Welcome back, true believers! We’ve got a great round-up of comics for you this week. Take a look behind the cut for all the reviews you’ve come to know and love from your favorite crew.
I’d also like to remind you, you can check out our rating system below:
0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 – 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 – 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 – 3.9: You’d be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 – 4.9: “I’ll give it another month…but that was not good.”
5.0 – 5.9: “Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun.”
6.0 – 6.9: “Hmm. That was decent.”
7.0 – 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 – 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 – 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender
For those wondering, Pass would be anywhere from 0 to 3.9, Browse would be 4 to 6.9, and Buy would be from 7 to 10. So what are you waiting for? Hop on past the jump and enjoy!
Also, are there any books you’d like to see us review? Let us know in the comments, and one of us will get right on it! We’ll also keep those books in mind for future weeks!
Birds of Prey #2
I want to point out something at the very beginning of my review of Birds of Prey #2: unlike everyone else on the site, I am not a fan of Gail Simone. Not in a mean way – I’ve never actively read her work. I didn’t get into Secret Six with everyone else on the site, I’ve never read her original run of Birds of Prey, and the only thing I know I’ve read by her is some Deadpool/Agent X stuff. I only say that so, while the other writers on this site show some bits of bias in their writings about her work, I have none.
So, with a clean mind and open ended opinion on the work, I tackled the first two issues to see what all the fuss is.
In this issue, we pick up where the first issue left off with the arrival of the White Canary. Like the deadliest ninja you’ve ever seen, she fends off the attack of Huntress and Black Canary until her card is revealed and the plot really takes off beyond the fight. There is a whole conspiracy to this attack, beyond the physical, and light hints of who she is are obviously given in the issue. Meanwhile, Oracle is faced to watch a horrific ordeal, thus taking her helpful guidance out of the equation – and leaving the Birds to flee on their own from the entire city.
Well, I love the cast. I think that reforming the Birds of Prey like this is a great idea, and throwing Hawk and Dove in here as well should be a lot of fun. Hawk especially adds a great dynamic to the team, furthering their fight instincts and having a few choice moments. I love that Lady Blackhawk is also a main character in the title, as she is one of those females I always thought was sorely underused and someone I always wanted to read more of. As a whole, the team dynamic is working well here, and the only character I feel who doesn’t exactly fit that well is Dove. Granted, she HAS to be there alongside Hawk, but her apparent character traits don’t seem to mesh as well.
Ed Benes’ work here is pretty good, featuring steady character designs and fluid fight scenes. My one choice comment though is that his lines here seem to be a bit more jagged. Not in a bad way, but they definitely have a sharper tone to them which I didn’t think I would see as much. One thing I do appreciate is that the characters don’t feel that posed throughout, which is something many artists I feel occasionally do with a cast of female characters. I don’t mean to imply anything, but it is nice to see his art here not reflecting any kind of bias, so to say.
Continued belowAnd then there are my thoughts on Simone. I feel like the writing here is fairly strong, and certain intriguing enough to keep me going through until the reveal of the White Canary. In that aspect I’m very interested. However, the interludes between Oracle and the Birds felt a tad off to me, and it was only the Birds story that I was very interested in. The last scene kind of threw me off a bit too, and it seemed to be a token Brightest Day nod rather than something overtly relevant to the story. I will say that I liked the writing in the second issue a LOT more than I did the first, because the first spent too much time setting things up with minimal event, and the second pushes the story along full steady. The one thing I get the impression of, though, is that having some knowledge of Simone’s previous writing with the Birds of Prey is probably going to be great due to the references made – and you just know that White Canary will end up being some jaded character from that past. My lack of knowledge in that is no fault of Simone’s though. I just wanted to throw that out there.
Birds of Prey #2 definitely drew me in more than the first issue. I was tentative to grab the second to be quite honest, but this sold me a bit more than the first did. I definitely felt like I got a good amount of value on my purchase, and as I said I’m intrigued to see where the story is going to end up. Only time will tell how long I stay with the Birds, but for now I’m in.
Final Verdict: 7.9 – Buy
Crossed: Family Values #2
Some times I read a comic and ask myself, where do certain people get their inspirations? Granted, with writers like Garth Ennis I can only imagine that he goes into a dark place daily to pull out ideas, but when someone else takes over his mantle and picks up threads that he left off, I have to ask myself, “Man… what is wrong with this guy?”
Crossed: Family Values has picked up a thread that the original Crossed mini never really explored – how can humans settle down and adapt to the new world? It’s sort of a trademark element for zombie franchises to go to (see: the Walking Dead), but in Crossed we don’t exactly have zombies. Instead, we have these beings that revert to a pure animalistic form of behavior, raping and beating each other to death on a regular basis (so, dare I say it, classic Ennis). With Family Values, our “heroes” (if they can be called that…) settle down in the hills away from where the Crossed can find them and, just like out of a Romero film, attempt to adapt and learn about their new environment. What this leads to is, of course, more dark revelations and disturbing scenes as we try and find justification of inhumane behavior in a post-human world.
Now, as I said the first time I reviewed Family Values, I’m unfamiliar with David Lapham’s work in general. Crossed 2 is really the first thing I’ve ever really read by him. However, to say he is a good successor to Ennis is to put it lightly. Lapham clearly understands the depravity of the world that this takes place in and is very unafraid to go to the darker places of story telling to get his points across. Where Ennis features flat out rape, Lapham presents to the reader something that is actually more disturbing (in my book, anyway) that really has to be read to be understood. In fact, the ending of this issue is pretty downright gross, and it doesn’t really feature any gore whatsoever. So Lapham has definitely got the disturbing angle down.
The other major player in this work, Javier Barreno. Replacing Avatar madman workhorse Jacen Burrows is no easy task, and following him up must be frightening, but Barreno is getting it down. While Barreno shy away from the bigger scenes and splash pages that Burrows loves, he still manages to create rich and lush backdrops for our characters to move around in. Barreno draws the end of the world just as well, though – like I said – following Burrows is a difficult task and it is a tad bit noticeable. I enjoy Barreno’s work on this book, though, and find that he matches with Lapham as well as Burrows did with Ennis. Barreno is doing a great job of bringing these ugly characters to life.
Continued belowSo Crossed: Family Values #2 serves to continue as a good follow up to the original. If you enjoyed Crossed at all, I’d recommend staying in this world with the sequel. It reminds me of how, after Romero did Night of the Living Dead, others came along to elaborate on his idea of zombies but in different environments. This is exactly what Lapham and Barreno are doing, and they’re keeping it just as sick and twisted as it always was and was always meant to be.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
The Boys #43
It has been a long time since I reviewed the Boys. A long time indeed. I didn’t really pick up on the title at first, but when I got into the title I had a lot of fun reading it. Then after the G-Whiz and the character issues, the comic started slowing down. A lot. That’s basically where we are with issue #43, and I’m not entirely sure how to tackle the title anymore.
With the current arc, we’ve had Hughie off on a lousy mission watching a group of more than pathetic superheroes, mostly because Malchemical has recently joined the team. As we learned, however, it was all a trick so that Malchemical could actually kill off Hughie. As the stakes get high, Butcher is forced to intervene in a gorey little showdown.
The thing about the Boys is that, in all honesty, I feel like it’s becoming not that natural of a story for Ennis to tell. In the beginning it seemed like there was a definite place for the story to go, but where we’re at right now… well, it’s kind of floundering. The story isn’t that intriguing, and there is only so many times we can see the formula of Hughie joins team, things get bad, Butcher intervenes violently. We’ve had some fun with the superhero parodies, but the less time we see the Seven as well as Vought, the less I’m interested. The Boys obviously has an expiration point and I feel like we should be getting a clearer idea of where we’re going.
That’s not to say the issue is necessarily bad. For it’s general purpose, it’s good. The ending is what ultimately gives me faith, mainly the last page. It seems like even Ennis knows that it’s time to gear towards the climax of this story. And Robertson’s art here is great as it has been throughout. Robertson has maintained a steady pace throughout the entire 43 issues of this book so far, and he has a great knack for really making his gore top notch. While this issue isn’t as heavy on the violence as the last arc was, the gruesome moments of this issue are rendered pretty great. He and Ennis definitely make a great team.
The Boys is definitely an enjoyable comic, but it’s beginning to have it’s wear on me. The arcs are becoming formulaic and I’m losing my interest in the characters lives. I hope that things really go down in the next arc like the teaser says they will, because if there’s one thing Ennis is great at it’s bringing every one of his elements to a head (see: Preacher). I can only hope that we’ll be seeing some of that soon.
Final Verdict: 6.5 – Browse
DAVID’S REVIEWS
Amazing Spider-Man #633
In a week that brings us two different issues of Amazing Spider-Man, the one I picked to review was the finale of Zeb Wells’ and Chris Bachalo’s Shed arc. As David Uzumeri recently pointed out, this isn’t your father’s Spidey. Shed has been intelligent, devastating, and an emotionally trying arc and one that hasn’t pulled punches or relied on any dramatic clichés. The fourth and final issue of this arc continues the clever storytelling, culminating in some tried and true favorites of yesteryear with a whole new weight behind them.
As those that have been reading this title recently know, Curt Connors (aka The Lizard) has been engulfed by his alter-ego, as he is now more Lizard than man. He’s killed many people, including his own son Billy (beautifully and tragically handled by all involved), and Curt has more than likely permanently receded from the overall psyche of The Lizard’s whole. As The Lizard took over, he developed a scary new ability in that he could bring out the lizard portion of any person’s brain, leading to riots developing in isolated parts of New York City.
Continued belowWhile the way Spider-Man deals with The Lizard in this issue is a way that he’s handled him in the past (as Uzumeri points out in his article and others point out in the comments), the fact that he has to use the memory of The Lizard’s murdered son (instead of the idea of saving his son) is much more textured and powerful. Wells’ has never been my favorite writer, but the way he tells the rooftop conversation between The Lizard and Spidey (“I have pictures in my head”) is alternately tragic and painfully fresh for such a long running comic. Stories like this and Joe Kelly’s work and Fred Van Lente’s recent Sandman arc have been perfect examples as to why Brand New Day truly was a good idea.
Chris Bachalo has been featured on a number of my favorite arcs in this new Spider-Man era, and he really puts on a show here. There are a number of standout pages in this issue: the title page as The Lizard stands triumphant, the sequence where Spidey is getting buried by the fleet of lizard humans, and especially the aforementioned rooftop sequence. If you liked Bachalo before, this is just going to reconfirm your beliefs that the man is a star. If you didn’t like him before, well, good luck rejecting him now. Emma Rios provides more solid back up work, as she handles a very sad sequence at the end where Aunt May (controlled by Mr. Negative) finally consoles her full-of-woe surrogate son/nephew Peter after the actions in this issue. While stylistically it’s a rather major divide, it still works.
If this book could always match the quality of Shed as an arc, it would be one of the best in the business. It doesn’t yet, but I’m hoping Marvel continues to whittle down the Spider team to those that best fit the feel that they are going for. While I knew before Bachalo fit that, now I know Wells does as well. Great work by all involved on a controversial and stupendous arc.
Final Verdict: 9.2 – Buy
New Mutants #14
In the 11th issue of the epic Second Coming arc, we’re given another excellent entry even though it breaks one of my cardinal rules of comics: one artist per issue! Zeb Wells did a great job scripting it however, giving us an issue with a lot of big moments (Hope Cable-ing up, namely) while actually somehow making the menagerie of artists work in context of issue.
It helps that Lan Medina, Ibraim Roberson and Nathan Fox are stylistically disparate, allowing their pages to be clearly set apart and never leading to any confusion as to which section is who. The best section by far in my eyes is Fox’s work. While not everyone loves his style, I like Fox a lot and his work on the recent Dark Reign: Zodiac mini was extremely underrated. That he handles the sections involving the mentally crippled Legion (Xavier’s son, for the uninitiated) only underlines his talents. His work brings out the insanity and the power of this character and make those pages the most visceral of the lot.
Second Coming continues to push forward, and from both a plot and an execution standpoint it has been excellent so far. Wells carries the plot along and gives us one very memorable moment per storyline. Magneto pulling a Willis Reed, Cypher making a friend, Colossus’ epic injury…these are all moments that happen within the flow of the story and all part of a greater whole.
It’s very interesting to review a single issue within a major arc such as this, as it doesn’t need to exist as a single issue as much as it does as a continuation of the ones that preceded it. In that regard, it succeeds greatly, just as it does as a standalone issue. Second Coming continues to be a blast to read, and everyone involved helped make this another very good installment.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
Walking Dead #73
We’re entering a very interesting point in the grand arc of The Walking Dead. While it’s unquestionable that the new society all of our faithful heroes have moved into has some dark secrets, in the parlance of the House of Ideas, everyone we’ve come to know and love in this book may be making their own Dark Reign come to be. As Rick and Glenn collect weaponry (“just in case”) and Abraham begins to flex his might on the wall construction crew, I openly wonder: are our heroes becoming the villains of this story?
One of the many fantastic things that Robert Kirkman does is develop this web of uncertainty amongst his whole cast of characters so even the reader doesn’t necessarily know what is right or wrong. As a reader, my interpretation is that our faithful heroes are beginning to take over their new home because of the paranoia and the anger they’ve developed in their time on the outside. Yet at the same time, we keep getting looks at some of the darkness in this new group. For example, when one of their own is in trouble they immediately accept her death and get into a defensive position (“PHALANX FORMATION!”) to keep the focus on the greater good. Intelligent? Sure. Morally reprehensible? Absolutely. This ambiguity in the cast and the situations they get put in is paramount to maintaining the tension of the story, and it never ceases to impress me.
Charlie Adlard, while not my favorite artist, continues to put in a run that does everything Kirkman asks of him and then some. While initially I didn’t enjoy his work, he’s grown on me over the previous ohhhh….70 issues. He does some really nice things in this issue, as his rendition of Abraham kicking ass not only makes long term townie Bruce say “whoa”, but myself as well. Very nice work.
The Walking Dead is the metronome of comics. It’s always great. It hasn’t hit a transcendant level in a while, but it also hasn’t dipped below the level of “very good”…well, ever. This issue is another perfect example of all of what makes it great.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
GIL’S REVIEWS
Brightest Day #4
I’ve been dogging Brightest Day lately because it’s been slow, convoluted and lacking any real story progression. That all changed with this issue. For starters the Deadman and Hawkcouple arcs seem to finally be gaining the traction. Aliveman can be seen by people now! Huzzah! Too bad it was Dove…in her room…at 3AM. And there was a Hawk in the other room (uh oh). Oddly enough, the story with the least story progression happened to be teased on the cover. I’m not really interested in this Firestorm Odd Couple, and the story isn’t changing that. I keep hoping they will ramp it up, but it’s just not connecting with me.
And finally, a teased character that had been teased for the past couple of weeks (or months, if you count the Young Justice promo) finally made his debut. Jackson, the new Aqualad, a resident of the same town as the White Lantern. He wasn’t in it a lot (only two pages), but it was more interesting than the aforementioned Firestorm segment.
The thing that I probably most appreciate about this story is the artist cohesiveness. There are four different artists working on the book, but they meld together in such a way where you don’t realize there is a veritable squad of top-tier artists on the book.
I’ve been railing on the book lately, but it’s finally turning around. If you’ve been reading it, you’ll be glad you had. If you haven’t, it’s worth picking up. Trust me, you haven’t missed much.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy
Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #1
It’s been a big week for Spider-Man. First the finale of the Shed arc, and now the beginning of the Grim Hunt arc. It’s been a Hell of a time to be reading Spider-Man. This arc seems to take place somewhere in between those other two arcs, as there are references to the Kravinoff family in Russia and the plot revolves around them. The thing is it’s just not that interesting. It’s a shame, because there is a lot of potential there for a great series, but this feels more like a tie-in to The Grim Hunt than a standalone arc for a female lead. It’s a shame. It really is.
At least the art looks nice. It fits with the tone of the recent stable of artists from the Spider-Man Brain Trust, which, helps the cohesion fit a little more seamlessly.
I really hoped I could recommend the book, but it’s a browser at best. If you’re a Spider-Man completist or a Black Cat fanatic, then by all means pick it up. But otherwise, just leaf through it and see how you feel.
Final Verdict: 5.5 – Browse
Fables #96
Fables used to be my favorite book. I would look forward to reading it every month, and I would eagerly absorb everything Bill Willingham wrote on the page. But ever since the fall of the Emperor, the book has struggled to find a direction. Mr. Dark, a terrific and interesting new villain has largely gone unused, and instead we’re being “treated” to back stories of leads new and old, or looks into the world of King Fly’s kingdom. It’s been really erratic and I haven’t connected in a long time.
But this issue went off the rails totally and completely. I was already on the fence with dropping the book, but this story, which showed us the childhood of Rose and Snow (two of my favorite characters in the Fables universe) was borderline offensive in its presentation of Snow White’s time with the dwarves. Bigby’s wife and one of the strongest female characters was turned into little more than a sex slave (I say “little” because she was also forced to be their maid) by the little folk who lived in that little cottage in the forest. Was that even necessary? It didn’t serve the story one bit and it reeked of gratuity and depravity.
The best part of the entire book happens to be Mark Buckingham’s transcendent art. If there were an exception to my rule of “art doesn’t MAKE a book, but it does BREAK it,” this would be it. It’s so beautiful that I almost want to keep picking up the book just for the lovely pencils throughout.
But even with Buckingham’s art, I just can’t recommend this book. It’s not nearly as good as it used to be, and I’m not enjoying it. In this climate, I need my money for other things.
Final Verdict: — 5.0 Browse (for the art)
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #4
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers is my guilty pleasure of a book. It’s not terribly challenging, and it features talking animals. What’s not to like? Not much, but in this closing to the arc, there isn’t that much to like either.
I mean, it’s still a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the humor in the book along with the interactions between Hairball, Mrs. Lion and Hairball 2(!!!), but the story doesn’t seem to come together in the end. I mean, it’s cute as all get out, but it doesn’t seem to carry the same weight in my mind as the last series. I suppose it’s hard to top a villain like Thanos, but did it have to go to a story that the Care Bears would go first? Not really. The book suffers from this cuteness as opposed to benefitting from it.
Much like Fables before it, this books art shines in this book, it’s almost the polar opposite of that book. Whereas Fables was unnecessarily dark, this was overbearingly cute. But like I said, it’s awful purdy to look at.
If you like cute and fluffy books without much substance, you should definitely pick this up. It really is a lot of fun, but in the summer movie way. You absorb it, and then you forget it. Other than that, it’s great.
Final Verdict: 6.0 – Browse
BRANDON’S REVIEWS
Joker’s Asylum: Harley Quinn
Joe Quinones art is the best part of this comic bar none. Even that though isn’t enough to make this a comic that is on par with the other titles released so far under the Joker’s Asylum II brand. It tries for the Harley Quinn quirky vibe but instead falls flat.
The issue follows Harley as she breaks out of Arkham to be with her puddin’ Mr. J. on Valentine’s Day. Writer James Patrick’s concept sounds like fun but the issue plays out in a much more drab fashion. While the other titles under JAII have been solid character pieces this comes across more as a throwaway story.
A story starring Harley under a Joker banner should have been the cream of the crop. Instead it comes out as the least enjoyable of the bunch.
Final Verdict: 3.0 Pass on that grass
Joker’s Asylum: Mad Hatter
The Mad Hatter in recent years has been used as a goofball killer. While the use of him fits with the way he looks I’ve always felt that the deeper version of the characters pathos is the way to go. This comic goes that route and because of it the readers are given a truly frightening look into the mind of a character that truly is off the deep end and into the rabbit hole.
Landry Quinn Walker is on writing and is backed up with a truly a-list team of artists consisting of Bill Sienkiewicz and Keith Giffen. The trio provides probably one of the best Mad Hatter stories in recent times. Walker shows us the compulsive disorder that the Hatter struggles with on a daily basis and truly gives us the feeling that the compulsions are heavy and overbearing. I felt like I needed to put on my hat by the end.
On art, Giffen and Sienkiewicz provide a style that is gritty and fits all too well with the story itself. While I can’t tell who did what on the art to be honest it looks very Sienkiewicz oriented and when I heard he was doing art on a Hatter book it seemed a brilliant choice. It turned out I was.
As far as the story goes it focuses on Hatter and his attempt to go straight but we slowly see that this go clean facade is slowly but surely fading back into his pathos. He becomes obsessed with a girl and things unravel from there. It’s nothing insanely new for the character but the execution is money. From beginning to end the pacing is spot on. You know this isn’t going to end well but you’re glued to your seat waiting for the inevitable breakdown to occur.
Overall, it isn’t he best of the Joker’s Asylum II books but is well done and the talent involved is worth the price of admission alone. I’d say if you like your Arkham inmates then you’ll want this book. Now I must go get some beer and put on my hat. Excuse me.
Final Verdict: 7.2 Buy it
X-Factor Forever #4
Louise Simonson’s retro run has been a fun ride that at times has left me slightly wishing that it was a little more in continuity and less of a What if?! playing fan service. Either way with this issue as good as it was I’m sad that the next issue is the last. How do we go about getting more of this?
Simonson has gone back to her acclaimed run and picked things up like she’d never left. This issue gives us some fantastic moments involving the convoluted Jean/Maddie/Nathan Summers/Cyclops/Sinister connections. It’s some compelling stuff that really works and makes plenty more sense than some of the stuff we’ve seen regarding the situation over the years.
Dan Panosian and Eric Nguyen’s art has also grown on me tremendously. I’d really like to see them take a stab at an ongoing X-Title that fits within the bounds of continuity. The art has that retro feel while still feeling modern. The art and writing have been a perfect pairing.
When the next issue won’t truly be the last. I know I can’t be the only one who would like to see more from Simonson in the world of X-Factor.
Continued belowFinal Verdict: 7.8 Buy It!
WALT’S REVIEWS
Amazing Spider-Man #634
Amazing Spider-Man ships twice this week, and this particular issue marks the beginning of The Grim Hunt. If you haven’t been following the title lately, Spider-Man has been going through a gauntlet of classic foes, whether it be the original wearers of the costumes or some new blood, and The Grim Hunt is the climax of all of that. So how did I feel about this issue that marks the beginning of the end for the story that has been brewing for the past approximately thirty-five issues?
Two words: Hell yes.
As this is my first ASM review for this site, I have to let you know: I was one of those who whined and whined about One More Day. As a JMS fanboy, I couldn’t stand how it nearly invalidated the rest of his run. However, I eventually got over myself and picked the book up around #600, and since then I’ve been enjoying it almost (emphasis on almost, though) as much as when JMS was on the title.
It has been known for a while that the family of the long-deceased Kraven the Hunter has been behind the going-ons of The Gauntlet, but it isn’t until this issue that their purpose has been revealed. And man, if you haven’t been reading too many solicits it’s going to bowl you over. Yes they went there. No I’m not telling you what I mean if you haven’t read the book yet. Let me just say that they did something that I never thought would happen, and did it in a way that made me perfectly fine with something I would normally find myself very much opposed to. Michael Lark’s penciling in this issue is as excellent as it usually is, so there’s absolutely no reason to pass this up even if you’ve only been paying a little bit of attention to the Spider-Man status quo.
Oh, and remember what I said about parts of JMS’ run being invalid? Yeah, not anymore. But that’s all I will say about that.
Final Verdict: 8.8 – Buy it!
Web of Spider-Man #9
When you consider what this title is — a supplement to a book that already comes out three times a month — it’s significantly better than one might think. However, I shouldn’t need to tell you that something involving Fred Van Lente is good (though as far as I know his name isn’t on the cover).
If you haven’t heard anything about this book, which wouldn’t be a surprise, the basic setup seems to mainly be a Van Lente-written main feature with a co-feature by different writers and artists. While Van Lente tends to mean good quality, $3.99 seems a bit much to shell out for a companion book, especially when you have no idea how good a whole third of what you are buying will be.
In this case, it’s not worth it. Maybe I just don’t like Marc Guggenheim, and maybe I just don’t care about the character Jackpot, but I could hardly make it through the co-feature due to a lack of interest. Considering that co-feature adds a whole extra dollar, it’s a real shame that I’m going to have to recommend passing this up unless you’re a big Spidey fan.
The reason it’s a shame is because the main story by Fred Van Lente is quite enjoyable. I feel like there’s little difference in quality between what Van Lente brings to this book and what he puts out on the flagship Amazing Spider-Man. This current arc in particular has been quite interesting; sure, the problem of moral absolutism has been dealt with in superhero comics before, but Van Lente has found a way to keep it fresh. I honestly have no idea what this antagonist is truly after, so I’ll definitely be checking out the final issue of this arc. However, as good as Van Lente’s portion is, I’m not sure if I want to pay an extra dollar for eight or so pages I could care less about.
Final Verdict: 6.4 – Browse, unless you’re a big Spider-Man fan.
