Daredevil!, The Man without Fear, and one of my favorite characters. In the last issue of Spider-Man, Spidey went to DD to get help, as he was convinced that the Black Cat was innocent of stealing the holographic cell phone.

The Story

At the start of the issue, we see that Matt Murdock's partner - Nelson, taking some care of some case where Matt's father was buried.

This issue starts right where the last left off - Spider-Man being electrocuted by the Black Cat. DD gets out of the rubble and stops her. She does mention that she had no intention to kill him, but rather hurt him badly. She is under the impression that Spider-Man turned her in because she would not sleep with him. (Typical). She does seem to fancy the new masked vigilante though - DD.

Once Spider-Man is back on his feet though, he explains that they were both set up. The three head towards the home of Wasserschmidt - the inventor of the stolen device. Wasserschmidt, scared to death explains how he had faked the robbery, and had actually stolen it himself, so that he could sell it for more on the black market.

As they speak, DD smells a drug in Wasserschmidt's sweat. He concludes that the man has 10 minutes to live. With that Spidey rushes him to the hospital, while DD and Cat go to retrieve the holographic device.

DD and Cat spilt up and DD eventually finds it. Unfortunately, he still seems dissatisfied as he didn't find out who framed Spider-Man and the Black Cat. Cat, distracts DD by kissing him and making out on the roof. This eventaully leads to DD's bedroom where they do some funny things ;) They are interrupted however by Nelson, who tell's DD that his dad's body is missing.

Unknown to DD, Black Cat met the culprit who framed her while she had split up from him. Apparently, she was framed, so that she would 're-steal' the device, giving the crook a chance to speak with her in private. Cat is offered a new job - the custody of Matt Murdock, to which she would get a handsome reward.

Thoughts
Fairly okay issue. Being a Daredevil book, the focus is obviously more on DD. Spider-Man plays a rather tiny role in the story. As far as the Black Cat is concerned, the panels are drawn in such a way that the reader automatically assumes Felicia has accepted the offer - thus seducing DD, as the first step in her new job. Somehow, I'm not so sure she has actually accepted the offer though, as we all know that Felicia is a playful girl. She may very well be seducing DD for the hell of it, and may very well turn things around.

With his origin out of the way, Miles embarks on his first adventure as Spider-Man!

The Story

Uncle Aaron (A.K.A. the Prowler) arrives at a shady bar in Mexico City to deliver a package he stole from Oscorp to his client, a criminal who calls himself the Scorpion (a big guy with a scorpion tattoo).  Scorpion's men ambush Aaron, but Aaron is able to knock them out using an electrical device he got from the Tinkerer.  Aaron is then confronted by the Scorpion.

Meanwhile, Miles is patrolling the city as Spider-Man when he stumbles across a purse snatching.  Miles sloppily takes out the thugs before he is chased off by the police.  Former Daily Bugle reporter Betty Brant captures the whole thing on camera. 

The Scorpion initially holds off on paying Aaron, but relents when Aaron threatens to kill one of his loved ones right in front of him.  After paying Aaron the Scorpion asks for his package, but Aaron refuses to give it to him and attempts to stab Scorpion with a knife.  The knife fails to penetrate Scorpion's rock hard skin, so Aaron next tries to electrocute him, also to no avail.  Running out of options, Aaron kicks Scorpion where the sun don't shine and runs outside, where the police are waiting for him.  With his device out of power, Aaron is arrested.

Miles returns home where his mom is waiting for him.  The two start to talk about the conversation Miles had with his father about Uncle Aaron when Ganke bursts in and interrupts them, claiming he has something urgent to tell Miles.  In Miles' room, Ganke tells Miles he needs training, and gives Miles some footage of Peter Parker fighting Doctor Octopus to study.

At the Daily Bugle, Betty offers J. Jonah Jameson footage of the new Spider-Man in exchange for her job back.  JJ agrees stating that, Peter Parker or not, the new Spider-Man is about to become famous.

In his cell, Aaron sees a picture in the paper of the new Spider-Man and demands to know if he's someone new (he can't read Spanish).

Thoughts

This was a great start to Miles' second arc, with Brian Michael Bendis following up on the most interesting subplot introduced in the previous arc; Uncle Aaron.  Although the first arc suggested that Aaron, despite being a career criminal, might not be such a bad guy, his actions this issue clearly establish him as, in the words of Miles' mom, "a bad person."  Going by the last page, it looks like Aaron has put two and two together and at least suspects that Miles is the new Spider-Man.  How this will affect their relationship going forward should make for some interesting reading.

Chris Samnee takes over artistic duties from Sara Pichelli this issue.  Although I miss Pichelli, Samnee does a good job filling in, though his different style took me a while to warm up to.

I do have a couple of gripes; for one, the new Ultimate Scorpion was disappointing.  There's no particular reason to call him the Scorpion other than his barely visible tattoo.  Still waiting for Ultimate Mac Gargan (unless that was Gargan, yikes!).  Also, does anybody else find it weird that Nick Fury hasn't offered to train Miles in light of what happened to Peter?

The new Ultimate Spider-Man is still going strong.  Looking forward to the reunion between Miles and his uncle.
  

He's back!  NOT!

   

With Red Hulk down, it falls to the unlikely duo of Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson to save the moloids from certain enslavement!  That's right, a Spidey/JJ team up written by Zeb Wells and illustrated by Joe Madureira.  You should have bought this already, unless you have a paralyzing fear of being entertained.  But I'll review it anyway, bulletproofsponge isn't paying me to not review comics.  Come to think of it, he's not paying me at all...

The Story

Spider-Man and Jameson manage to escape Rak'tar and the molons by riding what JJ refers to as a "mole-mule."  When they get back to Subterranea, they quickly begin to argue.  JJ wants to go back to the surface but Spider-Man wants to stay, not wanting to leave Red Hulk and the moloids behind.

Their argument is cut short when Rak'tar and his molons barge in with intent of slaughtering the moloids.  As JJ heads for the surface, Rak'tar offers Spider-Man the chance to leave but Spidey refuses, challenging Rak'tar to fight. 

Needless to say, Spidey gets his butt handed to him.  Just as Rak'tar is about to finish him off, Spider-Man grabs a sharp diamond with his webbing and uses it to slice off Rak'tar's pants.  Turns out molons don't wear underwear.  This shames Rak'tar in front of his molons, which according to molon law means that Spidey won the fight.  Recognizing Spider-Man as their superior, he and the molons are able to work out a peace treaty with the moloids.  When Red Hulk comes to, he's amazed at what's transpired.  Spidey and Rulk travel back to the surface where Spider-Man explains what happened to JJ and the Avengers.

Meanwhile, back underground, the Mole Man begins making new plans for conquest.

Thoughts

This was a great finish to what has been an amazing first arc.  Both the story and artwork were top notch.  Joe Mad's artwork is bright, loud and fun.  You can feel the energy and enthusiasm leap off each page.  And let me add that it is very refreshing to have an A-list artist deliver consistently great work on time without having to bring in other artists for assistance.  Kudos to Mad and the editors for that! 

Avenging Spider-Man isn't just a pleasure to look at; Wells delivered a very funny script that was also able to highlight why Spider-Man is such a great and effective superhero despite not being the strongest or even smartest one around.  In the end, his sense of humour won the day, which is always nice to see.

This first arc of Avenging Spider-Man was a resounding success and I'm eager to see what Wells has up his sleeve next.  Even though the next few issues won't have Mad on art duties, the future for this title looks bright!