Miles Morales finally gets his proper costume as his first story arc draws to a close!

The Story

Spider-Woman confronts Miles and demands to know why he's dressed as Spider-Man and how he got his powers.  Miles isn't very forthcoming, so the impatient Spider-Woman webs him up and unmasks him.  Miles attempts to hop away but ends up tripping and knocking himself out.

Miles wakes up in a cell at the Triskelion, where Spider-Woman, Nick Fury, Iron Man and Hawkeye are examining him.  After Iron Man confirms that Miles has spider powers similar to those of Peter Parker, Fury asks for a moment alone with Miles.  Fury and Miles have a heart-to-heart about how Miles got his powers and why he's decided to take up Spider-Man's mantle.  Fury also informs Miles that he knows about his Uncle Aaron's criminal activities, and that the FBI calls him the Prowler.

Meanwhile, Electro wakes up in the medical wing of the Triskelion and immediately begins wreaking havoc.  Iron Man, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman attempt to stop him, but Electro takes them all out.  Fury takes Miles out of his cell and attempts to stop Electro himself but has no luck.  Using his camouflage powers, Miles is able to sneak up behind Electro and hit him with a crate.  Miles then hits Electro with his venom blast, disrupting his powers and allowing Fury to shoot him.

The next day at school Miles tells Ganke about what happened.  The two are then confronted by Jessica Drew who hands Miles a brief case and apologizes for the way she treated him earlier.  Before leaving she warns Miles that he has one chance to prove himself.  When Miles opens the briefcase, he finds a brand new black and red Spider-Man costume.

Thoughts

Given the slow pace Brian Michael Bendis was taking Miles' journey to becoming Spider-Man in the first four issues, this issue's fast pace was a little jarring.  My main problem was how quickly Nick Fury seems ready to support Miles' decision to become Spider-Man.  Given his reaction to Peter's death in Ultimate Fallout, you would think that he would be more reluctant to let another young kid put his life on the line.  Plus he had to be aware of how easily Spider-Woman took him out.  Sure, Miles beat Electro, but that was more luck than anything. 

Although it's nice to have Miles ready to begin his career as Spider-Man, this issue was not as strong as the last four; a weak ending to an otherwise strong origin story.       

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.

Another late review, due to some other life things that have occurred. This issue essentially concluded Electro's short term reign as an actual threat to the Spidey-verse. In this conclusion, Electro actually makes a mark in history that will not be easily forgotten - destroying the Daily Bugle.

The story



The preview leaves with Spider-man awoken from the blast by Electro is Amazing Spider-Man 613, only to run back into the fire to look for some clue of some sort that just might help him take down Electro.


In the next scene we see Dexter Bennet, yelling at the top of his voice to all his employees to evacuate the DB. Upon trying to get out however, the employees find out that the whole building its electrified. As such, none of them can get out and are all trapped inside the building. Similarly, no one is allowed from the outside to go in either.



On the outside, J. Jonah Jameson, former owner of the Daily Bugle / DB, and current mayor of New York City, is complaining to himself and everyone around him about the situation with no conclusion as to what should be done.


Just then, Spider-man appears with the perfect plan, that is not revealed. He does however require the assistance of the Jameson's Anti Spidey squad.



Inside the building, Electro is searching for Dexter, still furious about him stealing from the public. As is very much expected, Spider-man comes in the nick of time to save Bennet.



As the two battle, the scene is shifted underground where the Anti Spider-squad is cutting off the electrical power supply for the whole building. I must say, I saw this coming from mile away. Everything that happens from this point on was absolutely not expected.

From outside the building Jameson watches as his building is being torn apart by Electrical blows fired at Spider-man. Some very cool scenes throughout the fight include Electro disappearing into a power plug supply and appearing elsewhere, and Spider-man revealing that he had upgraded his webbing so Electro could no longer conduct himself along the webbing.


In the meantime, Jameson is making his way into his beloved building, somehow intending to stop the fight before his building gets destroyed. Bennet is more than happy to lead Jameson to the fight, hoping for the mayor to die in it.



As the first of a number of unexpected things to happen next, the ceiling above Bennet falls, just as Jameson has moved out of the way. Bennet is crushed under the rubble as Spider-man and Electro fight above him.

With no time to loose, Spider-man carries Bennet as he and Jameson make a run out the building. The entire DB is then reduced to rubble in a matter of seconds, and for a moment, it appears as though Jameson is caught in a trance.

The story ends with Electro, being led to him cell by a guard, who turns out to be the Chameleon. Inside, the prison, we see Sasha Kraven inviting Electro to join their hunt against Spider-man.


Personal Thoughts

Overall an average issue, which in my opinion is fantastic compared to the last couple of issues. The story is filled with the unexpected, which contributes to a better story. The art however, still remains constant and is not to my liking. With the Daily Bugle destroyed, and Dexter Bennet probably out of the picture for some time, it is possible that Jameson may step down as mayor some time soon, and return to his newspaper business.

Two things could happen as a result of the destruction of the DB.

1. Jameson rebuilds it and becomes as cocky as ever
2. Jameson changes his attitude towards everyone, and becomes a new man

These are just my personal opinions which may not happen at all. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to see what the outcome of this issue will be for J. Jonah Jameson Jr.

Web of Spider-man 2 is divided into three different stories again. The first story being about Electro, the second about Spider-girl, and the third Jonah Jameson Jr. I will be reviewing the first and the third story. Although I do enjoy the Spider-girl story very much as well.


Web of Spider-man review part 1 - due to a rather busy schedule, I do not have time to review both the stories at once. Do look out for Part 2 in a day or two.

See the preview here.

In Electro Origins
The art for this comic is absolutely fantastic. Coloring is outstanding, as I even found it enjoyable to see characters like Electro and Magneto, who usually have terribly brights colored costumes.

In the story we learn of the, not-so-complicated origin of Electro. He got zapped by lightning while climbing an electrical pole. (High-tension wire) We find out that in recent times, Electro has been searching for ways to charge himself up as he notices his degeneration.

In an effort to build his 'charger' he has been stealing Stark Equipment - Super Efficient Transistors. He completes the mechanism and begins charging himself. Magneto, and his children in the meantime, finds themselves drawn to a disturbance in the electromagnetic fields - Electro.



Being the B-Class villain that he is, Electro tries to fight Magneto to no avail. Magneto, impressed by the power Electro holds within, invites him to join forces. Once again, Electro, thinking too much of himself denies. Finally, Magneto himself gives up, even stating that Charles Xavier would not bother to recruit him.



The story shifts, somewhere a couple of days later I presume, to Max Dillion in a terribly unkempt apartment. His landlord, who for some reason looks very much like Peter Parker with an earring, comes in, harassing Max for his due rent. See below:



In doing so, he spots Electro's costume and makes some unnecessary comment about it. Electro, tired of his nonsense, takes the opportunity to zap him to death. Poor guy. - The End.

Overall, I consider this story to be most enjoyable. Really simple, yet I think it must be the art that caught my interest. Especially after watching 'Vertigo' versions of Electro in Amazing Spider-man comics.

From the preview, we know that Amazing Spider-man 613, continues exactly where ASM 612 left off, with the exact same art style. The last scene in the preview shows Spider-man has escaped the angry mob and changed back into simple old Peter Parker.


We also see that poor Electro is seriously suffering from his own powers and is seeking a cure from the Thinker.

The story

Electro, in desperate need for money in order to pay for treatment to cure himself, is blackmailing Dexter Bennet, owner of the DB - 'give me money or you die.'

Electro succeeds in getting the required amount of money from Dexter and heads to the Thinker's base for treatment. That night, Peter Parker returned to his apartment staying up all night inventing an 'Electro tracer.'

I must mention that the story here is nothing all that impressive. As such it is not surprising that Spider-man tracks Electro down, just as he is being upgraded into Electro 2.0. As if Spider-man's timing is ever better, he comes in just at the right moment to disrupt the machine, making Electro an extremely powerful source of electricity. The Thinker and his associate manage to escape without being noticed.


The story ends with Electro posting another video on YouTube. Encouraging the public to turn on every light in the city to give him enough power to bring down Dexter Bennet and the DB. It is at this point that readers, I suppose, will stop feeling sorry for poor old Electro and will begin reading more about the Electro they have grown up reading about.



Personal Thoughts

In the past 11 issues or so, there have been meaningless glimpses of Aunt May and Jonah Jameson Sr. appearing every now and then. This is one of those issues in which they appear for a short period, adding no value to the story line. They appear, hoping to surprise Peter, only to be greeted by a barbaric looking Michelle, who is not impressed to see Peter's aunt.

Regarding Dexter Bennet, I understand that Dexter Bennet was in no position to negotiate terms when Electro broke into his house to 'rob' the poor man. Nonetheless, Dexter must have been rather silly to think that Electro was going to stick to his word and not come after him again. Especially after he powers up and becomes invincible.

Wouldn't it be simple however for Dexter to inform some authorities and have the power supply shut down for the night. Spider-man can then think through how he is going to take down this new Electro.

The issue is short, and there really is not anything fantastic about it. So far this 'Gauntlet' is going no where further than how the Amazing Spider-man cartoons in the 60's went. Moral of the story, start following New Avengers for better Spider-man stories.

Overall rating for the story: see below



But better than Amazing Spider-Man 611 or Amazing Spider-Man 612.

The story is divided in two stories. In my opinion, the comic makes the reader feel that he is back in the 1960's ( At least the first story does). Reason for this being that the art in the comic is very much like the art in the 1960's Spider-man cartoon. Others have commented that the art is very 'Vertigo' Styled.

It is implied that the first story takes place soon after Spider-man has spent some time with the Avengers. This could possibly be in New Avengers 59 , or Ms Marvel 47.
Before continuing, you may want to catch the preview for this issue here.



First story
At the beginning, focus is mainly on Electro and what he has been going through in more recent times. Such include a dysfunction in his powers, searching for a cure, and being treated like a freak by everyone else. Thankfully he is seen in this comic, mostly without his 'mask.'

In the meantime we find that Dexter Bennet, owner of the DB ( former Daily bugle ) is requesting a bail out for his dying company. Electro, tired of being accused a criminal is set on exposing to the public the real criminal - big shots like Dexter Bennet who is using the taxpayers money to bail out the DB.

Coming back to Peter, we learn that Peter never got drunk in Amazing Spider-Man 600, yet, he had a hangover the day after and was unable to remember what happened - i.e. his one night stand with Michelle. He was unknowingly drinking apple ginger ale the whole time, not champagne.

Anyhow, Peter finds out eventually from Michelle that Electro has gained the trust of the people and is protesting against Bennet. Spider-man obviously is not about to let the villain wonder around New York and attempts to stop him. Surprisingly, Electro seems to be able to counter attack all of Spider-man's moves. Spider-man is thrown down into the angry mob, who think Spider-man is Bennet's hired gun against Electro.



Second Story
The second story features Mary Jane, Black Cat, and Norah. Unfortunately, the art for this story has to be gross. This story focuses on Spider-man and the Black Cat. Peter wonder's where his relationship with Felicia is going as she does not really care about anything he does "out of the suit."

While trying to make some conversation with Felicia, Spider-man mentions that he bumped into his ex that morning. His Parker luck did not help him too much there though. As much as Spider-man fans would want to see Mary Jane in a comic, the art simply throws you off. I must highlight the terrible art.

Check out the ugly Peter Parker and Mary Jane below



This second story could be so much better if the art was good. It ends with Peter meeting someone in the office that sounds and smells like the Black Cat, but goes by the name Ashley Moon. Not to mention causes him to have some 'Bad Luck.'

The only real relationship that is visible between the Black Cat and this Ashley Moon are the green eyes. It is highly possible that Felicia is simply wearing a wig. Nonetheless, as I have pointed out before, Felicia, normally has blue eyes.Read this article I wrote a while back.


Image below: Ashley Moon



Ever since Amazing Spider-Man 606, the Black Cat has suddenly had blue eyes, which bothers me particularly because the green eyes are supposed to be one of the ways to differentiate Mary Jane when she is drawn by different artists. For eg, no one would ever know that it was Mary Jane in the panel above if it were not for her green eyes.

Now apparently the green eyes are what connects Ashley Moon to Felicia. Apart from this, Norah is also featured in this story, almost hiding none of her mixed feelings toward Peter.

Personal Thoughts
As in the review for Amazing Spider-Man 611, I am lacking any personal insight to this comic as the art is just too distracting. Overall, very disappointing in my opinion. Very poor story and art. I need to read some old Spider-man comics.

The first story was reasonably fine. The story was nothing special, nonetheless it is building the foundation for a good story that we are not yet seeing. Electro's character is magnified here, providing a refreshing new view on his character.

As far as the second story is concerned, if you want to read a good story with the Black Cat, do not read this. If there is anything to like about this comic is that we can pretty much confirm Spidey still has not let go of Mary Jane. Unfortunately enough, the sudden appearance of this Ashley Moon has once again blank out all hopes of Peter getting back with Mary Jane anytime soon.

Could it be possible that this is Mephisto's idea of giving Peter a 'chance at happiness?' After all, he is the devil, and I am certain that the devil would not want a happy clean marriage ahead for Peter Parker. So instead, he decides to keep putting sluts in Peter's way to keep him temporarily "happy." Any thoughts?



Other than that - rated 3.5/10 by bulletproofsponge