Forming the Fist: A Review of Daredevil #2, #3 and #4

 written by Chip Zdarsky

drawn by Marco Checchetto, Rafael de la Torre (issues #2, 3, and 4) and various (issue #2)

Having wrapped up his first three years on Daredevil with the highly satisfying "Devil's Reign" writer Chip Zdarsky and his rotating roster of artists led by DD veteran Marco Checchetto now set about telling the story of how Matt and Elektra will team up to take down the Hand, once and for all (or at least until another writer comes up with a more "definitive" story about the Hand).  It involves Matt tying up some loose ends, like saying his goodbyes to his old life in New York, and diving into a supernatural world the likes of which even he has never seen before, and committing to not only his cause, but to Elektra, in a way he never has before.

Basically Zdarsky shakes up the status quo yet again, albeit this time following two years of foreshadowing. This feels like Act 2 of Zdarsky's plan for the character, and while I quite vocally disagreed with some of his creative decisions in his 2018-2021 run of issues, "Devil's Reign" was more than enough compensation and I'm willing to see this through. With this four issue run, though, one of them being a supersized anniversary issue, Zdarsky isn't off to the smoothest start as a lot of these three issues felt like filler, especially the anniversary issue which was basically just an excuse to showcase the work of guest artists, but at least things are moving along.

I was genuinely impressed that Marco Checchetto managed to draw all six issues of "Devil's Reign" so I confess to being slightly disappointed that he did not manage the first four issues of this new run, but at least Rafael de la Torre is of comparable talent, and there is a bit of visual consistency here, so I'm hoping they can keep it together for the duration of this run. 

7.5/10

Goblins, Goblins and More Goblins: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #s 11, 12 and 13

 written by Zeb Wells

drawn by John Romita, Jr. and Scott Hanna

colored by Marcio Menyz

Following the single-issue crossover with the Avengers vs. X-Men vs. Eternals event, Judgment Day, Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man resumes his adventures, this time having to face off against an old enemy, the Hobgoblin, who may or may not be Ned Leeds or Roderick Kingsley. Meanwhile, Peter has to keep an eye on his employer, Norman Osborn who has apparently been conducting dealings with the sinister Kingsley and may well be flirting with the darker past he professes to have left behind. It all comes to a head when Hobgoblin launches a deadly, sudden strike and Spider-Man has to chase him down, only to get way more than what he bargained for.

Thirteen issues into this new status quo, I find it distinctly gratifying that at no point has writer Zeb Wells introduced a brand new character or brought about a "shocking" new status quo for any existing ones. Everything featured in this story is pretty much an organic continuation of what Wells' predecessors on this book, particularly Nick Spencer, have already laid down. I especially like how Wells has created genuine tension around the "will he, won't he" question of whether or not Norman Osborn can be goaded back into his old, villainous self after the literally soul-changing events of "Sins Past."  As a reader, I genuinely find myself rooting for old Norman here; the Parker arch-nemesis shtick was getting old, whether it was Slott or even Spencer retreading it. It's really nice to see Wells further developing Spencer's ideas. Again, by excising "Sins Past" from the canon, Spencer has made it possible to really plumb the depths of Osborn's conscience, including how he now feels about the murder of Gwen Stacy, and Wells is doing a really good job running with the baton here.

I know there are at least some readers taking issue with how Wells has broken up Peter and Mary Jane yet again, and who are basically pointing out that Marvel is perpetually stunting Peter's emotional growth. While I understand that frustration, I must respectfully disagree with it, as this iteration of Peter has learned form mistakes and heartache; he's working with Norman not just because he's hard on his luck and in need of a job but because he genuinely wants to help him be the better person that Norman is trying to be. This Peter is definitely a wiser, more experienced Peter and Wells has paid due respect to the stories that have come before. Sure, he may have broken up with Mary Jane for now, but I know the explanation is forthcoming. I also trust, given how well Zeb Wells is handling this story, that it will be  a reasonable one.  

Another factor that makes this book consistently compelling to read is something I didn't think I'd see with John Romita Jr.'s return to the book; his work actually seems to be getting incrementally better with each passing issue. 

Now, I don't mean that JR Jr is suddenly reinventing himself; this is an elder statesman of the comic book world, after all, as the guy is in his mid sixties.   I had noted, though that towards the end of his days on The Amazing Spider-Man with J. Michael Straczynski, his work simply didn't look quite as clean as it did in the best issues of that thirty-something issue run. My favorites, in particular were his issues that came out in 2002 and 2003. He even came back for a couple of brief runs during the whole "Brand New Day" era but the magic was never quite recaptured, even when he moved on to other Marvel books and over to DC.  His work here on his run with Wells looks cleaner than it has in years, and his normally harsh, blocky line-work has, however incrementally, softened a bit, allowing for more expression in his characters' faces.  He may not have changed his art style, but it is surprisingly nice to see that even this late in his decades-long career he is still capable of fine-tuning his approach. 

Next issue, the much-hyped "Dark Web" crossover with the X-Men books finally begins, but from the preview material I've seen it looks like the ongoing saga of Norman Osborn's rehabilitation from his life of violent crime will continue, and I for one am very much along for the ride. 

9/10

Judgment Day: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #10

 written by Zeb Wells

drawn by Nick Dragotta

colored by Marcio Menyz

From teasing one crossover to actually taking part in another, The Amazing Spider-Man features a single issue story that ties into the ongoing crossover event featuring the Avengers vs X-Men vs Eternals. Unlike the "Dark Web" tease that Marvel gave readers last issue, though, which was pretty light on story, this issue, in just a few pages gives arguably one of the meatiest Peter Parker stories I've read in a long time, right up there with the likes of "The Conversation" by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr. 

In a nutshell, following the events of A v X v E, the Progenitor, the Celestial which used to serve as the Avengers' headquarters, has decided  to judge all of humanity, and that means appearing to each and every human everywhere and telling them if they're "worthy," whatever that means.  In many cases, apparently the Celestial appears to people as someone significant from their lives, and after observing them for a time, passes judgment on them.

In Peter Parker's case, the Celestial manifests to him as the late Gwen Stacy and as Peter goes about his day, with "Gwen" hovering around him with watchful eyes he finds himself wondering just how Gwen would judge the way he has lived his life.  This is what concerns him, even more than the imminent judgment of the Progenitor.

This is the kind of story that Nick Spencer, by undoing the abominable "Sins Past" made possible.  The stain that story left on Gwen Stacy as a character made it hard...if not impossible...to write stories about her without that getting brought up. Thank you again, Nick Spencer, 

And thank you, Zeb Wells.  It's interesting how it took a writer who's even younger than I am to tell a story that exemplifies just what Gwen Stacy means to Peter. By now, she has been dead far, far longer than she was ever alive in the comics, and yet her legacy of her character, and what she means to the Spider-Man mythos, is as strong as it has ever been. This is some of Wells' strongest work on a run in which he has gone from strength to strength.

The art by guest artist Nick Dragotta is charming and has a lovely Marcos Martin and even Tim Sale vibe to it.   I wouldn't mind seeing more from him down the line.

If the last issue felt disposable, this feels like essential reading, the kind of story that could show up in compilations of moments that really mattered in Peter's life. 

9.5/10

Chillin' in Krakoa: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #9

 written by Zeb Wells

drawn by Patrick Gleason

colored by Marcio Menyz

As a bit of a teaser to "Dark Web," an upcoming multi-issue crossover even between Spider-Man and the X-Men,  Marvel has Spidey show up in the X-Men's home country of Krakoa, where he kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. He and Wolverine take on the big bad person of the moment, Moira MacTaggert (whom I actually thought was a good guy, but that just goes to show I haven't been following the book), who's holding Peter's estranged flame Mary Jane Watson hostage.

Writer Zeb Wells reunites with his "Beyond" era collaborator Patrick Gleason, whose work here is still eye-candy but nowhere near the level he was at when he was illustrating the adventures of Ben Reilly. It's a somewhat disposable story and a bit of a blip in Wells' otherwise sterling track record on this series so far.  It's...very nice to look at but there's not much else to say about it, really. 

Oddly enough, I'm fond of one-shot issues; they seem increasingly rare nowadays, but the strength really relies on the story, and this one just falls short of the standard Wells has set recently. 

7/10

Old Enemies, New Friends: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #7 and #8

written by Zeb Wells

drawn John Romita, Jr. (p) Scott Hanna (i)

colored by Marcio Menyz

Peter Parker's latest series of misadventures continues as he meets up with Norman Osborn to discuss a potential job offer.  When Peter sees that Norman has made a ham-handed attempt to get him to talking to his estranged girlfriend Mary Jane, who has also paid Osborn's company a visit, he storms out, even though he and Norman have started work on a rather special project together, one that they had apparently started during the mysterious six months that preceded the current status quo. When an old enemy launches an unexpectedly brutal attack, though, Peter realizes he may need to get his hands on that special project after all, as his very life may depend on it.

This is a late review because things got in the way of my picking up these issues, and because, odd as this may sound, I was actually so satisfied with the mammoth issue #6 I wasn't quite ready to resume following Spidey's adventures. 

Anyway, Zeb Wells reunites with John Romita, Jr. for a brief but exciting  two-issue story pitting Peter against a particularly unhinged Vulture, and debuting the long-hyped new suit that Peter developed with no less than his old arch-enemy Norman Osborn.  After taking several months off following Nick Spencer's explosive conclusion to his run, Osborn is back, and, apparently has completely turned over a new leaf, courtesy of Spencer's "Sins Past" arc which had a resurrected Sin Eater quite literally erasing Norman's sins, something neither he nor Peter really understand.  I quite like how Wells' has taken Spencer's shift to the status quo and made it particularly interesting by posing a simple question: how long will Norman stay "good?" Rather than make it a foregone conclusion that his conversion is a temporary thing, Wells actually makes it a point of tension that could keep things interesting for quite a while. 

Then, there's Romita Jr.'s artwork, which, again, looks better than it has in years. I know I've said this already, but Wells really seems to grasp better than many, if not most of the writers who've worked with JR Jr just how extraordinary his storytelling prowess is. He's not just a guy drawing the writer's pictures; he's very much a co-narrator, and these issues reinforce that. 

I'm not a huge fan of the "new suit" which doesn't really look all that different from the old one, but I'm willing to wait and see what they have in store for this new outfit. The last one they tried to introduce last year didn't really go anywhere, so I don't really see this one sticking around very long either. Still, it is an interesting story point. 

9/10

First Year is Done: A Review of Strange Academy, Vol. 3

written by Skottie Young

drawn by Humberto Ramos

colored by Edgar Delgado

A thing I have found funny about comic books featuring kids is how weirdly elastic time can be. 

Strange Academy, a book which kicked off just before the COVID-19 pandemic, ended its first 18 issues earlier this year, and within the book, the kids' first school has just ended with a bit of a bang. Suffice it to say that Emily Bright and the vast majority of her classmates have had enough of the lies and manipulations perpetrated by the adults running the Strange Academy, led here by Jericho Drumm, aka Doctor Voodoo and have taken drastic action. Also, Doyle Dormammu confronts anew the terrible visions he's been shown of the future and comes to a frightening realization. Also, how will all of this play out given that Doctor Strange is dead?

As I was saying earlier, time is an oddly elastic thing in comic books. Peter Parker, for example, has been a twentysomething college graduate for forty years now. He stopped aging in real time sometime in the 1970s and even though he's progressed a bit over the years, every so often, every time he's been on the the cusp of some very adult breakthrough in terms of achievements or responsibility, an invisible temporal rubber band has snapped him back to that sweet spot of youth, when he's always on the verge of realizing his vast potential.

Oddly enough, though, Marvel doesn't give that treatment to all of their characters, especially those who exist in an academic setting. Many of the teachers of Strange Academy were quite notably once teen characters themselves, like the New Mutants' Magik or the Runaways' Sister Grimm, and an entire school year has just passed in more or less real time. This isn't so much as a complaint as it is an observation I make with some amusement.  The series ends (for now) on an intriguing cliffhanger with an actual academic year having passed in story time.

Young and Ramos have created some pretty engaging and, dare I say, memorable characters like Emily Bright, Doyle Dormammua and Calvin Morse, among others.  Emily in particular has the most potential because unlike many of her contemporaries in the Strange Academy she's not tied into any preexisting characters, whether it's the lord of the Dark Dimension or the Enchantress of Asgard of anything like that. There's a lot of potential to chart a unique path for her and I'm fairly confident that with the upcoming series reboot/continuation Young and Ramos, have more planned for her and the rest of the gang. 

I'm quite grateful for this book because it's really gotten my youngest kid, who spends too much of her spare time playing online games, to actually read something and I like how Young and Ramos have created characters that a young reader can connect with as she has done. 

I look forward to the next chapter. 

8.5/10  

Yearlong Hunt: A Review of Strange Academy Vol. 2

 written by Skottie Young

drawn by Humberto Ramos

colored by Edgar Delgado

It's hard to believe it's been over a year since I reviewed Volume I of Marvel's teen book Strange Academy, and indeed I had to double-check to make sure I hadn't made a mistake. It has, in fact, been over a year since I gave Strange Academy Vol I a glowing review, and in that year I've struggled to find Volume II. Oddly enough, I found and read Volume III first, before I finally was able to track down a copy of Volume II. It wouldn't feel right reviewing Volume III first so here I go with Volume II.

Following the cliffhanger at the end of Volume I, in which one of the students at the Strange Academy dies, it's resolved pretty quickly. Spoiler alert: the student in question gets better.  After that there are quite a few traditional school activities, like a Family Day in which some parents prove to be competitive than others, and a field trip during which one of the students discovers another's dark secret. The volume ends with a two-parter in which the secret behind of the students' magic is discovered, and it is a frightening secret indeed. 

There's no overarching plot that ties the next six issues together, the way there was in the first volume, but now we get to know some of the kids in the class a bit better.  While one could argue that some of the archetypes play out in a predictable way, overall Skottie Young's storytelling still works, though I feel some other characters could've had their moment in the spotlight as well. As it was, well, the six issues contained in the volume still devote most of the story to the main characters like Emily Bright and Doyle Dormammu, with Iric Brorson of Asgard and Calvin Morse briefly getting the spotlight as well. I guess they had to focus a bit to make sure the story stayed coherent.

I wasn't as gobsmacked by this compilation as I was by the first volume, but it was an engaging read nonetheless. Young and artist Humberto Ramos maintain their storytelling mojo and really bring these characters to life, even as some get more attention than others. There's a cameo by a fan favorite character than plays out pretty darned well. 

It may have taken over a year to find this book, but it was worth the search.

8/10 

Celebrating 900 Issues in Style: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #900

written by Zeb Wells

penciled by Ed McGuinness

inked by Mark Morales, McGuinness, Wade von Grawbadger, Cliff Rathburn

colored by Marcio Menyz, Dijjo Lima, Erick Arciniega

To mark the occasion of the 900th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man title (give or take a few specials or one-shots) Marvel has given fans a super-sized issue featuring a doozy of a main story by writer Zeb Wells and artist extraordinaire Ed McGuinness.

It's Peter Parker's birthday, and in a true display of the infamous Parker luck, he manages to spoil his own surprise birthday party by showing up on time, while the grand architect of the surprise, J. Jonah Jameson, happens to be late. It turns out old flat-top's got good reason to be tardy: he's been kidnapped by four mechanical octopus arms belonging to a familiar foe of Spider-Man, and when Spidey swings to the rescue, the arms hammer out a single word on the wall: "HELP."  Upon following the arms to their master, Spider-Man finds himself facing a foe even he might not be able to defeat: a Super-Adaptoid with the combined powers of the Sinister Six, which was dispatched by the Living Brain as it searches for the answer to its ultimate life's question: Who is Spider-Man?

As landmark issues go, this one's a winner, with a done-in-one story by Zeb Wells that he teased at the end of the first issue of this series reboot, featuring the Living Brain, a character from the very earliest issues of the book.  This character was repurposed a little bit when Doctor Octopus took over Peter's body a few years back in the Superior Spider-Man days, but Wells restores him to his original status quo somewhat for this story. It's also a bit of a throwback to the older issues too, as Spider-Man gets a proper whupping from this genuinely formidable adversary, and later, from some more familiar foes as well, only to get help from the most unexpected of places.   It's not quite on par with Wells' five-issue arc with John Romita Jr., but it's still got a really nice Silver Age vibe to it that really cuts to the heart of what makes Spider-Man Marvel's most popular and enduring character. 

It really helps that Wells has a supremely capable collaborator in Ed McGuiness, an A-list artist who, for years, was near the top of my list of artists I wished would draw Spider-Man in a full-length story, alongside the likes of Jim Lee.  Sure, he drew the first few issues of the Spider-Man/Deadpool team-up book some years back, but this time Spidey's got Ed all to himself, in a mammoth 70-page story that's basically the same length as three and a half issues.  McGuiness definitely brings his A-game to an issue packed with fan-favorite supporting characters  like Black Cat, Flash Thompson, Bobbi Morse and classic villains like Doc Ock and a whole lot more. This is wish fulfillment at its finest. 

This is quite consistent with the way Wells has told his stories in this new iteration of the title. There's no reinventing of the wheel here, no shocking new status quo changes or new characters, just some engaging, entertaining storytelling by some of the best creators in the business. It's been so long since the book was this good that I can scarcely believe what I'm seeing here. Sure, I know some big status quo shakeup is just around the corner, but I am enjoying this while it lasts. Also, who knows? Maybe the status quo shakeup will actually be something meaningful this time, not some ephemeral death destined to be undone (sorry Dan Slott). 

There are also a few entertaining, very brief side-stories at the end by Daniel Kibblesmith and David Lopez, Jeff Loveness and Todd Nauck, and Dan Slott and Marcos Martin.  Notably, none of them teases some future story or leaves a dangling thread so the entire issue is self-contained.

9/10

  

A New Direction for an Old Favorite: A Review of Daredevil #1 (Mild Spoilers)

 written by Chip Zdarsky

drawn by Marco Checchetto (with Rafael dela Torre)

colored by Matt Wilson 

As Matt Murdock prepares to lead "the Fist" together with his longtime frenemy Elektra in a bid to take down the Hand once and for all, an adventure which will have him heading out to parts unknown, he embarks on a crime-fighting spree with longtime ally Spider-Man.  His first target is Butch Pharris, the illegitimate son of former Mayor of New York City Wilson Fisk, and the new Kingpin of Crime.  Also, while saying his goodbyes to the likes of Foggy Nelson, Matt discovers something unexpected about his old law school classmate Robert Goldman, the prosecutor who convinced him to serve time as Daredevil. Meanwhile, Elektra trades words (and blows) with her old mentor Stick as she firms up her own plans for her upcoming quest with Matt.

After Chip Zdarsky ended his first stint on Daredevil strongly with his "Devil's Reign" miniseries, I was genuinely optimistic for his upcoming series relaunch with Marco Checchetto, with whom he had previously relaunched the title in 2018 following Charles Soule's three-year tenure on the book. I disagreed with quite a few of Zdarsky's creative decisions, but he won back my trust with "Devil's Reign" and left me eager to see the next chapter of Matt Murdock's life. 

 

I guess it's a good thing that Zdarsky and Checchetto managed to set a pretty high bar for themselves but I have to admit that coming on the heels of "Devil's Reign" this series launch felt distinctly underwhelming, with very little happening by way of actual story progression, and with an unwelcome resort to the old "talking heads" story device that tends to rob a story of any real forward momentum. I also found it a bit illogical that Matt, while pretending to be his deceased brother Mike, basically outed himself as Daredevil to make some bizarre point.  I actually liked Checchetto's work here especially since Spider-Man, the guy with whom he started his Marvel career years ago, made an appearance, but the proliferation of panels kind of blunted his talent a little bit here.

Zdarsky and his collaborating artists have been setting up this "war" for well over a year now, so I would have thought that with this big relaunch he would have dived right into the adventure instead of treading water, which is basically what all of the characters spend this extra-sized issue doing. There's one big bang of a story twist near the end of the issue, but it didn't really make that much of an impression on me, especially considering how spoiled I've been by the sublime storytelling I've seen from Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr. over in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man. 

Zdarsky and Checchetto are off to a slow start, but I hope they pick up steam real soon.

6.5/10

THAT'S How You Tell Stories: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #5 (and a look back at the first five issues)

 written by Zeb Wells

art by John Romita Jr (p) and Scott Hanna (i)

colors by Marcio Menyz

In wrapping up their first-ever collaboration on the adventures of the amazing Spider-Man, writer Zeb Wells and artist John Romita, Jr. deliver a finale that has managed to both satisfy and leave me hankering for more.

After having learned to his chagrin that he was used by crime-boss Tombstone as a bludgeon against the resurgent Rose, Spider-Man licks his wounds, grabs a coffee, and then quietly plans to hit back at Tombstone. His solution is clever, if the tiniest bit cynical, and effective, too.  Mild spoiler, though, anyone expecting the big dust-up promised by the cover art is going to walk away from this issue disappointed. Also, this issue explains where the heck Digger, the gamma-powered patchwork of dead mobsters, was while Spider-Man was busy unwittingly dismantling the Rose's crew.

While this issue may seem anticlimactic to some, I, for one, really like it when Spider-Man uses his brains rather than his brawn to hit back at his enemies.  Also, it's hard to begrudge Wells a distinct shift from the high-octane action of the past couple of issues considering how good Romita Jr.'s art looks here. If I'm perfectly honest, his art on Spider-Man hasn't looked this good since his days of working with J. Michael Straczynski.  Scott Hanna is truly one of his better collaborators, and Marcio Menyz's rich palette of colors evokes the very best of Dan Kemp back in the day.  

This issue still leaves so many unanswered questions regarding Peter's new status quo, which is fine by me because I intend to keep following this run. It is so very satisfying to get a solid five issues from one creative team, especially with one art team firing on all cylinders like this one is.  This is what many of us readers have been missing for literally years, and it's gratifying to finally see Marvel getting the hint. 

My only gripe, if you can call it that, is the misleading cover. I know it's been a staple of comic books since forever, but it's no less annoying at I can't help but feel that it cheapens the story inside just a little bit. It's like Marvel's not giving its readers enough credit. 

All that said, thank you, Nick Lowe and the rest of the Spidey brain trust, for bringing this dream team together. They have well and truly delivered. 

I know JR, Jr. is taking a break from art chores for the landmark 900th issue in a couple of weeks, but considering it's Ed McGuinness stepping up to bat I'm hardly one to complain. 

8.5/10 

Racing Against Time: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #4

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by John Romita Jr

inked by Scott Hanna

colored by Marcio Menyz

Having learned of Tombstone's shocking plan to frame Rose for a killing spree, Spider-Man frantically sets out to stop the bloodbath from taking place. He gets help from an unexpected source, and pulls out all the stops to prevent something truly terrible from taking place. Meanwhile, Peter's turn for the worse has gotten an old ally to check in on him, and Tombstone, the architect of Spider-Man's current misery, finally reveals his plans for Joe Robertson.

Though there's one issue left to go in this five-issue story marking the auspicious return of John Romita, Jr.'s art to the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, it's honestly hard to imagine an issue stronger than this one turned out to be. In terms of pacing, dialogue and just overall storytelling it really is an extraordinary read, especially with JR Jr dialing the action up to 11. This may sound like hyperbole, but I can honestly say that I haven't seen this kind of kinetic power from his art since his Daredevil: The Man Without Fear miniseries with Frank Miller, the one that inspired the bone-crunching fight scenes from the Daredevil Netflix series.  I also give full credit to Wells for helping JR Jr. bring his A-game to this book.  

Thanks to writer and artist working in perfect sync, I really got into the urgency of the issue. This is really classic Spider-Man; pushing himself to the very limit to help people who need him. I also love how Wells pays off something that happened all the way back in the first issue which seemed, at the time at least, like a throwaway moment. This is the beauty of serialized storytelling, and long may it continue.

Though there's only one issue left in this inaugural arc, it's clear that Wells has got some pretty big plans for Tombstone moving forward, and I'm pretty sure I'll stick around for those, but for the meantime I really just want to take the time to applaud Wells and Romita Jr. for this exemplary story, which should really make a solid argument for a single creative team handling storytelling duties moving forward.

9.5/10 

Tombstone's Revenge: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #2 and #3

 written by Zeb Wells

drawn by John Romita Jr. (p) and Scott Hanna (i)

colored by Marcio Menyz

Spider-Man's effort to stop the gang war between Tombstone and the returning Rose kicks into high gear as Spidey chases after Tombstone, only to find that Tombstone is ready and waiting for him with a plan that is truly sinister. Meanwhile, the reasons behind Peter's separation from Mary Jane remain shrouded in mystery, but it looks pretty darn serious, with MJ's new beau even attempting to pay Peter a visit to tell him to get lost. In stark contrast, Randy Robertson and Janice Lincoln decide to take their own relationship to the next level as Janice asks Randy to marry her.  

As I said when I reviewed the first issue of this latest reboot of Marvel's flagship title, this is the kind of story I've missed for years, one written by a single writer and drawn by a single artist for a full five or six issues, and the team of Zeb Wells and John Romita, Jr. truly deliver the goods. It's kind of hard to believe that this actually their first-ever collaboration considering how long each of these guys has worked for Marvel, but hey, better late than never. 

I'm reviewing these issues together because I bought them together and read them in rapid succession, but also because they actually feel like a "mini" two-parter within Wells and JR, Jr.'s story arc focused entirely on Tombstone. The narrative is tight and quite rewarding, even as it ends on the inevitable cliffhanger given that there are two issues left in the five-part story to go. 

It's gratifying to see Wells picking up on threads started by other writers, continuing the return of the Rose storyline started by Nick Spencer a couple of years back and bringing back Digger, the gamma-powered mobster that J. Michael Stracynzki and Romita Jr. created over a decade ago.  Not everything has to be a status-quo shattering extravaganza. 

The strongest part about these two issues is how they put the spotlight on Tombstone, who has actually been pretty prominent in the last few years thanks to Nick Spencer's story. More than Spencer did, though, Wells really explores Tombstone as a character, providing a brief retelling of his origin while at the same time giving a bit of insight into just how wily he is, and what direction his character might be heading into, especially with his daughter about to take a big step into the unknown.  It's gratifying to see a longtime character get the respect he's been due for a while.   

Romita Jr. continues to deliver here, with some great money shots here; he always was such a consummate storyteller, and Wells brings out the best in him.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how these two wrap up their first arc.

8.5/10

THIS is What We Fanboys Want: A Review of the Amazing Spider-Man #1

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by John Romita, Jr.

inked by Scott Hanna

colored by Marcio Menyz

Following Ben Reilly's fall from grace at the end of the "Beyond" Saga, Peter Parker has resumed the mantle of Spider-Man, though as early as the first page of this newly-launched series, it's clear he's not doing so great himself. The issue opens with a mysterious cataclysm having just occurred, with Peter kneeling in the middle of what appears to be the aftermath of a huge explosion. Months later, Peter is extremely distant from his loved ones, including Aunt May and Mary Jane.

Meanwhile, things are shaking up among the criminals of New York as the newly-resurrected, one-time crime boss the Rose, looks to reestablish himself in the underworld, and he's brought an old enemy of Spider-Man's with him: the reanimated, gamma-radiation powered jigsaw puzzle of dead mobsters known as Digger.  Spidey steps in, and may have just found himself in the middle of a brand new gang war, as if he didn't have enough problems already.

This issue marks the return of legendary Spider-Man artist John Romita Jr., who re-teams with his Straczynski-era inker Scott Hanna, with really amazing (hehe) results.  Most gratifyingly, Romita, Hanna and Marcio Menyz do the WHOLE oversized, forty-plus page issue, with no fill-in stories from any other artist. This is the kind of content I've been missing for YEARS, and I am extremely grateful to JR, Jr. from bringing this back at least for his first issue back on the job. I understand his initial run on this will go for five issues, and I am really excited at the prospect of having this rock solid art team on board for five uninterrupted issues.  

The writing is nothing to sneeze at, either. Fellow Spidey veteran Zeb Wells spins quite the web of intrigue (sorry, can't help myself), shrouding much of his new story in mystery that's meant to keep us readers coming back. It's way too early to pass judgment on his plans, but this is a very strong first issue for this new status quo that achieves the uncommon (but not unheard of) feat of setting up a longer story while serving as a very satisfying single-issue read. I guess the extra pages helped things along in that regard. 

This new status quo is off to a great new start, and even though things are often fluid with these stories, the direction Zeb Well and JR Jr appears to be taking appears to be a fairly fresh take on the character. I remain cautiously optimistic for the future.

9/10

Nicely Tying Up Loose Ends: A Review of Devil's Reign

 written by Chip Zdarsky

drawn by Marco Checchetto

colored by Marcio Menyz

Anyone who has read this blog for the last four years or so knows how little love I have for Chip Zdarsky's run on Daredevil, which kicked off in 2018 with Marco Checchetto on art duties, in which he has had Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, do some pretty crazy things like commit manslaughter, get into a fistfight with a police officer, sleep with a mobster's wife, all things that, if I'm perfectly frank, I feel Matt Murdock would never do, no matter how screwed up he is. A lot of these "shockers" bothered me because it felt a lot like Zdarsky was basically writing a lot of these things for their shock value rather than any real narrative benefit. 

Now, the "Devil's Reign" miniseries, written by Zdarsky and drawn by Checchetto, actually goes a pretty long way towards making amends for his mischaracterization of Matt during his run on the book. In it, the long-running saga of Wilson Fisk serving as Mayor of New York City, which was first introduced by Zdarsky's writing predecessor Charles Soule, finally comes to a head. Heroes clash with villains, and Fisk attempts to weaponize the mind-control powers of Zebediah Killgrave, aka the Purple Man, in a way that has never been done before.  Long-running story threads, like the fate of Mike Murdock, a magical "clone" conjured up by the Asgardian Norn stones (also during Soule's tenure) and his relationship with Butch, Fisk's illegitimate son, are also tied up in pretty definitive fashion.  There's a nice mix of old and new in the proceedings, and of course, having a whole bunch of superheroes punching a whole bunch of supervillians never hurt things any.

I've enjoyed Marco Checchetto's art on this book, and while I still preferred his older work on Daredevil with Mark Waid, which I felt had cleaner linework, he definitely does this "event" justice, maintaining a consistent standard of quality all throughout, and notably finishing the entire story both more or less time and without any other artist alternating with him, a rarity in comics nowadays.

The story threatens to bring about another Superhero Registration Act, also known as the legislation which brought about "Civil War," and its notably grim ending but without spoiling anything (at least not specifically) I can say I was really pleasantly surprised by the direction this story took. It's solidly-structured, clean storytelling, the kind I haven't seen too often in this era of multi-part epics and sprawling crossover events.  I know "Devil's Reign" has its own crossover elements that are mentioned every now and again in the main story, but it stands pretty well on its own as a piece of standalone narrative.

I also genuinely appreciate the fact that, even as Zdarsky opened a new chapter in Matt Murdock's life, he took the opportunity presented by this event to put a period on a lot of ongoing plot threads that, to be frank, had somewhat overstayed their welcome.  Even though he's still at the helm of the book for the series relaunch in a couple of months (along with Checchetto), I dare say I'm looking foward to his work this time.

9/10

The Fate of Ben Reilly and Beyond: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #93 (Spoiler Alert)

written by Zeb Wells

drawn by Patrick Gleason

colored by Bryan Valenza

And thus arrived the moment I had been anticipating with both excitement and dread for the last nine months: the ultimate fate of Ben Reilly.

Ben Reilly, having lost a whole chunk of his memories due to the tampering of Beyond, who basically lobotomized Ben when it became clear he was no longer on board with their corporate mandate, is a man on a mission; to recover who he is. He will let no one stand in his way, not even the person to whom the memories actually belong: Peter Parker.  Their confrontation takes place at Beyond's HQ, which, upon the order of Maxine Danger, is currently being scrubbed clean of any trace of the Spider-Man program with a dangerous chemical now flowing through the complex.  It's a heck of a showdown, and only one Spider-man will emerge from it. 

Marvel were quite transparent going in that this Ben Reilly story was going to be a finite storyline rather than the status quo shakeup that the 1990s Clone Saga was originally envisioned to be, and as a result I really wondered how this was going to end.  Some comics news outlets have spoiled the outcome, but I won't. It is an ending quite fitting for a character as tragic as Ben Reilly is, and it genuinely feels like something that's been given a lot of thought, which is especially gratifying since, following his resurrection in "The Clone Conspiracy" it really didn't feel like Marvel knew what the heck they were doing with the character.  Without giving too much away, the solution they've found here feels, more than anything they've tried before, like they're really giving Ben a distinct identity, and I'm really interested to see how long they can keep this up. So yeah, minor spoiler, he doesn't die, but what happens to him is arguably far more intriguing. 

The real reward here, however, is Patrick Gleason's glorious art, which bookends the entire saga, and which we get for thirty-plus glorious pages.  I really love how this guy's art style has evolved over the last couple years since he first came on board to draw Spidey's adventures for Nick Spencer. He's absolutely firing on all cylinders here.  It's rare that a comic book adorned with a cover by Arthur Adams but drawn by someone else has even better art on the inside, so when it actually happens, it's especially gratifying.  I would really, really love to see this guy illustrate an entire Spider-Man story arc. Six issues, no fill-in artists. Please, at some point, make it happen, Marvel. 

I'm really happy to see Zeb Wells, who's been around for a long time but has been rather unheralded as a writer, finally get his due as one of the better Spider-writers out there. He's not quite one of my favorites but he's definitely written his share of memorable stories, and I'm genuinely looking forward to his reboot of the book with John Romita Jr.  

9/10

 

Rating the "Beyond" Spin-Offs of "The Amazing Spider-Man:" Good Reads or Wastes of Ink and Paper?

 

written by Jed MacKay, Geoffrey Thorne, Zeb Wells, and Cody Ziglar

 drawn by Elonora Carlini, Jan Bazaldua, Jim Towe, Luigi Zagaria, Bruno Oliveira, Fran Galan and Mark Bagley 

Having written about eighteen of the nineteen issues of the "Beyond" saga that has featured in "The Amazing Spider-Man" for the last five months, and just before I write my review of its conclusion in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #93, I would like to share my thoughts on three of the four "Beyond" tie-ins that I bought, which were numbered as #78.BEY, #88.BEY and #92.BEY. There was one issue featuring Doc Ock and Aunt May, but I missed that one. They all spin out of events from the main book, but it's not really necessary to read them to understand what's going on in the main title. There is one reunion I liked quite a bit, though. 

The first of these side stories features the Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, also known as the Daughters of the Dragon, who on the surface work for Beyond as Ben Reilly's support team, but who, when asked to perform an errand for Beyond to retrieve some missing tech, report to their true employer.   

The second issue I have narrates how one-time Prowler Hobie Brown came to lead a reunion of the original Slingers, a bunch of young heroes who assumed a quartet of abandoned superhero identities that Spider-Man assumed sometime in the 1990s when he was on the run.  This time, though, the Slingers work for Beyond.  

Finally, and most gratifyingly, the last issue features a Nextwave reunion of sorts as Monica recruits her former teammate Aaron Stack, aka Machine Man, to help her kick Beyond's ass.  Chaos ensues. 

During Nick Spencer's run, I found all of the "adjacent" issues that ran alongside the main story irritating as they really cluttered the narrative and well, made collecting more expensive than it needed to be.  These issues  show that Marvel has learned from that as they only came out every few months and contained what were pretty much "done-in-one" stories which were pretty well made and entertaining in their own right. They weren't anything particularly special, but I did get a genuine kick out the Nextwave quasi-reunion.

7/10  

"Beyond" Salvation: Reviewing the Last Few Issues of the "Beyond" Saga in "The Amazing Spider-Man."

 written by Jed MacKay, Patrick Gleason, Kelly Thompson, Zeb Wells

drawn by Carlos Gomez, Mark Bagley, Sara Pichelli, Michael Dowling 

With "Beyond" just having concluded and a brand new era for Spider-Man just around the corner, I thought I'd give a quick look back at the story that Marvel's brain trust came up with to lead us to this moment; a five-month story featuring Spider-Clone Ben Reilly and culminating with his chilling fate.  I've already reviewed the first twelve issues, and now I'll focus on the next half-dozen. The finale in issue #93 will get its own review.

Basically, after having found out that Beyond has been playing him for a fool, Ben Reilly's world starts to unravel, and when he turns to Dr. Ashley Kafka (or the clone of the late Ashley Kafka) for help, Beyond takes action against them both. Dr. Kafka is in for a frightening transformation, while Ben is in for a hell of a fight against more of the horrors squirreled away in Beyond's headquarters. Meanwhile, Peter manages to to slowly but surely get back in shape with the help not only of his actual nurse but some very special "therapists," the Black Cat and Captain America. 

For the entirety of this arc I've found myself impressed at how tight the storytelling has felt. Even though this arc goes through four different writers in the course of six issues, I can't help but be impressed at how focused they remain, and how each writer's voice feels consistent with the last.  It's ironic considering how scatterbrained Nick Spencer's storytelling felt during his sprawling "Sins Past" saga. 

What's genuinely compelling about this relatively compact saga is how it really brings into focus the problem Ben Reilly faces, not just in the world he lives in but, in a more "meta" sense, as a character who, since his resurrection, Marvel really don't know how to handle. When Dan Slott brought him back as a bad guy over five years ago, fans of the second clone saga cheered, but when a new series featuring him living in Las Vegas (and written by no less than Peter David) failed to take off, Marvel were left with the problem of what exactly to do with him. Killing him off again wasn't really an option, but neither was making him Spider-Man 2.0, especially since there are already two Spider-Men running around, each one different enough from the other to justify his separate existence. Ben Reilly, however despite being "grunged up" and given a bad guy's baggage, was always still just a Peter clone.

"Beyond" is leading up to something distinct, literally erasing Ben's cloned memories as Peter Parker and leading him someplace he's never been before, and it's interesting to read. 

On the art front, Sara Pichelli and Michael Dowling are joined by Spider-Man legend Mark Bagley and Carlos Gomez, so it's decent, but without Patrick Gleason around the visual flair from the first six issues feels distinctly absent.  I've said this before and I'll saying it again; I am grateful that the next rotating art team on this book are set to consist (so far) of legendary artists John Romita Jr. and Ed McGuinness, because that's a team that I know can deliver the goods.

7.5/10

The Continued Tribulations of Ben Reilly: A (Belated) Review of "Beyond" (Chapters Seven to Twelve)

 written by Saladin Ahmed, Patrick Gleason, Cody Ziglar and Zeb Wells

drawn by Ze Gomez, Gleason, Paco Medina, and Michael Dowling

With the "Beyond" era of "The Amazing Spider-Man" having just concluded with issue #93 (or #894, depending on how one counts) I thought it worth looking back at the last thirteen or so issues that have comprised the latest saga of the infamous Spider-Clone, Ben Reilly. Here's a review of five of the six issues that basically formed the "middle" of the Beyond saga. I had already previously reviewed issue #82, so that won't feature here.

With the combined talents of Saladin Ahmed, Patrick Gleason, Cody Ziglar and Zeb Well, and artists Carlos Gomez, Gleason, Paco Medina and Michael Dowling, telling Ben's story, it can't help but be compelling. 

Over the course of these issues, Ben has a run-in with the *other* other Spider-Man, Miles Morales, as Beyond tries to have him enforce their ownership of the "Spider-Man" brand. Peter tries (and fails) to get back into Spidey-swinging action in an entertaining one-off written AND drawn by Patrick Gleason (more on him later), and Ben has a run-in with Otto Octavius, who built the Parker Foundation that Beyond bought at the beginning of this run, and who tells Ben quite a few of the secrets that Beyond has been keeping from him, revelations that shake Ben to his very core. 

Considering how awful it was to wade through Nick Spencer's bloated run with multiple artists, which resulted in an extremely disjointed storytelling experience, I'm really surprised at how this new "brain trust" managed to keep things together for this long.  There's a real cohesiveness to the narrative, especially considering that the writers never lose track of the main story thread, which is how Ben Reilly is on a collision course with disaster.

As good as I find the writing, though, the art is a bit more cluttered to look at, especially considering how Gleason's single issue in this story absolutely stands out. I really, really would have preferred to see more of Gleason's work throughout this whole series; he and Sara Pichelli are the only real A-list artists in this entire roster, though I'm sure some people will make a case for Mark Bagley.  I'm really, really glad to know that John Romita Jr. will be coming back to these pages soon, because there is really something to be said for real consistency in artwork. The first six issues managed a more or less consistent visual style with Gleason, Pichelli and to a lesser extent, Michael Dowling splitting up the art chores, but here the quality of the art varies kind of widely.

Anyway, this six-issue arc still managed to be an engaging read.

7/10

A Break from "Beyond": A review of The Amazing Spider-Man #82

 written by Saladin Ahmed

illustrated  by Jorge Fornes

colored by Dan Brown

Well, Marvel has finally shown its hand: the "Beyond" storyline will end and yet another relaunch of The Amazing Spider-Man will take place in April, with legendary artist John Romita, Jr. returning to the title after several years working for the Distinguished Competition. Personally, I always took it as a given that "Beyond" was a temporary storyline, and I'm still interested in seeing how Marvel resolves it.

This story, in which Peter Parker continues to recuperate from the radiation poisoning he suffered in the very first issue of the "Beyond" saga, is a bit of an intermission from the adventures of Ben Reilly. As Peter recovers, he can't help but notice the strange manner in which several of his roommates at the hospital ward are removed by a suspicious-looking orderly who is apparently breaching hospital protocol, citing only "special circumstances." When the orderly comes for the still-incapacitated Peter, he'll need all the help he can get.

Writer Saladin Ahmen and artist Jorge Fornes bring an entertaining but fairly ordinary story involving Peter (and not Spider-Man) that could have happened in a number of other titles.  It's worth reviewing because it's quite conspicuously different from everything that's been going on in the title for the last four months or so. I missed the boat for the Miles Morales/Beyond crossover for some reason, with Omicron keeping me indoors, but at least I got to catch this amusing issue, even though, if I'm honest, I've seen better from Ahmed. I'm still hoping to see his work with an A-list artist down the line, and Jorge Fornes simply is not that artist. 

6.5/10

Another Argument Against Live-Action Hollywood Adaptations of Anime: A Review of Cowboy Bebop

developed by Christopher Yost

I really don't consider myself a big anime fan in general. There are a lot of anime films that I enjoy, like majority of the catalog of Studio Ghibli, or the relatively recent hit Your Name, but I like to consider myself, at best a casual fan of anime and not a purist by any stretch.  That said, I do count myself among the many who despise Hollywood's attempts to produce live-action adaptations of anime, because of how they very consistenly get it wrong. 

That said, I was willing to give Netflix's live-action reimagining of the popular 90s anime series Cowboy Bebop a whirl, because at the very least, the still photos from the adaptation looked like they reasonably captured the look of the anime, with which I had only a passing familiarity. Also, I had enjoyed Netflix's series Altered Carbon, and this looked like it had the same sci-fi sensibility. 

Being out of town last month for nearly a week with a lot of down time, I binge-watched all 26 episodes of the original anime series, and while I still would not consider myself any kind of "expert" on the series just because I'd seen it, I was at least all caught up on what the series was all about. I had previously only seen snippets of the 2001 special, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie on cable television. Watching the anime also enabled me to appreciate just how special this series was and still is, and why it was a prime target for adaptation. 

It's essentially the adventures of a crew of bounty hunters (called "cowboys" in the show, hence the first half of the title) who fly around space in a ship called the Bebop (hence the second half). The crew consists of the lean, mean fighting machine (and ex-hit-man) Spike Spiegel, ex-cop Jet Black, amnesiac Faye Valentine, hacker genius Radical Ed and their British Corgi Ein. Each episode has the crew chasing down a new bounty or fighting off people who want to kill them. There are also several continuing threads that run throughout most of the episodes, such as Spike dealing with his past, specifically his membership in a criminal syndicate called, simply enough, the Syndicate, as well as Faye's search for her own past, which she cannot remember at all, but for the most part the episodes have self-contained stories laced with generous helpings of humor, action and heart, all of which is presented in some of the slickest animation I've ever seen in serialized anime (as opposed to feature film animation).  

 So good is the anime, in fact, that for all of its efforts to replicate its highly-stylized look, the live-action series just ends up looking, for the most part, clumsy. 

I quite liked seeing John Cho as Spike Spiegel and Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black. Not only are they good actors, but they have quite effective chemistry.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the other actors in major roles in the cast, from Daniella Pineda as Faye, to Alex Haskell as Vicious, Spike's old colleague in the Syndicate and now his deadly nemesis, to Elena Satine as Julia, Spike's ex and now Vicious' wife.  It's as if they're trying to act like cartoon characters rather than somehow bring these characters to life in their own way.  It's a sterling example of how anime's stylized approach to storytelling just doesn't translate very well.  The fact that some of the episodes attempt to do virtually shot-for-shot retellings of the original animated episodes rather than using them as guides comes off as downright embarrassing.  Every now and then it works, but rarely.

In true Netflix fashion, they left this series on a cliffhanger rather than wrap up Season 1 with a satisfactory ending in the obvious hope of spawning a Season 2, only to cancel the whole thing when the target audience rejected this new iteration of the show. Netflix hasn't bothered to waste any more time on this show, niether should any of you.  

5/10