Whats the JC list of good BND arcs?
nigga I reread like everything ASM from BND onward
you ready for this shit...I gotta break this posts into parts
using the Savage Critic.com scale of Excellent(10, 9/10 theyre the same thing), Very Good(8/10), Good(7/10), Okay(6/10), Eh(5/10), Awful(4, 3/10), and Crap!(2, 1/10)
ASM #546 -548: An enjoyable start to the series that establish the tone and current world of Spider-Man, with an entertaining A-plot with Spideys first encounter with Mr. Negative. Slotts got a great voice for all the characters, and keeps a breezy tone that brings some fun back to the book. McNiven acquits himself well.
GOOD!
#549 551: Painfully bad. None of Guggenheims jokes land, he does nothing to sell me on Menace, and Jackpot is a dud, a one-note joke to tease MJ fans thats never enduring. Larrocas artwork is dull as watching paint dry.
CRAP!
#552 554: Slightly better? At least Jimenez artwork is an improvement, at any rate. A very bland, cookie cutter story with an awful new villain and more unfunny jokes. The first story was good, but I dont blame anybody dropping this book after half a dozen bad issues. AWFUL!
#555-557: Now were talking. Spider-Man finds himself in a middle of a freak blizzard battling mystical Mayan warriors! Zeb Wells script sparkles with wit and fun characterizations, but Chris Bachalo is the star of the show here. These three issues look like a completely different world from the last three stories. His unique storytelling prowess, great sense of humor and hyper-detailed artwork makes every single panel a joy. Damn good stuff, let down just a bit by that science mumbo-jumbo and action-heavy final issue.
GOOD!
#558: And were back to Bob Gales terrible scripts that Barry Kitson can do nothing to spruce up.
AWFUL!
#559-561: Peter Parker becomes a Paparazzi and must contend with the new rogue on the block, Paperdoll. This story is just fantastic. Dans got a good plot here, one with Peter doing some questionable selfish things and making amends for it, with most of the supporting cast used to great effect, including MJ. Paperdolls origin is a bit on the nose, but shes a great visual and the way shes taken out is classic. Marcos Martin is a goddamn superstar, just absolutely kills every single page, sells every single joke, impresses with all kind of wonderful layouts. A high watermark for ASM, from top to bottom.
EXCELLENT!
#562-563: Annnnd were back to mediocrity with more uh I cant even bother to pretend like I care about this one. No offense to Mike McKones just fine pencils, but this is a big comedown from the artistic tour-de-force that was Martin. The last of Gales stories, thank God.
AWFUL!
#564: An almost-entertaining issue told from 3 directions with boring artwork. Yep. ** ½ EH!
#565-567: The daughter of Kraven goes on her first hunt, which involves Spidey switching costumes with Ol' Hornhead. Guggenheim is blander than month old vanilla wafers, but Phil Jiminez draws the prettiest people in comics.
EH!
#568-573: Sadly, this one is just ok. Im not a huge fan of Dean Whites dark colors on Romita Jrs pencils, and the whole book just seems a bit, going-through-the-motions. IDK.
OK!
#574: The shock of all shocks, Guggenheim and Kitson do a great story about Flashs accident during the war. This is the first interesting thing to be done with this character in decades.
VERY GOOD!
So Brand New Day year one as it were is a bit of a mixed bag. As expected from any comic with this many different creative voices and artists. Slott feels like he's born to write the book. He nails the tone, he understands the characters the best, he's the best comic writer of the bunch(peep how he uses wordplay as scene transitions, like the last thing Mr. Negative will say is "foreign tongues" and then the next scene has Peter making out with a random girl). Mr. Negative is a great new villain. Ever since Frank Miller got his hands on Kingpin and made him a Daredevil enemy, the street level Spidey has missed a big bad of all crime in NYC. Mr. Negative gives him that super-strong imposing crime kingpin of his own, with a great visual and really cool henchmen. He also have the interesting hook of his own secret identity, interacting with Peter and his supporting cast in a sharp example of dramatic irony. Paperdoll is great too, in that she's a fantastic visual and has an interesting motivation, even if just for this one story.
I like the overall feeling of the era, ya know? For years prior to this, ASM has been a bit off the rails. The rogues had got stale from years of misuse to the point that most of JMS' baddies had to go supernatural, most of the supporting cast disappeared with MJ sucking up the best friend/romantic interest/superhero confidant role, there were some awful events, lotta of event tie-ins, it just wasn't a fun book to read. BND's main idea seemed to be trying to recapture that feeling of Stern/JRJR ASM, with the goblin mystery, new rogues, new love interests, big changes in Peter's job situation, subplots like the homeless shelter and the Mayor race, that sort of soap opera stuff. Like I said, Slott's two stories are the most successful at this, and Wells/Bachalo's is strong even if its dark and seems like an outlier from the others.
Wacker's choice in artists is already inspired. McNiven doesn't break out any new ground, but he's the kinda of accessible choice that you want to start this kind of run with. Jimenez draws such pretty people, although I hate the way he draws Spidey's head. Bachalo is great, utilizing a lot of negative space to emphasize the blizzard and specific color choices to give this story a unique atmosphere. Marcos Martin is just flat-out the best. His action layouts, his character acting and body language and fashion sense(peep Peter's snazzy threads and compare them to Romita's lame 90s backwards cap), his attention to detail...the dream is him drawing everything.
Gale and Guggenheim will soon be gone, so things are looking up
