned Leeds – 80% (I hadn’t thought of that. He would have possible reason to not want others dragged into Peter’s supporting cast spiral) —- Captain Stacy – 5% (To turn him evil after all this time would, I think, rub the readers the wrong way) —– Liz Allen – 10% (I think if she had that kind of power, we would have seen it in the Red Goblin story) —– Carlie Cooper – 30% (the only reason for this would be the odd timing of her showing up, but I think with the amount of story lines that Spencer is juggling (WHERE IS KRAVEN????), it i just a coincidence). Good guesses! If it turns out to be Ned or Liz, then I think NIK WAS RIGHT T-shirts are a possibility!
@Enigma_2099 — Then I charge you with this job: you be the balance to anything positive I point out in the comics. Keep me in check so that I can keep my thoughts on each issue clear. We won’t always see eye to eye on it, but I don’t see why I can’t tell you things that are right while you tell me things that are wrong. I will say that bringing back Carlie Cooper is a bit troubling to me, but I am hoping that he only did it to get MJ in this new position and to point out that MJ and Peter’s relationship is NOT like other superhero romances. Hopefully we won’t be seeing her again. Maybe Slott will pull her into Iron Man or something.
… and by that, I mean Carlie Cooper. A vast universe of characters, and he drags her back up.
@Mark Alford
One More Day still leaves the taste of bile in my mouth to this day and the fact that the best we’re going to get is a band aid on a bullet wound makes it that much worse so no.
I mean people like to lean on the fact that he’s such a great writer, and I agree he’s miles and away better than Spidey’s Last Owner and Tale Teller, but if the best he can do is “I’m just gonna pretend it didn’t happen and move on,” that tells me he isn’t deserving of all the praise he’s receiving. He’d much rather be bringing back elements we were HAPPY to forget and move on from.
CENITDEMON SPECULATION: With the cliffhanger to this issue, I think we can rule out Jason Macendale entirely, since he has no reason to feel compassion for anyone who knows Peter’s identity. That nugget alone makes me feel that the identity had to have been someone close to Peter, and, much like you said, I am picking up some “ex” vibes from it, either romance-wise or friend-wise. And you can’t talk identity without talking Mephisto, so more than likely, it’s someone who is dead and is working on behalf of Mephisto. It’s also got to be someone with name recognition, the way Spencer is building it up.
Some thoughts that come to mind are:
Jean DeWolff
Ned Leeds
Captain Stacy
Liz Allen? (I know she’s not dead, but with her history, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that she would have motivation to assume the Centidemon form to keep things in check, since Spider-Man’s identity has become such a blight on her family.)
And the wild card is Carlie Cooper. She literally has no power to speak of, and isn’t great name recognition, but she did show up at a very convenient time for the reveal at the end of 10, even if she holds literally zero sway with anyone in the underworld.
Those are my thoughts for now, so let me know what you think.
@Grant — Yeah, that second Ultimate Peter storyline never did get resolved. I wouldn’t mind seeing them something with it, but since Centidemon seems to have been around before that, I’m not sure that is the direction Spencer is going on. But, hey! this is comics, so it could be anything! Now I have a thought for you – Centidemon gets the Carnage symbiote – every centipede has its own Carnage face! You can never have too many symbiote mashups, can you?
The Centidemon said that Peter should “leave Felica out of it” which was kinda weird. I wonder if it could be Felica’s Father? Maybe the 1610 Peter Parker that inexplicably came back with no explanation then ran off never to be seen again. Since the universes collided, that Peter has to be off somewhere, right? Why not as an all powerful centipede demon monster thing? And who better knows Peter than Peter? To be honest, I was coming up with that as I typed it but the more I think about it, the more I like it 🙂
@justacomicbookreader — I agree wholeheartedly about the characterization. Spencer gets that in spades. I am a tiny bit worried that Black Cat knowing his identity is going to be used later for some forced marital drama down the road, but I think that is more from being tired of seeing that in other superhero shows and comics. Spencer has done nothing but repeatedly tell us that Peter and MJ are solid. I just can’t help shaking that dread. I’m glad you liked the identity reveal and I’m betting that it will turn out better than I think. You gave it an A+, so I’m assuming you would NOT rather have the Mr. Food Face plate? Come on! It’s a FOOD FACE plate! That’s got to be cool! Plus, as I found out the hard way, it holds mashed potatoes much better than an issue of Spider-Man…
@Enigma_2099 — Not “aimed” at you, but more written with you in mind. I know a couple of people that feel as you do. I have no issues with you wanting more of a consequences for her actions, I just don’t need it. To me, dealing with what she has done has forever tainted this character. She should be executed, put in prison for life, or (to paraphrase Shakespeare) has gone so deep in blood that she should just continue forward in that lifestyle. None of those would make the character better in my opinion. Spencer did the next best thing and just said, “It’s over.” I do have a question for you in all seriousness – will you be able enjoy any stories after this, or will this constantly color your reading of Spencer’s run? I know for me it became hard to enjoy a Slott story because all of the things he did previously that I did not like.
finally! felicia forgetting spider-man’s true identity always bothered me since was a big part of felicia’s character development.
i’m happy spencer is fixing everything wrong with the book since OMD. like chi-town spidey said, spencer’s characterizations are great too. peter acts like peter, mj acts like how she should act, and finally, not only spencer wrote felicia in-character, he also gave her character development back to her. suffice to say, it’s an amazing new era! (no pun intented)
humbreto ramos’ art was so-so. sure, he has improved since he first started in peter parker: spider-man back in early 2000, but his faces need more improvement. michelle bandini’s art on the other hand, was a lot better. and not mention she draws quite a handsome peter. it would’ve nice if she drew the identity reveal page too.
i give this issue an a+. spencer is giving us what most of us want, and i’m more than happy about it.
I’m not even gonna bother. Since I know it was directed at me I’m just gonna say screw this book and move on.
@PeterPakerFan and @Chi-Town ——— Glad you guys liked the issue. It is so much more enjoyable to read characters you recognize and read them doing things that feels right. As far as getting the date right, well, that seems to be about the only thing I got right! Except my killer cool theory on Jean DeWolff!
@Evan & @ Jon _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ @Evan — I was tired and was writing this review after coaching a swim meet earlier that evening. I made all sorts of blunders. Mohammed found a couple and clued me in as soon as it was published. There is no excuse for it. Sloppy proofreading (or rather, no proofreading). I hang my head in shame. Should BD ask for my resignation, I wouldn’t blame him. I was going to retire the OOTI, but hey! We’re getting somewhere now! As for someone being in the shadows for Osborn, well, I’m not going back to read Slott for quite a while, so I’ll have to rely on some other poor soul to do it. As far as my name goes, well, hardly anyone ever gets the ‘k’, so you’re forgiven. ________________ @Jon — I’ve heard that theory. I’m not sure. The problem with all the theories is that is seems to be someone very familiar with Peter, yet has incredible power to create Tri-Sentinels out of thin air, lead Mysterio out of hell, and has been involved with the Kingpin. So far, no theory really seems to match, so either I’m misreading something or Spencer hasn’t shown us all the clues yet.
@Mohammed & @Franz29 ——————————————————————————–
Mohammed — Looking back in that light, I see that may Centidemon is upset that he is bringing another one back in. When I read that she said she was seeing someone, I thought at first that she was just lying to play it off that she really is hung up on him, but I can see where that would be a bit of foreshadowing. This guy/girl, whoever it is, has immense power. I’m really curious over who it could be! _______________________________________________________________________ @Franz29 — The Guild did have a street level feel even though it was doing crazy mystical things. As long as you felt the payoff was worth it, then the two issues don’t matter. The question for both of you is, would you rather have the plate?
Hey Hey, Mark! You got the date right! 😛
A+ for me! I didn’t flip when I saw Iron Man mask, I eye rolled. Get your facts straight Alford. I also cheered and laughed out loud when Stark and Mr. Fantastic got embarrassed! This issue the story was solid, the art was solid and more importantly the CHARACTERIZATION was solid! MJ’s characterization was spot on and Black Cat was spot on too! She deserves to know the truth!
Best issue since #802. The identity reveal was the best part.
A+
So a popular crazy theory floating around that I’m finding more and more likely to be true is that the red cloaked demon is the embodiment of Peter and MJ’s marriage. Like a physical manifestation of “the deal” thats returned now that MJ and Peter are back together. It would be a cool twist on Mephisto literally wanting Peter’s marriage. Would also explain why it “knows” Peter so well, because in a twisted way it is him. What do yall think?
@Mark — Also, I spelled your name wrong below, so disregard everything I said about spelling. Sorry about that! — Evann
@Marc — Do you remember back in one of Slott’s last arcs, the one with Norman Osborn supposedly being cured of his insanity (if I remember that right myself) and he was trying to upset the government in another country and take over with the help of a female villain? Wasn’t it heavily teased that he was working for, or being manipulated by someone in the shadows? I remember him bowing down to someone. Was it ever revealed who that was? In other words, was that the Centidemon, too, and maybe this will link those two stories and tie some loose ends? My memory for Slott’s stories is (thankfully) fading fast.
Also, I hate to correct the teacher, but it really threw me to read the word “roll” instead of “role” so many times. But I guess you’re used to calling the “roll,” so I can’t be mad. Or maybe you were thinking about food and your Mr. Food Face Plate.
Maybe Nick Spencer is reading your reviews — Four onomatopoeia moments in one issue? Wow!
A- from me. The Peter scenes felt like Peter, and his revealing himself to Felicia is something I truly felt he would do. MJ was handled well, as was her acceptance of the decisions Peter made. The Thieves Guild totally over powered stealing ability aside, I liked that it was a smaller, more street level story, reminiscent of the days before everything had to be an event. Also liked the cameos that DIDN’T turn into “guest of the week saved the day”.
Another solid review. I agree, not sure a two issue buildup was needed, but the payoff was worth the wait for me.
Nice work on on the review Mark, I personally gave the issue an A+
the only thing I would say is, when I saw the reaction of Centidemon, I got more of a caring vibe from him, that how dare Peter endanger someone else in his life and the fact that it’s Felicia, seems to hit a nerve with him. Like he knows her and couldn’t believe Peter would do that to her.
Which also makes me wonder of he’s also the person Felicia is seeing, at least in his human form, if he has one.