Friday, August 26, 2016

Catch-Up Reading: A Review of Spider-Man #5

written by Brian Bendis
drawn by Sara Pichelli
colored by Justin Ponsor

The inaugural arc of Miles Morales' first book as the member of the "mainstream" Marvel Universe comes to an end as Miles, a prisoner of Black Cat, breaks free using his powers, with the Black Cat getting away, but not before threatening him.

Yes, this issue is every bit as unsatisfying as it sounds.

Since Dan Slott made the decision to have Peter Parker's one-time flame and perpetual anti-heroine Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat, go full on bad guy back when Otto Octavius was Spider-Man, I haven't been a huge fan of the stories that have come out of that decision. I liked Gerry Conway's take on the character a couple of years back in a "mob" storyline in which Spider-Man took on his one-time ally the Wraith, but other than that I have had little interest in the way Felicia has been written.

Bendis doesn't really do anything to change that, though at the very least he did give Pichelli more to draw this issue than a bunch of talking heads (though really, there's still plenty of that). The Spider-Man/Hammerhead slugfest was, while not exactly outstanding, enjoyable just the same.

I've been following Miles Morales' adventures quite faithfully since the character was introduced in 2011, but lately Bendis seems to have lost the stride he exhibited when writing those early adventures. Maybe he should consider handing the character over to a new writer.

6/10

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