Crime is rampant across New York City as Spider-Man is nowhere to be seen. Peter Parker is wounded and still recovering from his defeat at Hellgate’s hands. Shocker gets some sidekicks and works for Tombstone. MJ reveals to Peter that she is Venom. Randy and Shay remind us that they are characters in this book. All of this, plus … Norman Osborn is the voice of reason???
(NOTE: not only does this cover not happen in this issue, it took place weeks before this issue starts.)
CREDITS
Writer: Joe Kelly
Guest Artist: Michael Dowling
Colorist: Marte Gracis
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
PREVIOUSLY IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …
Spider-Man and Hellgate fought.
Oh, I’m sorry, that was the recap for two issues ago. Here is the recap for the previous issue:
Spider-Man and Hellgate fought. And Hellgate won.
PRE-SUMMARY DISCUSSION
So there have been press releases telling us that in a few issues, Spidey is going to end up being split into two people, with one of him in outer space, and the other of him in New York fighting crime, with the one on Earth acting rougher and harsher. I’ve also heard that it’s Peter in space, with Ben Reilly in New York posing as Spider-Man. I have no idea which one of these is true, if either, or if it’s both. But that’s a press release, not this issue. And there is nothing about that in this issue. So I chose to write this review without that in mind. It’s *just* based on what’s in this issue.
SUMMARY
We have a flashback of Aunt May taking a pre-teen (?) Peter clothes shopping. He plays with some superhero action figures.(1)
(Was I the only one thinking of President Skroob playing with his Spaceballs action figures?)
In the present, Shocker is robbing a bank (?) with his gang – the Aftershocks – who all seem to have similar weapons to him. Shocker sees Peter on the sidewalk, with his leg in a cast and using a crutch. Peter doesn’t do anything to stop Shocker, allowing Shocker and the Aftershocks(2) to escape while Peter listens to Jonah’s podcast which tells us that it’s been weeks since Hellgate defeated Spidey, and crime is rampant because Spidey has been MIA.
(Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.)
Peter is doing well at work as he and Brian make a presentation to Dr. O-M. Brian tries to setup Peter with a co-worker, Astrid, as Peter gets a call from Norman Osborn.
(This is the only Astrid worth talking about.)
Peter talks to Norman outside Rand. Norman tells Peter that “Spider-Man needs to return” and isn’t sure if Peter is retreating or just avoiding the situation. He suggests Peter talk to Aunt May, which causes Peter to angrily walk away.
(“Throw my girlfriend off a bridge? I can overlook that. But show up at my work and tell me to talk to my Aunt? That’s too far!”)
At F.E.A.S.T. May is cooking with Ricardo(3), who suggests that giving Peter space may not be the right thing to do.
In Harlem, Shocker has passed his audition for Tombstone, who offers him a job working for him.
Peter is talking to someone (likely Shay) on his way home when he finds Mary Jane outside his door. She says that Aunt May is worried about him, but takes this opportunity to reveal to him that she is Venom. Peter has no reaction and enters his apartment, leaving her in the hall.
(Gotta say, I didn’t see this reveal coming when I turned this page.)
Shay is talking to Randy about Peter ghosting her these past weeks. She is suspicious about his injuries because as a nurse she has access to medical records(4) and can’t find any record of him treated at a hospital, or how he got injured.
Suddenly the Aftershocks appear, who are being attacked by Captain Kintsugi(5). The Aftershocks knock him down and are about to kill him when Spider-Man shows up to save him.
(No sign of a cast, and what are these bracelets around his wrist/ankles? Hmm.)
TO BE CONTINUED!
INITIAL RESPONSE
Well, after two issues in a row where the issue is basically one big fight, at least we got something different. But different doesn’t automatically mean “good”. Did anything actually happen in this issue? Some stuff, but it doesn’t feel like it mattered. Why is Peter acting like this? Who knows? It really feels like we missed an issue between the previous one and this one.
WHAT I LIKED
This wasn’t another issue where the entire issue was one big fight. Normally that wouldn’t be worth mentioning, but the last two issues were basically just fighting, so getting something different was nice.
I do like Shocker and Jonah telling us that without Spidey in action, crime in New York drastically goes up. It reminds us of how much Spidey does to stop crime – large and small.
(Jonah does strike me as the kind of person who would not use earbuds.)
While Peter is recuperating and out of action, he’s taking the time to throw himself into his work. He’s likely had perfect attendance during these past few weeks, so this actually backs up the support that his boss gave him in previous issues.
I like that Norman Osborn is the voice of reason here regarding Peter’s new attitude. Who saw this coming?
(Our hero, Norman Osborn.)
Kelly continues to include Tombstone in this background of this book. It’s not likely that he will use him as much as Zells did, but he *is* the head of all the gangs in New York, so it’s nice for him to show up now and then to remind us of that.
MJ not only reaches out to Peter to make sure he’s all right, but she finally tells him that she’s Venom. This should have happened much sooner, but at least she told him instead of him finding out on his own.
(“But … I’m pregnant, and Paul’s the father. We’re 80% sure the child is not imaginary.”)
(Feels like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel in this section)
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
The previous issue ends with Hellgate defeating Spider-Man. This issue starts weeks later, with Peter injured and recuperating, and not appearing as Spider-Man at all (until the final page). We’re never given ANY explanation for Peter’s behavior here. We’ve seen Spidey be injured by a villain before – worse than this – and he’s always been back in action right away – how many times have we seen Spidey in action with an arm in a sling? Or whenever he stops being Spider-Man, we’re always told *why* he makes this decision, it makes sense, and when he eventually decides to suit up again, we’re given enough information so we know *why* he makes that decision. NONE of that is in this issue. I have no idea why Peter is acting like he is here. We’re just told that he’s acting like this and expected to accept it.
Where is Hellgate? He was all over the previous two issues, and after defeating Spider-Man, he’s disappeared. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not clamoring for him to return. But it seems weird that the last two issues were all about him, he defeated Spider-Man, and he just disappears?
(Hellgate’s appearances in this issue.)
What about the Black Cat? She ran away from the fight with Hellgate, she has to know that he defeated Spider-Man – badly and publicly. She knows that Spider-Man has not appeared in the weeks since, and yet she never goes to visit Peter to make sure he’s all right?
(Black Cat’s appearances in this issue.)
What was with the one page of young-Peter flashback? I kept waiting for another flashback to appear later to follow up on this, but it never did. What does that flashback have to do with anything else in this issue? If you know, tell me.
They are really pushing hard on making Brian the goofy friend/co-worker. That appears to be his entire personality. How does this guy have enough say-so at this company to convince his boss to hire anyone solely on his recommendation, let alone Peter?
(Seriously, who would hire anyone based on *this guy’s* recommendation?)
The Peter/MJ scene should have affected me much more than it did. And it should have been a much bigger deal. Not only is she *finally* reaching out to Peter as a friend, but she’s revealing to him that she’s Venom. And yet it seems like Peter couldn’t care less. At first I thought this was the return of emo-Peter from 8 Deaths of Spider-Man. This should have been a much bigger reaction from Peter (maybe we’ll get more in later issues to explain this reaction, but it just doesn’t work here).
(Didn’t Norman say “Heh” in a Zells issue indicating that the Goblin was still in him? Am I reaching here?)
Shay and Randy show up just to remind us that they are characters in this book. I actually forgot that they would interact with each other when Peter wasn’t around. It’s like when you saw Elaine and George hang out without Jerry.
Captain Kintsugi was built up during the Hellgate fight issues. I thought their focus was Hellgate, but now they’re just wandering around the city fighting random crime? Who is this person? And how in the world does Shay of all people know their name?
(“That Captain Kintsugi, he’s so hot right now.”)
In less than one year, Joe Kelly has written two separate stories where Peter Parker is acting out of character and not wanting to be Spider-Man(6).
POST-SUMMARY DISCUSSION
It’s hard to read this issue and not have the information of the press release in the back of your mind. Has this split already happened? Is that why “Peter” is acting so different? Is he meant to be “different” when he finally suits up on the last page and attacks the Aftershocks? Is the Spider-Man we see on the last page the same Peter as in this issue? Is Peter already in space and this has been Ben this entire issue? (if so then why is he in a cast?) Or does none of this have anything to do with this issue? Who knows?
I don’t know if having this press release knowledge makes this issue better or worse. Without it, Peter seems incredibly out of character, and there’s no explanation for it. But with it, we still don’t know if this is the explanation for how Peter is acting, and if it is, it still doesn’t explain it very well.
Is this going to be a “first issue of Dying Wish” situation? ASM #698 had Peter acting a bit differently, but not incredibly out of character. But at the end of that issue you realized that “Peter” in that issue was actually Doc Ock in Peter’s body, which made rereading the issue with that knowledge incredibly satisfying. If we find out later that Peter has already been split/replaced/whatever, will rereading this issue with that knowledge give this issue more weight? Again, I have no idea. But I do know that ASM #698 was a good read the first time you read it without that knowledge. This issue does not have that going for it.
LETTERS PAGE SHENANIGANS
(Surprisingly, Nick Lowe does not address this 8 Deaths feedback in his responses to these letters.)
WHAT THIS ISSUE MEANT OVERALL
You can make a good issue where not a lot happens, the hero has a reason they don’t want to fight anyone, and they don’t actually appear in costume until the end. ASM #18 (volume #1) is a prime example of this (although a LOT happens in that issue) – Peter is afraid that Aunt May will die if anything happens to her, he spends the issue seeing the effect this has on the city, we get a lot of interesting developments with other characters, and by the end of the issue Peter makes a logical decision to get back into the suit.
(It’s sad that we have 6 issue #18 of ASM, and will likely have more in upcoming years.)
But this issue does none of that. Not a lot happens here, most of what happens is not that interesting, what *should* be interesting (the Venom reveal) is not because of Peter’s reaction, and Peter’s behavior is not explained. We see Spider-Man at the end of the issue but we have no idea what changed to cause him to appear, if anything did. It’s all very … disappointing. And frustrating.
GRADE
D+
I started this review thinking I’d give this a C, but as I wrote it I kept realizing how annoying this issue was and talked myself into a lower grade. That doesn’t happen very often.
NEXT TIME, IN AN ALL-NEW ISSUE OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …
What happens next issue? Do we find out what is going on with Peter’s attitude? Will we get more about Hellgate? Will we get information that Peter is already gone/split/replaced? Who knows?
FOOTNOTES
(1) What does this flashbacks have to do with this issue? Who knows?
(2) If “Shocker and the Aftershocks” isn’t a music band soon in the Marvel Universe, then what are we even doing here?
(3) That’s not a euphemism. Stop it.
(4) According to Google, “In the United States, a nurse typically does not have automatic access to another hospital’s medical records. Access is generally limited to situations where the nurse is directly involved in the patient’s care at the specific hospital with the record, or when the patient has authorized the release of their information.” So I have no idea how Shay would be able to check if Peter was treated in any New York hospital.
(5) Remember him? The guy who made a mysterious appearance two issues ago, and then appeared during the battle last issue for 3 panels and did absolutely nothing? Yeah, that guy.
(6) This comment was inspired by the late great Kevin Cushing who once said on the podcast “In one year, Bendis has written issue #17 of the Avengers twice.” (not sure about the issue number)
MJ is such a hypocrite and I kinda dislike her. There were times she resented Peter for being Spider-Man and now she’s Jackpot (or was). She feared the Venom symbiote and forbid Peter from wearing the black suit. Now she’s Venom? I’m sorry, but this is not a believable development of her character.
@Evan Berry:
Yeah, like I said, this news getting out about the upcoming status quo change did not help this issue at all.
As far as Spidey having wrist and ankle bracelets on, that could be put down as some sort of healing apparatus for his injuries. But they are very Scarlet Spider-like.
My current theory is that Hellgate defeated Spidey and immediately took him to outer space, and Ben just happened to be in the are (or was following Spidey), saw what happened, and decided to take the opportunity to take over Peter’s life then and there. I guess he could have been following him for weeks – long enough to learn what was going on in his personal life. Again, still doesn’t make sense why Ben would be faking injuries – why would he have to do that? Who does he have to fool? Even if there were people in Peter’s life who knew he was Spidey and knew that he was seriously injured, he could have just said “I’m doing better, my Spider-powers let me heal quicker than normal people” and they’d believe that.
As far as it being obvious from the start that this is not Peter, the same writer has written a story (within the past year) where Peter was acting out of character and not being Spider-Man. So Peter acting like this would not be a surprise coming from this writer – just that he already did (less than a year ago).
@Hornacek – To be fair, when I read this issue, I hadn’t seen any press release about Spider-man being in space, either (though I have since seen the cover art with the Guardians of the Galaxy, if I remember correctly) and I still figured that this wasn’t Peter. What clinched it for me after, first, seeing how he was acting was his calling someone “Hon” on the phone only to learn a few panels later that Shay hadn’t heard from him. Certainly this was done intentionally to show that something weird is going on — and then Spider-man is shown was bracelet shooters on wrists and ankles. (Anklet shooters?) I honestly think the CBR reviewer guy wasn’t actually thinking or paying attention while reading the book.
I suppose it’s possible that Peter was walking around injured for a while before he went to space or wherever he happens to be, and maybe Ben is dressed like that to keep up appearances. I guess it’s possible that Kelly has “Peter” injured in this issue just for the sake of fooling the reader. If this does turn out to be Ben, I’m curious now if it will ever be addressed. If not — i.e., if there’s no in-story reason for it — we’ll know it was just done in an attempt to fool the reader. You’re really good at remembering details that aren’t ultimately addressed, so I know you’ll be watching for an explanation, too. Here’s hoping any further flashbacks actually make sense, too.
@Steve:
After the Hobgoblin arc I was cautiously optimistic about a Joe Kelly run. I understand that the 8 Deaths story is based on an arc he wanted to do many years ago during his X-Men run, so I put that down to “having to get it out of his system”. After the HG arc I thought “ok, maybe this is the type of street-level story we’re going to get in this run.”
Then we get Hellgate, which as others have pointed out, feels like he stepped out of a Thor or Hercules comic. And we’re told that Spidey is going to go into space? Magic is one of the worst things in a Spidey comic that doesn’t belong, but the next on that list is outer space.
@Evan Berry:
I’m kind of envious about the CBR review because I feel they read/reviewed this issue the way it was intended – without knowledge of this press release or upcoming status quo change. So they weren’t reading this thinking “I know Peter is going to be in space in a few issues, so I wonder if this Peter is someone else?”
“And there was no picture of a cat with the issue, either!” Those hacks!
@Dark Mark:
I also did not think this was Ben until I saw people on the Discord suggest that. That is possible, but it makes no sense. If Ben did replace Peter, why is he pretending to be injured? He wants to replace Peter as Spider-Man, so why isn’t he out being Spider-Man? Why has Spider-Man not been seen if Ben replaced Peter weeks ago?
“Spider-Man would not willingly give his personal life over to Ben.” Yeah, I’m still going with “Hellgate kidnapped the unconscious Peter and took him to space” theory, and Ben saw this and took the opportunity to take over Peter’s life.
“Ben doesn’t have anymore memories of Peter’s life, does he? Didn’t Beyond remove all of those? I don’t know and I as much as I want to care, I’m struggling to do so.” Yeah, my memory is fuzzy but I thought Ben had lost all of his pre-cloning memories of Peter during Beyond (or since).
“I assumed everyone else in the comic knew MJ was Venom since Venom has an ongoing comic. Was this supposed to be a surprise to all?” The reader knows MJ is Venom, and she revealed this to Paul and Robbie in the ANV book (and I think Flash knows too?) but it’s not widely known by anyone else. So her revealing this to “Peter” is a big deal.
“It would be like taking a character out of her book and her fanbase and killing her for no real reason in a Spider-Man book. Surely Marvel wouldn’t do something that inane.” INSERT GUY-TAPPING-HIS-FOREHEAD MEME HERE
“I loved the Hellgate fight. It felt so much like the Firelord fight.” I made the comparison to the Firelord fight, but at least in that one, Firelord was a known character. That story gave you enough information to make you understand who he was and why he was doing what he was doing (who doesn’t love pizza?). Even during the fight it made you understand why Firelord was fighting Spidey. But in this issue, we know nothing about Hellgate and we don’t know any more about him when the fight is over. Why should we care about Hellgate when we don’t know anything about him or why he’s doing what he’s doing?
@Geiseric:
For a mystery it’s not working because this issue is presented as if this is Peter with no explanation/clues/hints as to why he is acting like this.
I agree that the press release really hurts this issue.
Honestly no matter what this all turns out to be these books are laughably bad. Spiderman the street level hero!
@Dark “Tattle Tale” Mark — Hey, it was strictly for research purposes only, and certainly you, of all people, appreciate research. I even cited my source! If anything, it underscored for me why needn’t go to any other Spider-man site. At this point, I’m pretty sure CBR stands for Crawlspace’s Better Reviews.
I do appreciate what you said about stories that are mysteries because there are clues versus stories that are mysteries only because the reader is excluded. I love a good mystery, too. (Clue is my favorite board game and Tim Curry movie!)
Also, I made the mistake of reading your comment while I was brushing my teeth, and the “Emo Peter (the one in the comic, not Norbot” part made me spit toothpaste everywhere. Lesson learned. Spidey got messed up by Hellgate. I got messed up by Colgate. It’s like poetry. It rhymes.
@Evan – Oh! I’m telling Brad you went to another review site!
@Hornacek — By the way, just to see if any other reviews for this issue mentioned anything about Ben or the clues that this is not Peter, as Geiseric states, I did a Google search and clicked on the first result, the CBR review. It appears that this reviewer is not only completely oblivious and does not mention a single detail suggesting that this isn’t Peter, but, indeed, takes it for granted that it is. I’m completely baffled by this. He even appears to offer an explanation for the flashback, but it appears to me to be grasping. And there was no picture of a cat with the issue, either!
https://www.cbr.com/amazing-spider-man-9-review-peter-mary-jane-reveal/#:~:text=It%20was%20a%20really%20clever,want%20to%20be%20a%20superhero.
Maybe this sort of thing is typical for CBR, I’m not sure. I’ve followed the Crawlspace for so long that I haven’t looked at any other sites in far over a decade.
Well, I read this issue on time, but forgot to come back here on the weekend to talk about. Great review (as always)! Terrible issue for all the reasons mentioned below that I will reiterate because I have missed the back and forth on the front page the last few issues.
Mysteries I love. I mean, give me a chance to make a chart tracking all the clues? Take my money! However, I HATE when the only mystery is that WE are excluded from the story. We really should be figuring it out with the character. If there is an exception to that rule, its the Dying Wish story you referenced, but even then, the missing piece was given to us at the end of that issue and it made the reading (which made sense) mean something completely different.
I heard a lot of people saying that they thought Emo Peter (the one in the comic, not Norbot) was Ben and I didn’t see that at all and I only see it now with someone here (I’m too lazy to scroll through and see who said that) saying that Ben did say he was going to have Peter’s life. But that still doesn’t explain where Spider-Man has been. Also, Spider-Man would not willingly give his personal life over to Ben. Also, Ben doesn’t have anymore memories of Peter’s life, does he? Didn’t Beyond remove all of those? I don’t know and I as much as I want to care, I’m struggling to do so.
I assumed everyone else in the comic knew MJ was Venom since Venom has an ongoing comic. Was this supposed to be a surprise to all? I’m not reading Venom, so I would assume that people reading Venom would know who is in the symbiote. Did they just make a major character reveal for Venom outside his own book? If so, I would be pissed if I were a Venom reader to have major reveals happening elsewhere. It would be like taking a character out of her book and her fanbase and killing her for no real reason in a Spider-Man book. Surely Marvel wouldn’t do something that inane.
I have no insight on the flashback. Usually you can see some relevance and I just don’t see it either. My guess is that if your massive brain and my genius don’t see the connection, it wasn’t there.
I hate this issue. I loved the Hellgate fight. It felt so much like the Firelord fight. Then this issue happened. 🙁
That will probably get answered in 11. As I think Kelly wants this to be a mystery of sorts
Funnily enough I think the announcement about space and earth spidey has undercut him severely on this front
Like Welks did kind of, but shorter
That will probably get answered in 11. As I think Kelly wants this to be a mystery of sorts
Funnily enough I think the announcement about space and earth spidey has undercut him severely on this front
@Geiseric:
“This is obviously Ben as he’s talking to a girlfriend that isn’t Shay (because Peter ghosted her) and he mentions to Beian he’s in a committed relationship ( he’s not in a committed relationship to Shay)” Hmm, that is good, why didn’t I notice that?
“Plus Wells run literally ends with Ben saying he’s going to take Peters life.” This still makes no sense. If this is Ben, why is he pretending to be injured if it was Peter that was injured by Hellgate? And he’s not pretending to be injured when he’s Spidey on the last page. Was Ben involved in this entire Hellgate plot, or did he just happen to stumble by, see Spidey defeated by Hellgate and kidnapped into space (that’s my theory as of right now) and decided to take this opportunity to impersonate Peter and take over his life? But if he wants to take Peter’s life, he’s ignoring a lot of it – MJ, Aunt May, Randy, actually being Spider-Man. Maybe we’ll get more in later issues that explains (or tries to) this, but it’d have to be a lot of explaining.
@Evan Berry:
I don’t mine stories where there is a mystery, or something that feels off, as long as each issue/chapter gives us some information to help us figure out what is going on. But this issue didn’t do anything. We’re given this Peter who is acting out of character, and we never get any information/hints/clues to explain why this happened and what is going on. I keep bringing it up, Dying Wish part 1 was a great example of how to do this well.
“By the way, I had always though that Ben had the same memories as Peter up to the point of the cloning procedure. Have I been wrong all this time? I’m not Mark, so it wouldn’t be the first time, believe me.” I thought Ben had lost some/all of his pre-cloning memories, and that’s one of the reasons he’s so mad at Peter.
This is obviously Ben as he’s talking to a girlfriend that isn’t Shay (because Peter ghosted her) and he mentions to Beian he’s in a committed relationship ( he’s not in a committed relationship to Shay)
Plus Wells run literally ends with Ben saying he’s going to take Peters life.
Doesn’t make this issue less awkward
@Hornacek – Steve W’s comment reminded me that, to me, too, this felt like a story where suddenly the status quo has changed from the previous issue and now the blanks will be gradually filled in as the story progresses. I sometimes find myself not enjoying that type of story, I guess because it gives the impression to me that the writer him- or herself doesn’t know how we got there, either, but hopes to figure it out eventually. (*cough* J.J. Abrams *cough*) I’m sure there must have been some that I enjoyed, though.
Given the weird flashback in this issue, I had hopes that Kelly has a plan in mind, assuming this is a fill-in-the-blanks-type story, but I do agree with you that it makes more narrative sense in a serialized story for a single flashback to make sense in the initial context and not be dependent upon later issues for clarity. By the way, I had always though that Ben had the same memories as Peter up to the point of the cloning procedure. Have I been wrong all this time? I’m not Mark, so it wouldn’t be the first time, believe me.
@Aqu@ — When I type, I do sometimes find myself using homophones in place of the words I intend, and I’d always assumed it was because as I write I think phonetically: the words play through my mind as if I’m speaking them, as it were. I know that language and thought both have an impact on each other, such that one’s language affects how one perceives the world and vice versa. I imagine someone more familiar with linguistics and cognitive science could speak more on this, but it’s interesting to know that you’re the same way!
@Steve W:
“The problem with this issue is that it seems like we missed a book. You read parts 1 and 2 then go right to part 4. What happened in part 3?” Exactly! At first I thought the issue was starting in the middle of the story and we would get flashbacks to after the battle, and Peter’s initial recovery. Nope! Even if we get those flashbacks in a later issue (as part of the split/replacement story), it’ll be too late for this issue.
“Peter has been injured and defeated before so what happened to cause this dramatic change in behavior? We see in the issue that several characters know about the Hellgate fight but what happened after it ended? Did anyone find an unconscious Spider-man as the issue’s cover suggests? How was Peter treated for his injuries? Most importantly, why do we jump ahead several weeks when something major happened to so drastically change Peter’s perspective?” Yeah, this just creates questions that (as far as this issue is concerned) the book is not interested in answering, let alone talking about.
Now I’m wondering if after the battle, Hellgate secretly kidnapped Spider-Man and took him back to space (in this theory Hellgate is from space), and that’s how Spidey ends up there. But then how do we get this other Spider-Man in New York? Did Hellgate do something to split Spidey into two people? If so, where did this ability come from, since all we saw of Hellgate from the battle issues is that he’s strong and tough.
Or if this *is* Ben and he took Spidey’s/Peter’s place after Hellgate took Peter to space, why is Ben so injured? Is he faking these injuries to pretend to be Peter, and if so, why? And why doesn’t he pretend to have these injuries when he’s Spidey at the end of the issue?
Again, there are enough problems here, but having this press release just makes more.
@Steve:
A month ago, for issues 1-5, I would have clapped back against your comment.
But with this arc, I don’t have a rebuttal.
The problem with this issue is that it seems like we missed a book. You read parts 1 and 2 then go right to part 4. What happened in part 3? Peter has been injured and defeated before so what happened to cause this dramatic change in behavior? We see in the issue that several characters know about the Hellgate fight but what happened after it ended? Did anyone find an unconscious Spider-man as the issue’s cover suggests? How was Peter treated for his injuries? Most importantly, why do we jump ahead several weeks when something major happened to so drastically change Peter’s perspective? I guess this is What Did Peter Do? All over again as this book keeps quickly recycling recent stories.
Thank you for reading these train wrecks so I don’t have to
@Aqu@:
All I know is that in that review episode I mentioned, Brad and Mike said this was announced in a “press release” multiple times.
@Evan
You know, it’s funny, because until some time ago I always thought mistaking homophones was a thing only for native speakers, who learn the language orally first, when people like me who studied it in school (as a second language) don’t have that issue because we learn written words first and then the pronounciation (or both at the same time).
Nowadays that I improved my english a lot with listening and speaking too and by writing every day, I sometimes find myself making the same mistakes (often about their\they’re, something I would have found impossible to do wrong some time ago!)… It’s contagious!
@Hornacek
It wasn’t spoiled in a press review, it was just a piece of news the day the comic came out.
Unfortunately, I don’t read all of your review to avoid spoilers as much as I can, I just skim over it.
Therefore I cannot comment on the issue. Sorry!
@Evan Berry:
Yeah, Nick Spencer’s first story (ASM #1-5) had Peter split into two people. The Spear (of Destiny) gave him the sins of Norman Osborn. TWD made him sinful again. Peter became full-emo in 8 Deaths. We have had a *lot* of Spidey stories recently where outside forces cause Peter’s personality to completely change.
“So Ricardo thinks giving Peter space might not be the right thing to do. I agree. Keep Spider-man Earthbound, please.” Hey-oh!
“I’m assuming the flashback at the beginning will make more sense in the context of the events that follow, so we might have to wait a while and then revisit this issue later when we understand more of what’s going on.” I don’t know, that feels like a failure in storytelling, if something in this issue won’t make sense until you read an upcoming issue. It should make sense now, and make *more* sense after that upcoming issue (again, see the first issue of Slott’s Dying Wish for a great example of this)
“if this does turn out to be Ben, he and Peter would have the same memories of childhood, and maybe later flashbacks will add coherence to what otherwise seems irrelevant.” Aren’t all of Ben’s memories as Peter before he got cloned gone?
@Aqu@:
I didn’t see that reveal either but I just recently watched the Crawlspace review episode where they reviewed ASM #5 and 6, and they mentioned this press release there. Sara was the only one who hadn’t heard about it, so it was funny watching her reaction, where she suspected the rest of them were making this up just to fool her.
I know many people were suspecting that MJ was Venom, but for them to spoil it in a press release before the issue came out – what are we even doing here?
Please feel free to comment on this issue even if you haven’t read it. I need more comments!
I too enjoyed the first arc quite a bit, which makes this second one so disappointing.
*Spencer write a story…
Homophones…
@hornacek — Didn’t Spencer right a story where Peter was split in two? [researching online for a minute] Yeah, looks like it was Amazing Spider-man #3 in 2018. I don’t remember the details, but the cover stuck in my head for some reason. And then there’s the Henry Winkler Device arc — Didn’t that make him act out of character, as well? Everything’s starting to run together. This is why I can’t keep my lore straight.
So Ricardo thinks giving Peter space might not be the right thing to do. I agree. Keep Spider-man Earthbound, please. Unless you have him plummet through the atmosphere in a spacesuit and hit the ground with a sound like “BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB,” I’m not really interested.
Jokes aside, I will say that at first I mistook Kevin Cushing for Peter Cushing. Boy was I confused.
I’m assuming the flashback at the beginning will make more sense in the context of the events that follow, so we might have to wait a while and then revisit this issue later when we understand more of what’s going on. Either that, or Kelly thinks its significance is obvious, and we’re either too obtuse or not cool enough to catch it. I think “Peter’s” internal dialogue could later be similarly recontextualized, as well. For example, if this does turn out to be Ben, he and Peter would have the same memories of childhood, and maybe later flashbacks will add coherence to what otherwise seems irrelevant. But I agree — Maybe at least one more what have helped with my understanding.
I didn’t see that reveal about MJ either when the comics news website I read spoiled it big time in their titles… I’m still sour about it.
I also had no idea about that press review you’re talking about, because the aforementioned site didn’t report it, like it hasn’t been showing solicitations for the past 4 months. Maybe it’s time to find another website for my comics news.
Any suggestion?
(as always, I cannot comment on the issue, since I still have to read it. But good news, I at least read the first arc of this new volume: not bad, not impressed.)