Spider-Man Reviews

Amazing Spider-Man 624

Posted by bulletproofsponge

Alright folks,
Sorry this place has not been updated in the last couple of days. Anyways, here is the review for the issue in which our dear Peter Parker gets fired, most likely never to have a photography job again.

The Story
So, in the preview, we see Spider-Man has changed tactics and decides to spray Vulture with webbing. His plan works out absolutely fine for him until he runs out of web fluids. In the midst of it all, Spider-Man blurts out that the old vulture, Adrian Toomes, said it was the mobsters who made him.

The red vulture then takes off, obviously to return to the mobsters. Fortunately, Spidey throws a Spidey tracer on the vulture.

Elsewhere, Jameson is in turmoil, knowing that his security guard gave his life for his employer. In case you did not know, this is the same security guard who Spidey thought was Jameson at the end of Amazing Spider-Man 623.

The slight problem arises as Jameson is now even more connected to the creation of the Vulture since the Vulture actually came to hunt him. There is also no evidence that Jameson actually fought the Vulture, thus resulting in a possibility of Jameson being charged for the death of the security guard... I think. Unfortunately, I;m not entirely sure what the deal was, but at the end of the day, proof was needed that Jameson was fighting the Vulture.

Peter then "photoshops" an image of Jameson fighting the Vulture, and releases it to the press. Jameson however, knows that the image is a fake. He thus publicly announces what Peter has done, and warns other organizations to stay away from him.

Anyway, in a scene before Peter get publicly humiliated, the Vulture learns that he was indeed created by the same machine used to create scorpion. It was his own idea to create a Vulture... just with another man. The mobsters shot Jimmy in the leg and used him to become their Vulture.

This is really a sad issue that ends with Peter, in his Spidey costume sitting where the Daily Bugle used to be. As he sits there he wonders what his friends and family must be thinking of him.

Personal Thoughts

With Aunt May still partially psycho due to her negative touch, Peter is probably gonna get a big mouthful from her. Probably the only person Peter can talk to would be Mary Jane, since she knows his identity, and could possibly understand his reason for doing what he did. Other than that, he could talk to all the other Avengers as well, not that they'd really care though.

I was also wondering, could it be possible that Jameson is not so innocent after all. Perhaps the security guard died in vain, or was manipulated into getting in the vultures way. There were no witnesses, and all of the sudden Jameson has become soft and honest.

Overall, this was an okay issue, with not so okay art. Look out for the next issue - Amazing Spider-Man 625, in which the Rhinos collide.

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Web of Spider-Man 6 preview

Posted by bulletproofsponge

Hi guys, I really do not have too much time to write my thoughts on the preview. As such, I am cutting straight to the point. See the preview below. Welcome back Dr Connors...

ps. Click to enlarge if the font is too small for you.

Look out for the review by Spiderfan001

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Newsrama preview : Amazing Spider-Man 624

Posted by bulletproofsponge

Hey guys,
So here is the preview for Amazing Spider-Man 624. Hope you guys enjoy it.

And so we have the weird art Spider-Man owning the Vulture. Also, this may be the issue in which Peter gets fired.

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Amazing Spider-Man 623

Posted by bulletproofsponge

This issue is like a dejavu of the last Electro story. The reason I say this has got nothing to do with the story being similar, but the art. Once again we have some funny art to go with the story. The story itself was great, finally making use of other 'gauntlet' characters.

The story
The scene opens with Electro sitting on a tree, sizing up the security of a prison he is about to break into. Obviously Electro knows the prison so well that he even recognizes some old guards. Anyhow, Electro succeeds breaking in and releases the new red Vulture. We later find out that it was the Kravens who gave Electro the task of setting Vulture free.

Meanwhile Spider-Man is elsewhere dealing with his day to day creeps/ wannabe super villains. It appears that J.Jonah Jameson gave the 'permit' for this wannabe villain to make a reality TV show. Spidey obviously heads straight to Jameson's office and causes some small inconvenience for the mayor.

Coming back to the ugly Vulture, Vulture sees himself in the mirror and is not impressed by what he sees. He is next seen at a mafia hideout. It
is implied through some conversation that this mafia gang have something to do with the Vulture's condition. The Vulture flies right into the hideout, grabs the mafia boss and flies away.

It turns out that the mafia do know the Vulture. He used to be someone called Jimmy Natale, a good friend of this mafia boss. The Vulture finally finds out that it was Jameson who made him. At the same time, Jameson's wrong doing is all over the news as the professor who Jameson hired surrendered and broke the news to the press.

As Spidey hears this on the news, he get furious and heads toward the mayors office. Fortunately for Jameson, Spidey appears just in time to see Vulture break into the mayor's office. While the two fight, Spidey get thrown out the building giving the Vulture a few seconds alone with Jameson. The final scene shows Jameson's body on the floor with the Vulture bending over him.

Personal Thoughts

Overall, this was an okay issue. Unfortunately we do not see Peter Parker losing his job as seen in the preview, and circulated among many discussion threads.

See this image below.

From the issue I just read, it does not seem like Jameson will be able to fire anyone. There is however a small reference to Peter's job, as seen below.

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New Avengers 62

Posted by bulletproofsponge

So, New Avengers issues do not come out all that often. That is probably why I keep forgetting about it. The only reason I actually remembered was the little article about Spider-Man: the New Avenger. Anyhow, here is the review for New Avengers 62. It is a direct spin-off from New Avengers 60-61.

The story starts with Spider-Man falling off the building he got pushed over by the Griffin in the previous issue. Spider-Man, as always is talking to himself, stating that it was beneath him to even be fighting the Griffin, much less be pushed over.

Just then, Spider-Woman, who is now mind controlled ( also in previous issue) comes after Spidey to kick his butt. In quite a cool fight scene, Spider-Man does get his butt kicked pretty bad. Obviously he is not really fighting back though.

Elsewhere, the two Captain Americas are still fighting Arthur Parks aka the Living Laser. Keep in mind that all these thugs are all the Hood's men. Anyhow, there is not much of a battle here as Luke Cage appears out of nowhere and beats the $#!+ out of the Living Laser. It does not take a genius to figure out how come the laser beams shot do not affect Luke Cage. The three are later met by Nick Fury and his gang of 'less famous' heroes.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man is still being beaten. Somewhere between the fight however Spider-Woman wakes up and is able to speak, but still cannot control her actions. From a distance, Spider-Woman is seen firing her beams at Spidey as he lies seemingly unconscious on the floor. As the two baddies come down to see, suddenly Spider-Woman is in control of herself and Spider-Man is up and able.

Regardless, the entire scene is really confusing to me. Together, the Spiders fight and web the bad guys up.

At the end of the issue, everyone meets back at base, including Nick Fury and gang. Obviously everyone is surprised to see Steve Rogers back from the dead. In the meeting hall, the television shows the Thor being taken down - in Siege # 1.

Just then Spider-Man comes in with the best scene in the comic. See below.

The final scene is similar to the scene in Siege #1, where Steve Rogers and the Avengers prepare a full on attack on Osborn.

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Spider-Man: the New Avenger

Posted by bulletproofsponge

Ladies and Gents,

I officially introduce to you Spider-Man: The New avenger. Thats right. As many have already expected, Spider-Man will be staying on the NA team after Siege is over. He is currently an avenger anyways, just that the Avengers team he is now on is not recognized by the government. Reason for that being is that Norman Osborn is leading the recognized team aka the Dark Avengers.

Anyway, heres the image.

See the original article

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Amazing Spider-Man #622 Review

Posted by Spiderfan001

Never fear fellow bloggers! Your friend and mine, bulletproofsponge, will be back reviewing Amazing soon. Until then, I bring you my review of Amazing Spider-Man #622 featuring vampires and Greg Weisman!
First story - It Is The Life

The story begins with Spider-Man and the Black Cat after a night of no strings attached love making. The Cat puts a damper on the mood when she tells Spidey that she sold his blood (retrieved last issue) to some wannabe "dracs."

Spidey, understandably disturbed by this, heads down to a "vampire" club as Peter to try and get it back. While there he meets a mysterious woman who seems to know who Peter is and what he is after. She hypnotizes him and tells him that Morbius has his blood and gives him his location.

The next day Spidey invades Morbius' hideout and under the influence of the woman he met the night before, lets her in. It turns out this woman is Martine, Morbius' ex-fiance who is also a vampire. Martine is still carrying a torch and wants Morbius to join her as "true undead." A fight ensues and things go south when Martine takes Spider-Man hostage. To save his life Morbius agrees to comply with Martine who then throws Spider-Man into some wooden furniture. Spidey grabs a wooden stake from the shattered furniture but hesitates to use it. Luckily Morbius has no such moral qualms, and shoves Martine into the stake Spider-Man was holding.

Although Spidey is angry at first he understands when Morbius tells him it was the only way. Morbius then reveals that he had bought Spider-Man's blood off the dracs and was hoping to use it to help find a cure for Jack Russell also known as Were Wolf by Night. Morbius apologizes for taking the blood and destroys the vial. He feels responsible for Martine and Jack Russell becoming what they became. Understanding what he's going through, Spidey gives Morbius some more of his blood.

Second Story - Stages of Grief

We start with Flash Thompson winning another marathon with Peter and Betty Brant cheering him on. Flash is euphoric.

Four weeks later Peter and Betty witness that Flash is not having the same amount of success learning how to walk with his prosthetic legs. After doing his best but falling, we see him sink into a depression.

Three weeks later Flash asks Peter to ask Spider-Man if there is anything the heroes could do that would help him grow back his legs or give him better ones. He figures that if they can do that for him he can return the favor and become a superhero. Peter later receives a phone call from Betty who has been told by Flash's doctor that he is going through the five stages of grief backwards. He started with acceptance, then depression and now he is bargaining.

For the next two weeks Spidey talks to everyone he can think of but comes up with nothing. When Spider-Man shows up to give Flash the bad news, Flash lashes out at him, entering the second stage; anger.

A week later Flash receives an email from a shady company called "Reabilify" that offer to give him indestructible cybernetic legs at no monetary cost. Instead he would be required to pay off the debt by entering into the company's service. Denying that these new legs may cost him something more valuable then his money Flash believes he has found what he was looking for. Before he can respond to the offer Betty arrives to bring him to his birthday party.

At his party Flash is surrounded by his family, friends and achievements. His father even shows up to tell his son that his actions inspired him to join AA. Harry and Peter also managed to track down Flash's old flame Sha Shan who will now be Flash's physical therapist.

Five weeks later, Flash deletes the latest email Reabilify sends him and heads to his therapy session. As he attempts to use his prosthetic legs he falls but this time starts laughing.

Thoughts

Given Fred Van Lente's previous work with Morbius it was only matter of time before Morby showed up in Amazing. I have never been a big Morbius fan but I really enjoyed his appearance here. Morbius is sympathetic and likable, which is not how I remember him from his old Amazing and Marvel Team Up appearances.

There were other nice touches throughout the story as well. I loved how Peter tried to blend in at the "drac" club completely oblivious to the Twilight craze. I also liked how he chose to invade Morbius' lair during the day on the basis of his knowledge of horror movies. The artwork by Joe Quinones was fun and suited the story well.

My only quibble was that I have a hard time believing Felicia would sell Spidey's blood in the first place. Yes, she's amoral, but selling radioactive blood to a group of kids who will most likely drink it is plain stupid. Especially when comic book science dictates that drinking radioactive blood will most likely give you super powers instead of horrible diseases.

The second story penned by Greg Weisman, better known as one of the main writers/producers of the wonderful Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, was an interesting look at the trials and tribulations of Flash Thompson. Weisman brilliantly frames the story around Flash going through the five stages of depression backwards. All of Flash's actions and emotions are understandable; I know if I lived in the Marvel Universe and had lost my legs I would probably be looking at cybernetics as well. Weisman's knowledge of continuity also shines through as he makes great use of figures from Flash's past including his father, Sha Shan and even a cameo by Tiny!

As expected, the artwork by Luke Ross looked fantastic. What was most impressive was how expressive all his characters were, especially Flash. He was the perfect choice for an emotional story like this.

Issue #622 offered up two great stories and a nice break from the main Gauntlet storyline.
Do not forget to check out The Spectacular Spider-Man on Disney XD. If you do not get Disney XD, most of the episodes are available on DVD. Check it out, you will not regret it.