Bunn (w) and Shalvey (a) and Loughridge (c)
This is a really well-timed issue. That's going to come at odds with some of the things I've said before, about pacing and about being aware that your audience is buying this so don't waste their time and money. It's a well-timed issue for a couple reasons, though. First of all, this book is dedicated to Flash's life in whole. To take an issue and re-center on the people in Flash's life and his relationships, especially amidst the craziness that's been happening in his life recently, is a really good move. The series lately has moved pretty quickly and gotten us to an interesting point, no doubt, but it's left little time to delve into Flash's life. Without an issue to calm things down, you're left with a book that's nothing but action. There's a fine line to toe here between plot and character and this issue goes a long way to restore that balance. If they had plunged straight into the next story (likely involving Eddie Brock, as he makes an appearance at the end of this issue), the lack of calm moments would have weighed on how intense the action had to be. It's like that idea of "without evil there's no scale for good;" without calm, there's no scale for the action.In this issue, Flash finalizes his move to Philadelphia. Now we have three spider-based heroes in the 616 heroing in three different cities, which I find kind of interesting, considering we have so many heroes locked into New York City. So basic idea, Flash wants a new start and moves to Philadelphia to help out there and begin again. He can't just appear as Venom in Philadelphia or, he fears, his friends and possibly his new neighbors would put two and two together and figure out who Venom really is. Scarlet Spider didn't have these sorts of problems when he moved to Houston because he wasn't really a person before that. He was a clone of Peter Parker who wanted distance from Peter Parker but, if anyone checked, Peter Parker was still in NYC. Flash instead tries out a couple new methods, including putting on new hero guises and just keeping a lower profile. These bits are more lighthearted than what comes after, as we find out that Flash's neighbor, who gave him trouble the day before, has been brutally attacked and hospitalized. Flash finds out about this when he wakes up the next day to find all his boxes unpacked and police officers asking him if he heard anything. Then, like I said, we see Eddie Brock asking about Flash back in New York.
There are definitely things just waiting to happen in this book. It's a good place to leave off as it keeps us wanting more but doesn't force action on us. It comes naturally without needing to justify the rest of the issue's toned down action. This is a really solid issue. Like a few other recommendations this week, this book serves as a great jumping on point if you're interested in the character. New start for Flash means that you can jump in pretty easily if you're looking to.
Ultimate Spider-Man 20
Bendis (w) and Pichelli (a) and Ponsor (c)
Miles keeps skirting the line of someone figuring out his identity, appearing in this issue just outside of his own home right in front of his parents. Remember, this is the Ultimate Universe, where these kinds of reveals have a precedent. Peter Parker had his identity known to people like J. Jonah Jameson and the Green Goblin pretty early in his run as Spider-Man, knowledge that haunted him often (not so much with Jonah, as that Jonah is actually a very good person and not willing to sell out a hero for the front page). Miles knows this and tries to disguise his voice and tries to move the fight away from his house.
Okay, so this is a weird complaint and it may come off the fact that it's Bendis and, as I've shown, I'm a bit critical and skeptical of him these days, but I feel like, in an issue where a giant fight happened and there was a possible Uncle Ben moment (what else are you supposed to call it as it pertains to Spider-Man?), not a lot spawned from this issue. Like, yes, it would be a very big deal if Miles' father, who was hit hard by Venom, doesn't survive. That kind of parallel to Peter Parker-well, we know what that can mean. But still, for 20 pages, we get fighting, Ganke showing up with faulty web-fluid, more fighting, and Jefferson being put into an ambulance. Again, this is a weird complaint because that's a huge development even if he doesn't die. It just feels like it took the entire issue to get there and not much happened otherwise. It's likely me just being too critical of Bendis because I can't prove even my favorite writers wouldn't have done that, but it does nag at me a bit.
I like Miles fine, but this supporting cast is a little weak to me. I don't have any real feel for his parents, except that Jefferson is often angry. Ganke kind of annoys me. There's a girl that they're going to build up as a love interest for him but she's hardly appeared yet. That's not an easy thing to build, though. I think the Uncle Ben moment has so much weight because Uncle Ben's death is directly Peter's fault and Uncle Ben was so important to Peter. Miles likely has a similar relationship with his father, but we haven't seen it. In truth, we didn't see Peter's relationship with Ben as deeply as we needed until long after, through so many flashbacks and through Peter's narrative. So no fault there, but it does hurt to make that comparison to the 616 with all of the gravity it comes with when you haven't had the time to establish that gravity. We'll see how it goes moving forward.
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