Leftovers 9-17-14

Alright, as you may have surmised from the two other full posts on a Sunday, pretty busy day over here at Marvels HQ. I prepare, then, to ASTOUND critics (read: me) with the speed of these reviews. TO WORK.


All-New X-Factor 14

Scarlet Witch pays a visit to Polaris hoping to spend a day out with her half-sister, which Lorna does not want to do and invites Danger in the hopes that it won't be entirely uncomfortable. They go to a Renaissance Faire and drink and be merry before saving a girl from her creepy and possessive online stalker before heading out to a bar and drinking some more, where Wanda reveals that Havok had Quicksilver monitoring Lorna and reporting back to him. Peter David clearly had fun writing this book but it varies for the reader between fun and heavy-handed/somewhat inexplicable. Also, Lorna brings up her (and apparently every other mutant's) resentment of Wanda for M-Day yet encourages one of the world's most powerful and unpredictable mutants to drink despite her original wishes. Wanda also acts kind of like a child with some of this stuff, which could be an interesting character decision but doesn't really pay off or get explanation as such. Look, I meant to be going faster with these reviews then I kicked off with a book I had some real problems with. Seriously, I was aiming for like, three sentences. Total Score: 2/5


Deadpool Bi-Annual 1
Deadpool is hired by Sea World (it's a fake Sea World but it's pretty much Sea World, whatever, you get it, you're smart, I'm continuing) to stop Brute Force, a team of powerful, super-intelligent animals who have the ability to turn into vehicles, from continuing to attack their attractions. Deadpool agrees and at first has a relatively easy time against Brute Force (except for heavy Bear, who scares him off). His next attack on the team is postponed, though, when he realizes Sea World is evil and he teams with Brute Force to take down his own employers. It's a special bi-annual issue (as the title would tell you) that gives an extra ten pages to the story and is at least ten pages too long. There are bits and pieces of the issue that are genuinely funny but it reverts to fourth-wall breaking too often (I have my issues with that and I think they're probably documented but, in short, it's hard to make breaking the fourth-wall sound like it's not just a self-congratulatory writer winking too hard at the audience for approval) and it occasionally goes for lowest-common-denominator humor and now THIS self-congratulatory writer should probably get off his high horse and just rate the issue. Total Score: 2/5


Hulk 6

Doc Green (really don't like that name or the weird mohawk, you guys) attacks A-Bomb, eventually injecting him with his created serum and learning, indeed, that it's worked as A-Bomb shrinks down to Rick Jones and finds himself unable to transform again. Jones is real mad at Green but agrees to go with him to take out the next target. Green also attacks SHIELD and threatens MODOK to make sure he never toys with gamma radiation again. Meanwhile, Red Hulk gets a whiff of Doc Green's plans early and vows that he won't stand for it. I'm kind of interested in the story developing here but I'm finding Doc Green's appearance and attitude off-putting, which I believe is supposed to be the case, so I suppose points for that, but you also don't really want to read a book where you have nothing to like about the protagonist. Shaving the mohawk thing would be a good way to start. Total Score: 3/5




Hulk Annual 1
Patty Wolman, Banner's former scientist who wanted to commit suicide by Hulk, has been working with a mix of old and new research to create a sustainable forest but, as her health worsened, saw some setbacks. Now, with her mind going, she experiments on herself for the new VISTA project which would control whole sustainable systems with biochips and sentient plants and so on. It works a bit too well and she's enveloped into the Vancouver greenery, which begins to grow rapidly and envelop the whole city and its people. Doc Green fights back against it and eventually shuts it down with a chemical of his own design, though a Patty-like being, now Vista, survives and flees. Like the DEADPOOL BI-ANNUAL, this special length issue goes on about ten pages too long and drags like crazy, a result of Nero's attempts to characterize Wolman more and to show what she's been studying. It's possible everything he said was necessary to do as much as he wanted, but that doesn't make it an enjoyable or interesting read. Total Score: 2/5


Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 5

Miles and Peter Parker have been surrounded by the cops in front of Peter's old house in the wake of the Green Goblin's reappearance. They manage to escape, though Miles is wounded leaving and picked up by detective Maria Hill, who vows to help him. Miles tracks Peter to MJ's house and Peter agrees to talk to the new Spider-Man there. Meanwhile, the spider-twins that have wreaked havoc on the city use the Green Goblin/Spider-Man distraction to heist some more specific materials and Green Goblin shows up to J. Jonah Jameson's apartment and gives him a full interview as a "reborn" Norman Osborn and Jameson shoots him. Plenty happening and aside from a couple of back-and-forth moments, it's setting up what could prove to be an interesting story for Miles. Total Score: 4/5






Nova 21
Nova finishes moving his family to their new apartment and sets off into space to follow up a lead on his father. He attacks the Chitauri planet where his father was last known to be a gladiator and finds that his father led a rebellion out of the prisons, stealing a ship with his fellow gladiators and setting off into the universe. Happy that his father escaped but now lacking any fresh leads, Sam returns home just in time to be expelled by Principal Philbin for his absences and tardiness. It's a tradition for teen superheroes to have trouble balancing their superhero life and their personal life, which always comes back to balancing school with their superhero schedule, but it's almost harder to get invested in this school problem with Nova being as powerful as he is. This isn't a cry about "school isn't important, why is Sam still there," it's more a note that most teen superheroes who struggle with this are heroes like Spider-Man or Ms. Marvel, who certainly have impressive powers and a lot with which to contend, but can't readily travel into space or leave their city on a whim (this isn't always the case, of course, but it seems more true). The reason I bring it up is that it seems to take some of the weight out of the expulsion, which isn't necessarily a slam on Duggan or his predecessors, since they all took time to focus on his troubles at school, but rather the logic of the whole thing. I read the last bit and kind of ended up going "so?" That's not a great cliffhanger. Total Score: 3/5


Savage Hulk 4
The story with the X-Men is still going and some of the X-Men work out of their binds while Hulk develops crazy strong telekinetic powers and ruins Leader (Leader only sent a drone to deal with this, so he's still out there and fine, though unsuccessful here). When the telekinetic energy in his head drains, Hulk leaps at the X-Men but Xavier manages to telepathic him down enough to leave without incident, leaving Xavier saddened that he wasn't able to help Banner but essentially restoring the status quo. The conclusion of this all-too-long arc drags just as much and pays off just as little as the rest of the arc. First arc of this new team-up book ends up not exactly delivering optimism for the rest of the series. Total Score: 1/5

Leftovers 8-6-14

Hey guys, not that you're not used to a more sporadic schedule of late but I'd like to note I very nearly have an excuse for not posting yesterday (ignoring totally not posting Friday when I was just tired). I was at Boston Comic-Con, a con that started just nine years ago and has really exploded into something huge. It's not so big as some of your more established cons (your SDCC, your NYCC, your Chicago one whose name currently escapes me), but even the difference between this year and when Amanda and I went two years ago is CRAZY. It was at a bigger venue and the lines wrapped around the building all day long. Tons of cosplayers, tons of retailers, several cool celebrity guests (like John Barrowman, Sean Astin, and Jewel Staite, listing the people I was pretty pumped to be near), and, most importantly great artists like Neal Adams, Joe Quinones, Ming Doyle, Maris Wicks, Norman Lee, Jorge Molina, Greg Capullo, Kate Leth, Shelli Paroline, Braden Lamb, and oodles more (first half of that list is people from whom I bought stuff, +Neal Adams, the second half is just people I like but I didn't even get around to really seeing), and writers like Mark Waid and Scott Snyder. Lots of great people, lots of great art, pretty solid experience. LOOK, HAVE I SUCCESSFULLY DISTRACTED YOU FROM NOTICING THERE WAS NO POST YESTERDAY? Great, mission accomplished. I'll probably post pictures of the stuff I bought at some point. You know, low quality images of images. Don't let that dissuade you, though, everyone from whom I bought was awesome and all the stuff I bought was equally awesome. Okay, now that THAT'S through, let's get to the eight or so books we need to cover today. Yipes.

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 4
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c) and Petit (l)

Kate's upset that Miles is Spider-Man, revealing it IMMEDIATELY to her sister, who says they have to break up because their parents will kill him and possibly Kate for her involvement with him (INTRIGUE, RIGHT?) but Miles has his own problems as he fights the ultra-powerful and somehow resurrected Green Goblin in front of Peter Parker's old home only to have Peter Parker, decked in full Spider-Man gear again, intercede and team up with Miles to drive Goblin away. The highly publicized fight is seen by everyone in their little worlds and suddenly Peter Parker's alive again. The book, when it gets to the fight, moves pretty well. The Kate stuff is a bit slow and I still feel the relationship is a little sudden and tortured. The fight is good but this seems like one of those stories that can only be judged when we have all the information. REGARDLESS, here I am judging it: Total Score: 4/5



Miracleman 9
A. Moore (w) and Veitch w/R. Bryant (a) and Oliff (c) and Caramagna (l)

Miracleman returns just in time to find Liz having very sudden contractions. Not wanting to give birth on Gargunza's facility, MM straps Liz into a truck, telling her to blast the heat in the cold air, and flies her to a nicer place. Meanwhile, a couple of spooks visit young Johnny Bates, still comatose, in the hospital. They go into his mind and can't find traces of Kid Miracleman there, so they leave, allowing him to come out from hiding and question their appearance. Back with Liz, an incredibly graphic birth scene happens and a baby is born, to the delight of Miracleman and Liz, replaced by surprise when the baby says "ma-ma." Plenty happening here, nice bit of Miracleman pondering life and death and birth and so on as we see full-on graphic birth. Sorry, limited vocabulary here, I have nothing to say but "graphic." Pretty weird, guys. I'd have bought it if you just showed me the baby born, probably just would have assume there was a graphic scene off-panel. Total Score: 3/5


New Warriors 8
Yost (w) and To (a) and Redmond (c) and Caramagna (l)

Haechi and Sun Girl are trapped in the presence of Lash and two of his ambassadors, one who controls the "puppets" (read: humans) outside to hold off the New Warriors and one who is pretty much made of knives. Lash offers Haechi a place with them and he considers it, remembering the humans who beat him when he first gained his new powers, but rejects it, remembering the man who saved him from the punks that day. Outside, Water Snake and Scarlet Spider get annoyed with Justice as he's unwilling to use much force against the mind-controlled humans attacking them. Fortunately, Hummingbird is able to eject the Inhuman Nocculus from their minds so they can pass. Facing the might of the New Warriors, Lash and the two other Inhumans leave, swearing to meet Haechi again. Meanwhile, Nova arrives at Mount Wundagore to learn from Jake Waffles that the team has already completed a couple of their missions without him and, according to Speedball, he sucks. Tons of fun spread throughout the issue but well-balanced by seriousness and action. Chris Yost has written some of the most enjoyable Marvel stuff over the last four or five years, from my much-mentioned and much-beloved Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes to AVENGING SPIDER-MAN/SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP to SCARLET SPIDER to this. Such a great energy in this book and some real, genuine laugh lines to boot. Total Score: 5/5


Original Sin 3.4 - Hulk vs. Iron Man
Waid and Gillen (s) and Gillen (w) and L. Ross (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Caramagna (l)

Iron Man escapes below Troy to find a new suit and turns up in a Hulkbuster to bust Hulk, who, in fact, busts him, knocking him out and drugging him before taking him, trapped in his own ruined suit,  out to the gamma testing site where Hulk was born. While Hulk derides Tony, ready to punish him further, Tony shows him one last piece of information, including Banner's original plans for the bombs and Tony's updates. As it happens, Tony was hired to power-up the bomb behind Banner's back but he actually discovered when he examined it closer that Banner's excessive shielding would have ended up doing far more harm than good, likely killing Banner and tons of innocents in surrounding cities as a result of Banner's "safety precautions." The updates Tony made, though still potentially responsible for the Hulk (never quite cleared up), saved lives, including Banner's. Banner apologizes, going on to thank Tony, but Tony keeps some information to himself, including an email he sent to Banner after looking at the bomb (which Banner deleted) that may have set Banner on the track of adjusting the bomb himself to keep it from Hulkifying him and also would have paved the way for plenty of Earth-friendly technologies Banner could have discovered, sparing Banner from knowledge that may legitimately have caused him to commit suicide (or try, you know that Hulk guy). Pretty strong stuff and a nice little ending for the science bros but I can't help but be a little disappointed that Tony is apparently arguably a bigger hero than he was going in and not just a little bit of a villain. I know you don't want necessarily to taint your cash cow but I liked knowing that his hubris had such a huge ramification on the Marvel Universe (not the first time, certainly, that would have been true, but still a pretty poignant one). Total Score: 3/5


Original Sin 5.3 - Thor and Loki
Aaron and Ewing (s) and Ewing (w) and Garbett and Bianchi (a) and Woodard, Dall'Alpi, and Peruzzi (c) and Sabino (l)

Thor and Angela fight with Angela gaining the upper hand thanks to her speed and brutality while Loki learns about some Heaven history from the queen, who reveals that she once had a deal with Odin that had her and her angels watching over Midgard to protect it from jerk Asgardians. When she betrayed Odin and joined up with the Frost Giants and other enemies to Asgard, war was declared and the battle that "killed" Odin's daughter started. Loki, though, is just as much an outsider to Asgardians and a villain to these honor-bound people as the money-craving angels are, she points out. Back outside, Angela is stopped from killing Thor as the queen and new "Mistress of Strategies" decide that he's more useful alive than dead. That Mistress of Strategies? A transformed woman Loki, of course. This is probably the first issue of this tie-in that starts to give a little more new information and contextualizing, though it does drag a bit when that happens. Still, it seems like a classic Thor/Loki story as Loki has gone ahead and seemingly betrayed his brother and his people for whatever quick gain or long con he could be playing at. Strong enough to pass, slow enough to overstay. Total Score: 3/5


She-Hulk 7
Soule (w) and Pulido (a) and Vicente (c) and Cowles (l)

She-Hulk and Hellcat have been hired by a scientist/inventor duo to work out the terms of a contract that would sell their new revolutionary shrink ray, the Shrinko (more affordable than Pym Particles), to an outside buyer. One member of the team, Rufus (the marketer), wants to sell while the other, Reza (the brains behind the Shrinko tech), wants to keep it out of the buyer's hands. Their partnership is 50/50 so Rufus would need Reza's approval to sell but Reza, in a fit of anger over the way the proceedings are going, has shrunk himself down and disappeared. She-Hulk calls in resident shrinking expert Dr. Pym for a hand and she, Pym, and Hellcat shrink themselves with Pym Particles to find Reza. Pym isn't optimistic and actually knows Reza's work, saying that Shrinko tech isn't ready for human testing and that people tend to explode with some great force when using the tech on themselves. After a couple scares and some in-fighting between She-Hulk and Hellcat, they find Reza and rescue him from some cats nearby. It turns out that the buyer interested in the Shrinko patent is Pym himself (Pymself), wanting to help them perfect their tech in exchange for a small percentage of the profits. Reza doesn't believe his exploding claims but quickly learns that he might have a point when his own severed finger, left behind in a coke can in which he hid himself from the cats, explodes, safely out of range thanks to a She-Hulk toss. Reza and Rufus agree to sell to Pym but She-Hulk already has a new case waiting with an elderly Captain America waiting in the lobby. Another fun issue and we've already seen this neat little formula, wherein a story runs kind of underneath but really quietly while individual episodes involving the superhero community in legal battles takes the spotlight, work really well and this one is no exception. Plenty of fun, a good deal of heart, and some fun art ideas. Total Score: 5/5


Superior Foes of Spider-Man 14
Spencer (w) and Lieber w/R. Ellis (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Cowles (l)

Very slight break in the action as the team regroups at Boomerang's secret safe-house. We learn why Overdrive joined this gang (trying to fight Spider-Man so he can eventually be recognized by the hero and, in turn, become a hero himself, like your Hawkeyes or Black Widows or so forth) and stole that bus that time (a very brief affair with Beetle after evading Mr. Negative's henchmen trying to collect debts from Overdrive exhausted him and they escaped their car on-foot, needing to power up the bus in a pinch when they needed new wheels). We also learn that Speed Demon's beloved corgi was actually a missing dog he adopted and he was missing for most of this while he did the right thing and returned the dog to its owners. After the stories and repartee pass, Boomerang mocks Shocker one too many times and he emerges from the bathroom and blasts them all. As I mentioned with ROCKET RACCOON this week, this book continues to be just a lot of fun and great humorous moments, grounded a little (as far as Marvel grounds anything) by its perpendicularity to the rest of the universe. Spencer's got something really fun here and he's doing just what he needs to with it. Total Score: 5/5


Superior Spider-Man 32
Slott and Gage (s) and Gage (w) and Camuncoli (p) and Dell (i) and Fabela (c) and Eliopoulos (l)
Spider-Sanction: Gage (w) and Kubert (a) and Beredo (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN returns as, during the events of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 19 (the exploding temporal portal, or temportal, that brought Spidey 2099 to the present and set of Spider-Man's exit from Horizon Labs), Superior Spidey is sent to 2099 in Miguel's place (universe course-correction). He manages to swipe some tech from Alchemax and create a computer for himself based on Anna Maria (little weird) and starts to jump in time and into other universes accidentally. However, each universe he hits on his way home has dead Spider-Men in it, hunted by the same adversary. Eventually he realizes how dangerous this adversary is and begins to assemble a team of Spider-Men from the universes he visits, eventually hoping to amass an army (he already has six including himself by issue's end). SPIDER-VERSE is coming and this is our prelude to it. It's an interesting story and one that allows the story to take place and commence, thanks to time jumping, with Superior Spider-Man getting his hands dirty too. Follow-up story SPIDER-SANCTION gives us a tease of one of our new Spiders, a colder, more withdrawn, and more brutal Peter Parker who has been driven to kill by the events in his life and who joins Doc Ock's army only when assured they'll be looking to kill the assassin. Some pretty cool stuff as the Spider-Man event of the year bears down on us (funny that this is the event in the year when Peter Parker came back from the dead). Total Score: 4/5

SPEED ROUND: Superior Foes of Spider-Man 12, Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 2, Miracleman 7

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 12

Spencer (w) and Lieber (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Cowles (l)

Boomerang's team has found him and his feeble attempts to convince them that it was Chameleon who betrayed them doesn't go over as well with them as it did with Owl. However, Owl backs him up and hires the team to get the painting back. They agree and Owl gives them a few more hired hands to help with Chameleon's security. When Boomerang, Overdrive, and Beetle make it downstairs, Overdrive takes the painting (a forgery, according to Boomerang), he aims for another new prize. Meanwhile, Hydro-Man has revealed to Hammerhead that Shocker has the head of Silvermane.

With Spencer and Lieber back and the main plot picked back up, the book immediately resumes its old tone and humor. It continues to be a sharp book, one of the funnier books on the stands from Marvel, and still manages to have a plot that's certainly compelling enough, which is all this one needs to be. I mentioned in the comments of Coby's Comics blog recently that it's possible my aversion to the new SECRET AVENGERS comes from the characters chosen to act the way they're acting because I don't buy it from those specific characters. This book feels very much like what that book is going for, something fun and exciting, while looking at characters from whom I can absolutely buy this sort of behavior. Really strong book right now.

Total Score: 5/5

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 2

Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c) and Petit (l)

Peter Parker is in Miles' room asking for his web-shooters back. He doesn't talk about how he returned from the dead, just citing that this sort of thing happens in their world, and he refuses to tell May about it because he doesn't want to give her a heart attack. After asking politely multiple times and being shocked by Miles' venom blast (accidentally), he knock Miles out and takes the shooters. Miles immediately believes it to be a clone and isn't sure how to handle the situation. Meanwhile, Spider-Man-like villains are robbing warehouses and Miles prepares to tell Kate his secret.

The book moves relatively well though it is absolutely loaded with back-and-forth dialogue. I have a number of complaints about that style of writing (all extremely well-documented, pretty sure that if you searched the phrase "back-and-forth" on this blog you'd get pages of responses) but here it works far better. It's not an action scene where such dialogue breaks flow and it's in a scene where a character would believably keep interjecting and the two characters may talk rapidly with one another. It starts to drag a little as it carries on but it works far better here than most of the other places I tend to point it out. More strong art from David Marquez here and we at least have a clear plot to talk about. Starting to feel like the name change to the much longer new MILES MORALES: THE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN is in regards to the fact that Miles is set to join the 616 alongside, of course, the ALL-NEW X-MEN (WHY?)

Total Score: 4/5

Miracleman 7

Moore (w) and A. Davis and C. Austen (a) and Oliff (c) and Caramagna (l)

Dr. Gargunza explains to Liz about the situation in which they originally created Miracleman, Young Miracleman, and Kid Miracleman with alien-DNA and tech. They were meant to be the test subjects and Gargunza wanted to use it on himself, though he found that the process didn't work on people after a certain age that he had already passed. His new hope is to transfer his brain into the body of a baby already affected by the Miracleman process, AKA MM and Liz's baby. MM and Evelyn Cream turn up but Gargunza uses a trigger word he implanted to switch MM back to Michael Moran for an hour's time. He also sets an enhanced dog on the pair of them, which hunts and kills Cream before turning to Moran.

More excitement abound as Gargunza's inner-Doc-Ock comes out (YES, I'm well aware this all came out before the SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN switch but it's still a useful reference, OKAY, even if this one involves a baby and not a Spider-Man). Evelyn's demons finally catch up to him as the dog Pluto, changed by the trigger word Steppenwolf (pretty great), also catches up to him. Michael Moran's in something of a pinch as he faces Pluto with nothing but a revolver (which, you know, likely won't work) and the hope that maybe Miracleman will turn up again.

Total Score: 5/5

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 1, Amazing Spider-Man 1.1

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 1
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c) and Petit (l)

Miles Morales has been through a lot in a really short time. After the death of his mother, the events of CATACLYSM have left the world without a true superhero team and unsure where they stand. Likewise, Miles has lost seemingly an entire support structure with the destruction of the senior team he was starting to gain acceptance with and the disappearance of his father, who left and hasn't been heard from since discovering his son is Spider-Man. Miles' life is a little in the air as he stays with Ganke and his parents and debates telling his girlfriend Kate Bishop about his double life. Things get more complicated with the emergence of two twin criminals dressed similarly to Spider-Man and with the surprise appearance of none other than possibly Peter Parker in Miles' room.

Story
Bendis is sowing some seeds here as the new series picks up while also making sure to establish the old ones (like how you always establish old seeds). Miles has reached the time where he has to decide whether or not to tell Kate he's Spider-Man and now has to debate everything that comes with that age-old decision (it's a very important time in a young boy's life when he has to decide whether or not to reveal his secret identity). On top of it, we've established a couple new villains (though Miles is dutifully ignoring them right now) and seen a twist at the end. Bendis is setting this one up to welcome in new readers (helped by a pretty neat cover) and kick off a new era in Miles' life. 5/5

Character
We get a decent look at Miles Morales here as he reacts to the disappearance of his father and he tries to figure out what he should do in regards to Kate but there are too many things to set up here to really go deep into character in the first issue of the new series. Marquez helps Bendis out here as he draws plenty of emotions for Miles that give us a sense of him despite space limitations. I'd have liked to see a little more out of him in the first issue here instead of the wavering (which is warranted but doesn't create the strongest first impression). 4/5

Writing
Despite the new villains (who back-and-forth it up) and the last page reveal, this is very clearly more of a resting issue, acting less like a Marvel superhero comic and more like...well, more like ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, I guess. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN won over a lot of fans when it kicked off and continued to surprise because it focused on Peter Parker every bit as much as it focused on Spider-Man. Bendis is sure to kick this new volume off with that same expectation for readers. It moves a bit slower than a purely action-based issue but that's what this book wants. 4/5

Art
Marquez's art really helps the book along, as I mentioned in the character section, by letting us see Miles' emotions in scenes where the space is too limited to really tell us what's going on. His emotions and action are both strong, though we don't see as much of the latter here. Can't complain. 5/5

Miscellaneous
I really like that cover.

Total score: 4/5


Amazing Spider-Man 1.1
Slott (w) and R. Perez (a) and Herring (c) and Eliopoulos w/Caramagna (l)

Flashback to Peter's early Spider-Man days as he flaunts his skills for money to help around the house. He's doing some minor crime fighting on the side but, in the wake of Uncle Ben's death, he feels responsible for bringing in money for the family (not to mention, of course, responsibility over Ben's death). While he tries to navigate the world of entertainment and begins to learn more about power/responsibility (and which must come with which), fellow high school prodigy (though, perhaps, even more prodigious than Peter) Clayton Cole continues to be inspired by the webslinger and develops his own web-tech, eventually donning a costume himself and calling himself Clash.

Story
Continuing on from one of the backing stories to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1, we see a little of Peter's past, a time where he continued to work in the entertainment business to make some more money before being called away to full-time crime fighting (and being a real Peter Parker). On top of it, we see our first glimpse of the new superhero/villain Clash, the brilliant young Clayton Cole in full costume. It's interesting to see Slott go back and retool the history a little bit, tying up some loose ends we didn't really know were there. 5/5

Character
Plenty to see from Peter here as we get the mix of pre- and post-Uncle Ben turning point. He's trying to learn the lessons his uncle taught him while also trying to establish where he'll go next and negotiate it with who he was before. There's a lot happening and a lot for Peter to react to and all of it works at establishing exactly who Peter was at the time. Pretty strong stuff. 5/5

Writing
Mostly strong writing here as Slott has a lot to set up and not a lot of time in which to do it. We get a sense of tons of characters (everyone from Aunt May to Peter to Liz Allan to Flash to Clayton Cole and a few other new characters) and of our entire story. Still, thanks to Slott's writing and the switch to Ramon Perez on art and Ian Herring on colors, the story carries a slightly darker tone than the typical Spider-Man story. Good work all around. 5/5

Art
As I intimated above, Perez and Herring do pretty phenomenal work to create a real tone for the book beyond everything great artists like Humberto Ramos have done with Peter recently. The book ends up having a tone like something illustrated by Francisco Francavilla or colored by Bettie Breitweiser, which is a pretty drastic tone change, certainly enough to show us a big difference between this story and the main series. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Certainly worth a read, even as something labeled as merely a .1.

Total score: 5/5

Loki: Agent of Asgard 3, Ultimate Spider-Man 200

Loki: Agent of Asgard 3
Ewing (w) and Garbett (a) and Woodard (c)

As god of mischief Loki spends some time with Verity Willis (guys, I haven't STOPPED rolling my eyes about her since my last review) and Lorelai, god of evil Loki, trapped in a cell in Asgardia while the All-Mother tries to figure out what to do with him, writes a piece of his own history, jumping in time to a day when Odin himself was just a young prince. Loki meets up with his adopted father and together they slay a giant otter who turns out to be a shapeshifting man. They run afoul of the man's family, all according to Loki's plan, and barter for their life with gold Loki procures from an ancient legend named Andvari who has spent his whole life as a giant pike (fish-type pike, not like a spear-type pike) guarding his treasures. Loki separates him from it with a bazooka and brings it, cursed though it is, to the man's family in exchange for their freedom. Meanwhile, one of the brother's, Fafnir, of the man slays their father and tries to slay his other brother, Regin, in order to keep all the gold for himself. The betrayal and lust for gold makes Fafnir transform into a hideous dragon who guards the gold forever until Sigurd, legendary hero of Asgard, is enlisted by Regin to find and slay the dragon with a special sword Regin has made. The sword is Gram, the truth-dealing sword. Sigurd does it, he ends up having to stab Regin with it because Regin actually hates Asgardians and eventually the sword falls into Odin's hands and Loki has him make a box with five locks and five keys to hold it and then later god of mischief Loki got it and he used it way back in the first issue and Sigurd is looking for it in the modern day and WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK.

This may be the single most roundabout story I've ever read in Marvel. Sometimes things like that, things that make me furrow my brow the entire issue until some sort of crazy reveal puts it all together at the end, shock me and win me over by the final page. This did no such thing. I, of course, say this knowing full well that there could be some sort of reveal coming that slides pieces into place but I wholeheartedly believe that that will end up being too little too late. There's just so much here I have trouble buying and have trouble coping with. Maybe that's partly on me but GEEZ, a horribly paced comic didn't help things. I swear this one took me half an hour to get through in the first place, thanks to the wordiness, and then I'd have to double check things to see if pieces were falling into place. FUN FACT: they never were. I think that Ewing's building to something (good god I hope so, otherwise this was just the craziest way to tell us how Loki got Gram, something I hadn't been bothering to ask, and why he's going to have to go up against Sigurd) but issues like this one make me wonder why I should care. Oftentimes you hear the saying that it's the journey, not the destination (or the band Journey and the band Destination's Child) but this one had the single most convoluted journey for the most inconsequential destination that I have to wonder if this is some sort of "What is Art?" post-modern art exhibit.

Ultimate Spider-Man 200
Bendis (w) and Marquez, Lafuente, Pichelli, Brooks, Bagley, and Hennessy (a) and Ponsor (c)

It's been two years in the Ultimate Universe since Peter Parker died and May, before she sells the house, wants to hold a gathering with those closest to him to commemorate his life. Attending are Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Human Torch, Liz Allen, Kenny McFarlane, Jessica Drew, Lana Baumgartner, Miles Morales, and Ganke Lee, although the last two admit to not really knowing him so well. Tony Stark, though invited, could not attend and sends tons and tons of food from a world-renowned chef in his place. Everyone present reminisces about Peter and speculates on what he'd be up to if he was still alive, or indeed what he'd have done with his future in the long run. The answers vary from Spider-Manning with science, Spider-Manning with reporting, Spider-Manning with Spider-Man, and more. All of the memories make everyone present want to do some good with themselves and Miles suggests they bring the food to those who need it, an idea they all agree to and which makes May incredibly proud. After a day of volunteering and helping those less fortunate, everyone goes their separate ways even as someone mysterious watches from the bushes.

It's a milestone issue from ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, unquestionably the most influential and most liked book in the Ultimate line, so it's certainly fitting that those involved would want to reminisce a bit. Interestingly, there's not actually that much reminiscing. There's really more speculating about a potential future gone. What could that mean, the idea that they didn't remember things about their lost friend but rather that they thought about what he could be doing? Well, I mean, your guess is as good as mine and I'd say both our guesses are pretty spot-on. ANYWAY, the issue is pretty nice though it does come with a lot of my personal qualms with Bendis books (back-and-forth dialogue, insane amounts of double page spreads, a still entirely weak, in my perspective, Kitty Pryde, and random tone shifts that seem entirely out of place almost every time they occur, to name a few) but I'm going to sit back and not dissect every bit of this one (sorry if I couldn't really help myself just then). For all of my irritations with Bendis, the truth here is that he's created something well-loved and deservedly so. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN should always be viewed as one of the high points of Bendis' long and esteemed career. It really was a game-changer and I think, in a lot of ways, it was a game-changer for good. Of course, there are many people who came after the success of the book and tried simply to ape the style to varying degrees of success but the real shift was that people saw comics as something different. Now somewhat stranger, more character-driven and maybe less action-driven stuff could exist because Marvel knew it could sell. Of course, Spider-Man has always been a character defined by his personality and who he is rather than by the fight scenes he would have so it was a logical choice to let him jumpstart this series but Bendis took it and made it his own and really changed the face of mainstream comics. I don't necessarily agree with everything he does at Marvel and I certainly don't always like everything he does but I give him a lot of credit for his work with this series. More times than not, I feel like this series gets brought up in the conversation about a person's favorite series. It's well-deserved. I remember binge-reading over a hundred issues of this within a few days myself. Issue 200 isn't just a big milestone, it's a huge achievement and one that's often hard to hit with a new series these days. Well done Brian Michael Bendis and well done to all of the artists who have contributed to this series (many of whom, if not all of whom, contributed as artists on this issue).

Superior Spider-Man 21, Superior Foes of Spider-Man 5, Cataclysm - Ultimate Spider-Man 1

Superior Spider-Man 21
Slott (w) and Camuncoli and Dell (a) and Fabela (c)

Old Doc Ock girlfriend Stunner, previously thought dead, is back and on the prowl, hunting down the man who she believes killed her old boyfriend. The woman who was Stunner, Angelina Brancale, is in a near vegetative state but she's been able to construct a virtual reality sort of mechanism that allows her avatar (still Stunner) to search the streets. Doc has no time for this, as shocked as he is to see Stunner alive again. He's busy plotting revenge on Lamaze, who had the gall to suggest he stole his work from Otto Octavius. He can't ignore Stunner, though, and manages to have his spider-bots trace the signal back to the real Angelina, who he confronts. He uses her own equipment to present himself as Otto to her and tell her that he still loves her but he's found someone new and that they both need to move on and hey, don't be mad at Spider-Man, maybe? She agrees to this and he uses the equipment again to have Otto pay a visit to Lamaze, where he convinces the professor that Peter was Otto's assistant and all of the ideas that Otto came up with were actually Peter's, but that Lamaze shouldn't tell anyone. Lamaze rescinds his complaint to the board and Peter is all but certain to be made a doctor. Meanwhile, Carlie Cooper goes to "Doc Ock's" grave and places flowers, swearing to the grave that she'll make sure everything is put right. Unfortunately, before she can do that, she falls into the empty grave (there's no body!) and she's secreted away by the Goblins, who find her journal as well.

I've been reading a lot of compliments of this issue on Twitter (granted, they're posted and retweeted by Dan Slott) and I have to say that I don't really see it. I don't think this issue was bad, per se, I just don't think it was particularly earth-shattering. The Carlie stuff seems to be going on forever, the Stunner stuff seemed less of a threat than a means to an end (letting Peter use the equipment to solve his problems), there was more relationship stuff with Anna Maria (how everyone in the world doesn't realize that Peter Parker is Spider-Man is the biggest example of suspension of disbelief in a comic where someone was bitten by a radioactive spider, granted spider powers, mind-swapped, and killed) but it just kind of solidifies what we've already seen plenty of, and the Lamaze threatening to derail the doctor stuff was kind of already a weak premise (would it really have held up that Peter had "stolen" his data from unpublished works?). That leaves the biggest exciting plot point the fact that there's no body in the grave, I suppose, but it's hard to even see that as a big moment as that could be indicative of just about anything. Not my favorite issue of the series; Slott said on his Twitter that the "cracks are starting to show" for Doc Ock but I'm not even sure I feel that particularly from this. He nearly indicates to Stunner that he's Doc Ock in order to save his life and presumably because he still feels something for her, but how often are ex-girlfriends of Doc liable to show up? We've already seen Aunt May so, you know, that should about cover it all. Next issue will invoke the other spiders (Venom and Kaine, or at least Venom to start) so I'm pretty excited about that, hoping for a stand-out issue.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 5
Spencer (w) and Lieber (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Boomerang is leading his crew on an attack of Owl's hideout, a risky attack at best and one that hasn't been thought out particularly thoroughly, at least not by Boomerang. Beetle is still harboring resentment about the coup on her leadership and drew up plans for everyone for the attack, but Boomerang refuses to use them. Eventually he has to refer back to them, though, as he almost instantly gets lost. His team goes on ahead of him while he covers their rear before discovering that a service elevator they previously thought out of service to be working. His team continues to fight their way, tooth and nail, through a gauntlet of challenges while Boomerang leisurely makes his way to the basement, securing "the most valuable and sought after piece of art on this Earth - - 'The True Face of Victor Von Doom.'" A painting, not the head of Silvermane, which Boomerang asserts does not actually exist. Meanwhile, city workers dig the car Boomerang sent into a lake out of said lake, allowing Shocker to break free again. He runs into a child and his dog at the junkyard he ends up at and, lo and behold, it's the same child from the story Boomerang told in SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN 3, a child who has befriended the head of Silvermane. Shocker grabs the head and runs off.

If you clicked that link above, you won't find my description of the story with the child in the summary; rather you'll find it in the analysis where I complain about how long it took to relate, particularly as it seemed to have no bearing on the plot. Okay, whatever, APPARENTLY it has some bearing on the plot after all and I maybe should have gone into it a little more. The last thing I need is comics telling me I don't summarize enough on this blog. Anyway, this issue has a nice feel to it. I think either this comic has pretty firmly found its footing or, as the audience, I've come to understand the feel better. Either way, the comic is working well and it has a sense of fun and a sense of story that I think matches the art and the tone it's striving for extremely well. Where the plot is going is another question entirely but there are certainly things to be intrigued by, including the near-continual breakdown of the team, Shocker's re-emergence, and Boomerang's insistence on being leader though he's not qualified for it. Fun writing, fun layout, fun art, just an overall pretty fun book.

Cataclysm - Ultimate Spider-Man 1
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor w/ Mounts (c)

Cataclysm has fully hit the Ultimate Universe and it promises to bring destruction with it, possibly ending in the demise of the Ultimate Universe as a whole. Among those in its way are the characters of Spider-Man land, including Miles himself, Jessica Drew, Cloak and Dagger, and Lana Baumgartner (Bombshell). This issue shows exactly what all of them are up to in the moments before Galactus' appearance. Miles is dozing off in class before going out on patrol, where he's greeted extremely favorably by cops. Jessica is presenting her case for not being fired to Monica Chang and the Ultimates, who are unaware of what happened and her background but are fully on her side when they hear. Cloak and Dagger try to return to Dagger's home only to find that her family moved away, leaving them both with their lasting anger. Lana meets with her parole officer who informs her that her latest antics (covered by local newspapers) can get her arrested for using her powers again. Then Galactus shows up.

There is kind of a feeling to this issue that Bendis wishes he had another one before entering into Cataclysm, one to set everything up a little more firmly. So instead, this is that issue. Galactus doesn't appear until the very last page and everything else that's happening, while important to these characters, is nearly unrelated to the actual event, or so it seems. Of course, it does ensure that we see all of these characters, recently teamed in their fight against Roxxon, in the battle against Galactus in the coming issues of CATACLYSM - ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN and it gives us a little idea of where they landed after the fact. The most important part, then, seems to be that everyone has found reasons to fight. Jessica obviously was already fighting but she informs the Ultimates that Miles is back and looking good, Miles is encouraged by the positive reception he gets, Ty and Tandy are pushed by their anger, and Lana is beginning to feel like she was meant to be a superhero and that doing the right thing is worthwhile in and of itself. So there's enough happening here that the story moves pretty well, particularly as a sort of cool-down from the last few issues and a link between those and the next few but it comes at something of a strange time. I do think the book doesn't hurt from the cool-down (though we already had several issues in a row just before this last arc that showed Miles dealing with internal struggles that could serve as something of a cool-down) but to place a relax issue at the start of an event is an odd decision. It feels like either Bendis had too little time for his last arc or has too much or the next one. Neither option is particularly thrilling.

Venom 42, Ultimate Spider-Man 28

Venom 42
Bunn (w) and Coelho (a) and Loughridge (c)

The final issue of Venom ends as Venom and Mania summon Mephisto to discuss the Devil's Mark that has apparently passed from Venom to Mania. Mephisto reveals that the symbiote appears to have cloned itself and pushed the Mark out with the clone, the crafty guy. Mephisto still will not remove the Mark, meaning that Mania is now the possible successor to Mephisto, as the Mark was attached to the symbiote, not to Flash. Flash, feeling fatherly, attacks Mephisto on behalf of Andi, though it has no effect on the devil. Mephisto waves if off, allowing Flash to live and act as a guardian for his possible successor, keeping her safe until her number is called. They, along with a little help from Mephisto, fight back Crossbones and his team, and end the current threat. Mephisto withdraws and Flash promises Andi he'll find a way to get the Mark off of her, to save her.

It's a nice final issue for Flash and it highlights a lot of the themes he's gone up against throughout the run on this book. Obviously his father was a really big theme and it kind of comes full circle here as he takes on a father's role for Andi (who just lost her father in the midst of all of this) and dedicates himself to her protection. It's also an introspective and retrospective time for Flash, who remembers all of his dreams throughout his life, becoming an all-star, a hero, a soldier, and realizing that, through all the hardships and all of the setbacks, he's really been able to do it all. Whether it's all he wanted it to be or not is still up for debate but there's no denying that his life has had some aura of greater purpose to it. It's a nice last issue with more impressive art by Coelho and really nice colors by Lee Loughridge (one of the times it stuck out to me was just flipping through the issue to get to the last page to remember exactly what had been said there and kind of zoned out as I flipped, just watching the colors go by, very stark, very different, very defined, great colors). Sad to see this book go, definitely one of the good, longer-running books. Surprised it lasted this long and certainly happy it was able to.

Ultimate Spider-Man 28
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c)

Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Bombshell, Cloak, and Dagger make their strike against Roxxon with fairly sound success. Mr. Roxxon himself is every bit the jerk you'd expect him to be and the kids act accordingly. He's not dumb, though, and he has his science team (all of whom, of course, have some level of power to themselves) come to his aid. He's also figured out Miles' true identity and flaunts the information over Miles as Miles, for several pages, keeps him dangling from the side of the building. There's a lot of info there, about the creation of this Spider-Man and Roxxon's place in the world and about Miles' family but it's not really stuff Miles is terribly interested in at the moment. The kids beat the science team and Jessica calls in SHIELD to clean up, though it's a little complicated because SHIELD has had contracts with Roxxon. As Monica Chang grills Jessica Drew, Jess reveals that she'd like to start up some sort of ongoing team with this group (hint number one that maybe Cataclysm won't, as advertised, destroy the Ultimate Universe).

Not a bad issue, which is certainly good considering where I tend to stand on certain Brian Michael Bendis books these days. There's still perhaps a little more back-and-forth jokey-joke dialogue for the feel the book wants. Actually, maybe that's part of the problem. It's hard to place what feel the book wants if you have these intense fight scenes as a result of this outrageous moral behavior but have people quipping and bickering playfully throughout. It's not always off-center as you have a bunch of teenagers working this case but it certainly doesn't help the flow of the book. Regardless, the story is pretty good and the art is phenomenal. Making the decision to have Roxxon dangle off the side of the building, webbed up by his feet, with Spider-Man sitting above him for a few pages works pretty well. We get a fair amount of information in a way that, while feeling kind of over-exposition-laden, makes sense because we see Roxxon panicking and freaking out a bit, no matter if it's out of fear or rage or parts of each. Keeping Miles silent through it all, only to end by saying "you're under arrest" after Roxxon explodes for a few pages, is another solid call, giving us a nice side of Miles and letting us watch Roxxon deteriorate. As I said, fine art helps carry the issue as well, making the fight scenes more entertaining and the exposition more interesting. Pretty good issue.

Scarlet Spider 22, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 3, Ultimate Spider-Man 27

Scarlet Spider 22
Yost and Burnham (w) and Baldeon, Olliffe, Green, Pallot, and Olazaba (a) and Sotomayor and Loughridge (c)

Kaine's stuck facing off against Kraven, who is in typical recent-days Kraven mode; he still wants/needs the hunt but boy does he want to die. We get a bit of history as we hear how Kaine got involved in the life of the Kravinoffs and Kraven, disappointed in Kaine's first showing, says (over loudspeakers at the zoo he's brought Kaine to) that he wants to draw the animal out from Kaine before leaving him to deal with his daughter. To do it, his daughter has captured all of Kaine's friend and has told Kaine she's killed them (all except Aracely). Kaine viciously attacks her, ready to kill her for what she's done. Right as he's about to give up, though, he remembers the strong influences in his life and holds off. She tells him where Kraven is and Kaine quickly makes his way there to find that his friends aren't dead. Yet, anyway. Kraven wants to fight and he's holding Kaine's friends, ready to kill them should Kaine refuse the fight.

There's a lot of history here which might bog down some readers who know the whole story backwards and forwards but let's not act like that wasn't a ridiculously confusing storyline when it happened, let alone a few years removed from it. The recap, then, is pretty useful and maybe more than a little necessary. It moves well and doesn't slow the pacing too much. The battle Kaine has been struggling with since the start of this series really comes full force here as he has to pull himself back right from the brink of murdering Ana Kraven. The Kravinoffs tend to bring out the worst in Spider-Men and this is no different. Solid issue and, though the set-up shouldn't be unfamiliar to people who have, you know, read a comic book before, there's a chance for very interesting resolution as it impacts both Kraven and Scarlet Spider. Plus, if this series truly is winding down, we're going to have to start learning about Aracely sooner rather than later, so be on the lookout for that any time now.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 3
Rodi (w) and Del Mundo (a and c)

We check in with Spider-Man as he works with the Mighty Avengers against Thanos' invading army. He's momentarily pulled away from the action when one of his spider-bots reports a surge of power in a nearby library. Spider-Man goes to check it out only to find that it's a medieval studies student who has been somehow transformed by a green mist into an electricity-based super-person. She loathes technology but suddenly finds herself thrust into it. Spider-Man doesn't really have time to sort her out but he's entranced by the idea of studying her. For the moment, he explains to her that she can likely travel via the electrical grid (like the other electricity-based super-people he's met) and tells her to meet him downtown. When he gets downtown, he realizes, thanks to messages she's broadcasting through all available electronics, that she doesn't know how to get out of the grid. She quickly learns a bit about the situation, though, as she then realizes the potential of the power she wields and begins destroying all the electronics nearby, promising to plunge the world back into the Middle Ages.

Not a bad plot here and Spider-Man is written particularly well; condescending as ever and ready to leave a fight with Thanos to explore his own interests, Spider-Man is every bit the Spider-Man we've seen in Slott's book and elsewhere. The character, who names herself Fulmina at Spider-Man's insistence that she adopt a new name to replace Sylvia Prell, is perhaps a little overblown (does anyone really think the Middle Ages were a better time to live?) but she serves the story as well as she needs to. The art is pretty good and the colors are particularly interesting as they give everything a slightly faded feeling, like it's dusk or perhaps there's a bit of dust on our lens. Not sure how much of a lasting story we'll get out of this (or indeed, this entire book) but I'm not sure we're looking for big lasting stories here. This is strictly a team-up book; maybe it will crossover with other Spidey books at times but I'm pretty sure we're not in this for the meaningful stories. We're in it to learn about character and this does that pretty nicely. Solid entry to the young series (that feels not-so-young on the heels of Avenging Spider-Man).

Ultimate Spider-Man 27
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Mounts w/ Ponsor (c)

Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Bombshell have been paralyzed by a banned HYDRA device used by the Taskmaster. Spider-Man manages to anger Taskmaster enough that Taskmaster hits him, knocking him free of the device's range long enough to get back in the game and save his teammates, freeing them from the paralyzer as well. The Spiders fight Taskmaster as Bombshell runs away. They begin to learn, little by little, that Taskmaster absorbs power and redirects it, making Spider-Man's venom blasts particularly weak against Taskmaster but allowing him to use it on them. Bombshell doubles back to help the Spiders but ends up powering Taskmaster even more. Of course, the same thing happens all over again as Cloak and Dagger arrive on the scene. Fortunately, Cloak wraps Taskmaster up before too much more damage can be done. Spider-Woman does some quick research on her phone and learns that Taskmaster is a hired killer who was, in this case, hired by Roxxon. She advises they bring the fight to Roxxon and expose them for what they are.

Mostly a fight scene issue, which isn't bad for a book that has had its main character take a year off (though it was only, like, two issues in our world). A little bit of action was in the cards for this book and it comes here as Spider-Man has to pull out all the stops (many of which he doesn't remember because he's been prematurely retired for a year) to beat the energy absorber. It means that there's a whole lot of web-slinging in this issue, though not ever super successfully. Still, the banter here borders on, if not fully crosses the line into, excessive and it makes the characters all sound mostly the same. Remove names and gendered pronouns and read this script and you probably could not guess who was saying what at any given time, which is a worry for a book that, in its long run (with the volumes before this and up through this one), has wanted to make a real character out of its protagonist. I'm not an endorser of back-and-forth dialogue in comics, which this book obviously has (note the writer), but I feel I should qualify that by saying I'm fine with it used sparingly or with certain characters. If every character is using it and/or using it all the time, no one manages to sound particularly different and the book is slowed tremendously, which is the opposite feeling you're intending to get out of back-and-forth dialogue. It doesn't work used often on a page. No real surprises here.

Ultimate Spider-Man 22, Scarlet Spider 16, Morbius the Living Vampire 4

Ultimate Spider-Man 22
Bendis (w) and Pichelli (a) and Ponsor (c)

It wouldn't be Spider-Man if a parent figure didn't die in his arms, right? Or a literal parent. Whatever's handiest. Also, and I might be too much of a cynic for saying this, they've just killed off the only likable supporting cast member for Miles. Ganke's sweet or whatever, but he's pretty annoying. Jefferson is too angry all the time. Other roommate is angry and suspicious. MJ and Gwen have just been added to the book and they're both annoying. Leaving Miles' mom as the loving and even-keeled parent figure and oh, she's dead now.
Right, so there were some spoilers above. Sorry. Anyway, Miles tries to tell Maria Hill that he's not Spider-Man, no matter what she thinks, and she responds like a five-year old would, saying "Then I'm wrong. Except I'm not." I really hate Maria Hill, you guys. I was hoping to give her Ultimate version a chance because the 616 version is terrible and I figured she could be different in the Ultimate version. WRONG. She's terrible. Also, writing anyone in this book like a five-year old is not stellar writing. And that comes in back-and-forth dialogue mode. On top of how I think that breaks flow, it makes every single character sound exactly the same. We should all stop writing exclusively in back-and-forth dialogue. Anyway, while Miles is trying to tell Maria Hill he's not Spider-Man, she gets word that Venom has attacked the hospital Jefferson has been brought to. She tells Miles he'd get there faster, and he leaves, putting on his costume on the way. He arrives and starts fighting Venom, who claims he needs Spider-Man. They fight for a bit with Miles' mom Rio watching in horror and refusing to leave (she moves some patients of the hospital to safety, then returns to watch). Venom then wraps Spider-Man up inside of himself saying that he's the key to Venom's future. Rio offers herself in his place and Venom decides for a second to take them both before Miles explodes Venom from within. That's a pretty sweet panel. Then, as the man attached to Venom is revealed, the cops show up and instantly shoot him, which, when I think about it, seems a little abrupt. No warning and no time for Spider-Man (granted, vigilante) and Rio (totally innocent) to get out of the way. Hm. Anyway, somehow Rio gets shot, even though Spider-Man seems to get totally clear in time and is shielding her while diving away. LOOK, she gets shot and it's fatal and she dies in his arms. No nitpicking, it's sad. Then Miles tears up his costume and says "NO MORE" a lot. Also, Roxxon was somehow behind Venom and behind trying to create a new Spider-Man. I'd normally go into pros and cons of the issue here, but I think I pretty well covered what I was thinking above. Oh well.

Scarlet Spider 16
Yost (w) and Pham, Pallot and Olazaba (a) and Fabela (c)

Like with Venom 31 a few months ago, I think this is a really well-timed issue. Kaine has been through an awful lot the past few months, what with a horrible beast currently living inside of him deeming everything prey and the recent questions about Aracely coming to the forefront. He needs a bit of a break. And what better break in Houston than a great big rodeo? All his pals bring him there, much to his chagrin, and force him to wear a cowboy hat. Annabelle, his new love interest, shows up too and is pushed away by Kaine, who thinks he can't have a relationship with anyone whatsoever. She runs off and Aracely demands he chase her. When he does, he tries to explain his problem as vaguely as he can and she doesn't care. Then they're approached by an ex-boyfriend of hers who is getting a little possessive again. Kaine begins to threaten him before Prey pops into his head and labels the guy as "prey." Kaine backs off, trying to be less like the monster inside him, and suggests maybe they talk about it. It's at that moment that ex-hero/ex-villain Armadillo pops up riding a bull in the rodeo, drunk and crying for his ex-girlfriend who has just announced she's marrying a rodeo star. Scarlet Spider, who cannot believe any of this is happening to him, rides a horse into the ring, swearing it was the fastest way. He starts to fight Armadillo before being caught off-guard by the giant, armored foe's tears. He tries to talk with him and starts thinking about how they're both monsters and it means neither of them can be in relationships when he's interrupted by Armadillo's ex-girlfriend running into the arena (is it an arena in a rodeo? Is it just a rodeo? Whatever) and declaring her love for him, saying she thought he didn't want her any more. Scarlet Spider is completely taken aback by this and slinks off before reappearing as Kaine, knocking out Annabelle's ex-boyfriend and kissing her. A journalist who has fallen so low he's reporting puff pieces at rodeos determines he'll get back into serious news by finding out who Scarlet Spider is.
So there's a bit of drama there at the end and there's an overwhelming sense of drama in the form of Kaine battling all of his inner demons (one of is a real being) and his conceptions of how his life is supposed to work. By and large, though, the issue is a fun step back from what's been happening lately in Kaine's too-exciting life. When we got the "Venom moving to Philly" issue, some future plot points were certainly set up but it was largely in the series to calm the tone from the string of high-risk fights he'd been in lately. Same situation here, as Kaine's life has gotten too hectic recently and he needed to pull back a bit. Fun issue, definitely well timed.

Morbius the Living Vampire 4
Keatinge (w) and Elson (a) and Fabela (c)

Probably more than any other issue of the series so far, this issue was meant to develop Brownsville as a really crappy neighborhood. Obviously we knew that already, with Morbius running into Noah in the first issue and getting himself shot right off the bat, among other things, but this issue wanted to make it absolutely clear that this district is worse than any other place on Earth. Noah, if we're to believe Rochelle, was the best thing to happen to the place. Regardless of what he did, he kept the gangs from warring over Brownsville and spilling far more innocent blood. So where did Noah come from, then? Well we get some flashbacks that Morbius isn't privy to of a shadowy figure taking young social reject David Brill and transforming him through some means or another into Noah, the extraordinarily strong ruffian we've seen throughout the book. With Noah dead, Rochelle worries that the whole district will come crashing down around them. She's almost immediately proved right as a group that share the same masks as the shadowy figure's helper burst into the building and take Noah's body away. Morbius tries to stop them but is shocked by one of the mysterious henchmen. Literally shocked, not just surprised. They get away with the body and the villain is revealed as the Rose.
I didn't actually know that there had been four Roses through Marvel history (thanks, Wikipedia!). I only knew Wilson Fisk's son Richard, who tried to overthrow his father Kingpin and take over the family business. He was killed by his mother, though, so I was surprised to see him pop up here. Apparently I was wrong to be surprised, as there have been four in total and only two are dead. Who knows, maybe this is a fifth, or maybe it's one of the two that are still living. Also important to note that these are comics and it's ENTIRELY possible he's one of the dead two. If I had to guess, it's Phillip Hayes, the fourth Rose, who apparently had a lot to do with gene research and manipulation. FITS THE BILL. Anyway, Morbius is characterized well here, willing to risk a couple more of Noah's gang members in the hopes that it will save his friends that Rochelle has sent people after. It kind of does, but not as much as Henry's mom does when she appears in front of a gang member tasked with killing Henry and Becky and takes his gun and disassembles it, saying that she's lived in Brownsville her whole life, she can protect herself. That got a little heavy-handed, the whole "BROWNSVILLE IS A HARD PLACE" thing, but I suppose it's necessary. Maybe not that necessary, but necessary. Not bad though, as Morbius will now find out what Brownsville is like without Noah and will likely come across the Rose in the coming issues.

Superior Spider-Man 6, Ultimate Spider-Man 21

Superior Spider-Man 6
Slott (w) and Ramos and Olazaba (a) and Delgado (c)

As the Avengers discuss how to handle Spider-Man's recent attitude change and his even more recent murder of Massacre, Spider-Man himself is hired by J. Jonah Jameson to track down and teach a lesson to prankster villains Screwball and Jester. The two are tech-based and have an internet following for their prank videos that feature the pair tormenting normal people. Their biggest target was Jameson and, being the sensible guy he is, he immediately dispatches new friend Spider-Man on them. Peter, hunting around in Doc's memories, is suddenly dragged to a memory of Ock being bullied as a child, giving us Doc's motivation for the rest of the issue. While at a meeting with his new professor (as he tries to get Peter a doctorate) and his new love interest (Anna Maria Marconi), his spidey-bots track the pranksters down and Spidey makes his move. Meanwhile, the Avengers meet to consider revoking Spider-Man's Avenger status. They agree, on Wolverine's demand, to give Spidey a little more time while they watch his actions. Right on cue, Spider-Man is put live on Screwball and Jester's website absolutely destroying the pair while screaming about the cost of bullying. Next issue we'll see the Avengers approach Spidey and possibly kick him out.

This is more the inciting incident that should lead to the climax of our story than it is the climax of our story. Yes there are important things happening plot-wise (Peter is still looking for a way to regain control of his body, Doc is getting more and more brutal, a pair of internet villains have been introduced and also shut down, etc.), but this really was a stepping stone to get us into this new arc as the Avengers approach Spidey and have to start asking questions of this new behavior. The Avengers are no stranger to villains taking over a hero's body (I've mentioned it before, but Red Skull once switched bodies with Cap thanks to the Cosmic Cube and used the whole situation to walk around as Cap, signing autographs but also being kind of a jerk to people. THAT'S a supervillain, am I right?) and they must have something in place where they can recognize this change. If I was an Avenger in the 616, I'd have seen Spider-Man do one thing that was slightly off-kilter and I'd be asking myself who he really was. Skrull? Supervillain? Possessed? All kinds of answers. The Avengers have got to have those questions or else I'm losing some credulity.

Ultimate Spider-Man 21
Bendis (w) and Pichelli (a) and Ponsor (c)

Venom is still on the warpath in Ultimate Spider-Man as he tears a new path through the sewers to the hospital where Jefferson Morales is being treated. Meanwhile, Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson have taken it upon themselves to teach Miles about Venom and symbiotes and lots of other things that people who have read Spider-Man or Ultimate Spider-Man before Miles took over already knew about. I sometimes forget that there are readers like that and this issue was maybe more for them. I'm still not sure it takes a full issue of two teenage girls cutting each other off left and right to teach the reader about the newest threat. I'm sure the reader could learn about it as we go. Or maybe could get a couple quick lines about what a symbiote is and be pretty well caught up. Then Maria Hill shows up because this is a Brian Michael Bendis book and she seems to know that Miles is Spider-Man because Gwen and MJ warned him about talking in the street in front of police about vaguely worded Spider-Man kind of things but didn't seem to think it would be suspicious when two people intimately connected with the original Spider-Man show up to this kid's house. And that's it. That's what happens.

I've mentioned before that I'm sick of unnecessarily long ideas taking up full issues of comics and loading the beginning and ending of arcs with action and letting the middle issues stew. This is another in that line of comics. I think some important things happened but I think that, by and large, they were things that could have happened over maybe three to five pages. I'm not sure you need to reintroduce MJ and Gwen to Miles' universe. So what you end up needing, depending on where the series is going, is for Maria Hill to deduce that Miles is Spidey, for Venom to attack Jefferson again, for a short explanation of symbiotes and Venom, and for Miles to struggle a bit with what just happened. Five to ten pages, instead of the twenty this issue took. That means you're loading up half the issue with filler and stuff that doesn't matter. It's a great formula for upsetting the fans who paid for this issue. Or, in the very least, for upsetting me, which seems to be a constant.

Venom 31, Ultimate Spider-Man 20

Venom 31
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)

We go from the life of the 616 sympathetic Venom to the first time Miles Morales of the Ultimate Universe runs into a far less sympathetic Venom. See that transition? Blogging magic right there.

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.