Tyrant Rave
Banned
His She-Hulk stuff is really fun. I think you'd like it. IIRC one issue has some art by Amanda Conner too.
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COMICS! |OT| June 2016. The Manhattan Project
- Thread starter Tyrant Rave
- Start date
That looks amazing! I just read the preview and I'm hyped.
And I don't blame you for wanting to go the tpb route. I want to do that but then it would be harder for me to justify buying the library editions. I want to read them in that huge beautiful library format when I first read them.
echoshifting
Banned
He still hasn't topped it.
I have it, I read the first issue and... the art didn't click at all and it just didn't feel like Jen. or at the very least current Jen.
echoshifting
Banned
Aw, that's too bad. Sorry you didn't like it. That was the first I'd heard of him and I remember thinking at the time he was gonna be an all-star one day.
I thought it was all the hot chicks
ViewtifulJC
Banned
only the GOAT superhero can truly weather so many bad stories and mediocre eras and issues where he fights Rocket Racer AND the Big Wheel
to be fair, top 10 Spider-Man stories
1. "To Have and to Hold" Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1
2. "Unscheduled Stop" Amazing Spider-Man #578-579
3. "Spider-Island" Amazing Spider-Man #666-673
4. "Coming Home" Amazing Spider-Man (Volume 2) #30-35
5. The Long Goodbye Spectacular Spider-Man #78-79
6. "Confessions" Ultimate Spider-Man #13
7. Im With Stupid, Spider-Man/Human Torch #1-5
8. "Paparazzi" Amazing Spider-man #559-561
9. "Harry Osborn Goblin Saga" Spectacular Spider-Man #178-184, 189-190, 199-200
10. The Death of Jean DeWolff Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110
to be fair, top 10 Spider-Man stories
1. "To Have and to Hold" Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1
2. "Unscheduled Stop" Amazing Spider-Man #578-579
3. "Spider-Island" Amazing Spider-Man #666-673
4. "Coming Home" Amazing Spider-Man (Volume 2) #30-35
5. The Long Goodbye Spectacular Spider-Man #78-79
6. "Confessions" Ultimate Spider-Man #13
7. Im With Stupid, Spider-Man/Human Torch #1-5
8. "Paparazzi" Amazing Spider-man #559-561
9. "Harry Osborn Goblin Saga" Spectacular Spider-Man #178-184, 189-190, 199-200
10. The Death of Jean DeWolff Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110
and here we are, Dan Slott superstar writer and one of the best Spider-Man writers of the last 20 years. Good prediction echo.
I think I will go back and read it as I have been told by various people here that it is perfect for me. Jen the party girl didn't fit with me at all and it doesn't fit with what I have read about her (Her solo book by soule and everything post that involving her)
my name is ed
Banned
Ultimate Spider-Man #13 is so damn good. Glad to see it on your list. MJ and Pete 4evah
I'm with Stupid is also really really great. Such great family moments with the FF
I haven't read it in about 7 years or w/e when it came out but I remember it reading like Joe Quesada used the flimsiest of motivations he could think of to handicap Peter Parker emotionally to a point where he's someone that's so immature hat he can't handle the passing of a loved one and gives in to a fear of mortality and the future.
Joey Q's stance that fans don't want Peter Parker as a grown ass man in a stable and loving relationship because long term relationships aren't exciting is borderline insulting tbh
The art on One More Day is kind of Joey Q in a transitionary period. He uses blacks a little much and it tends to sap the wonder that usually permeates a Spider-Man title. I imagine reading it now without the attachment to the relationship and the controversy surrounding it will let it stand on its own a bit more.
Removed from context, its still a not good comic. The follow up, One Moment in Time, is much better but probably because of the Paolo Rivera art more than anything.
He's lucky he got Stephen Wacker to edit the Brand New Day era
I'm with Stupid is also really really great. Such great family moments with the FF
I haven't read it in about 7 years or w/e when it came out but I remember it reading like Joe Quesada used the flimsiest of motivations he could think of to handicap Peter Parker emotionally to a point where he's someone that's so immature hat he can't handle the passing of a loved one and gives in to a fear of mortality and the future.
Joey Q's stance that fans don't want Peter Parker as a grown ass man in a stable and loving relationship because long term relationships aren't exciting is borderline insulting tbh
The art on One More Day is kind of Joey Q in a transitionary period. He uses blacks a little much and it tends to sap the wonder that usually permeates a Spider-Man title. I imagine reading it now without the attachment to the relationship and the controversy surrounding it will let it stand on its own a bit more.
Removed from context, its still a not good comic. The follow up, One Moment in Time, is much better but probably because of the Paolo Rivera art more than anything.
He's lucky he got Stephen Wacker to edit the Brand New Day era
Is this a joke? my goodness that writing is stilted.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
ed I totally forgot your email!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dan Slott Spider-Man Year 1
ASM 648-651: A strong start to Dan Slott’s run on ASM, setting up multiple little plots, a fun new bad guy in the Urich-Hobgoblin, and happily kinetic artwork from Humberto Ramos. GOOD!
652-654: One of Slott’s strongest stories. Rarely has his plotting so deftly mixed the interpersonal Peter Parker relationships with the Spider-Man superheroic elements, and he keeps a high level that swings Spidey from one crisis to the next, with some big consequences when its all over with the loss of his Spidey-Sense and Marla’s death. Stefano Casselli and Edgar Delgado are fantastic, selling all the facial expressions of the cast, the scale of the rocket ship, the kinetic movement of the action. I might be tempted for a 9/10 if it wasn’t for some dumb BND-isms bleeding in, like supergenius Max Modell can’t put 2 and 2 together to figure out Peter is Spider-Man or the forced MJ-Carlie connection. Besides those speed bumps, great stuff. VERY GOOD!
654.1: Slott kills two birds with one stone, making both Flash Thompson and Venom more compelling than they’ve been in decades. Secret Agent Venom is a great concept, with some fun dramatic hooks like Flash’s double life reflecting Peter/Spidey and he doesn’t even know it, or just how in control of the symboite is he? I read this issue and think, “You have sold me on this book, I hope they get somebody great like Rick Remender and Tony Moore/Tom Fowler to do the Venom ongoing!” GOOD!
655-656: The very serious issues resulting from Marla’s death, and I gotta be honest, I don’t think Slott is well-suited for these very somber kind of stories. Massacre makes a great first impression, and Marcos Martin pretty much sealed his spot as my second favorite Spidey artist after Romita Jr with this one, but IDK. This isn’t what Dan’s best at it. And I always felt “No One Dies” is a very weak proclamation to come to after all that. You mean you weren’t trying to make sure nobody dies before? GOOD!
657: Tries to re-capture the easy-going nostalgic good times of Slott’s masterpiece Spider-Man/Human Torch, but mostly comes off like hoaky skits that didn’t make the final cut. EH!
658-660: The book seems to be losing its way a bit. 3 straight issues of decent FF comics with Spider-Man guest starring, with a very annoying characterization. Showing up as Johnny to the Baxter Building is such a dumbass, tone deaf move you forget this guy is supposed to be a genius. And he just NEVER shuts up. Inconsistent fill-in artists don’t help matters either. EH!
661-662: More guest stars…decent enough fill-in I guess, but a bit corny. Feels like one of those Super Spider-Man Stories from back in the day, complete with a big “lesson of the day” speech at the end. Reilly Brown’s artwork is good, though. OKAY!
663-664: We interrupt this Marvel Team-Up ongoing to bring you THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN! Finally, Slott gets back to basics. The Wraith is back, and although who she is isn’t much of a mystery, its fun to see Carlie in action and the Wraith do her Batman thing. Anti-Venom, another one of Slott’s great reinventions of supporting characters who lacked direction for years, is hilarious here, a guy who THINKS he’s Batman even if nobody else does. And Mr. Negative, the long-standing big bad of Slott’s Spider-Man FINALLY gets his comeuppance, 100+ issues in the making! On top of that, Peter Parker gets one of the biggest Ws in the Win Column he’s ever had by finally making good on that big brain of his and getting featured in the American Science Journal. A solid, satisfying Spider-Man story. In Amazing Spider-Man, no less! GOOD!
665: This…has some issues. Stegman isn’t one of them, thankfully. But the plot…again, I don’t think Slott’s great at the “serious” stuff. For one, he’s got Spider-Man acting all serious, storming into civilian houses and being violent as hell. He’s Spidey, not Batman, and if Brant can’t get hurt because she has something they want, then what the fuck gives Spidey the right to do the same? After that, when he finds Finch, all it would take is…like one minute for him to swing down and web him up, but Aunt May is getting on his case? The same Aunt May who, just two issues ago, told Peter that if you have the opportunity to help someone with your abilities you should do it? The whole thing seems really forced, right down to Flash just being cool and smiling about his injured girlfriend locking him out so she can watch movies with Peter. If you wanted a nice issue where Peter and Betty bond, Mark Waid and Barry Kitson did a much more successful version of this not too long ago. EH!
Free Comic Book Day ASM #1: Back to the light fun stuff, which is what Slott is best at. As a free comic, it has two jobs: it has to be an entertaining issue in and of itself, and it also has to entice readers back to pay money for future stories. This one is a success in both regards. The high energy and comedic edge carries the first half(the double punch splash page is one of Slott’s best moments), and the compelling idea of Spider-Man learning kung-fu(with a pretty kick-ass layout by Ramos) and the foreboding craziness of the upcoming Spider-Island carries the second. GOOD!
Spider-Island (ASM 666, Venom 6-8): Somehow, they’ve done the impossible. They made a great Spider-Man epic event. One that balanced a half a dozen different sub-plots, one that moved all the core characters involved in some new interesting way(even KAINE is great in this one. KAINE), one that moved with energy and kept escalating for the entire six issue (nine issues with Venom) span of the event, packed with humor, intrigue, action, and heart. One that got rid of Carlie as the GF and ended with the stupid OMD curse being lifted, Peter Parker saving the day with his big brain, and one of my all-time favorite ending splash pages of Spidey and MJ holding hands as the ESB is lit up in tribute. I quibble about a plot development here or a Ramos panel there, but overall, this was a huge goddamn success, on a level Spider-Man events have never achieved before. One of the greatest Spider-Man stories of all-time. EXCELLENT!
674-675: And now back to basics, with a newer deadlier Vulture and the awkward buddy-cop due of Spidey and Carlie. A solid story to come down to after the non-stop insanity of Spider-Island. GOOD!
676: As noted by Mysterio at the end, this one’s pretty pointless, just a fun year end battle between two big supervillian groups. It has some nice moments though, good bits of continuity, lot of energy from Ramos. Not bad at all, really. OKAY!
Well, like I said during the BND run, Slott is the best Spidey writer of the webheads. He has the best voice, he gets the subplot building, the romantic interest teasing, the rogue badguy stuff, Peter's intellect, telling compressed stories that give the reader their money worth. Year one starts very strong , gets confused for half a dozen issues with Slott's marvel FF stuff, there's a couple of sharp two parters drawn by Cammuncoli, and a fantastic event in Spider-Island. At this point, I was fully on board the "Dan Slott for ASM forever" train. The good times are gonna last forever, right!?
Dan Slott Spider-Man Year 1
ASM 648-651: A strong start to Dan Slott’s run on ASM, setting up multiple little plots, a fun new bad guy in the Urich-Hobgoblin, and happily kinetic artwork from Humberto Ramos. GOOD!
652-654: One of Slott’s strongest stories. Rarely has his plotting so deftly mixed the interpersonal Peter Parker relationships with the Spider-Man superheroic elements, and he keeps a high level that swings Spidey from one crisis to the next, with some big consequences when its all over with the loss of his Spidey-Sense and Marla’s death. Stefano Casselli and Edgar Delgado are fantastic, selling all the facial expressions of the cast, the scale of the rocket ship, the kinetic movement of the action. I might be tempted for a 9/10 if it wasn’t for some dumb BND-isms bleeding in, like supergenius Max Modell can’t put 2 and 2 together to figure out Peter is Spider-Man or the forced MJ-Carlie connection. Besides those speed bumps, great stuff. VERY GOOD!
654.1: Slott kills two birds with one stone, making both Flash Thompson and Venom more compelling than they’ve been in decades. Secret Agent Venom is a great concept, with some fun dramatic hooks like Flash’s double life reflecting Peter/Spidey and he doesn’t even know it, or just how in control of the symboite is he? I read this issue and think, “You have sold me on this book, I hope they get somebody great like Rick Remender and Tony Moore/Tom Fowler to do the Venom ongoing!” GOOD!
655-656: The very serious issues resulting from Marla’s death, and I gotta be honest, I don’t think Slott is well-suited for these very somber kind of stories. Massacre makes a great first impression, and Marcos Martin pretty much sealed his spot as my second favorite Spidey artist after Romita Jr with this one, but IDK. This isn’t what Dan’s best at it. And I always felt “No One Dies” is a very weak proclamation to come to after all that. You mean you weren’t trying to make sure nobody dies before? GOOD!
657: Tries to re-capture the easy-going nostalgic good times of Slott’s masterpiece Spider-Man/Human Torch, but mostly comes off like hoaky skits that didn’t make the final cut. EH!
658-660: The book seems to be losing its way a bit. 3 straight issues of decent FF comics with Spider-Man guest starring, with a very annoying characterization. Showing up as Johnny to the Baxter Building is such a dumbass, tone deaf move you forget this guy is supposed to be a genius. And he just NEVER shuts up. Inconsistent fill-in artists don’t help matters either. EH!
661-662: More guest stars…decent enough fill-in I guess, but a bit corny. Feels like one of those Super Spider-Man Stories from back in the day, complete with a big “lesson of the day” speech at the end. Reilly Brown’s artwork is good, though. OKAY!
663-664: We interrupt this Marvel Team-Up ongoing to bring you THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN! Finally, Slott gets back to basics. The Wraith is back, and although who she is isn’t much of a mystery, its fun to see Carlie in action and the Wraith do her Batman thing. Anti-Venom, another one of Slott’s great reinventions of supporting characters who lacked direction for years, is hilarious here, a guy who THINKS he’s Batman even if nobody else does. And Mr. Negative, the long-standing big bad of Slott’s Spider-Man FINALLY gets his comeuppance, 100+ issues in the making! On top of that, Peter Parker gets one of the biggest Ws in the Win Column he’s ever had by finally making good on that big brain of his and getting featured in the American Science Journal. A solid, satisfying Spider-Man story. In Amazing Spider-Man, no less! GOOD!
665: This…has some issues. Stegman isn’t one of them, thankfully. But the plot…again, I don’t think Slott’s great at the “serious” stuff. For one, he’s got Spider-Man acting all serious, storming into civilian houses and being violent as hell. He’s Spidey, not Batman, and if Brant can’t get hurt because she has something they want, then what the fuck gives Spidey the right to do the same? After that, when he finds Finch, all it would take is…like one minute for him to swing down and web him up, but Aunt May is getting on his case? The same Aunt May who, just two issues ago, told Peter that if you have the opportunity to help someone with your abilities you should do it? The whole thing seems really forced, right down to Flash just being cool and smiling about his injured girlfriend locking him out so she can watch movies with Peter. If you wanted a nice issue where Peter and Betty bond, Mark Waid and Barry Kitson did a much more successful version of this not too long ago. EH!
Free Comic Book Day ASM #1: Back to the light fun stuff, which is what Slott is best at. As a free comic, it has two jobs: it has to be an entertaining issue in and of itself, and it also has to entice readers back to pay money for future stories. This one is a success in both regards. The high energy and comedic edge carries the first half(the double punch splash page is one of Slott’s best moments), and the compelling idea of Spider-Man learning kung-fu(with a pretty kick-ass layout by Ramos) and the foreboding craziness of the upcoming Spider-Island carries the second. GOOD!
Spider-Island (ASM 666, Venom 6-8): Somehow, they’ve done the impossible. They made a great Spider-Man epic event. One that balanced a half a dozen different sub-plots, one that moved all the core characters involved in some new interesting way(even KAINE is great in this one. KAINE), one that moved with energy and kept escalating for the entire six issue (nine issues with Venom) span of the event, packed with humor, intrigue, action, and heart. One that got rid of Carlie as the GF and ended with the stupid OMD curse being lifted, Peter Parker saving the day with his big brain, and one of my all-time favorite ending splash pages of Spidey and MJ holding hands as the ESB is lit up in tribute. I quibble about a plot development here or a Ramos panel there, but overall, this was a huge goddamn success, on a level Spider-Man events have never achieved before. One of the greatest Spider-Man stories of all-time. EXCELLENT!
674-675: And now back to basics, with a newer deadlier Vulture and the awkward buddy-cop due of Spidey and Carlie. A solid story to come down to after the non-stop insanity of Spider-Island. GOOD!
676: As noted by Mysterio at the end, this one’s pretty pointless, just a fun year end battle between two big supervillian groups. It has some nice moments though, good bits of continuity, lot of energy from Ramos. Not bad at all, really. OKAY!
Well, like I said during the BND run, Slott is the best Spidey writer of the webheads. He has the best voice, he gets the subplot building, the romantic interest teasing, the rogue badguy stuff, Peter's intellect, telling compressed stories that give the reader their money worth. Year one starts very strong , gets confused for half a dozen issues with Slott's marvel FF stuff, there's a couple of sharp two parters drawn by Cammuncoli, and a fantastic event in Spider-Island. At this point, I was fully on board the "Dan Slott for ASM forever" train. The good times are gonna last forever, right!?
You exchanging secret emails about the politics of ComicGAF? Is this a coup?
FREEZA HAVE HIM TAKEN OUT.
No "Dying Wish"? No "Alpha"? God, Dan Slott had two huge milestones during his run and he shat the bed on both, and that doesn't make the cut? What will it take?
ViewtifulJC
Banned
ASM #677/Daredevil #8: the first half of this isnt very good at all. Mark Waid has a tendency to overdo the loser Peter Parker attributes (see the opening of Origin of the Species), and I think this might be the nadir. Peter spends the ENTIRE issue being upstaged by just about everybody. He whines about how lonely he is, the crook is happier than he is, he comes off a desperate creepy loser to Black Cat, he shouts out DDs name without a care in the world to his secret identity, Daredevil beats his down the building race, DD sees the illusion when Spidey looks stupid talking to himself, DD hears the tremors that apparently his Spider-Sense doesnt work against, he grabs the wiring and shocks himself. Its just one pratfall after another. And this is the hero were supposed to like? And Emma Rios makes pretty pictures, but I dont think much of her as a sequential storyteller at all. The second issue is much better, both from a writing and art standpoint. Kano is less distinctive, but hes a much stronger storyteller. The narrative switches to DD and his playful banter and antics with the Black Cat are absurdly charming. So, an awful Spider-Man story, a very good DD story, what rating does that get? OKAY!
678-679: Heres a good time travel story where Peter Parker and Grady save the day from themselves. A bit Doctor Who for my taste, but thats one of Slotts long loves and its mostly well executed here. Dan has a great handle on the various supporting cast members, giving Grady more of a spotlight and continuing his own little romantic subplot, and Dan continues to show a great grasp on handling the Peter-MJ relationship. OKAY!
679.1: Kinda bland, but I do like the increased focus on giving the Horizon Labs crew more defined characteristics, with Uatu being a big Buffy the Vampire Slayer geek with his own tool set for fighting the undead. OKAY!
680-681: Another decent two-parter, this time with Yost scripting who does an adequate job trying to be Dan Slott. Camuncoli with Jensens inks look nice, but Frank Darmatas pencils really suck the life out of a lot of this. Not bad, but feels like filler OKAY!
682-687: Ends of the Earth is exactly the kind of big dumb event I expected Spider Island to be. Its hard not to compare them, the big six-issue summer events with the smaller stories built around them. The main thing is theres just not enough plot here for 6 issues. When you read the first issue of Spider-Island, its a masterclass in setting up all these little interesting incidents for the reader to get hooked on; Spidey doing his superhero thing, Horizon labs, Norah-Phil, Peter and Carlie, Mary-Jane, Venom and Betty, the New Warriors, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Spider Kung Fu, Madame Webs ominous warning, The Jackal and the mysterious Spider-King and the more mysterious person behind all this, Jonahs Spider Patrol, and a really engaging idea about the whole city getting Spider Powers. EotE feels very by-the-numbers in comparison, with a couple of dumb new ideas like Spideys glider (makes a cool visual, but not exactly sure what purpose it serves his webs didnt already do?) or his new terrible gimmicky costume. Theres an interesting idea about, Hey, maybe Spideys wrong, maybe Doc Ock is really trying to do some good, but its immediately killed off in an idiotic fashion with the Al Gore scene. Our hero tortures the Sandman and whines about how hes not a leader or oh no theyre using my weapons, leading to multiple supporting characters telling him to stop being an idiot. The plot goes through the motions, and you read it, and you never get emotionally involved with anything, not even that Silver Sable death. After all the hype and build-up, its a huge disappointment how ordinary and ultimately forgettable this all turned out to be. EH!
688-691: Slott rebounds with a strong Lizard story that logically follows up on SHED, and with Dr. Morbius in the mix, its an interesting look at men whove become monsters and vice versa. Another thing I want to point out is Slott still finding room for his various sub-plots amidst all the action and mystery of the main story, more importantly with the big reveal of Roderick Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin, is totally alive and coming back real soon. This story has one of my favorite Spidey moments, in which Peter hides his cure harpoon from Connors with his right arm in a clever way that works best in comic book form. A strong Spider-Man story! GOOD!
692-694: Slott lays another egg for a major Spidey event in Alpha, and Ill be damned if this isnt the worst Spider-Man story hes ever told. A complete and total waste of everybodys time. CRAP!
695-697: No strong feelings about this story one way or the other. Mildly enjoyable. OKAY!
698-700: Now this SHOULD be great, and it has some really good moments. But the execution of all lets it down. The sudden turnaround of Doc Ock into Spider-Man never feels organic for such a big event, but like an easy deus ex machine to force big drama into the status quo. It never feels like an ending, and yes we all knew Peter would be back, but if youre gonna do this if youre gonna kill off Peter Parker on his big #700 ASM issue, you gotta earn it. The weight of all has to be there, I have to FEEL this and I dont. Nobody in the story seems to take any of this seriously. Peter kinda flies by the seat of his pants and Ock wins every time, but not in a way that seems clever, but simply the plot demanded it to happen and to make Peter look like an inept moron. Things just happen because because? Peter treats Mary-Jane Watson like a damn dog, and her reaction is to get all puppy dog eyed and pronounce his love for him? What!? The memory dump at the end feels incredibly rushed, a sudden turn for Doc Ock from mwahaha-bad guy to I WILL NOW BE A GOOD GUY MY WAY is very anti-climatic. And Ramos, god bless him for his work on Spider-Island where the high energy summer movie thrills are a perfect for his art, just aint right for the kind of pathos Slott is going for here. Sad to say, but this was another big misfire in my book. EH!
Oh boy, what happen here!? Well, you gotta look at the formula for last year, which was smaller stories built around a big event in the summer, and they tried that again with Ends of the Earth and a big winter event as well, but neither are a patch on Spider-Island. On top of that, with the exception of the Lizard 4-parter, the "smaller" stories just aint on the same level as the Vulture, Anti-Venom/Wraith/Mr.Negative, or Spider Slayers from last year. Marcos Martin is gone and is missed, and Casselli is mostly gone, too. Alpha is legit one of the worst ASM stories of all-time. A big disappointment after such a strong first year.
Not to end on a bad note, I just wanna say how much I like Horizon Labs as a place of work for Peter. Its a nexus of action and subplots like the Daily Bugle, but it also utilizes Peter's intellect in a way the Bugle never did, and has a built-in excuse for him to come in and come out as Peter/Spidey. And there are some GREAT sub-plots in here...again Slott is like a superhero in revitlizing misused or bad characters, with the new Hobgoblin and Kingsley coming back.
edit: ElNarez that last one was supposed to be the one with Alpha, lol.
678-679: Heres a good time travel story where Peter Parker and Grady save the day from themselves. A bit Doctor Who for my taste, but thats one of Slotts long loves and its mostly well executed here. Dan has a great handle on the various supporting cast members, giving Grady more of a spotlight and continuing his own little romantic subplot, and Dan continues to show a great grasp on handling the Peter-MJ relationship. OKAY!
679.1: Kinda bland, but I do like the increased focus on giving the Horizon Labs crew more defined characteristics, with Uatu being a big Buffy the Vampire Slayer geek with his own tool set for fighting the undead. OKAY!
680-681: Another decent two-parter, this time with Yost scripting who does an adequate job trying to be Dan Slott. Camuncoli with Jensens inks look nice, but Frank Darmatas pencils really suck the life out of a lot of this. Not bad, but feels like filler OKAY!
682-687: Ends of the Earth is exactly the kind of big dumb event I expected Spider Island to be. Its hard not to compare them, the big six-issue summer events with the smaller stories built around them. The main thing is theres just not enough plot here for 6 issues. When you read the first issue of Spider-Island, its a masterclass in setting up all these little interesting incidents for the reader to get hooked on; Spidey doing his superhero thing, Horizon labs, Norah-Phil, Peter and Carlie, Mary-Jane, Venom and Betty, the New Warriors, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Spider Kung Fu, Madame Webs ominous warning, The Jackal and the mysterious Spider-King and the more mysterious person behind all this, Jonahs Spider Patrol, and a really engaging idea about the whole city getting Spider Powers. EotE feels very by-the-numbers in comparison, with a couple of dumb new ideas like Spideys glider (makes a cool visual, but not exactly sure what purpose it serves his webs didnt already do?) or his new terrible gimmicky costume. Theres an interesting idea about, Hey, maybe Spideys wrong, maybe Doc Ock is really trying to do some good, but its immediately killed off in an idiotic fashion with the Al Gore scene. Our hero tortures the Sandman and whines about how hes not a leader or oh no theyre using my weapons, leading to multiple supporting characters telling him to stop being an idiot. The plot goes through the motions, and you read it, and you never get emotionally involved with anything, not even that Silver Sable death. After all the hype and build-up, its a huge disappointment how ordinary and ultimately forgettable this all turned out to be. EH!
688-691: Slott rebounds with a strong Lizard story that logically follows up on SHED, and with Dr. Morbius in the mix, its an interesting look at men whove become monsters and vice versa. Another thing I want to point out is Slott still finding room for his various sub-plots amidst all the action and mystery of the main story, more importantly with the big reveal of Roderick Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin, is totally alive and coming back real soon. This story has one of my favorite Spidey moments, in which Peter hides his cure harpoon from Connors with his right arm in a clever way that works best in comic book form. A strong Spider-Man story! GOOD!
692-694: Slott lays another egg for a major Spidey event in Alpha, and Ill be damned if this isnt the worst Spider-Man story hes ever told. A complete and total waste of everybodys time. CRAP!
695-697: No strong feelings about this story one way or the other. Mildly enjoyable. OKAY!
698-700: Now this SHOULD be great, and it has some really good moments. But the execution of all lets it down. The sudden turnaround of Doc Ock into Spider-Man never feels organic for such a big event, but like an easy deus ex machine to force big drama into the status quo. It never feels like an ending, and yes we all knew Peter would be back, but if youre gonna do this if youre gonna kill off Peter Parker on his big #700 ASM issue, you gotta earn it. The weight of all has to be there, I have to FEEL this and I dont. Nobody in the story seems to take any of this seriously. Peter kinda flies by the seat of his pants and Ock wins every time, but not in a way that seems clever, but simply the plot demanded it to happen and to make Peter look like an inept moron. Things just happen because because? Peter treats Mary-Jane Watson like a damn dog, and her reaction is to get all puppy dog eyed and pronounce his love for him? What!? The memory dump at the end feels incredibly rushed, a sudden turn for Doc Ock from mwahaha-bad guy to I WILL NOW BE A GOOD GUY MY WAY is very anti-climatic. And Ramos, god bless him for his work on Spider-Island where the high energy summer movie thrills are a perfect for his art, just aint right for the kind of pathos Slott is going for here. Sad to say, but this was another big misfire in my book. EH!
Oh boy, what happen here!? Well, you gotta look at the formula for last year, which was smaller stories built around a big event in the summer, and they tried that again with Ends of the Earth and a big winter event as well, but neither are a patch on Spider-Island. On top of that, with the exception of the Lizard 4-parter, the "smaller" stories just aint on the same level as the Vulture, Anti-Venom/Wraith/Mr.Negative, or Spider Slayers from last year. Marcos Martin is gone and is missed, and Casselli is mostly gone, too. Alpha is legit one of the worst ASM stories of all-time. A big disappointment after such a strong first year.
Not to end on a bad note, I just wanna say how much I like Horizon Labs as a place of work for Peter. Its a nexus of action and subplots like the Daily Bugle, but it also utilizes Peter's intellect in a way the Bugle never did, and has a built-in excuse for him to come in and come out as Peter/Spidey. And there are some GREAT sub-plots in here...again Slott is like a superhero in revitlizing misused or bad characters, with the new Hobgoblin and Kingsley coming back.
edit: ElNarez that last one was supposed to be the one with Alpha, lol.
Freezasaurus
Member
You do have a point. Especially because it'll save me $50. I love Dark Horse library editions. They even edge out Image hardcovers.
Can't wait to read Hillbilly. Definitely getting some of the same vibes I do from Goon.
Glad you liked it, check out #0 when it goes up on MU. It is the 3 backup stories from Howard the duck and the christmas issue. I agree it has the potential to be more than just random goofy shit. Todays solicit gave me hope that they realize this.
The twist in #1 killed me
When Gwen realizes she isn't the hero but a henchman for the bad guy. Its such a cool angle to take. The arrogance of her to just assume that she was the hero because of course she is the hero lol
Oh and as expected Gurihiru's art is fantastic as expected. Gives the perfect tone for the book.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
I refuse to read a book called Gwenpool
It's good so far and Hastings explained the name well enough IMO.
Freezasaurus
Member
Hey Ed
working on the thing right now in case you're wondering
The thing!?
I smell secrets.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Hey Ed
working on the thing right now in case you're wondering
good cuz we need you b
yeah I've been very busy with making some money to pay off a car that isn't under my name lol.
Plus having a bi-polar dad is getting to me :/
Brianimaniac
Banned
She-Hulk is one of my favorite superheroes ever, based solely on Byrne and Slott's runs. I get really frustrated with books like A-Force, where I get all excited about She-Hulk being a prominent figure in a new series, and then I check it out and she's just a generic superhero who happens to be a strong green lady, with none of the crazy fourth-wall-breaking stuff that made her and her solo stories so interesting and fun under Byrne and Slott.
Soule at least made an effort at writing the kind of She-Hulk book I like, but I didn't think it was funny or creative enough. I still bought every issue for the art.
Being a She-Hulk fan sucks.
Soule at least made an effort at writing the kind of She-Hulk book I like, but I didn't think it was funny or creative enough. I still bought every issue for the art.
Being a She-Hulk fan sucks.
She-Hulk is one of my favorite superheroes ever, based solely on Byrne and Slott's runs. I get really frustrated with books like A-Force, where I get all excited about She-Hulk being a prominent figure in a new series, and then I check it out and she's just a generic superhero who happens to be a string green lady, with none of the crazy fourth-wall-breaking stuff that made her and her solo stories so interesting and fun under Byrne and Slott.
Soule at least made an effort at writing the kind of She-Hulk book I like, but I didn't think it was funny or creative enough. I still bought every issue for the art.
Being a She-Hulk fan sucks.
Sure does suck to be a She Hulk fan RIGHT NOW.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
I just...I had to know. I had to see it for myself.
Brianimaniac
Banned
No, she got shot in the boob by an anti-Thanos missile, and she's just really hurt.
BrightLightLava
Unconfirmed Member
Kate Leth, the writer for Hellcat where She-Hulk is a big supporting character, is super upset with it all. I feel bad, at least she was using the character for something.
Wasn't told apparently. One of the people I would have assumed would have been given a heads up. I wonder if Kelly Thompson was told considering she is using her in A-Force.
Brianimaniac
Banned
That Hellcat book seemed obnoxious from the preview I saw before the first issue. I hate that Kathryn Immonen's Hellcat book was only a mini. That was one of my favorites when it was coming out.
It is fun and super light. Designed to be for all ages. Brittney Williams art is lovely.
I doubt anyone in editorial involved with CW2 is paying attention to what's going on in a book that sells ~11k a month. I'm not saying it's right, but the event book will take precedence over niche book every time.
BrightLightLava
Unconfirmed Member
I thought that might have been it, but couldn't find the source. That sucks.
It's definitely different than KI's run, but it's still one of my favorites each week it comes out. Much more like Squirrel Girl than anything.
Seconded.
Brianimaniac
Banned
Kate Leth's Hellcat seems excessively...millennial. I am a grumpy old man.
Sibersk Esto
Banned
Oh boy a whimsical story where Hulk and Rhino play baseball!
?!?!?!
Brianimaniac
Banned
Now that I think about it, Kathryn Immonen would be great for a She-Hulk ongoing. She did that She-Hulk team-up in Avenging Spider-Man that was really good.
A call to say they are going to badly injure/kill one of her books characters wouldn't hurt anyone. Its a lack of respect to the creators. But hey they can do what they like. I also doubt that book is only selling 11k. It would be gone if it was. I would be willing to believe it sells almost as much on comixology as most parents wouldn't bring their kids to the comic store.
BrightLightLava
Unconfirmed Member
That's probably fair.
Kathryn Immonen doesn't get enough work. She's consistently good, but she never gets long runs. I think there was actually an article about it a while back. Let me see if I can find it.
Edit: Found it. Oliver Sava does good comics editorial.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
ViewtifulJC
Banned
lets hope not
that comic rules, Fraction's time as Marvel is pretty hit and miss but that's one of the ones that really hits. Larocca's Romita impression is pretty solid too
I'm a millennial and think Hellcat is one of the worst books of the relaunch.