Comics Asm#552

I got mine last night. A little too late for the Early B/T, but here's my thoughts:

The artwork was very good. Not quite as good as McNiven's, but a definate improvement on Larrocca's.

Once again, we have a new villain, and we get to see his origin this time. It reminded me of all those issues where JJJ was making a villain to defeat Spidey. Sometimes, it's more fun to see it unfold in the story, than have it be a mystery, like GG's was or, more recently, Menace.

And once again, we get much more supporting cast than we've been used to in the recent past.

 

I picked it up an hour ago.

Let me just say I wasn't a big fan of Guggenheim's arc, I liked the first part but it all went downhill afterwords. In terms of both writing and art.

Having said that, I liked this issue much better than the previous. I thought I wouldn't like Gale's writing after reading the Freak back up story in 546 but this was a pleasent surprise. Art was good too, liked it more than I thought I would at first.

I liked how Lightmaster had a small speaking role in this issue. Can't remember the last time he even appeared in an issue of any Spidey title. It was nice to see him here.

Can't wait until next week's issue!

 

His art in Swingshift was to die for.

 

I picked up the Issue today and I really enjoyed it, just like the others. One of the things I really enjoyed was Spidey chasing Freak. It really was an action packed Issue that is gripping and is defenitley worth reading.

Anyway, The art is not my favorite, but it truly is awesome and it is very well done.


I can't wait until Issue #553!

 

This issue was as pointless as the rest of BND has been. Crappy art, a boring story, and no Mary Jane. Just more of the same.

Glad I didn't spend my money on this.

 

Bwahahahaha... and your repetitive prosaic posts about BND are also pointless...

lol t: t: t:

 

Aloha,
I told you, there are people LOOKING for things not to like.Whatever floats their boat!I'll get my copy Thursday.
Spidey rules

 

And yet, you keep reading it. What's up with THAT?

 

I was really happy with it. I'm enjoying this story more and more. BTW, does anyone think that, and this might be obvious and I'm slow, but does anyone think that Menace is Harry? Or connected to Harry? He wanted his gf's dad to run, so now suddenly there's an opening for him to run? Thanks to Menace. Coincidence? I think not.

 

Perhaps... but I don't think it would be so cut & dry... I think there would be a more complicated story behind it.

 

Hey, anybody notice on Lily's petition list one of the names on it is N. Hammond, Nicholas Hammond? t: Along with Dan Buckley and Tom Brevroort.

 

Oh definitely, I agree. I just think there's a connection there somehow.

Also, could Menace perhaps be some fragment left over from before the reality shift? I mean, he has red hair, just like Jackpot, MJ, and the unborn baby that Mephisto was talking about in OMD. Not that I am a fan of OMD, just that it's a possibility.

And I really liked how they showed Freak's creation in this issue, it had a very old school feel to it, I thought.

 

Wow, I didn't noticed that. Thanks for pointing that out and I think it is so awesome that their names are on there.

 

Ahhhh HAH!

My suspicions are closing in. I said awhile ago in some other thread that Lily could potentially be Menace. I thought Menace looked rather effeminate once or twice. Her dad is running for office, and the woman was killed, or at best was supposed to hae been out of the picture. And who better to date and exploit for Goblin gear than...... Mr. Ozzbern!

I have excersiiiiiized the demons. this house is clean.

 

Now something like THIS would be pretty neat.

 

To keep my comments brief and respectful...tho they're not good on this issue....

First off, even tho I am not buying it, i REALLY want to like spidey and am predisposed to like spidey, since he is my favorite character....but i am not liking much in this BND and am still not seeing anything that couldn't be done before rebooting and getting rid of the marriage....and this is the worst issue yet imo.

While I usually like Phil's art....this here is not his best.

And the rotating revolving door of creative teams is wearing thin too....(and IF i was to buy the tpb's, which i love to buy, it'd stand out and irk me even more.)

So, ok,....it was an "ok" issue for me. That's as fair as i can be on this issue. Maybe the next "team of the month" will do better?? I am just not feeling it at all, this new direction so far i guess.

 

Wow, great catch. I'm gonna have to take a look when I get home!

 

Quick thoughts:

The art: pretty good, a couple questionable looks when PP is in costume but all in all good. That varient cover is sweet.

The dialogue: "Uh-oh! Not good. In fact it's bad!"

The story: pretty good premise, freak isn't too stand out but he doesn't suck either.

Other points: How horrible was that wall of webbing? With the incredible rising cost of web fluid how the hell can Pete justify that when he could have just webbed the guy, pulled him in, slapped him once and left him tied to a light pole like he does to every mugger. I like trying some new approaches with webs, I really do, but use a trick like that for someone that requires outside the box thinking. With the recent storylines going into the suddenly inflated cost of the web materials and Pete's poor boy status you'd think he would think that through a bit more, plus did he just do that in the middle of the street? Weird.

Overall: decent, but nothing great here. As the third arc needing the least set up for the BND "brave new world", this somehow felt slower and less thought out than the first two, which doesn't bode well for future gale tales, especially when they'll be compared to Slott, and the suprisingly good guggenheim.

 

Agreed! Lilly being it would be a neat twist. In any case, I don't think Meance meant to kill the councilwoman in ASM #551. Maybe he was just taunting Spidey by saying "That's on you! All your fault!", but the artwork looked like Menace was legitimately freaked. Anyone else catch that?

 

I've been a supporter of BND since day one but lately i'm really feeling disappointed with it. I enjoyed the first Slott and Mcniven arc but then after that it was eh, kinda pointless. The problem for me is that story and diaolgue seem too retro and outdated. The rest of the marvel books like IronMan, Cap, Ironfist, Daredevil, new avengers, they're all more grounded into reality and updated to modern times. BND feels like i'm reading stories from the 70's and 80's, it doesn't feel as modern as the rest of the marvel books out there. Thats what i loved about JMS, JMS was able to update Spidey and give it a more modern feel, both in terms of dialogue and story. But so far, i dunno the stories just seem very uninspired and "been there done that". Anyway, i'm still a supporter of BND and I DO appreciate the use of the new supporting cast ( does anyone else love Dexter Bennet?), but i think BND needs to kick it up a notch soon so it can keep up with marvel's other stellar books.

 

I don't think it's all that retro... I find that while it is storytelling "old school", it still has a modern feel to it...

Just my opinion...

 

Aloha,
Nice catch. Did you also notice on page 3 the reporters saying" it's Wacker not Whack her? That was in reference to Steve Whacker-the new editor of Spidey.
Spidey rules