Spider-Man Reviews

Scarlet Spider #5

2012-06-01T05:21:00.004+08:00

Scarlet Spider # 5

Story: When a group of politial extremeists try to make an example of the weak Texas/Mexican border,the situation unintentionally turns into an act of terror. Kaine must help track down and deactivate a nuclear bomb that could potentially lay waste to the entire city of Houston, Texas.

How will Kaine use his spider powers to ascertain the whereabouts of the device? Will he get there in time or will fate play a most tragic note?

Review: If you’ve ever seen a Jason Statham film, then I’m sure your familiar with the jarring action, scrambled scenes, and intense pacing that inhabits his work. Car chases, gun fights, brawling, and suicide decorates this story from head to toe. It’s this type of thrilling setup that Yost has layed out here.

As if, Kaine were a regular Jack Bauer, his chosen mission is to find this bomb before it goes boom and destroys the city of which he is just getting settled into.

Not to mention if he could save a few million lives it wouldn’t be bad for his reputation, or more importantly his guilty conscience.

But hey, shouldn’t the police depot. have specially trained K-9s for this exact situation? Apparently, not in Houston. Never the less, Kaine and his recently outed gay cop buddy, Mr. Layton, set out on streets. Dressed as the Scarlet Spider, Kaine proceeds to interrogate the suspects with his own brand of extreme prejudice.

It’s not much of a “super hero” story to say the least, then again, many of the past issues weren’t either, and that’s not really the type of person Kaine is, or wants to be, rather he’s more of the “by any means necessary” type of guy and it shows. His style and strategy is not your typical protect and serve protocol, but that’s a big part of his appeal, and it rather enjoy it.

Even though I an not big on the whole, “Die Hard” scenario, I don’t mind the occasional wild goose chase, or high stakes race to the finish type of plot.

This is a good test for Kaine, to see if he cracks under pressure, and the choices he makes when there’s no time for hesitation. Having said that ,

I think the writer should have done a lot better job of stressing those elements.

With absolutely no ties to the events of the previous issue, this story comes out of the blue and plays out like a fill in or 1 shot. I think it’s awkward timing with the replacement artist taking over this issue and the pen and ink really taking a dive. Kaine looks like an anorexic teen in some panels.

The color is a step down as well, it basically looks like a coloring book exploded. So I wasn’t too fond of this issue to say the least. Not even the seemingly pointless Ironman cameo helped much.

I understand the border patrol situation is a big topic in Houston, and I admire Yost’s effort to bring real life politics into the story, but I just felt like this whole thing was quite anti-climactic, and despite all the action, I got bored.

Frankly I’ve seen enough national security threat stories, and don’t wish to see them in the pages of a book about a man with spider powers that goes around wearing a costume. It just doesn’t fit the bill. I expect more character development, background and story telling, with a lot less ballistics, and cop drama. Just because Kaine got into the business of crime fighting doesn’t mean he should be rollin’ and patrolin’.

Not a bad issue but really not so hot either.

Amazing Spider-Man 686

2012-05-29T21:52:00.000+08:00

Here it is, the long overdue Amazing Spider-Man 686 review!

The Story
We last saw the whole of Symkaria bombed. Well, this issue pretty much makes the cliffhanger from the last issue null. We start with Silver Sable, obviously mourning over her country. While Spider-Man tries to console her, Black Widow insists that they have to move on if they want to save the rest of the world.

Agreeing with Natasha, Spidey heads on to save the civilians who are still alive. Natasha stops him telling him that this was not what she meant. She meant for them to leave the place and shut down the remaining satellites.

Meanwhile, at the Horizon crew have lost contact with Spider-Man. They also realize that the tech used to create the satellites seem rather familiar.

Elsewhere, Mysterio is having the time of his life, watching Spider-Man and Black Widow argue, just as he predicted. Apparently, the whole destruction of Symkaria was nothing more than a big show he created, while the 'civillians' were simply actors he paid.

As part two of his show, Mysterio sends Chameleon in the form of Doc Octopus to fight Spider-Man in the flesh. It is not long however until the real Dr Octopus finds out what games Mysterio is playing. He then assumes control of the "Octavius" robot that Chameleon was controlling, thus giving away the plan to Spider-Man.

Spidey soon defeats the robot ( once he realizes its a robot) with his magnetic webbing. He then explains to Sable that her country is not destroyed, and later has a serious chat with Mysterio and Chameleon.

After the chat, Mysterio and Chameleon decide it best to turn on Dr Octopus.

Meanwhile, in some smaller scenes, we see MJ buying over a club, saying that she wants a place to throw a giant party for a friend. We also see Jameson Sr. trying to contact his son. Unfortunately, the Mayor hangs up on his father before any real conversation could be made.

Coming back to the real story, Mysterio told the good guys the location of Dr Octopus's s secret base. The issue ends with the good guys and Mysterio fighting the Avengers, now under Dr Ock's control.

Oh yea, (warning: lame part) and somewhere at the end there, Spider-Man realizes that Dr Octopus has been using all his inventions from Horizon to create this disaster, thus making the whole situation Peter's fault.

Thoughts

This was a pretty good issue. The story is definitely picking up from the last couple of issue. Though many people claim to have seen the destruction of Symkaria being a joke, I thought it was pretty well. done. Honestly, I was half hoping that Symkaria would really be destroyed, just to add a little weight to the danger Dr Octopus carries.

I also like how practical Black Widow was in this issue. Probably the best part of this issue for me though, was the fact that Mysterio agreed to join forces with Spider-Man! I'd like to see them do something out of the ordinary in their team up.

Some bad parts about this issue though included the last part, where Spider-Man blames himself for everything. I also thought fighting the Octobot controlled Avengers should be a no brainer - use your magnetic webbing Spidey! After all, he used it on the zombie people on the space station as well as on the Octavius robot. So why fight these zombiefied Avengers with your hands and legs!?

Oh well. Till next time.

Avengers Vs X-Men # 1-3

2012-05-26T14:41:00.000+08:00

A while ago, we decided the whole Avengers Vs X-Men event should be reviewed here. As such, I'm gonna do a quick review for issues 1-3.

The Story

Avengers Vs X-Men # 1
It essentially starts when the Avengers notice something flying in from space, crashing into an airplane. They soon realize that its Nova. Nova, tired and worn out, warns the Avengers that ' its coming.'

Meanwhile, at Utopia, Cyclops is busy training Hope. During training, she bursts out into some kind of Phoenix and sends Cyclops flying off.

The Avengers essentially figure out that the Phoenix entity is back and is headed for earth. They also soon notice the energy signatures expelled by Hope during her training over at Utopia. From past experience, the Avengers know that Phoenix is dangerous. As such, their plan is to intercept it and prevent it from coming to earth. Capt America goes to Wolverine for some advice. He also tries to recruit Wolverine to join in the cause.

Cyclops on the other hand thinks that the return of Phoenix cold be a game changer for Mutants. For those who do not know, the Mutants are becoming extinct. Cyclops want to train Hope to be able to control the Phoenix. At this point, even Magneto, who is now on the good guys side, along with others thinks it is an unwise decision since Phoenix cannot be controlled. Regardless, being the leader, Cyclops makes his decision.

Just then, Capt America appears to have a chat with Cyclops. The discussion soon gets ugly and we end the first issue with a fight starting.

Avengers Vs X-Men # 2
As soon as Captain America calls in the Calvary, all the X-Men get worried, asking Cyclops to reconsider. Unfortunately, Cyclops is pretty set on his decision. As a first attack, Magneto sends Colossus flying through theAvenger's ship. About a hunders different fight scenes then take place. In the meantime, Emma Frost makes sure that Hope is safe and kept indoors.

The fight scenes here are pretty good as Emma has a plan to take out the Avengers but is stopped by Iron Man, who is then stopped by Magneto, who is then stopped by his son Quicksilver ( also an Avenger) who decided to run across 347 miles to join the fight.

Quicksilver is among the many X-men who is also on the Avengers's team, most notably Wolverine and Beast. During the fight, Spider-Man and Wolverine go in to take care of the root of the problem - Hope. Wolverine tries to kill Hope, who has escaped and knocked out all the friends who tried to stop her. Wolverine never gets a chance to touch Hope though as she turns into a powered down Phoenix and runs away.

Meanwhile, a small group of other Avengers have traveled into Deep space to try to stop the actualy Phoenix from coming to earth.

Avengers Vs X-Men # 3
This issue starts with Wolverine waking up with no skin and some flesh. He's busy healing from being burnt alive by Hope. Spidey explains to him that Cyclops surrendered and a discussion is now taking place as to what should be done next. Wolverine knows immediately that something is up.

True enough, Cyclops was wasting time preparing an escape. Magik, in the form of Dr Strange, teleports the X-Men away to Long Beach. Once away from the Avengers, Cyclops first plan is to find the last functioning Cerebra to find Hope. Cyclops says he has a mole in Logan's school ( where cerebra is )

Meanwhile, Rachel Summers tells Wolverine that Cerebra is giving off 5 different signals of Hope's location. After her conversation with Wolverine however, she also sends information regarding Hope's location to Scott.

Capt A. splits the Avengers to search for Hope. However, he requests that Wolverine ride with him. In the ship, the two have a talk about Wolverine trying to kill Hope. Wolverine shows no regret of his decision. The talk soon becomes a fight and Wolverine is sent flying off the ship. Alone, Wolverine decides that it is up to him to take care of the problem alone.

Thoughts
Up to this point, the AvX story seems to be pretty intense. We have Cyclops, sort of being painted as the bad guy in the picture. Then we have Wolverine, who has his own solution to solving things - death. It's really pretty typical and true to his character. We also have Captain America, who is trying to do the right thing, but at some point is being corrected by Tony who points out that Capt. is behaving just like he did during Civil war.

This just goes to show that when a World threatening event takes place, the good guys can't fight together. Probably what I liked the most was seeing Magneto tell Cyclops that he was behaving like himself, selfishly looking to protect the Mutant race.

Anyway, I'll leave my thoughts like this for now. I might come and edit it a little later.

Carnage USA # 4-5 review

2012-05-08T12:02:00.000+08:00

Wow! It's been a long time since I've even thought about finishing this series. Don't get me wrong, I loved the series and highly recommend it. However I just haven't had the time to actually finish reviewing it up here.

Carnage USA # 4
We last left off at what can be considered the best cliffhanger possible for a Carnage issue - Agent Venom, preparing to take out Carnage.

This issue starts with Spider-Man giving a speech to the fellow villagers about how they're gonna take Carnage out. Little do they know that a battle is already taking place downtown.

Cletus watches from afar as he grows tired of seeing his little symbiotes being whacked by the Mercury team. He then, brings in the big guns, aka the Avengers whom he has under his control. The poor Mercury team barely stand a chance and resort to calling backup from Dr Nieves aka Scorn. Unfortunately for them, Scorn doesn't answer to their request for backup but is instead seen building something of her own.

Spider-Man and his gang of farmers ( honestly, that's what they look like ) come to the rescue just in time. Spider-Man takes the fight straight to Cletus himself. He struggles a fair bit until Agent Venom comes in to save the day!

Venom fires Carnage with a number of Sonic Shrapnel shots. Carnage eventually loses control of all the people he was controlling, including the Avengers. Venom pretty much owns Carnage and is about to kill him until Spider-Man stops him. This dumb move by Spider-Man gives Carnage enough time to focus his attention again. He controls the Thing and gets him to knock Venom out.

Fortunately, Scorn then appears just in time to pick up both Venom and Carnage and drop them into a machine she built, designed to separate the symbiote from the host.

The issue ends with Cletus, standing over Flash's legless body with a knife, preparing to kill him.

Carnage USA # 5

Spider-Man and the rest of the Avengers, who are now free from the symbiote control, stand on a hill, staring at the meat factory, where Scorn took Venom and Carnage.

Spider-Man worries however, that with the Symbiotes no longer attached, they are now wild, running loose, possibly looking for someone else to latch on to.

Meanwhile, Cletus is about to kill Flash, who is legless. Cletus boasts how his legs aren't made out of symbiote like Flash's. Strangely enough though, just as Cletus speaks those words, synthetic legs crumble. it all soon becomes an arena of death for the two legless lads.

Coming back to Spider-Man and the others, they soon witness a Gorilla covered with the Venom symbiote being chased by a ton of other animals covered in the Carnage symbiote. The Avengers, Mercury team, and farmers all try to stop the symbiotes. Spider-Man notices however that the gorilla only wants to go to the meat factory where Flash is. Spidey helps Venom to achieve his goals by clearing the way.

In the meantime, the order to bomb the town has already been given. A whole lot of firepower comes down on the Carnage symbiote, destroying the town with it.

Coming back to Venom, the Gorilla makes it to the factory in time, just as Cletus is about to kill Flash. Things turn around quickly as soon as Flash connects with his suit.

By the end of this issue:

Cletus is taken captive
the Carnage symbiote is secured by Scorn who has a 'secondary objective' for it.
The town is burnt
Wolverine, the Sheriff and I are left wondering why they didn't just kill Cletus.

Thoughts

This whole series was fantastic. Carnage USA was definitely one of the best Symbiote stories in my opinion. It's certainly better than the last Five Carnage issues, which technically provides a background to this mini, explaining how Carnage came back to life.

Venom did a fantastic job in this issue. His appearance and timing was classic. I must add that the art work for Venom was also beautiful. Unfortunately, Spider-Man prevented him from actually getting rid of Carnage due to his 'no one dies' rule.

We also see Venom, finally agreeing not to kill Carnage, simply out of his respect for Spider-Man. By doing so however, he also gained the respect of Captain America, which probably means a lot for a war hero like himself.

I really hope to see more Venom/ Spider-Man team ups in the near future. As for Cletus and Carnage, we know that this is not their end. As such I'll end with ...

To be continued...

Infinite Spider-Man 10.6: The Best Stories

2012-05-08T06:43:00.000+08:00

My envy as a Spider-Man fan over the quality of the best comic book story of the last decade led me to ponder the best Spider-Man stories, especially when considering the wisdom of recent changes.

Peter Parker’s probably the best character in comics. Excellent writers (Stan Lee, Gerry Conway, Roger Stern, JM Dematteis, Brian Michael Bendis, Paul Jenkins, Dan Slott, Peter David, etc) have worked with some of the most talented artists the medium has ever seen (Steve Ditko, John Romita‑ either one, Todd Mcfarlane, Mark Bagley, Ross Andru, Gil Kane, etc) to produce their best work on the character in a few of the greatest comic book stories ever. Given the quality of the character, I’m still left with one question: Why aren’t there more great Spider‑Man stories? Why don’t we have any Spider‑Man stories produced in the last generation as acclaimed as the absolute best of Batman?

The pre “One More Day” Spider‑Man books were good, but could have been better, especially when compared to Captain America or All‑Star Superman. It’s odd that the best Spider‑Man stories haven’t been topped in 20+ years, which is a damn shame given the quality of the best books produced today. In the last twenty years, I don’t think anyone has done a Spider‑Man story as good as Amazing Fantasy #15, or the Master‑Planner three parter. This is disappointing.

I hoped that a good relaunch should eventually result in stories better than “The Night Gwen Stacy Died,” “Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut," "The Kid Who Collected Spider‑Man" and the supposedly outdated Lee/ Ditko tales. It hasn't quite happened yet (despite the awesomeness of some of the post-OMD stories) but I remain optimistic. Perhaps I overrate the classics, or it could just be a matter of the old great Spider‑Man stories being better than any pre-Miller Batman stories I’m aware of, but I haven’t seen any Spider‑Man stories published in my lifetime which are arguably better than The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One or The Killing Joke, even if Kraven’s Last Hunt (which came out more than twenty years ago) and Bendis’s first year on Ultimate Spider‑Man (not exactly the adventures of a married Spider‑Man) come somewhat close.

This isn’t a problem with other superhero franchises. The acknowledged best Superman stories were written after Roger Stern left Amazing Spider‑Man including “For the Man Who Has Everything,” The Man For All Seasons, All‑Star Superman, Kingdom Come, John Byrne’s Supergirl saga, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” and “What’s so Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way?” The usual Top Five Batman stories list includes material published since Stern left ASM (Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, the Killing Joke, the Long Halloween, Arkham Asylum.) Captain America has Earth X, The Winter Soldier arc and The Ultimates, in addition to his excellent appearance in Daredevil: Born Again. The Avengers have both volumes of The Ultimates, Ultron Unlimited and the Avengers Forever mini‑series.

While pondering the question of why Spider‑Man hasn’t had an All‑Star Superman a few years ago, I came to the conclusion that even though Spider‑Man has been married in the comics, the majority of great recent Spider‑Man stories feature a single Spider‑Man, either existing in worlds in which Peter and MJ weren't married, as Untold Tales, or during the periods in which Peter and MJ were briefly separated or MJ was believed dead. If it’s not just an odd coincidence, or a matter of less opportunities to tell stories with a single Spider‑Man resulting in better writers getting the chance to tell those stories, you’re left with one of two possibilities. Either better writers are drawn to stories with a single Spider‑Man, or Peter Parker being single allows the writers to tell better stories. If either is true, I reasoned that erasing the marriage should increase the percentage of upcoming acclaimed Spider‑Man stories.

Examples of great recent pre-OMD stories (in the years before One More Day) with an unmarried Peter Parker include the best of Ultimate Spider‑Man, the first two Spider‑Man Movies, most of Spider‑Man: Blue (with the exception of the last three pages), the first four issues of Dan Slott’s Spider‑Man/ Human Torch mini series, Darwyn Cooke's Valentines Day Tangled Web, Lee Weeks’ Death and Destiny mini series, Joe Kelly’s prom story in Webspinners, Negative Exposure, Dematteis and John Romita Sr’s “The Kiss” and even Kaare Andrew’s alternate future tale Reign. Going back a few years, you could add Busiek’s Amazing Fantasy mini‑series and the best of Untold Tales of Spider‑Man to the list.

One time there was a disproportionate amount of great Spider‑Man stories was when when Mary Jane was believed dead, or immediately after she moved to California, as long as Howard Mackie wasn't writing. During that period, you had Paul Jenkins's first two standalone issues, The Revenge of the Green Goblin crossover (even Mackie's issue of that was exceptional), Jenkins's Robot Master and euthanasia storyline, his Fusion three‑parter, Straczynski’s first nine issues of Amazing Spider‑Man (with Morlun, and Aunt May learning Spider‑Man’s identity) and "Heroes Don't Cry" and the Ultimate Punisher three‑parter.

There were some excellent and beloved Spider‑Man stories since the 1998 relaunch featuring a Peter Parker married to Mary Jane, but there just weren’t as many of them. The list would include Jenkins’s last issue of Spectacular Spider‑Man, his Chameleon three‑parter in Webspinners, the fifth issue of Spider‑Man/ Human Torch, the last three pages of Spider‑Man: Blue, the Sensational Spider‑Man annual, Straczynski’s “Happy Birthday” and “Book of Ezekiel” three‑parters, Sins Past (some people loved it so I’ll include it), Mark Millar’s twelve issue stint on Marvel Knights Spider‑Man, the best of Spider‑Girl (I’d argue that the best of Ultimate Spider‑Man more than makes up for this one), the Civil War tie‑in of Amazing Spider‑Man, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider‑Man Vulture storyline, “My Science Teacher is Spider‑Man,” and Beland’s Web of Romance one‑shot. And that’s pretty much it.

While there are readers who believe that the stories listed are amongst the worst in comic book history, most of the stories I listed are fairly popular. Opinions could differ, but it's difficult to deny the success and popularity of Ultimate Spider‑Man, Spider‑Man 2 or JMS's first nine issues of Amazing Spider‑Man amongst general Spider‑Man readers. At the same time, I’ve yet to hear anyone make a convincing case for a Spider‑Man tale being as acclaimed as The Dark Knight Returns. This isn't me just defending random Spider‑Man stories I happen to like. It's a trend I notice amongst many of the most successful and acclaimed Spider‑Man stories, stories which I happen to enjoy.

As Peter and Mary Jane are married in the regular comics, there are more stories featuring that status quo, so a greater percentage of pre-OMD great Spider-Man stories should be from that period. It’s significant if there seem to be more great stories in which they are single. Spider‑Man: Blue, one story which made both lists, exemplifies the possibility that the marriage represents an ending, not a plot that can go somewhere exciting. It features Peter reminiscing about his relationship with Gwen Stacy, and ends with him happily married to Mary Jane, presumably forever. It works for a single TPB, but not for a never‑ending serial.

Some of the stories that I've mentioned don't have romantic tension, but there are other things the marriage removed. A few came from a period when Mary Jane had essentially left Peter, bringing their relationship to an uncertain place- right after Mackie's last arc. While Peter wasn't really romantically interested in anyone else at the time, there was more tension in those stories because he lacked a supportive wife to go home to when a story arc was done.

There is the question of how much any change to the status quo would contribute to good stories, and the comparison has been made between Peter’s marriage to Mary Jane and his job as a photographer for the Daily Bugle. This doesn’t work as well since the latter has been a big part of many of the best Spider‑Man stories ever, even if it was just the scrapbook of Jonah’s retractions in “The Kid Who Collects Spider‑Man.” Peter Parker working for the Daily Bugle doesn't limit the stories you can tell with him and opens up new stories, with the Bugle providing the perfect excuse to put Peter Parker in situations in which Spider‑Man is needed. His usual position as a freelance photographer also meant that he didn’t have job security, which kept the Bugle from bringing stability to his status quo. Post-OMD, he has been blacklisted from any photography positions. Presumably his marriage was more stable.

There were certainly clunkers with the single Spider‑Man, but they compare rather favorably to the worst of married Spider‑Man: "Peter Parker No More!" "Live and Let Die," the worst of the Clone Saga and post‑reboot Howard Mackie. There have been fantastic Spider‑Man writers since the marriage (JM Dematteis, Paul Jenkins, and Mark Millar immediately come to mind) so the question of why we haven’t seen Spider‑Man’s Killing Joke is not a matter of the past creative teams not being good enough. Peter’s marriage to Mary Jane and the way it limits the writers is one of the reasons the books simply weren't as good as they could be.

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Infinite Spider-Man 10.5: Brand New Day and All-Star Superman

2012-05-08T05:32:00.004+08:00

Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's twelve-issue run of All-Star Superman is probably the best comic book of the last decade. It's when I discovered that The Dark Knight Returns can be surpassed. It made me realize I prefer Superman to Batman. And I'm kinda jealous that there isn't yet an equivalent Spider-Man story.

In a Newsarama interview, Grant Morrison explained his approach to the series, clarifying an earlier statement that the title would be his take on the Superman books if Crisis of Infinite Earths had never happened. I admit that writing this piece would be slightly easier for me if Morrison hadn't let on how his position on the matter is more nuanced than he had initially described it.

When I introduced the series in an interview online, I suggested that All Star Superman could be read as the adventures of the ‘original’ Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman, returning after 20 plus years of adventures we never got to see because we were watching John Byrne‘s New Superman on the other channel. If ‘Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow?’ and the Byrne reboot had never happened, where would that guy be now?

This was more to provide a sense, probably limited and ill-considered, of what the tone of the book might be like. I never intended All Star Superman as a direct continuation of the Weisinger or Julius Schwartz-era Superman stories. The idea was always to create another new version of Superman using all my favorite elements of past stories, not something ‘Age’ specific.

I didn’t collect Superman comics until the ‘70s and I’m not interested enough in pastiche or nostalgia to spend 6 years of my life playing post-modern games with Superman. All Star isn’t written, drawn or colored to look or read like a Silver Age comic book.

All Star Superman is not intended as arch commentary on continuity or how trends in storytelling have changed over the decades. It’s not retro or meta or anything other than its own simple self; a piece of drawing and writing that is intended by its makers to capture the spirit of its subject to the best of their capabilities, wisdom and talent.

Which is to say, we wanted our Superman story be about life, not about comics or superheroes, current events or politics. It’s about how it feels, specifically to be a man...in our dreams! Hopefully that means our 12 issues are also capable of wide interpretation.

So as much as we may have used a few recognizable Silver Age elements like Van-Zee and Sylv(i)a and the Bottle City of Kandor, the ensemble Daily Planet cast embodies all the generations of Superman. Perry White is from 1940, Steve Lombard is from the Schwartz-era ‘70s, Ron Troupe - the only black man in Metropolis - appeared in 1991. Cat Grant is from 1987. And so on.

P.R.O.J.E.C.T. refers back to Jack Kirby’s DNA Project from his ‘70s Jimmy Olsen stories, as well as to The Cadmus Project from ’90s Superboy and Superman stories. Doomsday is ‘90s. Kal Kent, Solaris and the Infant Universe of Qwewq all come from my own work on Superman in the same decade. Pa Kent’s heart attack is from ‘Superman the Movie‘. We didn’t use Brainiac because he’d been the big bad in Earth 2 but if we had, we’d have used Brainiac’s Kryptonian origin from the animated series and so on.

I also used quite a few elements of John Byrne’s approach. Byrne made a lot of good decisions when he rebooted the whole franchise in 1986 and I wanted to incorporate as much as I could of those too..

Our Superman in All Star was never Superboy, for instance. All Star Superman landed on Earth as a normal, if slightly stronger and fitter infant, and only began to manifest powers in adolescence when he’d finally soaked up enough yellow solar radiation to trigger his metamorphosis.

The Byrne logic seemed to me a better way to explain how his powers had developed across the decades, from the skyscraper leaps of the early days to the speed-of-light space flight of the high Silver Age. And more importantly, it made the Superman myth more poignant - the story of a farm boy who turned into an alien as he reached adolescence. I felt that was something that really enriched Superman. He grew away from his home, his family, his adopted species as he became Superman. His teenage years are a record of his transformation from normal boy to super-being.

As you say, there are more than just Silver Age influences in the book. Basically we tried to create a perfect synthesis of every Superman era. So much so, that it should just be taken as representative of an ‘age’ all its own.

In the end, however, I do think that the Silver Age type stories, with their focus on human problems and foibles, have a much wider appeal than a lot of the work which followed. They’re more like fables or folk tales than the later ‘comic book superhero’ stories of Superman when he became just another colorful costume in the crowd...and perhaps that’s why All Star seemed to resemble those books more than it does a typical modern Marvel or DC comic. It was our intention to present a more universal, mainstream Superman.

Spider-Man is different from Superman in that there has always been one main continuity, even with all the side adaptations. It's tougher to figure out who the real Superman is. While some fans prefer the Pre-Crisis Superman, the Golden Age Superman was the original and Christopher Reeve's take on the character has influenced the public consciousness the most. Despite a few retcons and changes to the setting, the Spider-Man in the current comics is the same one who was in Amazing Fantasy #15.

The Illusion of Change allows the writers and editors to pick and choose which elements of the backstory to use. So it can be similar to what Grant Morrison did with All-Star Superman. Post-One More Day, most of the stories that occurred when Spider-Man was married can still be referenced. Which means less explanations are necessary when reconciling the backstory.

CBR's Stephane Garrelie had one of the most insightful comments about Brand New Day, suggesting that the creative team of Amazing Spider-Man was trying to accomplish something similar to the "If the Crisis of Infinite Earths never happened" take on Superman.

As long as you choose to ignore OMD, BND is a good read. As far as I'm concerned, I read it as if we got only the illusion of change since 1985. So no problem.

OMD poses some moral problems that should be adressed later, but no matter how crappy the Joe Q stuff was, or the fact that this EIC made all he could to make a reboot inavoidable during the last 7 years, that change nothing to the quality of the new stories. You can read Dan Slott's BND as if it was the Marv Wolfman or the Roger Stern Spider-man with 2008 refs. It works.

Under the Illusion of Change, we would still have new villains like Venom. Roderick Kingsley would still be exposed as the Hobgoblin, minor characters like Lance Bannon could still die, and major characters like Norman Osborn could still return from the grave.

Some elements of the backstory remain tenuous. While Spider-Man has always had one core continuity, things do get complicated thanks to the sliding timescale, which means that stories written in the 1960s happened several years ago. Another factor is the effect of other media. Some of the adaptations tend to define the characters to a greater extent than the original comics.

So the Brand New Day Harry Osborn might seem to be closer to James Franco's take on the character than the guy with the weird ties in comics published in the late 1960s. Because the movies, cartoons and Ultimate Spider-Man have shown it, readers could assume that the alien costume caused Spider-Man to become more aggressive, when that was never the case in the original saga. In some cases, Marvel has to deal with readers misremembering the backstory. And it's more confounding when the unofficial version might just be an improvement.

There is a Cary Bates Superman vibe from the Brand New Day/ Big Time comics, although a major distinction is that things tend to change more from issue to issue. But the transformation of the Rhino reminded me of how Lex Luthor became even angrier after he accidentally destroyed an alien world along with his wife and infant son. It's something for future writers to use at their discretion, the result of the illusion of change compromise between no issue to issue continuity and characters eventually changing in irrevocable ways. Doing it right is the way Marvel (and readers) can have it both ways.

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Amazing Spider-Man 685

2012-05-07T21:50:00.002+08:00

Here we go, with part for of the Ends of the Earth. We finally get to see Dr Ock's true side here in this issue.

The Story
This issue begins with Spider-Man, Black Widow, and Silver Sable fighting Rhino. They've been looking for Dr. Ock's main base for three days now. Anyhow, Rhino gets taken out about three pages into the issue, so you can be sure he was absolutely no threat.

In a somewhat unexpected turn of events, we see that the world, including SHIELD, has turned against Spider-Man, Widow and Sable. SHIELD comes to take the good guys in, but don't stand a chance as the three disappear in some smoke and jump into their invisible ship.

On the ship, we see Spider-Man and Sable torturing Sandman, or what is left of him. Sandman eventually gives in and tells them whatever they need to know. It's implied to us readers however that Spider-Man was not going to continue torturing Sandman if he never gave in.

Spidey makes a call to Horizon, who then questions Spider-Man as they have confirmed that Dr. Ock's technology can save the world from Global Warming.

Back at the Sinister Six base, Chameleon speaks his thoughts. He wants to abort the mission since he has two billion bucks and a clean slate to start over. He also adds that there are only four of the Sinister Six left and that things could get risky.

Back at The Swan aka the Sable's invisible ship, Widow tells Spidey that she has intel of Dr Ock recruiting more forces/ villains to take them out. In response, Spider-Man calls for the help of every Second Class super-powered good guy out there to help.

Soon after, Sable and Spidey share an 'almost moment' of which Spidey lets slip by. It is implied that his mind is on MJ and a promise he made her. ( I think I may have missed it. )

We also get to see a little bit of Mary Jane in the issue soon after as she walks along the roads of Manhattan believing Peter will come through, no matter what the rest of the world thinks.

Nothing else that important happens in this issue. Essentially, with the help of the other good guys, Spider-Man's job is reduced substantially. Spidey eventually finds Ock's main base ( in Symkaria ), only to find it empty. Dr Ock eventually comes on screen and tells Spider-Man that the base is empty because he has launched all the satellites required to finish his plan.

Dr Octopus then turns up the heat and the whole of Symkaria is burnt, along with that half of the world facing the sun.

Thoughts
It is pretty clear from this issue that Dr Octopus was a double crossing no good, not only to the world, but to the rest of the Sinister Six as well. When Sandman was being tortured, it appeared as though he truly thought they were the good guys this time, trying to save the world.

Furthermore, Chameleon and Mysterio for that matter got what they came for, and were more than happy to leave and abort the rest of the mission. Rhino and Sandman were promised things worth more than money. You can be sure that destroying the world however, was not part of their agreement.

As for the Sable/ Spider-Man moment, I noticed there were a number of fans on the comic forums who were hoping there would be some kind of development between the two characters. I admit that it would have been pretty interesting to see some romantic interest evolve from their friendship, however, being a MJ fan, I think this book doesn't need anymore delay as far as the Peter Parker/ Mary Jane relationship is concerned. I'm pretty much waiting for issue 700 to find out what happens in the end.

The Omega Effect Review

2012-05-02T10:01:00.001+08:00

Spider-Man and Daredevil form an uneasy alliance with the Punisher and his new partner to destroy the Omega Drive, but can can you really trust the Punisher?

The Story - Avenging Spider-Man #6

Reed Richards calls up Spider-Man and fills him in on Daredevil's possession of the Omega Drive, a device that contains valuable, incriminating information on criminal organizations such as A.I.M., Hydra, Black Spectre, Agence Byzantine and the Secret Empire, among others. The Drive is made from the remnants of an old Fantastic Four uniform, meaning that it's made up of unstable molecules and thus difficult to both access and destroy. All the criminal organizations know that Daredevil has the Drive, so Reed asks Spider-Man to ask Daredevil to bring the Drive to him for his own safety.

When Spider-Man arrives at Matt Murdock's apartment, he finds Hand ninjas already scoping the place out, and attacks them. Inside, Matt is having a meeting with the Punisher, who asks him to give him the Drive. When Matt refuses, the Punisher's partner, Rachel Cole-Alves, sets off some minor explosives to throw off Matt's senses. Before the Punisher can take the Drive, Spider-Man comes crashing through the window, still fighting ninjas. Matt uses this opportunity to change into Daredevil, and the four of them decide to form a temporary truce to deal with the Hand. Spidey and Daredevil make sure that the Punisher and Cole adhere to Spidey's "no one dies" rule.

After dealing with the Hand, Daredevil explains the Omega Drive situation to Spidey, Cole and the Punisher. Spider-Man then comes up with a plan to lure all the criminal organizations out into the open so that Daredevil can then destroy the Drive right in front of them, taking the heat off him once and for all. The Punisher reluctantly agrees to the plan.

The Punisher #10

After Spider-Man builds a device that can destroy the Omega Drive, he and Daredevil meet up with the Punisher and Cole. While Spidey tries to bug the Punisher as he comes up with a plan of attack, Daredevil attempts to get Cole to turn away from her current path. Afterwards, the Punisher explains his plan: split up into teams of two and hit every major crime organization, passing on the message to meet at Grand Central Station at 3:00 a.m., where Daredevil can then destroy the Drive in front of them. Not wanting to leave Daredevil alone with the Punisher, Spidey teams with the Punisher while Cole goes with Daredevil.

The two teams set out and attack all the major crime organizations. While attacking the Exchange, Daredevil is able to convince Cole not to kill one of their agents. Daredevil thinks he's getting through to her, but Cole is unable to take her eyes off the Drive around Daredevil's neck.

Daredevil and Cole reunite with Spidey and the Punisher at Grand Central Station just as all the major crime organizations arrive. As Daredevil is about to destroy the Drive, Cole hits him from behind and takes it for herself.

Daredevil #11

Spider-Man rescues Daredevil from the mob of criminals Cole knocked him into and informs him that the device they were going to use to destroy the Drive didn't survive the fall. The Punisher agrees to stay behind while Spidey and Daredevil look for his now former partner. The two of them quickly split up.

Daredevil is eventually able to trick Cole into revealing herself, confronting her in an abandoned building. Just as Daredevil convinces Cole to give him the Drive, she is shot in the chest, as the criminal organizations crash through the building with Spider-Man and the Punisher not far behind. After taking everyone down, Daredevil notices that Cole's body has disappeared. Punisher informs him that she was wearing a bullet proof vest. As the three of them part ways, Daredevil comes up with a new plan to deal with the Omega Drive.

Thoughts

I was a little disappointed by The Omega Effect. Don't get me wrong, it was a well written and beautifully illustrated story, but for a crossover it felt pretty inconsequential. By the end, we're right back where we started; a Daredevil reader can easily skip the crossover and not have to worry about being unable to follow what happens next. The most significant thing to happen was the possible redemption of the Punisher's new partner, Cole. It was nice to see Matt get through to her, but as someone who doesn't read The Punisher (not because it's a bad book, I'm just not a Punisher fan) Cole's story isn't really something I'm invested in.

Mark Waid and Greg Rucka handled the interactions between Spidey, Daredevil and the Punisher perfectly, but the best part of this story was Mark Checchetto's artwork. Ever since Grim Hunt I've been eager to see him draw Spider-Man again, and he doesn't disappoint here. The Omega Effect was a great read, but the ending could have used a bit more weight.

Marvel Universe: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Review

2012-05-01T10:39:00.001+08:00

Marvel's new all ages line is here!

The Story

Spider-Man comes across the Shocker while on his way to get a cake for Uncle Ben's birthday. As Spider-Man fights the villain, he explains his origin story to the reader. Spidey defeats Shocker but arrives at the bakery just as it closes. Fortunately, the baker was so impressed with Spider-Man's display against Shocker that she lets him have a cake for free!

Second Story - ...Ultimate Peter Parker

Peter Parker is called from class by Principal/Agent Coulson for a special assignment. When Peter expresses concern that everyone will notice he's gone, Coulson unveils a Peter Parker mandroid, programmed with Peter's personality and memories. The mandroid will pose as him in school while he's out as Spider-Man. Coulson then briefs Spidey on his mission, which is to follow Nick Fury around New York and make sure he's not assassinated by Hyrda.

As Spidey shadows Fury, he worries about what his robotic counterpart is doing back at at school. Lost in thought, Spider-Man notices too late that Fury is being attacked by Madame Hydra and her goons, who succeed in shooting Fury through the chest. Luckily, the Fury who was shot was just an android, with the real Fury using it as a way to test Spider-Man. Madame Hydra is able to use the android to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. and program all the remaining androids to self destruct. Spider-Man barely makes back it in time to remove the Peter Parker android before it blows up Mary Jane and Harry Osborn.

On the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Spider-Man tells Fury to stop making Peter Parker androids, annoyed that the android got to spend the day having the normal life he could never have.

Thoughts

This comic is the first exposure I've had to the universe to the new Ultimate Spider-Man television series, as the show has yet to premiere in Canada (much to my chagrin). The purest in me finds the liberties they've taken with Spider-Man's world to be somewhat off putting. One of the central appeals of the Spider-Man character is that when he's not off being a superhero, he's a regular guy with regular problems. Having a secret agent principal, a robot double, or (in an upcoming episode) a supervillain gym teacher intertwines Peter and Spider-Man's world too much, and detracts from what makes the character special. Then I remember that this show isn't for me, it's for the kiddies, and it's really no different from what Paul Tobin did in Marvel Adventures Spider-Man where he gave Spidey a mutant girfriend who can talk to animals. If something like Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends was a generation's first exposure to Spider-Man, then I'm sure this show will do just fine. We older fans can enjoy the show for what it is or retreat to the classic comics and our Spectacular Spider-Man DVD's.

So how was the issue itself? Not bad. The first story does a decent job of introducing who Spider-Man is to the uninitiated. It also attempts to emulate the style of the T.V. series, with a number of cutaway gags and pop culture references sprinkled into the fight with Shocker. Most of it works; I like the bit at the beginning where we see Peter's origin from the radioactive spider's point-of-view. I was a little miffed that the Man of Action glossed over the most important part of Spidey's origin: how he feels responsible for Uncle Ben's death. Perhaps they're planning on revealing that aspect of his origin in a future episode (similar to what Greg Weisman did in The Spectacular Spider-Man), or maybe they were worried it would disrupt the upbeat tone of the story. Either way, it's a glaring omission.

The second story was... weird, though it's probably a good indicator of the kinds of stories the comic and show are going to be telling. Peter's anxieties over what the android might be doing while he's out as Spider-Man rang true and were pretty funny. You would think Mary Jane and Harry would have expressed more concern for Peter's sudden disappearance after Spider-Man rescued them from the exploding android.

Marvel Universe: Ultimate Spider-Man is a good choice for a young fan looking to discover more of Spider-Man's adventures. Everyone else should stick with Amazing.

Moon Knight #12 Review

2012-05-01T08:16:00.000+08:00

The final issue!

The Story

With Detective Hall and a group of police officers with a search warrant knocking on his door, Count Nefaria decides to make a run for it, and flies towards the police station. When he arrives he scolds the corrupt Captain Quaid for failing to keep his officers in line and promptly vaporizes him. Before Nefaria can do the same to Snapdragon, he is attacked by Moon Knight. Moon Knight fights valiantly but is no match for Nefaria's raw power. Nefaria drags Moon Knight outside only to be confronted by the Avengers, and is easily defeated.

Afterwards, Marc Spector and Buck Lime give Tony Stark the Ultron head. Tony explains to them what Ultron is, and that it's planning something big, and Nefaria most likely wanted to use the head to find a way out. After Tony leaves, Iron Man becomes Moon Knight's new third personality alongside Echo and Wolverine.

Three months later, with his show cancelled, Marc Spector packs up and leaves Hollywood.

Thoughts

Brian Michael Bendis ends Moon Knight the same way he has ended many of his stories, with a group of heroes coming in to gang up on the lone supervillain. I'm a little disappointed; I would have liked to have seen Moon Knight and Buck take down Nefaria on their own at some great cost, or even fail despite their best efforts. As it is, this ending felt way too conventional for a series which up until this point has been anything but.

Despite my disappointment with the ending, I immensely enjoyed this twelve issue journey Bendis and Alex Maleev took us on. If you missed this series in singles, I would highly recommend getting the inevitable oversized hardcover that will likely follow. It's too bad this marks the end of Moon Knight's journey for the time being. I would love to see Dan Slott's (who apparently loves Moon Knight) take on the character. Sadly, if Bendis and Maleev can't get a Moon Knight series to sell half decently, then I doubt Marvel is willing to take any more chances with the character in this current economic climate. At least we'll see him again in The Ultron War.

Venom #16 Review

2012-04-30T06:06:00.000+08:00

A routine prison transfer turns into anything but when the Hobgoblin shows up!

The Story - Clemency

Venom is overseeing the prison transfer of obscure Spidey villain the Human Fly to the Raft aboard a sky train. From his cell, the Fly tells Venom that he owes the Kingpin money and if he doesn't pay the Kingpin's going to kill his son. He asks Venom to let him out so he can protect him, promising to turn himself in afterwards. Sensing that Venom's hesitance, the Fly asks Venom to at least deliver a letter he wrote to his son before he is killed. Just then, Agent Darymple takes Venom aside and tells him that the Kingpin has put a hit out on the Fly, and that one of his two guards is planning on collecting the bounty. Venom attempts to trick the two guards into entering the second cell but before he can Darymple reveals himself to be the Hobgoblin in disguise!

After killing the two guards, Hobgoblin offers Venom a deal: ten million dollars to help the Kingpin kill the Fly, Crime-Master and Jack-'O'-Lantern. Venom pretends to agree to the deal and let's the Fly out of his cell, who then hits Hobgoblin with his acid spit, starting a three way battle. During the fight, Hobgoblin is able to knock Venom off the train, leaving just him and the Fly. Venom quickly returns on a motorcycle, using it to hit Hobgoblin off the train. Venom attempts to recapture the Fly but is forced to let him escape to save one of the guards. Before leaving, the Fly tells Venom to read the letter to his son, telling him he'll find it illuminating. The letter simply states: "I don't have a son!"

Thoughts

Rick Remender delivers yet another superb done-in-one issue! It was a lot of fun watching Venom take on the new Hobgoblin, made even better by Kev Walker's stunning artwork. Remender also makes the Human Fly into a credible threat, as he is able to hold his own against the Hobgoblin. And although you see the ending coming from a mile away, it still packs a punch.

Infinite Spider-Man 10.4: Muddied Waters

2012-04-30T03:20:00.001+08:00

The illusion of change works best if the readers don't know how the story is going to end, or where the characters are going to end up. One of the things that worked about One More Day is that it muddied the water about whether Peter and MJ will end up together. That provides a lot of flexibility in the future, in both the regular Spider-Man comics, and other renditions of the story.

For example, the first issue of the post-Ultimatum Ultimate Spider-Man had Peter Parker fooling around with Gwen Stacy. This did upset some readers who liked a book where Peter and MJ were a couple, especially after the events of One More Day. But it represented an advantage of getting rid of the spider-marriage in the 616 universe: the ending of the story (or this facet of it) was no longer certain. It wasn't entirely clear whether Peter and MJ would rekindle their relationship in the Ultimate comics.

This means you don't know how the new Spider-man movies are going to end. If in an upcoming film, an actress playing the Black Cat has incredible chemistry with whoever's playing Peter Parker, the Director will be better able to take advantage of that, now that no one will be able to argue that the "real" (and by this I mean, the 616 Spider-Man whose adventures have been published since Amazing Fantasy #15) is happily married in the latest Amazing Spider-Man issue, so it wouldn't be clear that the Movie Peter Parker will get back together with Movie MJ eventually.

When the first Spider-Man film ended, most of us knew Peter and Mary Jane would eventually be a couple because they were married in the source material. This hindered the ability to have any significant "Will they or won't they?" tension, and took away from the ending of the movie.

Many readers still think that the story is guaranteed to end with Peter and Mary Jane together, but it's something that is increasingly ambiguity. While getting rid of the sense of inevitability may take more time, it's pretty much impossible if the "real" (or original or classic or whatever term you want to use) Spider-Man is happily married. The more distance we have from OMD, the less inevitable a reversion will seem.

The muddied waters also help in the Amazing Spider-Man comic book. When a plot point is resolved, there's an expectation that the characters will get to the next step. When Peter graduated high school, the understanding was that he would soon go to college. When Peter and MJ were married, there was an expectation that at some point they would have a family, and there were reasons for Marvel not to go with that approach.

Prior to One More Day, the writers still had the freedom to explore other aspects of the character's life, including different career paths and education choices. You could argue that since the comics featured Peter graduating High School and College, it should be okay to show him taking other fairly normal steps. But there are a few distinctions. It was something that unambiguously opened up new storytelling opportunities. For a guy with his intelligence and background, graduating college was even more likely than getting married. But the problem wasn't just that the character got married, but who he got married to. If a Director wants to make Peter Parker a student of NYU rather than the fictional Empire State University, most readers wouldn't care. But they would have been bothered if he had married someone else. Or they would believe that marriage was still doomed to failure, because everyone knew that Peter was going to end up with MJ at some point.

One More Day muddied the water on two other developments which could have been definitive moments for the series. Harry Osborn's resurrection meant that his story wasn't guaranteed to end with a last-minute redemption, when the character died to save his best friend. The remasking meant that even the public's knowledge of Spidey's identity was a genie that could be put back in the bottle, and the ability to shut some of the monsters back into Pandora's box is crucial to the illusion of change.

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Secret Avengers #24-25 Review

2012-04-29T12:33:00.000+08:00

Venom enters the Core!

Secret Avengers #24 - Core Beliefs

Captain Britain is teleported into the Core and immediately attacked by Lady Deathstrike. He is able to throw her aside, but is then attacked by Ultravision robots until the Human Torch arrives. The Ultravisions stop and bow down to the Torch, worshipping him as "Grandfather."

Meanwhile, Father sits in a meeting with the representatives of the various Descendant species: the Doombots, Life Model Decoys, Sentinaughts, Adaptoids, Ultravisons, Machine People and the Reavers. Father tells them that the Avengers must be killed inside the Core before they learn of what they're planning and call for backup.

A pair of Adaptoids chase Yalda's son throughout the streets. Just when they think they have the boy cornered, the Adaptoids run into Valkyrie and the Black Widow. The two of them take the boy and make a run for it. Elsewhere in the Core, Hawkeye and Beast are captured by Cyborg Wasp and Miss America. On the Lighthouse, Flash Thompson sits bored in his wheelchair when alarms go off informing him that the team's location has been blocked. Instead of calling Captain America, Flash decides to take matters into his own hands.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Beast sit in captivity in the Parish Tower, with Beast critically injured and bleeding out. Hawkeye tries to get through to Cyborg Wasp but has no luck. Things begin to look bleak until Ant-Man appears, apparently not dead after all!

Secret Avengers #25 - Grandfather Clause

The Human Torch ambushes Cyborg Miss America and questions her on what Father has planned. Miss America tells the Torch about the history of Father and the Descendants, revealing Father to be a scientist who was tasked to create more androids like the Human Torch during the Cold War along with two other scientists called Mother and Brother. When the scientists failed to imbue their androids with true life in the same way the Human Torch had, they turned to magic. Using something called the Orb of Necromancy, they successfully created twenty androids who were able to live and breathe. These androids were the first Descendants, called High Breeds. Father wanted to create more, but Brother did not want to create a new species for humanity to compete with. Brother disappeared and took the Orb with him, while Mother released the High Breeds into society where they successfully integrated, unaware of what they were. Their powers only manifest themselves when they are in mortal danger. Father continued to create new Descendants, but they were not the same without the Orb. After the Torch flies off to confront Father, Miss America informs Father that the Torch is on his way.

Valkyrie and Black Widow are able to find the location of the teleport circle that can take them back home, but are then attacked by Adaptoids. Black Widow attempts to get Yalda's son to safety, but is attacked, while three more Adaptoids gang up on Valkyrie. Valkyrie manages to successfully lure one of the Adaptoids into the teleportation circle, transporting it into Pakistan where it is immediately attacked by Venom. As Venom fights the Adaptoid, the two of them step on the teleportation circle, and are transported into the Core. Venom is able to give Valkyrie a hand and the two of them defeat the Adaptoids.

The Human Torch and Captain Britain are en route to confront Father when they are attacked by a Master Mold Sentry. As Ant-Man helps Hawkeye carry Beast out of Parish Tower, they spot Captain Britain and the Torch fighting Master Mold. The Torch is able to fly through Master Mold's head and order it to self destruct. Meanwhile, Black Widow is saved by Yalda's son, who is able to tap into his powers and destroy the Adaptoid.

All the Avengers rendezvous with Venom and Valkyrie and leave before Master Mold self destructs. Before they are able to teleport out, the Human Torch is shot through the chest by an Adaptoid while saving Yalda's son. After they leave, Yalda, now under Father's control, is able to absorb the blast, saving the Core.

Back at the Lighthouse, the Avengers are able to keep the Human Torch's consciousness intact while they find a way to transfer it into another body. They also decide to keep the existence of the Descendants a secret. When Ant-Man is left alone, he communicates with Father, as he is now under his control.

Thoughts

Rick Remender delivered an interesting, if flawed first arc of Secret Avengers. I'm not sure the Marvel Universe needs another group of people who look like us but have special powers. Hawkeye went pretty quickly from not wanting Venom on the team to accepting him as a member. Hopefully Remender can flesh out their relationship in future issues. On the other hand, Remender makes Father a force to be reckoned with, always being one step ahead of his opponents. Looking forward to seeing how this storyline plays out but it looks like we'll have to wait a while, as Secret Avengers is going to be mired in Avengers vs. X-Men madness for the next few months.

New Avengers # 23 & Avengers # 24 Review

2012-04-25T02:49:00.001+08:00

The final showdown! Avengers and New Avengers VS Osborn and Dark Avengers!

New Avengers #23
A month ago when Osborn had invited Skaar to join his team, Skaar contacted Captain America for advice. In the present, Skaar defeats the Dark Avengers. He then goes looking for Captain America and frees him. Cap asks him to get the New Avengers. The Dark Avengers recover only to see that the New Avengers have arrived. They beat the $#!+ out of the bad guys. Captain America thanks them and Victoria Hand. He also asks where Cage is.

Cage, still looking for his wife, goes to her old office, Alias. Inside, he looks at a picture of himself, the Jewel and Iron Fist.

Avengers # 24
Two weeks ago, Osborn, Madame Hydra and Superia met with A.I.M.'s scientist supreme, Dr Rappaccini. He wanted something for himself from the Special Abilities department. She told him about the Adaptoid program - he'll have all the powers of anybody he touches. She also warned him about the side effects.

In the present, while facing against Osborn and Hand's (the ninja group) assassins, Red Hulk punches him. This results in Osborn hulking out. The heroes try to use ranged attacks but he uses Vision's density control and becomes immune to them. They then switch to Plan B. Noh-Varr makes him absorb his alien powers. All the Avengers grab him at once hoping that it will cause power overload. However, that makes Osborn more powerful. Captain America and the New Avengers show up to save the day, and when Osborn absorbs everyone's powers, the side effects kick in.

They apprehend members of HAMMER and AIM. At the White House, the President compels Captain America to do damage control on the Avengers' image. He asks what happened to Madame Hydra, Captain America says she's still out there. We see her addressing a large group of HYDRA soldiers, telling them that Osborn's failure will help HYDRA rise again.

Thoughts
I've been reading both, the Avengers and the New Avengers, since the Heroic Age, and I have to say New Avengers is the better title. New Avengers #23 was a good issue with awesome action scenes splashed across pages. Avengers #24, on the other hand, felt a little rushed. And the new Dark Avengers didn't get any closure and we didn't get to see Ai Apaec do anything in his six-armed Spider-Man form. Worse, New Avengers # 23 was released after Avengers #24, so, everybody already new what would happen.

The art was very good, but then again I've always liked Deodato and Conard's style. I'm not a big fan of Daniel Acuna's style for comic book art but I like the way he drew faces in Avengers # 24.

Infinite Spider-Man 10.3: The Stability Problem

2012-04-25T00:21:00.000+08:00

While the illusion of change approach works well with a flexible status quo, it doesn't really accommodate a stable state of affairs. That represented one of the problems with the spider-marriage.

Marriage removed tension from the series, because readers knew that the relationship will survive conflicts. It also produced stability, as it was difficult to repeatedly convince readers that Peter may not have a loving supportive wife to go home to.

If “growth”isn’t an option but you want to keep the marriage, this means that the comics would have to deal with an eternally childless married couple in their late twenties. If Peter and Mary Jane have a child or find Baby May, that kid’s age will have to remain the same, which makes Peter’s adventures seem more inconsequential, although The Simpsons and Family Guy have conditioned readers to not ask questions about why cartoon babies don’t get older. There are a few problems with these approaches, beginning with the way it seems to freeze the status quo, as you know that no matter what happens Peter will eventually be comfortable in his house with his beautiful and supportive wife.

A writer can't end a story with a married Peter Parker miserable and alone, wondering if that's ever going to change, without doing something bad to Mary Jane. And most of Spider Man’s problems are somehow less significant when he had a beautiful, loving, understanding and supportive wife who he can really confide in. This limited the drama and made him seem like a jerk any time he complained about his life. It also limited the directions the writers can take the story in.

As there will be at least three issues of Spider Man a month for the foreseeable future, I don't think the marriage is the best status quo to keep all those books interesting and compelling in the years and decades to come. Fans of the marriage will maintain that any problems with making that status quo indefinitely compelling are purely the fault of the writer, leading to the “good writers” argument. A perpetually childless couple eternally in their late 20s will become uninteresting faster than a single guy eternally in his late 20s, due to the greater variety of the latter. Peter's life shouldn’t always be miserable, but it's far more interesting when it's not stable.

These are the reasons why it seems that the majority of potential writers prefer Peter Parker being single, a decision that has little to do with their assessment of their own talent. Some married readers may laugh at the idea that marriage brings stability, but for storytelling purposes, it ultimately does when compared to the alternative. Ask any religious leader or politician trying to protect the institution. That type of stability is good in real life, but bad in an ongoing drama, where it freezes the status quo (especially if the couple won't significantly age, have children or treat one another badly) and makes it harder for readers to believe that any developments (Mary Jane believed dead, Mary Jane goes to California) ultimately matter. Changes to an unmarried Peter Parker would matter, as readers can believe that an argument can lead to a break up and that the break up will be permanent. with potential consequences decades later. This will be more effective if the writers can make any new romantic interests as compelling as Mary Jane.

Given how strong Peter and MJ's relationship has been and the iconic status of both characters, it was difficult for writers to create problems in the relationship without making one (or both) seem unlikable. Mary Jane has the patience of a saint, so Peter can't really be pissed at her, unless she were to do astoundingly stupid, and probably uncharacteristic. Peter Parker's unreliable because of his day job, where he has objectively saved more than ten thousand people. At the same time, Mary Jane should know by now what she's been getting into, so she can't really be mad at the guy considering all the lives he saves. It is possible to give them conflicts, and make both sympathetic. But it's difficult. And it's something that has to be repeated every now and then.

A counter-argument is that not allowing marriage is also a stabilizing force, but there's more variety with that edict. Peter dealing with the aftermath of a kiss from his best friend's girl (whom he considers to be ridiculously attractive) is different from Peter dealing with the aftermath of a one-night stand with his roommate, which is different from Peter having a friends & benefits relationship with an ex who doesn't really love him, which is different from Peter slowly beginning a relationship with someone in his social circle. And so far, this involves four different romantic interests.

In terms of stability, the spider-marriage was equivalent to restricting Peter to one residence (one house in New York City) or one job (a particular employer) in a permanent manner. There can be significant conflict, but the writers would be greatly handicapped. That said, there's no rule saying that he always has to be a photographer. JMS made him a High School Science teacher, followed by a job with Tony Stark. Guggenheim gave him a low-paying job in a comic book store. Zeb Wells had him take a taxi-driving exam. Mark Waid blacklisted him.

He's also been outside of New York City, getting involved in an alien civil war with the Fantastic Four or fighting for his life in Boston. Future writers aren't also restricted from taking him out of the city.

Earlier I noted that there are some advantages to having one element of the status quo anchored in a particular way. Other elements of his life (where he lives, where he works, what the supporting cast is up to) aren't stable, so the writers could explore those avenues. But there is a significant restriction when the juggler suddenly has one less ball to play with.

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Infinite Spider-Man 10.2: Flexibility

2012-04-24T06:48:00.001+08:00

Spider-Man's an astoundingly versatile character, when you consider all of the settings for Peter Parker's personal life. There have been great stories with the character as a high school student, college student, Daily Bugle photographer, high school teacher and scientist. It's possible for any of these avocations to be used in a video game or film adaptation. You could compare that to characters like Batman and Superman, who tend to have much more consistency in their professional lives.

There have also been numerous romantic interests in the great Spider-Man stories, which suggests that the adaptability applies to that category as well. Betty Brant had the Master Planner saga and the first appearance of the Sinister Six. Gwen Stacy had "Spider-Man No More" and "Death and Destiny." Mary Jane had Kraven's Last Hunt and "To Have and To Hold." Black Cat had the Octopus/ Owl War and Shed. Even Carlie Cooper had "Spider Island" and "No One Dies."

I think it's best for the long-term to preserve the flexibility of Spider-Man's alter ego. This means that the character probably shouldn't get married. And it means that his current age according to the editors (mid-twenties) is ideal. It allows the writers to alternate between uncertain young adulthood and a fixed career path.

Because of the character's ambidexterity, an illusion of change approach works better than a commitment to change approach. The latter ultimately closes more doors, eventually creating a more fixed version of the character. The illusion of change approach only prevents writers from telling the stories that close off opportunities for later writers.

I admit that there is a different and probably irreconcilable way to view flexibility. One can interpret it as an argument for lasting change, since the character transitioned successfully from high school student to college student to married professional and so on.

But some developments close too many doors. If Peter Parker's a married dad, there won't be further flexibility on this aspect of his life. The writers, editors and readers would be stuck with it. And as he gets older, he'll be expected to stick around longer wherever he works, so there's less versatility in the professional sphere as well.

It's likely that at some point in the future, Peter Parker will revert back to a more familiar career. It probably won't be permanent, which is a good thing. It's also likely that at some point, he'll have an entirely new occupation. With the illusion of change approach, if writers do something that turns out to not be of interest, they can reverse it quickly, and go to something else.

Writers are always free to get rid of characters they get tired of. If they don't like Aunt May, they can ship her off to Florida. Or not focus on the times Peter interacts with her when they live in the same city. If they don't like J Jonah Jameson (and who doesn't like J Jonah Jameson?) they can always have Peter Parker not interact as often with the mayor of New York City. If Harry's a part of the status quo, writers who don't like him can ship him off to rehab or Europe for their entire run.

They're far more restricted with what they could do with Spider-Man's wife. Peter will be expected to interact with her fairly often. To be fair, I don't recall writers or editors complaining about Mary Jane getting too much face time.

I see the Illusion of Change as the middle ground between the old school DC/ Archie approach and radical change, the type you usually only see in Independent comics. I recently reread Alan Moore's run of Miracleman. And a lot of stuff happened in the space of sixteen issues.

The superhero's wife left him.
There was a major suicide.
The superhero killed his best friend.
A child conceived during the story essentially grew up in a way that was quite different from what was anticipated.
Thousands of civilians died in the crossfire of a superhero battle.
The superhero found true love.

That type of approach works for an independent comic. It doesn't work for a series like Spider-Man, which is part of a shared universe and expected to continue for several hundred more issues.

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New Avengers V.2 # 21- 22 review

2012-04-22T06:08:00.000+08:00

New Avengers # 21

This issue starts with the protesters still gathered in front of the Avengers Mansion. Jessica Jones comes out with her baby and Squirrel Girl and tries to talk to the angry mob. She's then attacked by the mob. An angry Squirrel Girl calls in a horde of squirrels to help them escape.

Meanwhile, a battle erupts between the Avengers and Ragnarok. Most of the heroes fight while Spider-man spins webs between buildings to save his teammates from falling. He then tosses Iron Fist at the fake Thor. Iron Fist knocks him out.

The Dark Avengers want to finish off the real Avengers. Osborn explains that they look like heroes after being unjustly attacked while hunting down and killing them will make the real ones look like martyrs. The New Avengers fly off in their jet, after dropping a beaten Ragnarok at the feet of a smiling Osborn. When they reach New York, they find the mansion being seized by the federal government.

New Avengers # 22

The Avengers are wanted for questioning by the government. Cage demands that the authorities let him pass as he owns the mansion. A soldier fires at Cage that sends him flying. Dr Strange teleports them to his Sanctum Sanctorium. Wong informs Cage that his wife left with their daughter. Cage leaves to find his family.

Victoria Hand watches the riot on television and tries to flee her apartment but is stopped by the New Avengers. She is then tossed out of the window and she falls to her death. And is the last appearance of the treacherous liaison. Kidding! She is tossed out of her window but it turns out to be an illusion cast by Dr Strange. She reveals that she is a triple agent working for Captain America. The Avengers decides that Hand will call Osborn.

Osborn talks to Hand and tells her that the Dark Avengers will pick her up. The Dark Avengers receive orders to pick Hand from Manhattan, where they will also find the New Avengers hiding. Gorgon, earlier showed by Madame Hydra a captured Captain America, shares this info with his teammates. This causes Skaar to cry out "Avengers Assemble".

Thoughts

Firstly, no matter how angry you are, how can you throw a bottle at a woman holding a baby? I hope the people come to their senses soon. Spidey did a great job at helping his teammates. Hand's revelation of her allegiance wasn't surprising but Skaar betrayal was. The question as to why would the Son of Hulk work with Osborn is finally answered. And we also get to see how Gorgon's claws work.

As for the art, it's good, especially Will Conard's pages. His style is so similar to Deodato's that I would not have been able to tell the difference had I not seen it in the X-Men issues.

Scarlet Spider #4

2012-04-22T02:30:00.003+08:00

Story:
The past is a tricky thing. Kaine's past is so dark and disturbed that it was bound to catch up to him, and sure enough his past comes knockin.
Apparently, nobody likes being told to "Go F themselves" especially if they think you owe them.

Once upon a time Kaine pissed off Belladonna, the leader of the assassins guild, so now he must finally pay the price... in blood. Belladonna's assassins are eager to please and that spells serious trouble for Kaine.

So Kaine has to deal with a space shifting mercenary who can materialize his own guns, a Zombie ninja, a creepy psycho kinetic pre teen girl, and a man in a skeleton suit with godlike speed and seven inch steel blades.( Ok maybe not 7 inches )

Kaine officially hands them all a beating to some degree,and comes up with a plan to end the assault.
He uses one of the assassin's cell phones to call up Belladonna, and makes her an ofer she can't refuse.
Kaine agrees to do 1 job for her as long as she calls off her dogs.
The intriguing part is, who will she choose as Kaine's target? Will it be someone he knows?

As for the other members of this story, Dr Meland and his cop boyfriend ( yes you read that right) Wally, break in on Mr. Mitchell and hold him at gunpoint (for his crime of putting a hit out on Dr. Meland),to which they eventually come to a mutual understanding and forgiveness is exchanged.( I call that a bit of an anti climax)

Meanwhile Annabella takes Aracelly out shopping upon Kaine's request, and she finds out not only can the girl speak English, but she can also speak many other languages.
Futhermore, Aracelly seems to have some sort of psychic link with Kaine, or at least a supernatural level of awareness, as she is able to discern that Kaine is fighting on a rooftop seemingly many miles away.
How could she possibly know this otherwise? Interesting...

Thoughts
Now I doubt we've seen the last of Mr. Terrance Mitchell, but perhaps thats just my wishful thinking that more of a plot was devloped.

Immediately I notice the pacing of this issue. it starts off in the thick of batlle and it rarely lets up.
Kaine is practically dodging bullets the whole time. I'm actually having fun here.
I'm loving the action and intensity of it all. Kaine can surely hold his own in any fight, regardless of the numbers being against him. It's crazy to think that he can do all of this bare handed
( and without scratching anyones face, thankfully) but he's actually using his enemies weapons against them very effectively. I dare say that your standard Spider-Man would not be so bold. As relentless as these killers are, Kaine is evey bit as aggressive, and manages to one up them every time.

Despite all this dynamic action and bravado, we still dont get much of any story development or background info regarding the supporting cast.

We are left wondering who this Aracelly girl really is, and why she was left for dead.
Why was the fire freak after her, and what role does dhe play in all this?
Perhaps Yost hasn't put together all the answers yet orthis is just a long running plan he wants to use to intriguie readers beyond the current situation.

Long running threads are important to comicbook narratives, but the balance becomes not keeping readers in the dark too long. Right now, Yost is dropping hints about Aracelly's past and goading the reader along just enough to maintain interest.

I also beleive that Kaine's guilt is going to be his biggest adversary. Will Kaine be able to reach deep down inside and find the emotional strength to quell his deomon's? , or
will the emotional & psychological toll, eventually paralyze Kaine?
It seems Yost is trying to imply this and I'm all for it. I enjoy the direction of his writing so far, but I hope he gets the ball rolling faster in his next effort.

Amazing Spider-Man 684

2012-04-21T12:35:00.001+08:00

In this issue, it seems as thought the 'Ends Of Earth' story is finally picking up a little. The whole issue is mostly a showcase of Black widow, Sable, Spider-Man and Sandman. No one else in this issue really matters, except for maybe those over at Horizon Labs who play a pretty decent role in the issue.

The Story

We start with Sable, in her invisible costume, coming to aid Black Widow. Once she gets Widow out, she sets a bomb on the Avengers ship. ( After all, money comes from the skies for the likes of Tony Stark )

Silver Sable's plan is actually pretty decent as the explosion of the aircraft causes Dr Ock to lose concentration for a split second, allowing Spider-Man to escape with the help of Sable. (He was about to get killed.. as usual) Dr Ock decides to let Spider-Man go, as he has more important business, such as dragging the half dead bodies of the Avengers to his ship.

Anyway, Sable takes off her invisible cloak once the coast is clear, and brings Spider-Man and Black Widow into her 'Invisible Ship'.

To cut it short, Horizon Labs later manages to patch through to Spider-Man from their ocean base ( yes, they have that). They inform him that Dr Ock is holding a meeting with the world leaders and is requesting payment of $2billion per Sinister Six member, and a clean slate with which they can start their lives over.

Just then the Symkarian President, who is at the meeting, leaks some info regarding Dr Ock's bases to Sable. The three decide to head towards the base in the Sahara desert. Spidey then gets the help of Horizon to come up with a way to defeat Sandman ( who will obviously be at the Sahara base)

We later find out that it was all a trap. There was nothing at the base but Sandman, waiting to pound them. After a pretty cool fight scene however, our team of superheroes manage to contain Sandman in a little bag of web fluid.

The issue ends with Dr. Ock making one last request, to make Spider-Man the world's most wanted felon.

Thoughts
The thing I like about this issue is that Electro never makes an appearance after being shot into space, making it fairly realistic. Honestly, I was half expecting him to show up as if nothing had ever happened. Instead, he actually stays lost in space, for one whole issue at least!

The art is fantastic, especially since I am a little biased towards Ramos's art style. I won't go into the details of how Spider-Man contained Sandman, but I have to say that it was pretty smart. It's good to see Spider-Man come up with new ways to defeat his enemies.

Infinite Spider-Man 10.1: The Illusion of Change

2012-04-19T20:57:00.002+08:00

A technique called the Illusion of Change is probably the best approach for a serial like Amazing Spider‑Man. It seems to most readers as if things are happening to their favorite heroes, and it allows the writers to put the characters into new situations. But if a reader looks carefully enough (which most won’t) they’ll discover that the elements they like about the characters are being preserved and most changes can either be undone or ignored by subsequent creative teams. It’s a method that has worked for decades, a compromise between a completely stable status quo, and characters growing old and dying/ retiring.

The origins of the Illusion of Change

Some cite the early Marvel comics as having established a consistent and permanent precedent for change within the Marvel books. They expect major developments to happen to the same characters in the current comics almost (or exactly) as often as they did in the Silver Age, where Reed and Sue got married and had a kid, Bruce Banner was exposed as the Hulk after maintaining a secret identity for years, etcetera. For Spider‑Man, this meant that Peter Parker was able to graduate high school, go to college, become friends with the guy who bullied him in his first appearance, become roommates and best friends with a spoiled rich kid, meet the love of his life, become a suspect in her father’s death and watch her get murdered by his best friend’s father, who died immediately afterwards paving the way for the best friend to become his next archenemy.

The problem with this expectation was that during the Sixties, no one knew that the Marvel superhero comics, or the universe in which they existed would continue for generations. When Stan Lee wrote the silver age classics, he thought superhero books were a fad like sci‑fi comics, horror comics, western comics and romance comics, all of which were popular for a few years, and then disappeared.

As he explained in the book Comics Creators on Spider‑Man....

I was just happy that Spider‑Man has sold well enough for us to continue publishing it. Believe me, we never thought that any of the titles would last for as long as they have.
Ever since the first days of comics, the industry followed trends. There’d be the western trend and all of the publishers would rush to produce more Western titles. Romance books would suddenly become popular and all the westerns would be cancelled. A science fiction or animation trend would follow the romance books. There would be a new trend every year or two. When Fantastic Four started to sell, I just assumed that it was time for a superhero trend. I never thought that it would last more than two or three years, if that long.

When he realized that the success of Marvel comics was not just a fad, and the characters he cocreated might survive as long as Batman and Superman, Stan Lee and other Marvel figures met to determine a new editorial policy, now that they had to consider the long term fates of the characters, and the possibility that the appeal of the characters would be lost with further progressions. They realized that the continual “growth” of the characters would eventually lead to most either dying, retiring, or changing drastically from what made the characters popular in the first place. There really is no other option, save an eventual reboot of the Marvel Universe or somehow making the major characters immune to aging.

They wanted to make sure that they would maintain the elements that have made the characters popular, while remembering that one of the things that made Marvel different from DC was that things happened to characters from issue to issue and the private sphere subplots mattered. The new policy would encourage the illusion of change in which the status quo appears to advance, but not in any way that closed the door to future stories. This ensured that the writers remained true to the core of the character, and did not limit the stories their successors could tell.

Applications of the Illusion of Change

Marv Wolfman adhered to the Illusion of Change approach throughout his Amazing Spider‑Man run, which is why instead of killing off Aunt May, he wrote a story in which Peter Parker was told she had died, all part of an elaborate hoax. Peter Parker graduated college, but went on to a Graduate program, so they still got to tell essentially the same types of stories (Wolfman believed that the character should never be shown as finishing grad school.) A milestone “To the Death” battle occurred between Spider‑Man and his uncle’s killer, a man who hadn’t been seen since Spider‑Man’s first appearance. The story thus seemed important, without causing any permanent damage to a recurring villain or supporting character. Peter was fired from the Daily Bugle, but got a job at the Daily Globe. Peter proposed to Mary Jane, but she said no. Peter and Mary Jane broke up, but there was always the possibility they could get back together, perhaps around the time he would get his job back at the Daily Bugle. Things happened, but not in such a way that limited any future stories.

Spider‑Man joining the New Avengers was a perfect example of the illusion of change, given how easily he could be a solo superhero again. Peter Parker falling for a girl is another example, as writers can easily have the couple go their separate ways. That break‑up is another illustration of it, as the writers can easily have the couple reconcile.

With the illusion of change, the private subplots have significance, so it's not just Spider-Archie. Characters remain accessible and consistent for new readers, and potential writers can hold on to story ideas for years before they get to use them, rather than worry about what will happen if the character and franchise becomes drastically different. For example, Mark Millar has some plans for future Spider‑Man stories somewhere down the line, which would probably become useless if Peter Parker retires being Spider‑Man and an Indian assassin takes over the identity.

The Illusion of Change and Spidey's Love Life

The greatest advantage of Spider‑Man being single is that it makes the illusion of change so much easier. With the marriage, Peter always has a loving beautiful wife to go home to, no matter what. If Peter were single, writers can shake up the status quo every few years without resorting to faking MJ's death, or sending her to California to reevaluate her priorities, which can easily have readers thinking less of the character, given what she's been through already, and how the marriage was presented as strong.

Meanwhile, all the things that happen to Peter and Mary Jane and fall under the umbrella of the illusion of change add up more obviously that if the things had just happened to Peter. In order to shake up the status quo, the writers may be tempted to make more permanent developments such as Peter Parker getting married and/ or becoming a father. These differ from break‑ups and new relationships, as neither can be easily reversed and both make the passage of time more perceptible. For all the talk about the constant growth in the Silver Age, the Peter Parker of Amazing Spider‑Man #100 was not noticeably older than the Peter Parker of Amazing Spider‑Man #50, and it was unclear how much time passed between those issues. Was it six months, two years or something else?

Some would argue that Peter being a bachelor is a static situation, just as much as the marriage. I disagree as “Peter Parker is single” encompasses several types of stories including "Peter has a girlfriend," "Peter has no girlfriend" and everything in between. "Peter dates Ursula" is a static situation. Until the relationship ends.

What Actual Changes Should the Writers Be Able to Do?

Writers are always free to make changes that don't limit the stories their successors on the title could tell, or change the fundamentals of the character. An example which shouldn't really limit any future writers would be introducing a new friend for Peter at Horizon Labs. Introducing relatives on his mother’s side doesn't alter the appeal of the character, or prevent anyone from telling a specific story. More restrictive developments are appropriate for many comics, but not stories like Spider‑Man that are meant to go on forever, with the same protagonist. Peter Parker finding true happiness with MJ represents the culmination of his story, or at least a huge part of it, which is a problem, as that story may just continue for generations after the happy ending.

There are many stories you can do that won’t limit later Spider‑Man stories and thus represent the illusion of change. “Peter starts dating a girl” won’t limit future writers from breaking the two apart. “Peter has no girlfriend for a while” is an element of the status quo that can easily get changed. “Peter gets fired from the Daily Bugle” is a dramatic, but temporary change, as he could always get his job back. “Spider‑Man moves in with the Fantastic Four” is something that wouldn’t be expected to be a permanent part of the status quo. Writers are free to explore new stories with old characters, as long as it doesn't close other storytelling avenues.

A series like Powers or Y The Last Man should have developments for the protagonists and supporting characters which bring the story closer to a climax, as the stories are meant to come to an end, eventually. One mistake fans make when considering stories they'd like to see is that they'll often compare the series to a movie or book, something that's meant to come to a satisfying conclusion. In the case of a movie series, it's something that has one story every few years. It's not something that's meant to have a minimum of ten stories an year every year for the next twenty plus years. Meanwhile, Amazing Spider‑Man is essentially a never‑ending serial with a constant protagonist. It's a story that may just continue decades from now and that's something writers should be mindful of.

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Venom #15 Review

2012-04-17T07:36:00.000+08:00

Eddie Brock cleans house!

The Story

Hybrid, a symbiote spawned from Venom and currently bonded to Scott Washington, is killed in an alleyway by Eddie Brock, who is on a mission to wipe out "the alien plague."

R.I.P. Hybrid

At the Lighthouse (headquarters of the Secret Avengers) Giant Man and Beast reassure Flash Thompson, Captain America and Valkyrie that their serum can successfully sedate the Venom symbiote's mind controlling effects. They also give Flash a special phone, which allows him to summon the symbiote in times of desperation. Throughout the conversation, Flash has to fight the urge to bond himself to the suit. As Valkyrie escorts Flash home, Giant Man asks Cap what he's going to tell Spider-Man about Venom's presence on the team.

After an awkward conversation, Valkyrie teleports Flash to his apartment just as Peter Parker knocks on the door. Peter questions Flash about breaking up with Betty Brant and asks him where he's been the past few weeks. Flash lies to Peter and tells him he's been drinking non stop since his father died. Upon hearing this, Peter invites Flash out for coffee.

Scream, another Venom spawn bonded to Donna Diego, is lured into a trap and killed by Brock.

She will live on... on the Spider-Man ride... until Disney has it demolished.

Flash and Peter have a heart-to-heart about the way Flash has been acting for the past few weeks. Flash is about to tell Peter his secret when he gets a call from his sister and has to leave. Flash visits his sister and mother, and apologizes to them for leaving so soon after the funeral. Flash's mother scolds him for lying, and Flash is forced to lie to her again by telling her that he spent the last few weeks in a drunken stupor, unable to tell her about his activities as Venom.

Flash heads back to his apartment, deciding that he's going to try and patch things up with Betty. He arrives to find Betty waiting for him. She tells him that the two of them are done for good and leaves.

Thoughts

This was another one of those depressing, "come see how badly Flash's life sucks," issues that Rick Remender now has down to an art form.  Not that this is a bad thing. I was worried that Flash's membership in the Avengers was going to solve too many of his problems, but that isn't the case at all. Despite the Avengers managing to "sedate" the symbiote, Flash is still clearly trying to control his addiction to wearing it. Not to mention the fact that his relationships have all taken a nose dive due to his alter ego, chief among them being his relationship with Betty. Although I'm sympathetic to Flash, I gotta say I'm proud of Betty for finally breaking it off with him. Their relationship has been nothing but toxic for her since this series began; she needs a more stable guy. And was I the only one who got excited when Flash was about to reveal his secret to Peter?

Then there's Eddie Brock, who is taking out all the symbiote characters we forgot about after the 90's.  If there are still any Hybrid and Scream fans left, I would advise them to avoid this issue.

Joining Remender is Lan Medina on art duties. Medina's pages look great, and have a very John Romita Sr.-esque vibe to them.

This is a great done-in-one issue that is perfect for newcomers and long time readers alike. It successfully fills you in on Venom's current status quo while offering plenty of memorable moments.  If you haven't been reading Venom before, now is the time to start!

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man V2 #9 Review

2012-04-13T10:06:00.000+08:00

Prowler vs. Scorpion!

The Story

Captain Quaid warns Miles to cease his activities as Spider-Man before Miles is able to get away.

Meanwhile, the Prowler sneaks back into the Tinkerer's warehouse where he is confronted by the Scorpion and his men. The Scorpion attempts to kill Prowler, but the Prowler is able to escape using the Vulture's wings. Astonished by Scorpion's power, the Prowler realizes he's in big trouble.

In bed, Miles receives a text from his Uncle Aaron, telling him that if Miles does one favour for him he'll leave him alone forever and to meet him in one hour.

Thoughts

That just might have been my shortest story summary yet! While this was another great instalment of Ultimate Spider-Man, like most Brian Michael Bendis stories, it's going to feel more like you got your money's worth reading it in trade form rather than in single issues. I should mention that while I miss Sarah Pichelli, David Marquez is a great replacement as he delivers great work here.

100 posts! Whoo! Not sad at all! Thanks Bryan for giving me the opportunity to write for your blog. It's been a blast so far!

Avenging Spider-Man #5 Review

2012-04-13T09:24:00.000+08:00

A touching tribute to the late, great Joe Simon.

The Story

The Avengers find an old comic book that Steve Rogers drew in his spare time before he became Captain America. As the Avengers poke fun at it, Cap walks in and tells them that drawing is in his past, and throws the comic in the trash. Spidey tells Cap that he liked the comic, and after he leaves the room Cap picks the comic up from the trash and admires it. Out in the hall, Spidey expresses his excitement to the rest of the team that Cap used to be a nerd like him.

Later, the Avengers land in the jungle to take down the remaining members of the Serpent Society. When Cap orders the Avengers to pair up, Spider-Man immediately calls dibs on him. Spidey and Cap scope out and attack one of the Society's bases. During the fight Cap does his best to ignore Spider-Man's frequent questions about high school and his artwork.  The two later rendezvous with the rest of the team and head back to the mansion.

Back at the mansion, Spider-Man surprises Cap by framing one of his comic book pages and hanging it up in his room, hoping that it would reawaken Cap's artistic side. Cap tells Spider-Man that drawing is in his past, and that he wouldn't want to go back to being the scrawny, weak kid who drew that picture. To cement his point, Cap asks Spidey whether he still uses his first chemistry set. Upset, Spider-Man leaves the room, telling Cap that he does pull out his first chemistry set from time to time.

Later in his room at Avengers Mansion, Spider-Man prepares to toss his first chemistry set into the incinerator, but is stopped by Cap. Cap shows Spidey some drawings he's been working on recently, and the two of them bond over them.

Thoughts

Zeb Wells delivered a beautiful done-in-one story here. This story shows us that no matter how far we get in life, it's important not to forget who we were and where we came from.  Steve Rogers was someone who abandoned who he used to be when he got his powers and became the ultimate soldier, while Peter Parker has always remained in touch with his past life despite his powers. In rejecting his artistic side, Cap was essentially rejecting who Peter was.  Reconnecting to his artistic side allowed Cap to reconnect with his humanity and to rediscover a passion he used to have. This story is one of those rare instances where Spider-Man inspires Captain America and not the other way around. Having Cap once want to be an artist is a great way to pay a tribute to his co-creator.

Accompanying Wells is Leinil Yu on art duties. Although Yu always does a stellar job, I have to say that this comic book is the best thing he's ever done. Each page is rendered in gorgeous detail; you can tell that a lot of love went into the crafting of this comic book.

Avenging Spider-Man #5 is a must buy for both Spidey and Cap fans. While it's disappointing that Wells won't be doing anymore issues of Avenging (aside from a story to coincide with Spidey's 50th anniversary), I can't think of a better note to go out on than this.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #24 Review

2012-04-13T07:14:00.001+08:00

The end of an era! The final issue of Marvel Adventures Spider-Man!

First Story - If You Can't Beat 'Em!

Spider-Man agrees to assist Blonde Phantom's agency with transporting the Absorbing Man to a research lab so that his abilities can be studied in the hope that they will help create new breakthroughs in medical research. Spidey is rightly suspicious when he learns that the Absorbing Man volunteered to do this. His suspicions are confirmed when the Absorbing Man manages to escape. Spider-Man tries to encourage the Absorbing Man to turn over a new leaf, but the Absorbing Man refuses to listen. But right as he is about to finish Spider-Man off, the Absorbing Man decides to surrender and asks to be taken to the research lab. Confused, Spidey asks Blonde Phantom what happened. She guesses that the Absorbing Man absorbed some of Spider-Man's noble character.

Second Story - The Kingpin

Spider-Man notices that a lot of the thugs he has captured recently are reappearing on the street. When he questions one of them about this, the thug reveals that a dirty cop named James Rellman is setting crooks free after superheroes capture them, and that he's working for the Kingpin. When Spider-Man confronts the Kingpin about this, he agrees to give Spidey Rellman's location, as he disproves of Rellman's recent independent criminal activity. Spider-Man finds Rellman conspiring with his criminal buddies and calls the cops to his location. With Spidey's help, the police catch Rellman red handed. Spider-Man then visits the Kingpin, and warns him that the next time they meet, he will have the evidence he needs to take him down.

Thoughts

For its last issue, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man delivered its usual helping of kid friendly Spidey action. While under normal circumstances this would be just fine, fans of this version of Spider-Man might be disappointed that the last issue didn't really leave them with a sense of closure. While I haven't been reading this series regularly, I know that Paul Tobin has built a unique supporting cast for Spidey over the years. Fans aren't given a proper farewell to the likes of Chat, Blonde Phantom, the Torino family and the other unique characters that populate this version of the Marvel Universe.

This issue marks the last we'll see of the Marvel Adventures line for the foreseeable future. Although I understand why their doing it, there's something cold about Marvel ditching Tobin's version of Spidey for a T.V. tie-in. I've always liked Tobin's work, so I hope we haven't seen the last of him at Marvel.

So long Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, thanks for giving a legion of young Spider-Man fans a fun first introduction to the character. Your successor has a lot to live up to! Speaking of, be sure to check back here for our review of Marvel Universe: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (now there's a mouth full)!

Infinite Spider-Man 9.16: Benefits of the Spider-marriage

2012-04-09T12:53:00.003+08:00

Joe Quesada did articulate his motivations for preferring Spider-Man to be single. So if Alex Alonso, or any future EIC decides to reverse the decision, they're going to have to articulate the benefits of their approach as well. Instead of explaining why One More Day was bad, they're going to have to explain why it's a good idea to undo the most successful attempt at accomplish something Marvel editors and writers have been trying for years.

So let's look at the benefits for the Spider-Man comics when the lead character is married to Mary Jane. Some rationalizations will be better than others.

The Writers

There are some pleas that undoing OMD will help the writers in certain ways. One common complaint is that writers ran out of stories to tell with a single Peter Parker, but I don't quite buy that part. How have the storytelling opportunities behind a single Peter Parker been exhausted when they haven't for a married Peter Parker? If Spidey's a bachelor, at least you can shake things up by changing his partner, and by changing MJ's partner, as well.

I think that the marriage limited the writers, but it could be argued that this forced them to be more creative. Now when a young woman is introduced in the supporting cast, she has to be more than just a possible romantic interest for Peter Parker. Writers also have to manage the short-term aspects of the protagonist's private life, without the cheap escapes allowed when the character is single.

Some have suggested that earlier writers failed to take advantage of the marriage, but I think that claim is flawed. It's largely untrue, since many top writers did a good job of exploring their relationship. The guys who didn't do well typically had other problems with their runs. Also, blaming the writers isn't an effective way to advocate for a preferred direction. It's better to suggest why something was advantageous.

The Anchor

While she was the most significant character in the Spider-Man's book, as Peter's top confidante, romantic interest and roommate, Mary Jane was Peter's "anchor," someone for him to interact with in almost every issue. There are some benefits to that for writers and editors. It's an artificial way to give the issue to issue developments more weight, when there's someone the lead can discuss all this stuff with. If one story is delayed, it's easier for the writers and letterers to do a patch and shuffle the sequence, if there's one constant in every story. It also makes it easier to transition from one writer to another in a title with multiple creative teams.

MJ's constant presence would also work if the series returned to earlier publishing formats, exploring the character's adventures in several ongoing monthlies. In Amazing Spider-Man, she can ask Peter about something that happened in Marvel Team-Up, thus making the satellite book seem more significant. It still works with one title with multiple rotating creative teams. If Writer A has a fight between the two, Writer B can open his story with MJ still a little bit angry. These things don't work as well when there is no one constant presence in the title, which can result in stories seeming inconsequential.

And if the character has multiple constants, it's tougher for the writers and editors to shuffle the publication schedule around. If a story in which the Daily Bugle is bombed is delayed, that will complicate the publication of the story in which the Bugle staff deals with the fallout. But if Peter isn't at the Daily Bugle every issue, but he does interact with his wife in every story, a small change to the dialogue is all that it would take to avoid a scheduling snafu. This wouldn't prevent the creative teams from sending MJ away for a limited time, if that fits their narrative purposes better. But her consistent presence would be help the series in many ways.

Marketing Advantages

There are a few branding advantages to having Mary Jane as Peter Parker's wife. It elevates her status inside the Marvel Universe, which results in her appearing more outside of the comics. This essentially creates an A-list comic character, one who Marvel tries to use to appeal to women and girls (the Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane series, the novels, the dolls). Having a young woman as such a consistently important character can help reach female readers, an untapped audience that buys plenty of manga, and watched the Raimi/ Maguire Spider-Man movies, which were successfully promoted with Mary Jane's role.

As a gorgeous redhead, Mary Jane is also marketable for stuff like posters and statues. The marriage cements Mary Jane as Spider-Man's primary romantic interest, so that most readers of Incredible Hulk could be expected to know who she is, which could increase their enjoyment of a brief one-page cameo. This wouldn't work as well with a generic girlfriend who might not even be in the book five years from now.

As Spider-Man's been a superhero for more than a decade, it makes sense to have a significant character be less jaded with the superhero stuff. This provides an "ordinary" person's point of view. Although a counter-argument is that there has to come a point when MJ should also be jaded. And it's problematic for a character with everyman appeal when he consistently needs someone else to serve as a bridge between the readers and his adventures.

Society Approves

On the question of whether it's easier to relate to a married guy than a single guy, there is a flaw in the OMD defense that everyone's been single at some point, so it should be easier to identify with a single guy. It's not as universal as it seems. There are plenty of readers who married their high school sweethearts, and who had boring lives as single guys and girls prior to satisfying marriages.

Even if you're not married, if you've been in love, you've probably imagined what it's like to be married to a specific person. There's something sympathetic about a young guy without many resources having to support a family. It adds to Peter's responsibilities, and distinguishes him from all the characters with contrived romantic troubles.

Fully two-thirds of Americans believe in soulmates. So many readers would be very willing to accept that these two characters belong together. Even four years after Brand New Day, it's difficult to convince readers that these characters could have other soulmates.

For the last two decades, the median age for a first marriage for men has been 26-27, roughly Spider-Man's age now. So it would also be completely normal for the lead to be married.

Sexy scenes, double-entendres and the like are also just more socially acceptable between a young married couple than between a young unmarried couple. Ministers are less likely to complain about the following.

Selfish EICs

There have been some rationalizations that undoing One More Day, or at least restoring the marriage, comes with some pluses for the Editor in Chief. It allows Alonso or any subsequent EIC to differentiate himself from Joe Quesada. The removal of the marriage is seen as illegitimate by some given Quesada's opinions on the matter. Therefore the next Editor in Chief restoring the marriage would demonstrate to the readers that these decisions won't be determined purely by the preference of the EIC. Though this might encourage the EIC's successor to do the same with one of their biggest developments.

But there are some other other positives. It'll provide an Event for the Spider-Man comics in about five or so years. The next generation of comic book writers grew up on a married Spider-Man, so this would be a way for Alonso to get a head start, before these guys start writing Spider-Man scripts, based on ideas they came up with when they assumed Spidey would be married forever.

Who's Interested?

It's possible, if not likely that more people will pick up the book than will drop it once One More Day is undone. The development would make the book more appealing to the older readers who make a majority of Marvel's customer base. And it does seem that the people who prefer Spider-Man to be married are more passionate than those who prefer the character to be a bachelor. I doubt that there would be as much of a short-term backlash.

Also, the comics are just less diverse if every version of Spider-Man has a somewhat similar set-up. If Spider-Man's married in the comics, Marvel's still gong to publish stuff featuring a single Spider-Man (IE- Untold Tales) resulting in more variety, which accommodates a more heterogeneous readership, which should also provide more of a cushion against declining sales.

Implications For the Character
It's complicated, but some would contend that unless One More Day is undone, Peter Parker will be pigeonholed as the lovable loser. A core aspect of Spider-Man has always been that he's a character who grows. Therefore it could be advocated that the regression must be undone, so he could get older, and have children, and get a steady nine to five, all of which is part of the character's growth.

One could argue that OMD violated the trust readers had when following Spider-Man's adventures. So either the storyline has to lead somewhere (a reckoning of some sorts), or it has to be undone to restore the sense that Peter Parker's adventures matter. This does get to the heart of the responses to the story. It undid more than just the marriage, as Aunt May forgot that Peter Parker was Spider-Man, Harry Osborn came back from the dead and even Spidey's organic webbing went away. The story existed to get the characters from Point A to Point B, but it's so significant that new readers will discover it and be disappointed that it's being intentionally ignored. There were other stories that existed to change elements of the status quo (The Night Gwen Stacy Died, the wedding annual, etc) but there were still follow-ups, which made it easier to enjoy those as part of a larger arc.

Simpler For Readers

It's easier to explain to new readers how Spider-Man got married (in case they read older stories and want to know how the character got to where he is in a story in which Peter & MJ are married) than to explain to new readers how the status quo has changed since stories in the notable stories in which Spider-Man was married (IE- Kraven's Last Hunt, Amazing Spider-Man #300, Spectacular Spider-Man #200, the latter two having been reprinted in post-Brand New Day Amazing Spider-Man Family issues.)

Using a supernatural method to retcon the marriage was contrary to the spirit of the franchise. Therefore the marriage should be restored, and if the next EIC wants to get rid of it, he should use natural means (death, divorce.) Because otherwise readers who pick up a controversial and much-discussed arc might get the wrong impression about the series. And undoing OMD also resolves the awkward continuity questions about the Clone Saga that you get when a major character's pregnancy might not have happened..

While there are many reasons to undo One More Day, I just don't believe those to be as powerful as the arguments for keeping the current status quo.

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