written by Nick Spencer and Christos Gage
drawn by Marcelo Ferreira, Mark Bagley, Ze Carlos, Dio Neves, Carlos Gomez, Ivan Fiorelli and Humberto Ramos
colored by Andrew Crossley, Edgar Delgado, Alex Sinclair
After three years, seventy-five issues, and a whole bunch of somewhat convoluted storylines, Nick Spencer finally brings his run on The Amazing Spider-Man to a close.
To make a long (and it has been VERY long) story short, the saga of Kindred comes to an end. As Spider-Man faces off with Kindred one final time, Mephisto and Doctor Strange engage in a high-stakes game of chance, the prize in the balance being the soul of Harry Osborn himself. The revelation last issue that Kindred was actually two people, Gabriel and Sarah Stacy, and that the two of them were not actually Norman Osborn's children by Gwen Stacy but were actually just clones that were a part of Harry Osborn's scheme to exact revenge on his father, also seees its ultimate resolution here. Also, we readers get a glimpse into why Mephisto was so keenly interested on ending Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane Watson.
For those that have been following--nay, enduring--Nick Spencer's seemingly endless story in the keen hope, like I have, that his endgame was the undoing of the deplorable plotline "Sins Past," the biggest payoff was last issue, but this issue serves as an effective denouement, and like I said in my review of the last issue (#73) it provided me with a retcon that I never even knew I needed: the redemption of Harry Osborn.
It's hard to go into detail about what I liked about this issue without spoiling key plot points so I'll end my plot synopsis there, but to be perfectly honest, for an issue that's nearly a hundred pages long, surprisingly little happens, apart from a lot of punching and a little last minute exposition between Mephisto and Doctor Strange. The last issue, for all its flaws, had more going on. Still, I did appreciate how Spencer wrapped everything up quite neatly, leaving the little mini stories at the end to lay the ground for the "Beyond" era that's set to follow his run.
As is the usual malaise of Spider-Man comics these days, the issue has too many artists to maintain any kind of visual consistency. I understand that with the new status quo they'll go back to single artists being able to illustrate whole story arcs as opposed to this utterly ridiculous "jam" approach to art. Hell, I'd even take (some) of Humberto Ramos' issues over this unmitigated chaos. The real shame is that some of these artists seem genuinely talented, with Ze Carlos in particular standing out somewhat. I had to Google-search to find out which one he was, incidentally; apart from Mark Bagley and Humberto Ramos, whose styles, for better or worse, are instantly recognizable, it's hard to identify these new artists who have yet to leave their mark on this title, especially since Marvel isn't really giving them the chance to do so.
It's a shame that Spencer's run, which started out quite strongly with a topnotch creative partner in Ryan Ottley, ended on such a messy, if auspicious note. Had it been better curated, the "Kindred" Saga could have gone down as a genuine epic, a fresh, tall glass of lemonade made from the lemons known as "Sins Past." As it was, with its battalion of rotating artists and its sprawling, unreasonable length, it became a real chore to sit through. I'm just glad the story managed to end on a satisfying note, because at one point I would have just been happy to see it end.
Still, Spencer deserves kudos for having the balls to tell the stories that Dan Slott and the other Spider-Man brain trust from 2008 to 2018 (the post Stracynzki era) couldn't, so I can't be all mad at him.
6.5/10 (Main story)
I enjoyed the mini stories, from Christos Gage and Todd Nauck's poignant tale in which Peter learns of one more life that his Uncle Ben touched in his life, to the entertaining two-page recap of Spidey's history from Sean Ryan and Gustavo Duarte, to the enticing sneak peek, courtesy of Zeb Wells and Ivan Fiorelli, at the return of Ben Reilly to the Spider-Man mantle, as told from the perspective of Janine Godbe, Ben's brief squeeze in the largely forgotten "Spider-Man: The Lost Years" miniseries from the mid-90s. It's common practice to tease a new status quo with side-stories in an oversized "conclusion" issue, like how Ben Reilly's new status quo was teased in the epilogue of "The Clone Conspiracy," and as teases go, this was a pretty good one.
7.5/10 (Extra stories)
No comments:
Post a Comment