High and Dry: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #18

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by Ed McGuiness

inked by Cliff Rathburn

colored by Marcio Menyz and Erick Arciniega

As "Dark Web" draws to a close, with Madelyne Pryor having made peace with Jean Grey, Ben Reilly's plan to steal back his memories from Peter quite quickly falls apart, even as Peter struggles to escape from Limbo with J. Jonah Jameson and Robbie Robertson.  Embittered by Madelyne's decision to call off the attack on New York, Ben swings off, while Hallow's Eve, aka Ben's girlfriend Janine Godbe, decides to take matters into her own hands, and gives this tale one more monstrous twist.

One can see in this story how Ben Reilly well and truly is Peter Parker; even when he's going full on bad guy and teaming up with a bad guy who actually manages to get what she wants, he still manages to lose. If that isn't a variant of the infamous Parker luck, well, I don't know what is.  Granted, Ben's plan wasn't all that great, but it basically worked for Madelyne, didn't it?  Marvel pretty much telegraphed last issue and in its marketing for the X-Men issues that Ben's  and Madelyne's paths would diverge, but I was honestly surprised that it happened at the very beginning of the issue.  I guess it makes sense given how the issue actually ends.

McGuinness delivers another solid issue, his last for this story. Including the mammoth 900th issue, he's drawn the equivalent of eight whole issues for Zeb Wells' current run, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him again in the future, hopefully sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I'll content myself with Adam Kubert finishing off this story.

I sincerely doubt Marvel would go through all this trouble of featuring Ben Reilly in the yearlong "Beyond" saga and designing him a cool new supervillain suit just to kill him off yet again, so I am cautiously optimistic for how Zeb Wells will end this particular chapter of the never-ending epic that is the Clone Saga of Spider-Man. 

8/10

Payback: A (VERY) Late Review of Dark Web #1

 written by Zeb Wells

drawn by Adam Kubert

colored by Frank Martin

This is obviously a very late review, considering that I have already reviewed three subsequent chapters of the Spider-Man/X-Men crossover "Dark Web" but when I realized that the entire storyline would NOT end in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man but in an oversized bookend issue, I finally decided to go back and pick up the FIRST bookend, the one that started the whole thing, Dark Web #1, and I'm glad I did. For one thing, I finally have context for the events in The Amazing Spider-Man #15, like a seemingly primal Venom attacking Spider-Man, and the image of Ben Reilly aka Chasm standing over an unconscious Norman Osborn. 

Dark Web #1 (or Dark Web: Dusk) kicks off the ultimate clone team-up between Ben Reilly and Madelyne Pryor, aka the Goblin Queen, to steal the souls/memories of their progenitors Peter Parker aka Spider-Man and Jean Grey. The issue kicks off with Ben having a nightmare about Peter Parker and Mary Jane basically taking away Ben's face and his very identity before shoving him into a store window as a faceless mannequin.  It then kicks into high gear very quickly as Madelyne directs the demons of Limbo to attack New York City, aided by Janine Godbe, now known as Hallow's Eve, Madelyne recruits a very reluctant Eddie Brock aka Venom, while Ben sets out to take down his very first target, none other than Norman Osborn.

I really appreciate this issue because it brings Ben Reilly and Norman Osborn together for the very first time since Osborn, freshly resurrected in the pages of 1996's Spider-Man #75, killed Ben, at the time seemingly for good.  For the first time since his resurrection, Ben finally gets to confront the man who sold him on a complete lie as to who he really was and then turned him into ashes.  This issue, especially the scene in which Ben Reilly really lets Osborn have it, was very cathartic for me.  Ben's abrupt and cruel fate in Spider-Man #75 well and truly left a bad taste in my mouth, one that lingered for twenty-six years, so seeing that injustice finally redressed was a form of satisfaction I never even knew that I needed.

It also helps that intermittent Spidey artist Adam Kubert draws this issue. I would have preferred art from John Romita Jr., who illustrated SM #75, to bring the whole Ben Reilly/Norman Osborn thing full circle, but Kubert's kinetic images are a good fit for Zeb Wells' fast-paced storytelling, even though the art does look a little rushed in a few pages.  The story, too, feels like it ends a tad abruptly, even though I know exactly what comes next.

Now that I'm all caught up, I'm ready for the final chapter of Dark Web.

8/10

Belated Happy Birthday, Spider-Man: A Review of Amazing Fantasy #1000

 written by various

drawn by various

I'm not always a big fan of these oversized anthology issues because they tend to be a mixed bag in terms of quality, but for Spider-Man's 60th birthday celebration last year, which I quite notably almost missed, Marvel has brought out the big guns, with heavyweight creators almost too numerous to name. Industry legends Neil Gaiman, Kurt Busiek, Jonathan Hickman and a host of other writing superstars and up-and-comers join former regular Spider-man writer Dan Slott in crafting a series of short stories set in various periods of Spidey's history, whether past, present or future.  Joining them are an all-star lineup of artists, many of whom have already made an indelible mark on the web slinger like Steve McNiven, Marco Checchetto, Olivier Coipel, and Jim Cheung (to name but a few).

The mammoth 68-page volume features so many stories it's kind of pointless to post synopses of all of them.  Highlights for me, though were the Slott and Cheung collaboration which showed Spidey still fighting crime in his 60s, the Hickman and Checchetto story in which 616 Spidey meets with his multiversal counterparts to ask for advice on dealing with the "Parker luck," and the pleasantly whimsical quasi auto-biographical story by Gaiman and McNiven in which Gaiman essentially recalls how he first came to meet Spider-Man.   Some stories I liked better than others but each and every story featured here is an absolute charmer and I appreciate Marvel for giving each team of creators room to breathe a little bit. This was an extremely well-curated book, in my opinion. 

Thank you for this treat, Marvel. It may have been Spidey's 60th birthday last year, but we're the ones who got the awesome present.

10/10 

Ambitious: A Review of Daredevils #5 to #7

 written by Chip Zdarsky

drawn by Rafael de la Torre and Marco Checchetto (pencils) Elisabeta D'Amico (inks)

colored by Matt Wilson

Over the course of these three issues, Matt Murdock aka Daredevil and Elektra Natchios, also aka Daredevil, have made their plans, as the leader of Fist, clear. To take the fight to the Hand, who is now led by Frank Castle, they will need to build an army.  While many of their soldiers come from all around, interestingly, Matt gets some of his most important recruits by springing them out of the super-criminal prison the Raft, of all places. Meanwhile, Elektra embarks on her mission to see just how high up the Hand have infiltrated the corridors of power, and the answers she finds are frightening indeed.  Notably, Matt isn't just recruiting super-criminals for their muscle, but rather in order to offer them a chance at reform and redemption that they couldn't possibly get in the prison system.  Meanwhile, the Hand makes its own moves, seemingly a step ahead of Matt and Elektra.

I'll admit I was a bit impatient with Zdarsky over the first four issues of this new iteration of Daredevil, but over these past three  issues I've come to understand what he's really writing about, and it isn't just some hackneyed "ultimate fight between good and evil" plotline that will probably be undone or retconned a few years from now. If I recall correctly, Zdarsky's predecessor Charles Soule also had DD and some of his superpowered buddies take on the Hand as they tried to take over New York, so I really can't help but roll my eyes at this declaration that the Fist will take down the Hand "once and for all."

What really interests me is how under Zdarsky's tenure, Matt Murdock, a licensed attorney, has done time as Daredevil, and, having seen how broken the penal system is, has lost faith in its ability to reform super-powered criminals.  He has effectively taken it on himself to be that agent of reform, in part through his supernatural quest to vanquish evil, but also by directing them at some decidedly more mundane threats. Matt has recruited some pretty nasty types like Bullet, who nearly beat him to death some years back and Speed Demon, who almost killed the Hulk...and pits them against the unlikeliest of villains; a real estate developer who buys up apartment buildings and turns residents out on the street using contrived lease violations.   I'm less interested by the actual confrontation than the thinking behind it; Daredevil isn't getting the bad guys to lay down their proverbial guns, but rather to point them where they need to be aimed.

Of course, reformed criminals becoming heroes are nothing new in the Marvel Universe (heck, one of them is about to have his third film adaptation in a few weeks).  But I'd argue that this is the first time the hero has identified the actual penal system as the reason why most criminals never really reform. Chip Zdarsky may not be a lawyer like Charles Soule, but he has clearly given this point of advocacy quite a bit of thought, and I'm interested to see where he goes with this. 

It helps that Zdarsky has some pretty solid visual continuity with Rafael de la Torre and Marco Checchetto sharing art duties. I normally do not like artists sharing art duties in the course of a single story, but it works here given that the two artists' styles actually match. 

I think it's pretty fair to say that whatever the outcome of this "war" will be, the Hand will survive in one form or another, and even if they're all wiped out, some new creative team will come up with some way to resurrect them somehow, years from now.    What I'd like to see, however, is what will happen to all of the criminals that Matt has set free with the hope of reforming them himself.  

8.5/10

Life in Hell: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #17

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by Ed McGuinness

inked by Cliff Rathburn

colored by Marcio Menyz  

With Ben Reilly aka  Chasm having revealed that he had J. Jonah Jameson and Robbie Robertson trapped in Limbo, Peter Parker aka Spider-Man has agreed to stay in Limbo himself and live a out a twisted version of his life as a photographer for the Daily Bugle, with Madelyn Pryor's demons playing the parts of the Bugle staff. Offering him and his friends the chance to leave  Limbo, Ben tries to trick Peter into eating an apple that will steal his soul, but Peter won't go for it. Madelyne appears to be losing patience with Ben's mind games, which doesn't quite bode well for their partnership but Ben has one more trick up his sleeve to truly drive Peter crazy: a slightly altered version of the Sinister Six called the "Insidious Six." Ben's memory isn't what it used to be, after all. The potential fly in Ben's ointment, though, is a demon who has taken to hero-worshiping Peter and who may just have access to some super powers.  

At this point, I've kind of resigned myself to whatever Marvel has planned for Ben at this point, and am doing my best to enjoy this story. This issue is, to be fair, a fun read, with Ben's fragmented memory resulting in an amusingly distorted version of the Sinister Six, with equally amusing designs by Ed McGuinness. Except for the last few pages, there aren't any hard-hitting action sequences, but McGuinness' work is still a pleasure to look at.

Next issue marks the end of the Dark Web crossover in the pages of this title, and the end of the second story McGuinness has drawn for this run. After this it's two issues of Terry and Rachel Dodson, and then back to series mainstay John Romita Jr. for an arc that uncovers much of the mystery in which this new status quo has been shrouded. I remain hopeful to see more McGuinness work after that, because he really is just a blast on this book.

8/10

 

Self-Harm: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #16

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by Ed McGuinness

inked by Cliff Rathburn

colored by Marcio Menyz

After taking down Venom last issue, Peter Parker aka Spider-Man finds himself confronted with the author of all his current misery, Ben Reilly, aka Chasm, and inevitable fisticuffs ensue. What Peter doesn't know, however, is that Ben has an ace up his sleeve that almost guarantees him victory in this fight. Meanwhile, the Goblin Queen continues to put her plan into motion, aided by Hallow's Eve. 

It is a continuing pleasure to see Ed McGuinness's artwork adoring this book, which is as good here as it has ever been.  He has an extraordinary eye for action sequences and his character work is pretty much second to none.  With all due respect to Patrick Gleason, who illustrated the last throwdown between Peter Parker and Ben Reilly a little under a year ago in fine style, Ed's work here is really exceptional.

All that said, I am really not a fan of how Marvel is continuing to tarnish Ben Reilly as a character. This story actually has him attempting to gaslight Peter when narrating his own version of how the Beyond Saga ended, which is played partly for laughs but is also clearly intended to push him further into villain territory.  I genuinely regret missing out on Dark Web #1, where Ben finally dished out some much-deserved payback to Norman Osborn for, well, killing him, but I'm really not keen on where I think this story is going for Ben.

Is this really the best Marvel can do with character, i.e. make him a villain or an also-ran hero, like he was in the short-lived, Peter David-written series based on Las Vegas? I have to wonder why they even brought him back in the first place if all they could do was this weird ping-pong act with him.  Teaming him up with Madelyne Pryor, a character who was similarly treated by Marvel editorial, was an interesting move, but doesn't really feel like it'll be all that rewarding in the long term. I dearly hope he doesn't end up a pile of dust in Peter's hands again. He deserves better.

If I may venture a suggestion, why can't they set up Ben up as a character based overseas? Having Peter do the whole globetrotting thing in Dan Slott's "Worldwide" story felt a tad goofy and out-of-character for Peter, but having Ben skulking around the back alleys of Europe or even Asia as a super-powered mercenary or something like that could definitely work out. Maybe he could be sent to a universe where Peter Parker is dead, or something like that.  

Just my two cents, for whatever they're worth in today's global economy.

Anyway, I'm still sticking around for more McGuinness magnificence!

7/10

One for the Ages: A Review of Fantastic Four: Full Circle

 written and illustrated by Alex Ross

colors by Josh Johnson

I haven't really read a whole lot of comics illustrated by Alex Ross, having read only  Kingdom Come years ago, but few names are as recognizable to a comic book fan, so when I found out that Ross was drawing his first sequential work for Marvel since Marvels (which I haven't read, ironically enough for me) it was a must-have for me. It hit my wallet like no other single comic book ever has, but it was still worth it. 

In this story, the Fantastic Four, Reed Richards, Sue Richards, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm are enjoying a quiet evening at home in the Baxter Building when their tranquility is disrupted by an intruder, one whom Ben almost immediately recognizes as a man who stole his very identity years ago. The intruder collapses, and Reed and the others immediately begin examining him, trying to figure out to help him, when they learn to their shock that their surprise visitor isn't even human at all but rather a husk through which several parasites were transported from that most dreaded of places: the Negative Zone.  Seeing a dire threat, Reed comes up with a plan to trace to invasion to its source and prevent it from recurring, but not without a dangerous trip into the unknown.

The artwork of this book, presented in tabloid-sized pages, is absolutely mesmerizing.  Everything about this book feels like a love-letter to the early days of Lee and Kirby on this book, from the story, which apparently serves as a direct sequel to a forgotten story from the early days, to the color palette Ross has chosen, which hearkens back to the four-color days of Marvel Comics. Every page is a knockout punch, and Ross is pretty darned generous with the splashes and two-page spreads. This is the reason I'm here, and it was worth the (considerable) price of admission. 

That said, I felt that Ross' choice of Lee/Kirby story to revisit felt a tad too esoteric, with side characters that didn't ring any bells at all. Annihilus, the big bad guy of the Negative Zone, has a two-page splash appearance and is basically gone immediately after that.  More than just a lack of familiarity, though I found the pacing of the story to be a bit disjointed, as a result of which the book felt oddly anticlimactic.  This is a first writing effort from Ross, so I guess that can be forgiven.  The story definitely has its charms, like Ross' Lee-esque dialogue.  

In the end, though, Ross captures the essence of what makes the Fantastic Four such compelling characters, and presents it in artwork that is meant to be savored the way one pores over paintings in museums.  This is just drop-dead gorgeous stuff, the kind that's worth waiting decades to see.

9.5/10

Ensnared: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (Dark Web)

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by Ed McGuinness

inked by Cliff Rathburn

colored by Marcio Menyz

The massive Spider-Man/X-Men crossover Dark Web has finally launched in Dark Web #1, which I have no real interest in picking up, but I wasn't about to miss the return of Ed McGuiness to the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man following the eighty glorious pages he contributed to the landmark 900th issue.

Basically Chasm aka Ben Reilly aka Peter Parker's clone and his new BFF the Goblin Queen aka Madeline Pryor aka Jean Grey's clone have unleashed Hell on New York City, as a result of which Spider-Man aka Peter Parker has been running around the city trying to put out fires both literal and metaphorical.  Unfortunately, he runs afoul of an old frenemy who's turned particularly nasty as a result of the supernatural craziness: Venom.

This was a pleasant enough issue because it managed to tell a complete story while advancing the story of the larger arc, but I'm still not hyped enough for the "bigger" tale to start picking up the non-Spider-Man issues of this crossover. In that, I guess one could say this issue is a failure but really the entire idea isn't particularly appealing to me. In the end it'll just add another volume to the already epic-length "Clone Saga" which is starting to become Marvel's version of the Mahabharata. 

I was, of course, overjoyed to see Ed McGuinness back on art duties, and he did not disappoint in the slightest. I'm really happy to note that he'll be on art duties for the next three issues! 

8.5/10

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Ben Reilly? A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (Dark Web Prologue)

 written by Zeb Wells 

penciled by Michael Dowling, Kyle Hotz, Terry Dodson and Ryan Stegman

inked by Dowling, Hotz, Rachel Dodson,Tim Townsend and JP Mayer

colored by Richard Isanove, Dan Brown, Rachel Dodson and Matt Hollingsworth

Ever since the Spider-Man clone, first created in the 1970s by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, came onto the scene, he's proven to be a bit of a challenge to several generations of Marvel creators. Initially a one-off character meant to tell one story, after which he was unceremoniously killed off, Ben was then resurrected in the mid 1990s as a means to replace Peter Parker as "the one, true Spider-Man." When that didn't work out, Marvel killed Ben off again, despite having spent something like three years setting him up as a new lead character. There was just one problem; this time, fans actually cared because Marvel had spent all this time developing the character. I should know; I was one of those fans.  And thus, it finally came to pass that in 2016, Dan Slott and Jim Cheung brought the character back in the miniseries "The Clone Conspiracy," which featured Ben as a villain, twisted by his horrible experiences with death over and over again. Ben survived that, and in the six years that followed Marvel didn't quite seem to know what to do with him, taking him from villain back to hero and now...back to villain again.

Following the yearlong "Beyond" saga, which saw Ben take over the Spider-Man mantle yet again, albeit under the auspices of the evil Beyond Corporation, Ben has been robbed of nearly all of his memories by Beyond, an experience that has left him resentful and filled with murderous rage against the person he believes to be responsible for the loss of his memories: Peter Parker. This time, however, he has an ally in his misguided quest, someone who was also cloned from a major Marvel character and discarded when the story called for it: Madelyne Pryor, aka the Goblin Queen, who was cloned from none other than the X-Men's Jean Grey.  "Dark Web" is the story of the two of them literally unleashing Hell on New York to get their revenge.

This prologue to the main event is a bit of a jam issue, with four artists illustrating the story in which Ben Reilly, his girlfriend Janine Godbe and their new ally the Goblin Queen move the pieces of their grand plan into place. The Goblin Queen bestows superpowers on Janine and a supervillain name to boot, and things look all set for the Dark Web to ensnare its intended prey.

I'm generally not a fan of "jam" issues, even though I think all of the artists here did a good job. I guess I'm tepid about this multi-part crossover, in part because I don't really feel like buying all of the issues involved, but also because this feels like an unimaginative way to deal with Ben Reilly, who was only just a supervillain not too long ago.  That Marvel teamed him up with another misunderstood clone deserves some points for creativity in recycling discarded characters, but as far as I'm concerned "Dark Web" is not off to the strongest starts.

6/10