Running Out of Time: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #23

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by John Romita Jr. 

inked by Scott Hanna

colored by Marcio Menyz

We are now officially two issues away from the issue that Marvel itself  has billed as "the most shocking issue of The Amazing Spider-Man in 50 years" going as far to compare its revelations to the death of Gwen Stacy.  

Having barely escaped from what would have certainly been a fatal encounter in another dimension with Mayan god Wayep, Peter Parker aka Spider-Man is shocked to learn that even though he and Mary Jane Watson spent a week in that other dimension, mere hours have passed in New York.  As a result, he scrambles to get back to her, as she is trapped with a deadly, all-powerful creature bent on destruction.  Every decision he makes at this point is influenced by this sense of panic as he runs afoul of both the Fantastic Four and even Captain America. In the end, he turns to the last person in the world whose help he would want.

While this particular storyline started out with the return of Wayep and his disciple Benjamin Rabin, for this issue writer Zeb Wells and artists John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz go full flashback mode, and to be fair, given the premise of the story it becomes more plausible to see why Peter would make the decisions he made back then, though we still aren't at that point of no return yet, that point where Mary Jane basically walks away from him for the man who, we now know, was a former follower of the maniac who has caused all of this havoc in the first place.  It's hard to read this story separate from the hype machine that Marvel has kicked into high gear, but Wells manages to keep things engaging. 

John Romita, Jr. has been going great guns on this run so far, but this isn't one of his splashier issues, even though the standard of quality remains more or less consistent. 

I continue to wait with bated breath to see what shocking development they've got in store for issue #25.

8/10

On Its Head: A Review of Daredevil #8 and 9

 written by Chip Zdarsky 

drawn by Marco Checchetto, Manuel Garcia

colored by Matt Wilson

Reading what I now know to be the countdown to Chip Zdarsky's swansong on this title, I have found myself pleasantly surprised by the direction in which Zdarsky has taken his story. I have been less interested in the "final battle against the Hand" hype and far more interested in Matt Murdock's recruitment strategy for his army, which seems absurd on its face, given that he is a lawyer, but which makes so much sense as he explains it. 

Daredevils, aka Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios, take the fight to the Hand in their first major battle, with both sides suffering grievous losses of one kind or another. As they spend time licking their wounds, Matt is determined to strike yet again, even in spite of Elektra's assurance that they have struck a hefty blow against their foes, only for something to go horribly wrong.

Zdarsky really has put Matt through the wringer like few writers since Frank Miller have, which says a lot since Matt Murdock is arguably one of the most tormented characters in Marvel lore this side of Peter Parker, which might explain why the two of them get along so well. That his latest scheme manages to go awry isn't exactly a new thing, but it does seem to suggest that as he signs of Zdarsky plans to leave Matt in a pretty bad place, the way his predecessor Charles Soule did. 

I remain cautiously optimistic for the remainder of this story, which has about three issues to go before the new creative team comes on board, but I really hope there's a bit more artistic consistency, as new recruit Manuel Garcia (whose art seems to have improved quite a bit since I last saw it in the awful adaptation of the equally awful 2003 Daredevil film) draws quite differently from series regulars Marco Checchetto and Rafael de la Torre. 

 

7.5/10

Killing the Unkillable: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #22

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by John Romita Jr.

inked by Scott Hanna

colored by Marcio Menyz

This review is a little late and I am waiting a little impatiently (for the first time in a while) for the next issue as I want to see what happens next.

In a nutshell, the mystery of how Peter and MJ split up comes one step closer to being revealed as they battle the otherworldly, nigh omnipotent menace posed by Wayep a Mayan god of death, who comes close to killing Peter when MJ steps in.  This also marks the origin of Paul, the man MJ has been married to since the relaunch of the title last year. 

Surprisingly little happens in this issue as Marvel builds up to "the big one" or issue #25 which has been hyped to be its most shocking story in 50 years.  Hype like that is very difficult to live up to, especially without any marquee supporting characters (so far) but I'm willing to give Marvel the benefit of the doubt here as long as they don't have any retroactive sexual trysts between middle-aged men and teenagers in the pipeline, or something similarly stupid. 

John Romita Jr. turns in an okay issue, even if he and wells distinctly feel like they're treading water a bit. 

Hopefully I get to continue the story soon. 

7/10