Amazing Spider-Man #573
by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr.
This is the end of the six-part "New Ways to Die." Nothing is different between the beginning and the end. There are no real ramifications. Antivenom is temporarily incapacitated and then silently sweeped off to the side at the end, to be used for future stories. There is no payoff at the end. Spidey doesn't even quip a single time.
And MJ doesn't appear at all.
Spidey punches Goblin. Goblin says, "Stop! You're caving in my skull!" Then Goblin punches Spidey. Then Spidey gets real angry and says, "You-you-you suck!" Then he punches Goblin again. Then they stop saying stupid things and just start breaking walls.
Sometimes there are comic books that click so well with me, that I can call it a comic made for me. This is the opposite.
I think we can all agree that Foam-Finger Freddy does not approve.
I'm sorry for what I'm saying, but I really do feel that this arc was a waste of 19 bucks. Nothing meaningful happened through the arc. The only good thing is that Stephen Colbert guest-stars in the back-up for this issue.
Detective Comics #849
by Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen
This, on the other hand, was pretty awesome. And by pretty awesome, I mean pretty REALLY awesome.
There's a wonderful opening scene with Batman interrogating Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow) at Arkham, and the Joker gleefully watches as a prisoner. It is so rare that we actually see a Batman interrogation scene.
The rest of the issue is Batman getting suckered into Hush's (Tommy Elliot's) trap, and then Hush telling Batman his plans. Hush underwent reconstructive surgery to mimic Bruce's face, so that when Batman's heart slowly dies under his machine, he can later completely ruin Wayne Corps, as well as watch Catwoman's heart fail thereafter.
That is cold. Suffice to say, I am so psyched for next issue.
2 comments:
In the six issues of NWTD, here are the things that are different:
Anti-Venom. Before NWTD no Anti-Venom, after NWTD, he exists. He's Eddie Brock and he wants to be a hero.
Aunt May has more clues/suspicions about Martin Li/Mr. Negative.
Martin Li has super powers (healing).
Oscorp was doing human experiments with illegal immigrants (who are now at the FEAST homeless shelter).
Freak is alive and on the loose.
Spider-Man has formed an alliance/understanding with two of the Thunderbolts (Songbird and Radioactive Man).
Norman Osborn and Harry Osborn are now at odds.
Lily (Harry's girlfriend) is now making moves on Peter Parker.
The guy who is not Lily's dad is going to look bad when Spider-Man shows up again, because he promised every one the serial killer was killed.
Lily's dad is in the hospital, because Menace attacked him.
We learned that Menace is doing things to get Lily's dad elected (instead of the opposite).
Peter Parker gets a job. He's now working for Ben Urich at Front Line.
A lot happened in those issues.
Also, Spider-Man did make a bunch of quips in the last issue:
Making fun of Anti-Venom's name.
His comment about Norman Osborn's "little goblin".
Calling Venom in the Scorpion suit "the turducken of supervillains".
And a couple of other things too.
Hi anonymous! Your comment is kind of. . . an excellent comment.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness (and breadth!) in addressing my complaint, and if I may have one criticism --which may very well be invalid-- I'd say how the developments listed are set-up -- designed to tell a future story rather than the current one. That's NOT entirely valid, 'cause for all we know, those threads could all tie together somehow for some amazing denouement.
For now, it seems the cause of my complaint in the post was my own subjective expectation for the story: I was hoping to see the actualization of some plot points rather than the set-up for other ones. To me, it seemed that the Thunderbolts came by New York, did some tactical surveillance, broke a few buildings, and then left. There are some interesting ramifications of their visit, but that seems to be the only reason for their visit: to be able to tell future stories. Call it the impatience of youth, but when I read a story, I want to see its strengths in the present first, and its ramifications for the future second. I apologize if my post offended you, but I just couldn't see the arc's strengths for the present story.
It may very well be, though, that with me being a dimwit, I just can't see the ultimate scope of the plot threads weaving together in Amazing down the line. Who knows.
And hey, the turducken quip is so appropriate this time of year.
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