Hex's Profile

This is probably a high score for this issue. The story is just a dumb dream sequence, it does nothing to further our understanding of Peter or his relationship to Ben and May. Not even the best work I've seen out of Wieringo and that's where most of my points are going to.

Anthology books are hard to rate and I didn't read every story in here because I really just do mainline ASM or am just a sucker for 90s nostalgia so I'll just review the stories I read. ASM: Nothing but a tease for something we likely won't see for a long time and was already pretty much established in the last issue of Gang War. To make matters worse they put JRJR on the art so the whole thing feels worthless. 3/10 Gold Goblin: Short and sweet and somewhat heartbreaking as we see Norman fall further and further away from his growth. 7/10 Chasm: I'm really of two minds on this one. I want to read more when it comes to Ben Reilly. I loved his mini series that ran at the same time as Beyond. This isn't that Ben Reilly. I keep holding out hope and now that he's out from Limbo MAYBE we'll see some journey back to what/who he once was and stop being this weird villain and a reminder of Dark Web. 5/10 Kaine: Weirdly enough I was never really a fan of Kaine. When he died in Spider-Verse I had nothing to really latch onto with him so it felt really hollow. I'm honestly more excited for his return and potential series or at least appearances going forward than Ben's. Really great art, cool snippet of some darker stories that Kaine has the potential for. 7/10 2099: Yeah this one bored me more than the rest. I used to really like 2099 but they haven't made him work since the 90s. Everything has to involve the Spider-Society, or the Spider-Verse or something. Just send him back to his time and either use him there or don't use him at all. You don't have to make every comic emulate the movies that are already adapting the comics. 4/10

Mark Millar is a terrible writer. It blows my mind how much success he has managed. He should never touch Superman again.

While it reminded me of a BTAS episode, it was gratuitous. Neither Bruce nor Batman's voices felt natural. Ivy felt like Ivy but she was very one dimensional. The worst part about this book is that it's supposed to take place during Year One and the tone does not fit at all.

Romita's art here is exactly what I was worried about for the main series. I hope this is the worst it'll look in the main run. The dialogue here is also very bland. Peter's quips aren't funny, it's largely expositional and the tease at the end wasn't impactful.

This wasn't a super strong start. I grew up on BTAS and the Batman Beyond Animated series. They are everything to my childhood and this missed the mark. Terry felt like Terry which is the most important character you have to nail but Bruce has taken so many steps back. He seems even less developed that he did after the origin arc of the series which this seems to be using as it's baseline. Bruce is insufferable. Hush Beyond as a villain doesn't really entice me either but I like a good mystery so I'm interested in seeing who they are or how they relate to Terry or Bruce. Art was inconsistent. Terry again was nailed, Bruce was done well but every other character didn't seem to get enough attention.

This feels a lot better then the last issue, I'm more invested in Hush Beyond as a character. I want to see the mystery solved, and I hope Terry figures it out with us, not seeing it revealed in a panel in the penultimate issue. Bruce is still a huge departure from all of the character growth that was shown in the BBAS as well as the two Justice League shows that they reference. He's just so angry at Terry and acts like they haven't spent so much time together, bonding, relearning what it means to work with a partner and trust him. Terry absolutely earned his trust after all this time. I very much like the inclusion and design of Catwoman Beyond. She's cool, collected and she just doesn't care about Batman. It's interesting. The art was more consistent but it might be due to more time with characters they plan on using for more than two panels. The only thing hurting this book narratively for me is interpretation of Bruce.

This is the worst of angry Bruce so far but the best story. He doesn't trust Terry at all and wants to take the suit from him, saying he doesn't deserve it. All Terry is trying to do is prove that he is worthy of the mantle which he has proved in the stories this builds off of. Unless Hush coming back is causing Bruce to have a psychotic break and he's lashing out, this is just weird. I really felt for Calendar Man. I know he's a villain and I too believe that Batman doesn't do enough to ensure that his rogue's gallery are handled carefully and permanently after all of their crimes, but he went out brutally. Again, the art is a lot more solid but we're seeing the same characters throughout these past few issues. It might have just taken some time to acclimate with the environment that they would be utilizing for the characters and world but it's a shame that it took until now to look as good.

Better than the last issue. The paneling was great, the pace was smooth. I like getting Terry talking to Dick but it didn't feel like enough. These are two of my favorite Bat-Family characters and I won't be happy unless I see a lot more of them interacting. It does suffer from just showing who Hush is instead of any sort of detection from Terry, Bruce or the reader. The art is stronger, cleaner lines though the continuity of Catwoman's helmet from this to last issue is different and that bothers my brain a bit. With two issues left I really don't know what they have left to show.

I really didn't care for much here but the the art most of all. Don't know if it's because I haven't read the series in a while or that this specific issue nothing stood out as good and the bad just looked worse. It was nice that Bruce FINALLY started acting like a decent human being especially considering this is tied to the Animated series. It's too little too late though. It comes from nowhere. Bruce doesn't say much about his current behavior outside of, "I felt threatened, and manufactured faults in the kid." Paraphrasing, but that's not much in terms or remorse or an apology for someone who did most everything you asked for years and all of a sudden you feel bad. Not buying it. All in all, I didn't care for much here. Terry and Catwoman's small interaction was nice. Dick coming out of nowhere and Barbara not even remotely paying attention to a victim trying to explain to her what the big bad is doing made no sense.

That ended unceremoniously and with such a flop. I have nothing to say. Don't read this arc. It's not fun. It's not even entertaining and it's definitely not for fans of the show.

I really wouldn't call this the breakout story from Urban Legends. The main story with Chip Zdarsky was the breakout. This just made headlines. Is inclusion good? Absolutely. Was this a bit ham-fisted? Yeah. It was. Any character exploring their sexuality is great in my opinion. Whether or not it sticks is really up to the readers honestly. And I think more up to those who absolutely abhor LGBTQIA+ characters that only scream into an echo chamber about how they are never going to get the book (but still review it... hmmm). DC know they're pissed and will continue to put out inclusive content for those who feel underrepresented in spite of you. Because the discourse sells. Not necessarily the stories. Which is kind of the overall problem with this issue and DC's Rainbow Capitalism. The quality of the stories need to be better as well as the intention behind them. This story conceptually is fine. Tim being unsure of himself in his life is perfect. He's always been the odd Robin out. I think his journey is worth exploring but it also undercuts it's importance that it is merely a backup in an anthology book. Tim Drake is hard to sell, I get that but it feels a little disrespectful that the only time members of the LGBTQIA+ community get real representation is books once a year to capitalize on Pride Month and not based on their own merits because DC doesn't really seem to care outside of June; BATWOMAN.

Spider-Man/Fantastic Four First Meeting Expanded: It's just a longer sequence of Spider-Man tussling with the FF in ASM #1. Nothing really new to add. Cool to see Kirby's rendition of Spider-Man even thought it is very close to Ditko's.

Spider-Man vs Ant-Man & The Wasp story. It was fine. I honestly liked Ayers depiction of Spider-Man over Ditko's. It was goofy though. Classic Stan. Having Spider-Man and Wasp be at each other's throats was an interesting reflection of the natural relationship of spiders and wasps. It's just too hammy. Art was superb.

Much better than the last Year One annual. A simple but compelling origin for the Riddler that I quite enjoyed.

This lacks a lot of the charm of the first Batman issue. The former managed to have pretty great backgrounds and sense of motion to the art but a lot of that is gone here and it was really all that was giving these early issues any value. It's certainly not the writing.

From the origin of the Batman to the very dynamic scenes this is a real winner from back in the day. The writing is a bit stiff and there could definitely be some panels added to avoid off panel action that was instead stated but a great issue considering it's age.

This is pretty good especially considering it's age. Fuck Bob Kane though.

This is a step up from the last issue in both the art and writing departments but there is nothing here to latch onto. There is no real mystery as to who Dr. Death was until it's revealed on the last page and he's just captured. Batman does little detecting and more neck snapping here which while funny and of the time literally does nothing for the story. At least the stellar backgrounds, dynamic poses and sense of motion are back.

Honestly a little goofy but sometimes that isn't a bad thing. It was still a Batman story. I liked seeing Bullock and Jason pal around together. Definitely an ironic ending. Moench and Janson are such great creators.

Story was much better, more engaging, art was significantly worse than last issue.

There are some great panels juxtaposed silhouetting Batman by some truly awful scripting and artwork from Barr and McFarlane.

This is a complete mess from top to bottom. The art is grotesque and indecipherable. The script should have been thrown out just based on the concept and Barr's complete inability to write women with respect along with some racist undertones in the Chinese restaurant bit. No wonder people hate this story and DC struck it from continuity.

The art here is awesome. I really like the stylized look that Cully Hammer has and think it works great for Batman. Now as a first year Batman story this is a little weird. Bruce is extremely cold. He's slashing positions at Wayne affiliated businesses and downsizing as much as possible. It's clearly concerning not only to the employees but the business world as well. It seems out of character for Bruce and in this issue we get nothing that would really hint that Bruce has an ulterior motive or strategy to it. The "villain" here is a down on his luck guy that gets fired from a jewelry store that is a Wayne subsidiary and his life goes from bad to worse. But he's not necessarily a bad person. He has premonitions and as a result comes off as psychotic or schizophrenic. Honestly it's sad to see how people treat him and that's the point. You don't look hard enough at the people in real need. Batman also seems pretty brutal during fights but in the context of the first year, it makes sense. My biggest issue was the lack of sound effects and lettering punctuating most of the action scenes. It's not necessary and it can be a design choice but it's a personal preference for me. There is also a lot of yellow shades through out the book. Warmer tones overall but yellow is a predominant color which is an interesting choice.

I was really, REALLY hoping that this was going to be better than it was but I was really disappointed. The art is still great but still has that yellow hue to everything that it's hard to ignore. The conversation between Ted and Bruce would be more interesting if it made a little more sense. I get that he's supposed to be "seeing higher" than everyone else because of his visions but he's clearly broken his sanity and it's less a deep dive into higher thought and more just crazy rambling that I think Casey thought sounded good or intellectual. The biggest cliff dive for this was Bruce's personality. He's just a cold bastard to everyone. To Ted, to the reporter/anchor guy (it's honestly hard to nail down, the dude seems like an investigative reporter but he's an anchor on the news and those two jobs don't usually cross like that) whose fingers he almost breaks even though he seems to actually be trying to help heal Bruce, and the mass layoffs he's imposing in the Wayne company and the businesses tied to it. There is no master plan or reason other than he knew there was a recession coming. It's really cold and not what you want to see Bruce Wayne do. It's heartless and he's supposed to be almost a bleeding heart for the citizens of Gotham even with his overly broody demeanor during Year One. Ted's journey is also heartbreaking because he tells Batman he can either go after him and Ted will continue as he is, killing or let Ted go and he will just lie down and die. Batman just leaves and Ted dies sitting against a tree with no one to help or mourn him. It's just a very jaded Bruce/Batman story.

This is probably the only issue of any Suicide Squad that I will ever rate unless like this, it's crossing over with a series that I am currently reading. I'm definitely not a fan of the Suicide Squad in almost any iteration or team comp. All that being said, the writing here is fine but it's noticeably duller and less entertaining than Giffen and DeMatteis' dialogue and narration in JLI. The best parts were Waller and Lord's back and forth but those are two characters I find completely insufferable to read at any time and the Batman/Flag slugfest. At least it was entertaining and impressive to see Flag get beaten like that and still manage to hold his own. Unfortunately the omnibus I am reading this from recolored the issue and well as attempted the clean up some of the lines and completely butchered it. There is some great art and coloring in the original that I would absolutely recommend reading that version if at all possible. If I happen to come across another issue of this by the same team and it's any better, they might convince me to try it out. This team though, wasn't too impressed with and it just seemed like a one off story.

Not Ivan Reis's best work, I much preferred Carlos Barberi's style fitting with the Titans that were depicted. It's okay. A little ambiguous for someone who doesn't know about the previous series and from what I know, there was a decent gap between them so it's a little jarring having a lot of references that have nothing to connect to but it is Geoff Johns after all, it's his MO.

This series fell off so hard and was such a disappointment at the end. What started as an interesting though seemingly impossible story arc for Batman's early years, the writing and characters/characterizations were fun. Once it hit the second arc, that mostly all disappeared. Add into it the Joker kidnapping, drugging and manipulating Bruce for 3 months out of nowhere just jumped the shark way too far.

I am having a hard time deciding if this is worthy of an 8 or 8.5. I don't think it really reaches the highs that I would expect from an 8.5 but it is such a departure from the rest of Huston's writing that I really enjoyed it. I didn't write anything for the other reviews because I just had nothing to say about them. They were just dark, edgy, nihilistic shlock. The Bottom was fine. Just a decent story that I didn't absolutely hate but I didn't enjoy a second of the Midnight Sun arc. It is a shame that this is Huston's last issue because while there were a few lines that made me rear back he actually used decent pacing, dialogue and a compelling story where Marc has to figure out his way to be a hero in the era of Registration. Additionally, the art is the best this run has seen by far. Very reminiscent of Alex Maleev before he was even of the title and I think I like it more than his style. A really solid end that could/should have started Huston's run and continued with this level of skill.

This issue was all over the place. Marc goes from sleeping in the sewer to dressed like James Bond infiltrating a gala above a secret werewolf gladiatorial arena with no explanation. Marc only found out about the arena from a random cop I don't recall him ever talking to before let alone after the last few arcs where he's persona non grata. Also some of the weakest Deodato art I've seen.

Actually decent but that was a horrendously rushed ending and final confrontation with the Thunderbolts. The writing was the best in this issue pacing aside and I actually liked the art here for the first time.

This story is rough. It tackles serious subject matter and I think it handles it decently well but it needed to be longer. I read this after issue 13 of the main run and that issue had more pages than this did. For a story to tell something as important, harsh and devastating as this one did, I feel like it would have benefitted from more exposure to what the women were dealing with inwardly and potentially those around them. I'm glad they were given a champion of sorts and that it ends with a sort of justice but it just sort of ends. I get that can be taken as a way that life works but more should be given to the women that were abused and less to a single encounter by Moon Knight.

The art did the heavy lifting here. The story was interesting but man the dialogue did not age well. Actual slurs thrown in there, I was not expecting.

Mantlo puts me to sleep. JRJR is pretty decent here.

The writing quality took a nose dive. Sally all of a sudden is just madly in love with Sonic when it was a lot more of a playful back and forth between the two, hiding feelings for one another. The jokes are worse and constant.

I'm not even trying to dunk on Penders but the stories he has written these past two issues are really not exciting, "cool" or funny in the way Sonic has been in the first 10 issues. Thankfully there are some other writers doing smaller stories in these books and those help keep that typical Sonic flair to it. Just hardly the main arc.

Spider-Man/Human Torch: A decent story that ends very abruptly. I like the dynamic that the Human Torch and Spider-Man develop right off the bat. Combative teenage rivals that will joke with one another the whole time.

The Torch story was okay. Cool to see Johnny use his wits when his powers are nullified. Spider-Man makes an appearance in about 3 panels. I like Ayers art but it was a little inconsistent here.

This is the best I think I've ever seen Adam Kubert's art. It doesn't look like his same style he generally uses at DC and I really appreciate that. The colors look amazing as well, just a few panels Kubert could have worked on a little bit better for character consistency. The story didn't really wow me. I really don't care much for the antagonists or their drive even if I am a huge Ben Reilly fan. I don't think an event like this is needed for his arc. Most of the other characters though, feel right at home. Osborn, the X-folks, Peter and even classic Venom. It's just trying a little too hard to be cool without being able to justify and live up to it.

I want to rate this higher because these two event books have more or less been fine but it's completely marred by the lack of communication between Wells/Lowe and all of the other writers. Nothing felt cohesive or planned out. Another sad aspect to this issue in particular is that the art didn't feel as on as the first event issue. Still good but there are some off model faces. There is really no growth for Ben whom I had expected this series to actually deal with considering he and Madelyne were practically bringing hell to Earth but once the X-story was properly and satisfyingly wrapped up, the Spider-story died. There are a few instances is the dialogue that I recalled where even some character development that occurred in previous tie-ins is completely ignored as well as both Mary Jane and Black Cat. You'd really think Peter would be more worried about them. I get that he doesn't know but it really doesn't seem like it would have been hard for him to find out, bust out of the Hell Bugle and help them. More points deducted for a lack of communication. I saw a friend of mine mention in a comment here that Ben's arc could have been completed if Jean and Maddie had just done to Peter and Ben what they did themselves. Peter would have willingly gifted anything to Ben, just not his life. All Ben really wanted were the memories that they shared, not even necessarily the ones he lost as Ben Reilly. As Jean showed compassion for Maddie in sharing the memories and emotions, you know Peter would have done the same. But Duggan knew how to wrap up his story. Wells clearly didn't. Wells plucked two characters with similar enough backgrounds and trauma to think up and event but couldn't deliver on his half of the story. Props to Duggan, Cantwell and MacKay for elevating this flop of a Spider-Man/X-Men crossover.

It is very high concept especially for the time. It doesn't hold your hand and you just have to accept all of the new characters, places and concepts thrown at you but what is here is still stellar. What Kirby even starts out with is timeless.

I really want to like this as I'm still engaged with the story and teh art is phenomenal but it is so dated in other aspects.

This is a very generic Batman story. Heavy on action, light on pretty much everything else. There are some sections where I really enjoyed the dialogue and some that I can't stand what's being written. That might honestly just be how I feel about Andy Diggle though. He's a real 50/50 guy for me. Also not big on the art. Like at all. At first I was thinking it was a little rough, the faces look awful but when Portacio has Batman in frame it's amazing. Well the further the book went on and the more Batman was used in heavy action scenes it all fell apart. I wanted to like it but by the end of it and knowing the turnaround Lex Luthor has in his career after trying to subjugate the world with an army of robots (granted the "one who did it" was a robot that looked like him) is so unbelievable that the world would ever let him be redeemed.

The art here is a really nice change of pace to what I had been dealing with in Journey Into Knight. It just feels like comic book art. It's solid, won't blow you away or anything but everything is very well conveyed. The story is interesting. It could honestly fit anywhere in Batman's chronology post first encounter with the Riddler. Like the art, the story is solid. Nothing crazy cool but nothing boring in the slightest. Feels like a regular episode of Batman the Animated Series which I honestly think most Batman titles should aspire to. Not everything has to have a massive arc. Villains of the week can still be engaging if you make them as such. Writing compelling stories can happen in one issue or twelve. With this being a three issue arc I'm just expecting a short and sweet three-parter than can be enjoyed at anytime.

Yep. It was just a really fun series of BTAS episodes. Satisfying ending that is left open for more. Unfortunately, that thread was left dangling and never brought forward for more storytelling but who knows? Someone could read this years down the line and want to use these characters. It has happened with BTAS characters.

For those who don't know me, I REALLY dislike JRJR's artwork. At least since he left ASM on his old run with JMS. I think he regressed really hard with age. So when I say that this is the best work I've seen him do in years, I mean it. That being said, I think it's more to the credit of his colorist and inker. He still suffers from a lot of the same issues I've always had with him. His style of shading only using parallel lines, not even cross hatching is lazy and doesn't convey depth, his faces are very samey and blocky. Peter isn't distinct enough from almost any other character most times for Romita Jr. What generally benefits him is that Peter is the focal point of the stories he draws for. Which is kind of a no brainer because yes this is a Spider-Man book. This is THE Spider-Man title so of course it should be. But going back to the JMS run and his time on that, it was a very inward facing story where the most character growth was between Peter, Mary Jane, and Aunt May whom are all the focal points of this story (save for Tombstone). I was skeptical of this run. Not because of Wells but solely because of JRJR. His work in the last 10+ years has been so lackluster I automatically attributed it to this issue. I was surprised that I really enjoyed what was told here. I haven't read a lot of the discourse going on with this issue yet and I know there were a lot of leaks to other issues but I am ignoring those and only basing my review on this issue's merits. It's grounded, it's a fresh start, it's Peter at his lowest. It's a story we've all seen before and to that end, I am disappointed. It is beyond frustrating that Peter can never move forward. It's beyond infuriating that Peter and Mary Jane seem to break up every year or two. It says less about the writers and more about that it just becomes a toxic relationship and I'd rather people don't broach the subject ever again. In spite of all of that, I'm willing to give this a shot. For a while. I loved the JMS run and this seems to be drawing inspiration from that specifically which was for better or worse, a deconstruction of Peter and his relationships and a character study of each. Peter and Mary Jane were debating divorce, Peter and May had tension because of Peter's secrets, Peter was without a job and each was resolved in a satisfying way that I wish had lasted longer. Peter and MJ should be married. We all know it. But the ending gave us quite a large wrench thrown into that possibility. Peter should be a teacher but he's still persona non grata in almost all of New York. Peter and May should be closer and it's up to Peter, not May to repair their relationship. I've seen all of those before and I have hope that I'll see it again.

"You aren't going to believe what is happening in this volume of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN". Yeah I really couldn't believe that nothing happened. I'm definitely going to be continuing with the series, I gave the first issue and the new status quo the benefit of the doubt. I'm rating it as low as I am because aside from Peter's conversation with Norman, nothing happened here that I remotely cared about. That and the goon not shooting Peter because he saved him was cool. I am very critical of JRJR's art and some of it felt like his good old style and some of his new jank was there. The colors also didn't seem to pop as well as last issue. Hopefully more happens next issue.

Better art, decent story. Don't care that Spidey is locked in cuffs. It serviced the story. If every hero got out of every situation immediately it would completely defeat the purpose of the tension the writer is trying to create. I'm chocking it up to he just got beaten, after being in the hospital and he's not at 100%. Makes enough sense to me. Didn't much care when we were kids because we knew the villain was going to give some monologue. This was decent, served the story. That's all that matters at the end of the day. What is being said, not "Why didn't Spider-Man just break the cuffs and beat up all of the bad guys?!"

Fantastic issue. Tombstone played everything pretty much perfectly and Peter looked like a fool. Not to demean Peter as he was clearly out of his element and didn't know how far Tombstone had planned ahead. I had a feeling there was going to be more to this interaction than a lot of people were willing to give a chance. Aside from more than a few artistic hiccups from JRJR, this is a really solid chapter in Wells' tenure.

This was a good arc. Nice and simple all things considered. Dealing with characters and villains we really don't see and it once again takes me back to JMS's run. Stories about a few characters at a time and their back and forth. Diving into who they are, not so much the simple conflicts that the antagonist is presenting to Peter. Tombstone was for me an odd choice but a welcome one that I am very happy with his inclusion. Wells does some great dialogue for Peter here that had me chuckling. Cracking jokes will always be Peter's specialty but not all writers are gifted with being able to give that voice to Peter. Wells seems to have really captured it and it elevates this issue and parts of the whole arc. Levity is important. There were also some flashes of brilliant, beautiful work by Romita Jr. contrasted with some absolutely abysmal stuff. I don't really know at this point. He's so 50/50. The issue's highlights are absolutely his interactions with Felicia and May. Two very strong women in his life that he has some making up to do with. I'll be here to see it when it comes. Unsurprisingly, the user reviews for this series got better with each issue. And those who had mostly negative things to say are either quiet or ignoring their fairly baseless criticisms that they levied far too soon. This has been a good run. Not great or ground breaking. There are still big questions we all have that have almost been completely ignored since the first issue but I mean come on, it's a story telling device and a means to get you to buy issues down the line. Don't act like this isn't new. They've been doing it since the 60s. Hell even before that.

This was fun. It just felt like an annual. Low stakes to no stakes for the overall plot but who really cares. It definitely felt like a milestone issue. Not in the aspect of it having sweeping repercussions going forward but that it was a fun look back at all of Spidey's earliest villains in a tight story that gets to the heart of who Spider-Man is. I hope we get to see more of the Ultra Living Brain. And Felicia is better. Always has been.

Not much to say here other than I'm intrigued. I'm lot letting the hanging mystery bog me down, I'm just enjoying the ride. Nice to see Peter and MJ talk for once, get a little more into whatever happened, see more of his connection to Norman. Groundwork stuff. Not the most compelling, action packed issue but necessary to get us where Wells is taking us.

Dialogue didn't seem as on here in the first half but the latter was what I like to see from Spider-Man. Introspective and communicating with his villains. It's what makes him so likeable. The biggest detractor is Romita's artwork. It's just bad. Extremely flat, backgrounds almost non-existent leaving the colorist to just slap a tone in the back to attempt to give it life and depth. I like the idea of Spidey on a glider using Goblin-tech. It's a really cool idea that I am surprised I haven't seen before. But it shouldn't be Romita doing it. Patrick Gleason had a way better design and is a much better artist. He didn't get to do enough issues of Beyond and that is a shame. Like this book. Just kind of a shame.

As might be apparent, I am reviewing this a while after the issue released. I had been keeping up with ASM with each issue but the last arc kind of burned me out and then this released, I saw that is was a tie-in to Hellfire Gala and seeing as I hadn't read any X-book practically at all I skipped this and Spider-Man for a while. Coming back to it after so long I am incredibly surprised how little it really dealt with the Hellfire Gala event seeing as it had already been completed well before this issue released, that badge just created a bit of confusion for really no reason. I didn't need to be on there at all. Everything was explained in the issue with exposition but not to such an egregious degree that it was grating, simply informative and I really liked it. Gleason's art on Spider-Man has been the greatest part of ASM for the last few years and he has hardly done any meaningful stretches and that is a crime. Another crime is the fact that we don't get more of Peter and Logan together. This really hit everything I want in a Spider-Man comic. Good humor, great cast of supporting characters, bonds being shown and fun action. Funny and sad that it was in a book that was a one off between arcs so nothing here really matters as we still have no idea why MJ is distant but we're getting there.

This actually stunned me. Twice. I started to tear up. I don't want to say anything about the story of this issue because I couldn't do it justice. Everything just clicked. All of the characters, all of the dialogue. That's rare. It's special. The art less so but I can look past it because the journey whether or not the art was top notch was still worth it. Holy cow.

Wow actual character growth. From Peter, Felicia, Norman. I'm liking this a lot. Just need JR to be more consistently "on" or replace him. Glad to see Hobgoblin again, I'm just upset that they're continuing with Roderick Kingsley was always the Hobgoblin and not Ned like Stern intended but that's not Wells' fault. Great issue.

The art was worse here but that's to be expected. I really like this journey Norman is taking at redemption and Peter's understandable apprehension while working to trust him on top feeling responsible for his own mistakes and Norman's is a great balance. I think this arc would have benefitted from an additional issue or two and not having the reveal take place so early and keep the mystery going a little bit longer. That's really all that holds it back story wise.

I stand by what I said last issue that this arc needed a little more substance and length to it. It's not bad, probably the most consistent arc so far in terms of tone, characterization, dialogue and setup. I do like where things are heading towards for Norman and Peter as well as the option for more Hobgoblin stories down the line.

The story much like the art is all over the place. Janine went from zero to one hundred really fast. Recognizing she was in a toxic relationship or at least one that was forming and just runs back after interacting with one person. I get that the person had a point but it was very coincidental and that's frustrating to see being forced in to get the character to do what you want. It didn't feel natural. The Ben meeting Madelyn Pryor bit looked awful and read about as bad. Nothing else to say. The Dodson's did a pretty great job on the art but it really couldn't save how quick Janine's turn still is but the pace of the whole book is jumping wildly so I guess it's expected here. I get that it's going through seasons at a time but all of a sudden war is talked about being waged but we don't know with what army, against who aside from Peter and I'm assuming at least Jean Grey and maybe Scott and the rest of the X-Crew. Same as with the Spring section, this really feels like forcing Janine into a position that doesn't feel natural to her and Wells is just trying to create a character for his event and maybe residuals. Finally, Winter brings the worst art I have seen from Ryan Stegman but at least it was the most coherent storyline. It's like Wells started with those last few pages and had to figure out how to get there. This whole book is kind of a mess and I'm not excited for Dark Web as a result. This should have been an annual.

I just don't really care for the story that's happening here. It's fine but I don't think that an event was needed just for this and reading it after it has come out and seeing all of the tie-ins, there is no way the amount of story that it would take to wrap this all up justifies it's length. McGuinness' art is pretty good but not his best. He's got this weird thing going on making all of the characters have really thick, short necks. I never noticed it before because I mostly saw his work on the Hulk and Superman/Batman and it wasn't nearly as distracting there. There were some bright spots in here tough. I thought the humor was great and Wells really does seem to understand the character's voices but not necessarily the story he is telling with them. It feels a little lost in the weeds but at least everyone still feels like who they are supposed to be. It could definitely be worse. I'd rather have the cast remain consistent on a meaningless story than be completely unrecognizable on a story that is trying harder.

Yeah I really don't care anymore. Ben isn't Ben and if he's not Ben then I'm out. The art is cool. That's about where all of my points are coming from. I like a single line in here and it was when Peter punched Ben saying, "If we're exchanging gifts, Merry Christmas! I got you a new concussion!" I'm only here now because I am a Spider-Man fan and I like so many other people am used to the pain.

I liked this more than last issue but just barely. The art is about all I have to praise this for even though McGuinness isn't my favorite Spidey artist, he's still good. Male characters at least just look really chunky. Thicc bois, which isn't the worst thing, it just stands out. There are only a few moments in this I thought the dialogue was even decent. Hell Bugle is funny but all of it is unnecessary. Robbie just exists there. Jonah has something to do for a few panels and it's only okay. Not even very funny except maybe to a 10 year old. I really don't know. This issue also didn't seem to move the needle forward in terms of the event and if you aren't reading the tie-ins, knowing there is only one more ASM issue and then the finale, this really doesn't do much. Even trying to endear us to Parker-Man isn't really something I care about because none of this matters.

Art good, story bad. Ben's place in this entire event feels so lost. He's never felt like an antagonist or even any sort of pivotal character when this is about him and Madelyne just trying to get their memories back. All this shows is that the X-Men part of the story was the only one worth telling. The worst thing this issue did was take the phenomenal ending to the Dark Web: X-Men series and undercut it by having that very heartfelt reconciliation between Maddie and the X-Men and make her somewhat antagonistic again. Not that she became a villain but it feels like a little bit of that growth was gone instantly. Wells was clearly not talking to Duggan. Disappointing overall.

I liked just about everything about this aside from some lackluster art by both Dodsons. I've never been the biggest fan of their interiors and while most of the time it was great, there were more than a few panels, background characters or off model pieces. I really enjoyed the story here. A breath of fresh air after what has been going on with ASM the last few issues. You still get the ever looming Peter/MJ drama while creating a fun getaway for Peter and Felicia to miraculously find themselves in a fun winter themed team-up. Give me more of this. PLEASE. Also, somehow this cover is both good and terrible. It's good for JRJR now but it's far from his best work and has no bearing on the story and while I know not all comic covers necessarily showcase what is happening in the story for whatever reason this one just makes no sense. Regardless, fun issue. I like fun. Sue me.

Everyone complaining about the, "but she's more like a sister--" are either genuinely illiterate, completely attention deficit and can't read three more word bubbles or are simply idiots operating because some ASM Redditor/Twitter incel told you it was bad. Peter is clearly not over MJ and clearly doesn't see her as a sister. Felicia knows that and IMMEDIATELY called him out for it. But he's realized he's changing. Love changes and that line about love with a capital L changing to a lower case one hit a lot harder for me than I thought. This issue has flaws, mostly in the art department. In the last issue there was enough good to overlook the bad but most of this was bad. Not sure what happened. A lot of the dialogue involving anyone but Peter, Felicia and Kareem was pretty mediocre. You could tell they didn't really care and White Rabbit is always obnoxious so I won't say she was written poorly, that's just how she's written. I still liked it despite those faults. Y'all are just dumb or something getting mad over one line that was cut off, addressed immediately and explained. I'm glad Peter is moving away from that but I will always be a Black Cat/Spider-Man guy over Peter and MJ. One of those two relationships is way more toxic and its not the one with the sometimes criminal.

So we get some answers. Not all of the answers but hey, that's how you tell a story now. Drip feed. I will say two pretty positive things about this book. JRJR's art is pretty good. Especially for what I expect from him. Next that I was really interested in the story... until I looked at the editor's note about issue 555. I didn't know about Rabin or Wayep until now. I assumed they were created for this story so I was intrigued. Maybe there is more nuance to these characters that people have been giving such a hard time to. While that may be true as I am still far behind, I was incredibly disappointed to find out that Wells is the one who created these characters. In 2008. So as far as I can tell these roughly 20 issues have all been a ploy for Wells' creations to see more pages. That was a hell of a let down when I saw that. If they were just old villains that hadn't been seen for a while I would be less disappointed but its just a self congratulatory HJ by Wells. I really hope he makes it worth it...

Better than last issue in both story, pacing and art. But only barely. I am having a hard time caring because I have no reason to. Since this is all a flashback we're getting story progress but its been a year. That's way too long to deal with this and it just involves two Z-level villains that hardly anyone remembers because the writer wants to give his creations more time in the sun. One of them dies. And it's not the regular guy. It's a god. Very unceremoniously. Why do I care? Why should any of these characters have such a huge impact on Peter's life? I really don't know.

This was paced very well. You feel the urgency and desperation that Peter is going through. His interactions with all of his friends and family are tense and the one person he turns to is Norman. That's pretty heavy. I'm not a fan of how JRJR depicts someone with bruises though. Sure he went through the ringer but his head was already a weird blob.

I actually like the drama that is created by Peter being reckless in the pursuit of Mary Jane that he would (lightly) attack and steal from the people he would trust more than anyone. It really goes to show what he would do for her and why he definitely doesn't "see her as a sister". Dude would move heaven and Earth and his reaction at the end is devastatingly understandable. He feels betrayed. He did everything he could as fast as possible. Hurt those he care about all for her. The only reason I'm rating it this low is because outside of Peter and his actions eventually coming around to have consequences, the journey I could care less about. The villains I could care less about. Rabin and Wayep are mostly useless. I don't even hate Paul. But this entire arc should have been explained sooner. To start with this would have been a bad idea but why did it take so long to give us the most underwhelming explanation to something that could have been really cool. Peter burning bridges and the readers not knowing why is actually a great hook. Now that I know what was on the hook? I'd rather toss it in and cast again.

This was really, really good. I don't know what people are smoking. The art is top notch. Some of the best this entire run has seen. To start off, Mary Jane didn't betray or cuck Peter. We don't even know by the end of this whether or not MJ and Paul are "together". They bonded. Over 4 years. Fighting and surviving and raising children. It's all justified. I'm not saying that MJ should just bang whatever guy falls into her lap after Peter but despite Peter's persistence in trying to get back to her, he can't slow time. She understandably thought she was stuck. But that doesn't mean even at the end that she doesn't still love Peter. The best part about this issue isn't even the explanation (for the most part) about MJ and Paul's relationship. As far as I'm concerned it's just a bond. It happens and while not meaningless, it doesn't mean it's romantic. Even if it was, I wouldn't be pissed. The best part is seeing MJ be a badass, seeing Paul actually do something and contribute to the story instead of being just some dude that everyone hates because he's encroaching on their Spider-Man fantasy of plowing Mary Jane. They actually made Rabin seem like a threat. He was daunting and intimidating. The scene with Owen was pretty chilling. And hey we get an explanation for MJ's "powers". I think it's kind of goofy but it's better than random chance powers so cool I guess. All I have learned after reading this and looking at reviews is that people aren't media literate. They take a headline, a blurb, a single panel and don't look past that or their own idea of what they want the character to do. This is the best issue in a while and thought it may still be dealing with an arc and villains I don't have one iota of interest in, it made me actually care about the future. What will happen with Paul, MJ, and Peter? That is what is driving my interest now. How does Peter reconcile with the people who are effectively leaving him to deal with his anger and pain on his own? The story at the end was also hilarious. I love how much Peter hates being outside of New York and the two panels he's swinging between buildings until he can't is amazing. Actually had me laughing. More Peter and Felicia please!

Art bad, story lame, Kamala obvious but can people please stop complaining about the Paul and kids thing? It's been clear there was no procreation. Romantic relationship or no, MJ and Paul are bonded and lets be clear, Peter has been a whacko. Also justified. Outside of that I really think this was a crappy way to dispose of a character. Outside of her own stories, in a series where she has been a fringe character at best all for shock value because we know what is going to happen. I knew it as as soon as I saw her on the first page. That's not to say that her death wasn't impactful. It definitely got my stomach tied up a little bit. JRJR's art is pretty abysmal here. I think the colorists are doing a lot of the heavy lifting and have been for a while. I don't credit them enough. I'm done with the whole Rabin/Wayep/Xibalba arc. I don't care anymore. I'm glad they're gone but they didn't justify or mean anything to this run outside of establishing Paul who is at least an interesting addition to Peter's world.

While I don't like how aggressive Peter is being toward Felicia I get it. What really bothers me is how he came at her but then approaches Norman in a much healthier way. I would kind of expect the opposite. But then, I'm a Felicia fan. It's nice to see how he and Norman are dealing with Kamala's passing and how they both feel responsible but it feels little out of place here. As well with the continuation of the Gold Goblin arc. I'm happy to have it but there is a weird tonal difference in two halves of this book. I really like the old Ock arms subplot. Honestly made me sad to see how Ock treats them and their desperation to go to Jonah all beat up. How I was made to care about a fake animate object is beyond me but I like it. I liked a lot about this issue and I'm not sure why. Maybe just because it's different and despite the fact that it's a huge leap from what we were dealing with that something fresh is immediately better.

I'm struggling finding something to say. I like the lightheartedness with Jonah, Peter and Norman. Octavius is obviously building to something but I really don't know what. This is fine. If it was all fun there wouldn't be conflict to drive the story with Ock but the conflict has no real context. We'll see where this goes I guess.

The art is the highlight. Could have done without the Rek-Rap tease. I really don't need to be reminded on Dark Web. I also guess we get a tease of Ock remembering and being bitter about his time as Superior Spider-Man and missing it? Would be nice if that was fleshed out more.

While I enjoyed Peter acting Otto-like it's not as compelling as Otto acting Peter-like. Also bothered me that Peter started calling the arms boy when he previously called them girl before painting them. More of a continuity/consistency thing. The conversation Norman and Peter had on the roof with Norman reminiscing about an exchange and inside joke they both had was nice but it feels like too little too late. Show us that BEFORE she died, then remind us as a fond memory. Don't retroactively try to scrounge up a meaningful interaction we never got to see. I don't get why the tone shift has to be so drastic. If you want to do a story about Kamala and the fallout IN Spider-Man then give it an issue or two. Do it justice. Don't throw off the pace of the story you are telling that is full of jokes to then pivot and try to add weight where it doesn't belong. I don't hate it by any means. I think both stories are fine and being told decently well but they don't mesh well and throw off the book.

The Aunt Anna story was honestly heartbreaking, especially seeing her in that last panel, shackled in Ravencroft Hannibal style. 8/10 I'm not sure how I feel about Hallows' Eve. I really don't like that every person has to have powers now. Janine and MJ? Really? The story was good I just don't care for the concept. 6/10 Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy going to a wedding in Omaha? Some of the best writing in such a small snippet. It was great. Cute date, cute banter, hilarious how befuddled Peter becomes from how quickly it takes to not have tall buildings or for him to lose his sense of direction not being in New York. 9/10 on that one.

As a whole this was way too much. I liked the wedding. When Romita was on art I actually felt like it was back to his JMS days so to say, I think it looked pretty alright. The bachelorette/bachelor parties were fine. The only one worth seeing was between Pete and Randy. I really don't like how Felicia has one party with 'friends' and decides that's it. And that Peter didn't fight it at all. They were just talking about how they loved each other and despite how he's been really cold to her lately I would have hoped we would get a decent issue of them talking out their issues. Maybe then a break would have been fine but it was such a crummy way to end it like this. The Kamala epilogue is okay. I like what Peter did but I still think that her dying in a Spider-Man book when she was hardly a supporting character was bad form, hardly dealing with it mostly in passing between Peter and Norman at odd times in stories that had no bearing. Her being an X-Man means nothing to the story and makes her sacrifice mean a little less because we knew what was going to happen and it happened quick. The Otto deciding to return to Superior feels REALLY forced. And we know it is because it's the 10th anniversary of the book. But wow. He's in a bathroom in a crappy dive bar and we've not really seen much to necessitate that change. I'm not saying I don't want it but the build up has been really lacking. I enjoyed the MJ and Paul dealing with their trauma and loss, hate the costume. Spider-Woman's story was interesting but was just thrown in here because she's Spider-adjacent and that kind of makes it feel less important in light of the subject matter, Jess getting her baby back. Powerful backup story but should have been in something else. Spider-Boy and Madame Monstrosity.. I got nothing. Know nothing about either character. Perry Thomas and Stanley the Goose were funny but are a horrible way to lead into... The best part about the issue. Kraven and Queen Goblin getting it on! Jokes aside this story was the highlight and it was three pages. Getting to see what is upcoming instead of giving us more story to the Tombstone stuff that started in issue one and hasn't really been added to since then is way more interesting. I mean and hey, go Kraven. Oh yeah I forgot about the Reign sequel preview. If it weren't so far at the back that I completely forgot about it until later it would have dropped the score another half point but I really don't think that is fair. We don't need a sequel to that story. I don't think there is a human alive with more than one braincell that asked for that.

I liked it. Stuff happened. Still pissed about Felicia but unlike most Peter/MJ stans I will get over it. I just think it could have been handled better and not addressed so quickly and casually like they were just buddies or something. The art is phenomenal but I think Gleason is always good and finds a way to change his style just enough with each new character to bring out something new and it's a master talent. I REALLY like the bond that Norman is trying so hard to create and it makes me even happier that Peter is actually trying to accept it. I don't want to see it end but I realize it has to.

I have my issues with Kraven existing because it undermines what made Last Hunt so impactful but this really just takes that and throws it in reverse. Amazing pacing, amazing art. I want to credit a lot of this to Gleason because this really feels like something Gleason would do more than Wells but I can't say one way or the other. If it's both then good on them for crafting this.

Another fast paced issue but it has weight to it. Peter is terrifying which is an amazing representation of what I think the Green Goblin has kind of lacked in people's minds. If THIS is what Norman's sins and the Goblin make a person, then you should be very afraid. Almost everything that I care about this run was touched on. The Tombstone plot, Norman's degrading mental state and Peter's burgeoning relationship with him, Peter, Paul and MJ, Queen Goblin. All some of the biggest highlights.

I'm not as down on this as some people seem to be. While I do think that the Spider Who Gobs was maybe a little too short lived, the arc only lasting essentially 4 issues and a few pages from issue 31, I could have and would have been happy to get more. My only real disappointment with it is the inevitable fact that Norman would never get to stay redeemed and work through his pain with a new bond in Peter. That story is coming to a close. Despite it being open ended at least in regards to Norman it really feels like the true end to an arc. Kraven and Queen Goblin are gone, the sins are 'contained'. All we have now is Gang War.

The 90s had the Clone Saga, the 2000s had One More Day, 2010s, Clone Conspiracy I guess? But the 2020s currently have Dark Web. Say what you will about the Clone Saga, OMD and Clone Conspiracy. All divisive and pretty much hated or disregarded by most of the Spider-Man fanbase but they were all trying to do... SOMETHING. Whether or not they succeeded in their goal is up to debate but Dark Web is managing to be a much smaller scale disappointment because it doesn't DO anything. And we keep being reminded. For some reason. Interrupting the story that we were previously being told. An epilogue to a decent story regarding Kraven and Norman's sins returning? Nope, here's Rek-Rap. Want to see more about Peter's relationship with Black Cat or MJ? Nope, here's Madelyne Pryor having some beast round up all of the Limbo problem children. Why though? Who asked for this? I have no problem with telling fun stories and occasionally diverting from the main story but the crumbs we are left to carry the overall narrative with two pages to hype up Gang War are not enough to satisfy the tonal whiplash I get every time an arc is wrapped up because it never feels wrapped up until 10 or more issues down the line. You can have closure at the end. Not everything needs to be open ended. If you had the ending already, use it! Why now do you return back to such a useless and forgettable event? I have nothing to positive to say about this issue because as much as I try to defend this run, when the highs are high, things are going pretty good but the lows don't make me angry. They make me want to stop reading Spider-Man. I am okay with being angry and reading Spider-Man. I can disagree with what is being told but still interested. I am no longer interested. I no longer want to see how things will eventually be tied up later down the road when I've already been given an 'ending'. This is just disappointing. I am not excited for Gang War because I really don't think there has been enough given to us to warrant excitement. Sure we know it's been coming for a while, we know Marvel is hyping it up as a big to do but the scraps we've been given don't fill me with confidence. The confidence that I've always had in the title even when I was worried about the direction it was taking. There really doesn't feel like there is anyone giving this book direction. Right the ship. Give us a consistent tone or at least don't shift it so suddenly when you're trying to tell a lighter story then bog it down IMMEDIATELY with a half-hearted telling-not-showing display to cover your asses because you did something that pissed on the fans. I really don't consider myself a Spider-Man purist. I don't NEED One More Day to be undone. I didn't need Sins Past to be retconned. I didn't need Clone Conspiracy to bring Ben Reilly back to life, yada yada yada. At the end of the day I just want interesting Spider-Man stories that either have a meaning and a message, are compelling because of a villain or relationship, or are just funny down to earth ongoing of Peter or those in his life. This fills none of those. This run as a whole gives me whiplash because right when I want to sing it's praises something like this follows immediately. I will be continuing to read because despite not being a purist I will always be a Spider-Man shill. I love the guy too much. I've got my fingers crossed but my hopes are not up.

I'm even less happy now than I was with the previous issue because I didn't think there would be another ridiculous issue after this one. I'm done with this run. I will continue to read it but if Rek-Rap or Dark Web are referenced anymore it's an automatic low score. There is nothing here to grab onto. It's obnoxious, unfunny and destroys the pacing of the overall narrative of the run. Read the pages that actually pertain to Gang War (there are only 2 pages, pgs.13-14 you're welcome) so you don't waste more of your time. If there is anything to credit in this issue, it's Norman calling out how stupid this all is and even he doesn't want to deal with it.

I didn't absolutely hate it. Which is something to praise when anything involving Dark Web or Rek-Rap are concerned at least for me. He actually made me chuckle. Things happened in the issue. While I doubt the Limbo story is truly wrapped up, I'm content with where it is. I actually had to go back to issue 908 just to remember what even happened to the collections guy to refresh and put the whole Re-Po thing together in my head which is horrible for pacing. Still though, the only thing worth reading is everything AFTER the Rek-Rap adventure leading into Gang War and we get left with the least interesting cliff hanger ever while also being incredibly cliche. I would have liked to see the Maggia heads DO something before being unceremoniously killed(?) off before the arc even starts. It's not a great way to generate hype. I want to be excited. The lead into the next story didn't do that but I could surprisingly actually read this and have SOMEWHAT of a decent time.

My biggest issue is with the art. It was like... too clean? Very safe modern art. It's not bad art but I'd rather not see it in ASM again. The story is fine. Not much more. I'm back to being interested, it's a good setup issue but I definitely would have preferred this to the past 3 issues we got. Also not a big fan of the checklist. Gang War is going to be 26 issues spread over at 6 titles, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Miles, Daredevil, Deadly Hands and ASM with three of those being solely standalone tie-in series. I'm not an event hater but more than half of these won't matter, maybe all but ASM and we'll be lucky if Miles and Daredevil manage to still be good despite being unnecessary to the plot (not saying they are or aren't, just predicting). Overall, I have nothing really negative to say about the story. I read one complaint about being upset that Miles was talking down to Peter is a little ridiculous. It was entirely justified. Peter still has a lot of work to do in atoning for how he treated those closest to him during the whole Rabin/Wayep thing. Peter basically told everyone to go to hell then disappeared and shut everyone out. Including the guy who he's supposed to be partners with. Regardless of how close Marvel writes them, they are at least in my mind a pair. Not like in a sidekick way but you don't have two Spider-Men and expect them to never interact like we primarily see. It makes the relationship feel incredibly artificial. We need to see them together more and if Peter is the reason we don't Miles should definitely call him on it.

To start, that cover is atrocious. The story however was pretty bombastic. Great story beats with Lonnie and Robbie, Janice taking over her dad's territory, Madame Masque continuing to torture Hammerhead and the dynamic that Peter has be it strained with Miles, absent with Elektra or the surprisingly good rapport he has with Jen and Jess made for a really compelling narrative. I'm actually looking forward to the next few issues.

Wasn't nearly as engaged in this one. Nothing really to grab you. Stuff is just happening at a break neck pace all kind of scattered around. Madame Masque is eliminating Maggia leaders, Jen and Pete are teaming up with Tombstone who's meeting Fisk, etc. It's not bad but in a story about a gang war it all feels kind of disconnected where the last issue felt a lot more cohesive and fluid. Still can't get over the art and I'm still trying to figure out if the cover is supposed to be robots or terribly drawn guns. Either way, the cover and half of the issue was atrocious on the art side.

This was a bit of a letdown more so than last issue. It's not even fatigue as I think the release schedule actually helps keep me engaged and excited for the next story. The action is so static and boring. You had Kingpin and Tombstone bearhugging for half of it and then there is a whole sequence on page 16 where Kingpin is supposed to be headbutting Tombstone in the face/jaw and it just looks like Tombstone is giving him a really aggressive smooch. While funny, it didn't portray the brutality or intensity of the action. Same with Digger and the Beetle's posse. He just walked up to them and grabbed their gear without them doing ANYTHING. I didn't expect them to put up much of a fight but they literally didn't put up any fight whatsoever. They all just stood there and said, "Huh?!". Madame Masque is back to being relegated to a handful of panels as well as our titular character. I'm all for having other characters take a bigger role in the narrative to flesh out their character/arc much like Norman had previously but Spider-Man is barely in his own book. He's even aware of it because he mentions how he's just relegated to fighting goons. I want so badly to be invested but it keeps getting worse. If the story won't get more engaging get a better artist on the book and inject at least the action and choreography with some life. JRJR is not your guy for that.

The art was better, the story was more focused but now I just want it to be over. Kind of a shame that. Had the pacing in the second and third issues gotten us here faster I might me more invested. I wanted to see more from Madame Masque and we did. I wanted to see JRJR do better and we kind of did. Peter still has next to nothing to do but that's fine. I think my problem now is that my interest in Gang War and half of Wells' run so far has been Tombstone and now he isn't getting much of the spotlight either. I get switching to Janice but there isn't really much to go on for her in terms of history. Her and Masque trading trauma is only slightly effective at understanding their character motivations but it feels kind of forced. Masque at least has a history we can draw from, I'm personally less familiar with Janice. I could be wrong but her as a whole just feels like an insert when Lonnie could fill that role. I don't know. Two issues left. Hopefully it ends with a bang.

I definitely liked this a lot more than I thought I would. But don't mistake this isn't a ringing endorsement of this event or even the issue. Somehow I think Wells tapped into what I praised about his abilities and comparisons to JMS in the first Tombstone arc. Peter's voice is commanding, he feels real and thoughtful, action oriented and willing to take care of what he has must to protect those he cares about and the city. Sounds great. Why then is it only happening in the penultimate issue of an event where he was practically sidelined until now? Even Romita's art popped at least when Spider-Man was the focus. Every other character looked so phoned in it was upsetting. Not that the "twist" at the end wasn't easily predictable but I really don't like this bait and switch of villains turning over a new leaf and then because, "We have to return to the status quo or everyone will freak out, the bad guy has to revert to their old ways. What a rascal they are. Shucks." It's so frustrating. Much like this event. There are some really uplifting, energetic moments with SOME dynamic action supplied by an artist way past his prime. If you still care about ongoing ASM and feel obligated to finish this event out you might not hate your time.

It says a lot about the failure of an event when the only time the team talks to one another is at the very end to realize who all was even on the team. Great job Lowe. My expectations for anything during the rest of this run are completely shot at this point. Any praise I had to give toward the Tombstone arcs has fallen completely flat because up to this point it has all led to absolutely nothing. Madame Masque effectively did nothing. None of the Maggia were involved in the run up to this point and are unlikely to feature again so why did we even do this? I can't fathom. I just want a new writer and editorial team. Better yet, give me a new issue of USM. It's the only good thing coming out of any Spider-Man camp.

I have no idea why Anna took weird Krakoan medicine but even given that lack of knowledge beforehand that sequence is handled deftly. Wells can write very touching interpersonal dialogue. He doesn't like to tap into it often, relying on really jarring action sequences but when he gets Peter in a room with a small group or just one on one, his dialogue flourishes. Most notably with Norman. It honestly breaks my heart to see how much distance has been crossed for both Peter and Norman together that we know it's coming to an end soon. All the good that Norman has struggled, bled and fought to do will come crashing down and while disheartening will be something to see. Even the short interaction we get between Peter and William Barker (Sandman) is all that deeper personal connection that Peter should always bring to his world. He brings people hope.

A good issue, definitely liked the Ravencroft stuff. There could be some more fun stories to tell there but it looks that all we got were those two. Having Anna in there and helping everyone become better people and want to reform back to society is great. Now it's likely gone. And chance of seeing these villains vanished. Much like my interest in seeing MJ and Peter talk about how they're in a weird place. Again. And again. People can just be friends with their former significant others without there being drama or whatever this boring do-nothing recycled dialogue is. That all may sound harsh but I didn't hate the issue whatsoever. Just stop the will they won't they in Peter's relationships. Either have him be single or have him be with someone. Let him be happy in either circumstance because the morose Peter is a slog at this point.

Okay this was actually really good. I might be giving a higher score than it deserves but for what ASM has been, this is a nice return to something I'm used to in Spider-Man. Peter getting set up with someone new, having decent chemistry, having to run out on them, actually saving people, helping his friends and fingers crossed we get some decent characterization for Ben in the next few issues before issue 50 puts everything on the back burner. Also a fan of Todd Nauck here. I really wish he would be a recurring artist rather than a guest. He's miles ahead of JRJR. That cover is GARBAGE.

Not sure what to think here. Is Ben going to be the new Goblin? Does Peter have gaps in his own memory and will that be the catalyst for the new Goblin problems? I'm glad that Ben seems to be getting back to normal but the idea that he and Janine share that they might just both be "bad" feels like a cop-out. The Spider team just don't want to deal with him anymore so we'll just write him off as a "bad guy" and push him away after doing him so dirty from the end of Beyond until now. At least he seems to not be crazy and has somewhat come back to BEN and away from Chasm. We'll see.

The art looks so phoned in if Spider-Man or anything without any action isn't on panel. It's so disappointing. The only thing saving the art is the amazing coloring that really doesn't seem to hit until page 6. As for the story, for someone who isn't diving into Blood Hunt yet this was an engaging and pretty harmless tie-in. Its nice to see Peter getting upset about the world around him constantly turning to crap instead of being so conditioned by it that he's lost his empathy for the city.

Despite 49 previous issues leading up to a return of the Green Goblin the final transformation and reveal felt a little rushed. Not that I'm into drip feeding pivotal moments like ASM has trended towards in the past ten years but it just felt so sudden as well as the apparent and immediate de-powering of the Goblin. Those gripes aside the story was stellar. Moving incredibly fast but with decisive urgency. Getting to Spider-Goblin 2.0. I'm not sure what this is going to mean for Peter OR Norman now as the last time we got a Goblinized Peter Parker it was the best thing this run had to date and all of the progress that Norman has made still seems to exist inside the Norman half of the personalities. Wells has shown he can do this and make it good. I really hope he stick the landing.

FWIP "Fwip?" I really appreciate how much is being tackled in just 20 pages. The continuation of the current threat that is the Green Goblin's return, Kraven's pursuit of redeeming Spider-Man from the other Spider-Goblin arc, Ben's journey back to becoming himself, the dangling Sinister Six plot which had honestly felt like such an afterthought since the anniversary issue. It all blends seamlessly together in a fast paced yet still story rich book. My only complaint is that I think Todd Nauck should get the lead pencil duties. I'm not a big fan of McGuinness on Spider-Man. Everyone is a little too chunky.

A bit slow after last issue but that tends to happen after such a big reveal as well as having been the norm in Wells' arcs. I don't mind a slow pace but considering this arc isn't that long it worries me that this stems from a cool idea where he has a solid first issue and little to bring it all to a satisfying conclusion. Not that he hasn't before but his consistency is lacking in that department. As well as that of Ed McGuinness. I don't think his art style is bad, in fact I really like it but I tune out when his art is present in Spider-Man. I don't like how his characters look in costume. Nauck however is fantastic. I'd much rather just have one artist per book, not one per storyline. Eventually the paths meet and you leave one artist out to dry. It also looses a bit of that cohesion. In terms of the story as I said before, it was a little slow. Between a lackluster confrontation between Chasm and Peter that leads to a pretty unceremonious "removal" of the Spider-Goblin, (at least in appearance), an even slower moving plot in The Living Brain's plan to save Peter and the most intriguing bit of Norman futureproofing the downfall of Peter Parker by transferring holdings of Oscorp to Peter's name. That last thread is the most impactful but a lot of it gets lost because nothing really had time to stick together. Not a bad issue but unfocused.

Kamala got straight to the point with her emphatic *SIGH*. That's all I feel about this issue. It wasn't funny when it was trying to be, it never felt serious when it was trying to be. I really wish this wasn't how every arc felt with Wells. Solid start, terrible to boring middle, tacked on ending. Goblin originally felt like he could be an actual threat. That went right out the window. As soon as he's taken slightly off guard by Peter not being possessed, Peter is able to absolutely run through him when Goblin was previously obliterating Peter 2 issues ago. He's suddenly weak because he has to be. It's so anti-climactic. And now we are right back where we were like 20 something issues ago. Wells wrote a good story. Now he's trying to go back to it in a really dissatisfying way. I really don't know what else to say. At least we know the run is almost over. I wanted more from this arc.

As far as conclusions go for Zeb Wells, this is one of his better ones. The bouncing back and forth of the Goblin between Norman and Peter, Peter and Norman got really annoying and we could have seen an inner struggle for Peter longer than a single splash page but what we got was decent. Exploring more of those pivotal moments in Peter and Spider-Man's life being slowly poisoned or stripped away by the Goblin would have been more interesting and now it's just... gone. Poof. We're going to get more of a resolution soon I'm sure. Wells loves his epilogues instead of just giving us a fulfilling conclusion but with what we got here I don't hate any of it.

This is very good, very cute but very frustrating. Peter can grow beyond learning the same lesson he has a thousand times over about taking time for himself. He's not the only hero out there and there are more than ever. He wants to go on a date he can call Miles, or Tony, or anyone else if he has plans. That's being responsible while taking care of yourself.

I originally had this whole thing written about how frustrated I was after just the first 3 pages after the Kingpin/Tombstone flashback. I was disappointed in the art and hanging plot threads but honestly, those aren't enough to make this a bad issue at all. What I felt in the first arc is back here. Everything I praised Wells for, his ability to channel that JMS era of Peter relying on others to help him, expanding his supporting cast and making him feel a little more down to earth is very present. That's what I, and I feel most people want from Peter Parker. I think that's why people want him to be married or at least in a committed long term relationship. It makes him feel more relatable, realistic. Someone having real world problems. Not fantastic superhero problems that make his personal life harder. He's supposed to be an insert for the reader. Escapism through his heroics but similar in his personal problems. It's what makes him so endearing and Wells channels that here. He makes Spider-Man feel like Spider-Man, messing with his enemies, being a nuisance and it comes back to bite him but Peter being Peter, he has a good support system, this time in the form of Luke Cage and She-Hulk. I wish we had been able to see more of them outside of a Dark Web epilogue and Gang War but it's still nice to see heroes coming to Peter/Spider-Man's aid. Shows the readers why he's so well loved. I've not been the biggest fan of this run but I would always give issues their due when they deserved it and there were a lot of hits. A lot of misses too but as long as this final arc actually finishes off well, I wouldn't rate this overall as bad as a lot of people around the internet have said it is. It's just not. I will however say that most of the missteps here were likely the fault of editorial and their awful event mandates. I don't fault Wells entirely for Dark Web or Gang War. We have to have them because Marvel wants to sell more books. Take those out and this run becomes much better and more cohesive. It will flow a bit better and maybe some of those hanging plot threads aren't left as hanging. Keep up the work Spider-Team. End on a bang. Oh yeah and I even enjoyed the Paul backup. I think that they really chickened out catering to that part of the "fanbase" that was complaining about him. Abandoning him entirely when all of the Paul haters had already dropped off the book. It still sold well even when he was in it. Should have just kept him in. It was a chance to flesh out his character more and make him less hated or just kill/send him off if you were actually done with him. It feels like a waste in hindsight and I never hated him. It was a really interesting position for Peter to be in. We've seen MJ in relationships away from Peter before but this was different. It's still different. They have a bond, they've never really been lovers. And there is security for both of them in that bond. Paul has a home and someone to trust in a dimension he doesn't know and MJ has someone who isn't constantly in danger. It honestly has always made sense. Either commit to Paul or don't.

Womp womp. There is something fitting with this being my 1000th review. The wet fart of an ending to Wells' run leads into giving me more reason to review another thousand. Hopefully some stronger Spider-Man runs.

Most of the dialogue here is just bad. Unfunny jokes, Peter feels like a teenager still, people talking at Peter and everything sailing over his head. Marveling at the fact that he stood up to Doctor Doom despite the fact that he's done it countless times. Whether or not he was the Sorcerer Supreme. Everyone here just felt a bit lifeless. Aside from Kevin. And what was even the point of introducing Burnout? Could he come up later? Sure but as of right now he's nothing and it had zero impact on the story. Just a device to remind readers of Doom's power which isn't necessary because he's DOOM! Kelly seems to be trying a bit too hard to be meta-relevant. We know all of the annoying problems in the world. AI on our phones, corporate ads invading our daily lives aren't really commentary I need from Spider-Man unless it actually matters to the plot. Which in this case feels incredibly contrived. Doom not wanting to do the work of fighting the Scions of Cyttorak is very in line with how Doom operates. But To have Spider-Man do it? I'm sorry but even Doom's monologuing didn't agree with that one. Now all of a sudden, because of a suit change, he just knows the "cool secret names of things"... Show. Don't tell. First rule. Already breaking it. I really want the ramifications of Peter dying and being reborn to have meaning in the future but I'm hard pressed to believe that the significance of that will carry over. Something this important to a character's perception of the world should carry weight and while it does here, it's only in service to a McGuffin plot. This may be the least I have ever cared for McGuinness' work. That might have something to do with the colorist changing from his previous arcs on ASM but this felt way flatter in terms of vibrancy and pop that was apparent in his older issues. Things here felt a lot more cartoony at the wrong times and traditional when it could have used more expressive features from Spider-Man. It also had this issue when there were multiple characters on a page that everyone looked way less detailed and on model. I'm just going to assume this entire arc was rushed to get the Wells transition kicked off as quickly as possible. This whole storyline didn't feel like the natural progression it would have taken in preparation for a new writer. Even May is sick and tired of Peter spinning in circles. I really wanted to read every issue of ASM but if this is all I have to expect from this arc, I might jump off next issue.

I disliked the writing and art in this more than last time. This whole plot is incredibly contrived just to serve as a vessel to bridge the gap to the next big writer where this feels like a place holder. It doesn't feel like a good Spider-Man story. He just doesn't fit in this. It could have been a more seamless transition into this arc but there was no lead up, nothing building to his team-up with Strange and Doom until all of a sudden, BOOM! Spider-Man is throwing magic around. It's like the story of an annual extended over a series of issues. Peter isn't terrible with women. He's usually pretty great with women DESPITE his idiosyncrasies and overall dorkiness. He can be oblivious but he's not that dumb to just have Felicia blatantly telling him she's single go right over his head. It makes it worse that there is near zero consistency to McGuiness' portrayal of Felicia. She changes in every panel she's in. It's very jarring. While Norman saying he doesn't believe in magic completely stone faced is genuinely funny, it makes absolutely no sense. He's lived in a world where magic has existed for years. There is no denying it and those who were skeptics have been shown to have no way to quantify it. If Tony Stark believes in magic, Norman Osborn even in all his pride would have no reason to deny it's existence. I do enjoy this change for Norman though. I hold absolutely zero hope that it will be followed up on well at least not in this... run? Series? Not sure what to call this Kelly section of ASM. I think what would be a great way to get Spider-Man and Peter back to what people want is to focus back on his supporting cast. Have him do more with Norman, with Felicia and May. They're there but like the audience, they're just waiting for Peter to remember who they are and what they mean to him. The ending is a masterclass in rushed pacing. The climax has no real resolution. Largely no buildup or anticipation during the new Scion conflict and as fast as you can blink, it's over. No reverence or weight to add to another death for Peter Parker. Hell there's barely an explanation as to HOW he died. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. There needs to be more impact shown to the reader for it to feel meaningful. I know death means nothing in comics but this is set up to convey how it can impact a character for those readers who might not have read anything off the most popular lines that have had to deal with death. It makes it feel so shallow. I'm genuinely not trying to be a downer or a hater. I just want more than this book and this editor are giving me. There are good/interesting ideas here but they are not given enough time to shine or be meaningfully fleshed out. Like Kevin. Or Peter's thousand yard state after his "rebirth". He's just casually back to it like he was at the beginning of this issue completely eradicating all of the impact of the end of the last. I'm rating this higher simply because it manages to continue the story that was established. A story I might not like but at least as opposed to the previous issue, flows into this newly established direction. Whiplash inducing as it may be.

I was really close to actually liking this one but I had a hard realization at the end. This is not Peter Parker. No matter how down he gets, what is going on in his life, people dying, him struggling, whatever. He would never yell at May like he did. Add in the fact that there is still no real weight to any of his deaths and this still isn't a story worth it's time in reading yet. I am more engaged than I was previously but the fact that we still have several more issues before this arc wraps does not excite me. We're only on death three of eight. It's also incredibly derivative going back to Peter's "biggest failures" for no impact whatsoever. It didn't mean anything. That's worse than not having done it at all. Take these moments when Peter was at his lowest, have him barely react and poof they're gone. No resolution. No fallout or lasting guilt. I understand that he has long since moved on from these tragedies but to be IN them once more would wreck Peter more than any other hero. He is defined by his failures more than his successes. There are some positives I will add to this. I really enjoyed the conversation between Peter and Felicia. It felt natural, funny when it was appropriate, real and weighty when it needed to be. I want more of that in Spider-Man. He's not just Action-Man. What makes him relatable is that he deals with things like we all do outside of being a superhero. We've been lacking that tether to Peter Parker for a while. Additionally, Gleb Melnikov really hooked me. I liked the art here a lot more than I have McGuinness'. It's like a cleaner, prettier looking though inconsistently off model John Romita Jr.

Like last issue, I liked this more than Kelly's first two. The problem here is that we keep being told how important it is that Spider-Man is the champion but everyone, including Strange aren't telling Peter, much less us, WHY that matters. It doesn't feel like there is weight, purpose or tangible stakes to fighting the Scions other than it being what the story is about. It comes off as incredibly contrived. Couple that with the lack of impact from dying (hey he managed to not die!) and we're left with a story that doesn't feel much like it fits in Amazing Spider-Man and he's just going through the motions. I called him a reactive character last time but we're not really getting anything for him to react to except for the Scions and we know what is going to happen with them. Everything is happening around him, people talk at him. One pops up, Peter fights them in an anticlimactic, truncated fight, he dies, rinse and repeat. The conflicts in these issues don't even last more than a few pages. We have to keep building up to the next Scion deciding, "Okay NOW I'm going to fight him", when having a back to back gauntlet where Peter gets continually beaten only to be pulled back at the end by the reeds, the deaths taking more of a toll on him because he has no time to breath may not solve the issue of the story being contrived but that it would have more impact and add depth to his situation. Like I said, it's better than the first few issues but I still don't really care. So as not to be a complete downer, once again, the women here are written very well, (with the few scenes they are in), and the art is really good. Melnikov got the first issue jitters out of the way.

This was actually fantastic. I don't know, maybe just having taken such a long break and jumping back a little blind made me forget how much I despised what was happening but this worked. There was weight here. Impact. For Peter, Strange, Cyra and Coulson. You could see it. That's what matters. Great job by Joe Kelly and amazing job by Cafu to make this emotional, and wonderful to look at.

Yeah this was also really good. Hit me right in the existentialism.

Peter is humanity. Having taken a long break from this arc (again) and coming back to it, this issue resonates pretty well. The writing is solid, the messages (from everyone BUT Peter) are powerful if not cliche. Reading this back to back with the others, it's probably way worse because this story just happened a few issues ago. Standalone though, it's pretty good until you get to the last few pages and we get Callix doing stupid stuff and Wells' obvious intention to just write the X-Men.

Yeah it sucks again. I don't even know what to say at this point. The art should be something I like. It's competent but it doesn't stand out. It just feels very flat. The bright colors don't fit the tone of the story either. This entire arc is just over saturated and uplifting with color while dealing with death and existentialism. It doesn't work. The writing is just so boring and generic. Peter sits on the sidelines doing nothing, the X-Men are just there because Peter won't do anything. The Blight is a new McGuffin introduced at the eleventh hours to increase the stakes but there are only 3 issues left so we know it will be resolved. The stakes were Peter's new nihilistic perception of the world. This should have been Strange and Cyra gathering up Peter's most important people. We see next to none of Peter's family or friends anymore for more than a few panels. This is not Peter Parker and it's not a Spider-Man book.

"It felt like nothing mattered. But it DOES. How could I FORGET that?" Yeah dude... Once I can understand 2 or more times in 7 issues? I got nothing. Oh yeah and lets just kill Shay, Randy and Aunt May OFF PANEL then bring them back immediately with the reeds. That's great storytelling! I'll say this. The cover is phenomenal.

That certainly was an X-Men issue with bad art.

Yeah this was good. Emotional. Impactful.

This was a terrible arc. The last two issues were actually good. Let's never do this again.

The Dark Web epilogue issues take this from a sure 8.5 to a 6.5. Maybe even lower but those Spider Who Gobs issues prevent me from docking them further.

Not big on this one. It was TOO goofy. I understand that what with him being Superman weirder things have to happen to create tension and you can't have a crazy, bombastic set piece every issue and levity really helps break that up. This was just too far in another direction. Byrne is also not great at writing women or the Titans. We're told not shown what happened to Superman that caused him to fight the Teen Titans at the very end in like two panels. Byrne has this odd consistency to hit and miss repeatedly on his books. Hopefully that doesn't continue but 8 issues in, I'm not holding my breath.

ASM: Writing is good. Art is bad. Nothing really... happens. Which is a cop out of a review but Spider-Man fights a guy and he disappears. That's it. That's the issue. Not even sure if he'll ever come back.

It's good. Very dated. Not my favorite version of the origin but a good starting point for Post-Crisis Superman. I would criticize it for how fast it goes through the early years of Clark but considering this is just supposed to be a quick retelling of the story everyone already knows I will give it a pass. The art is the stand out. The issue as a whole is a little goofy but still worth reading. There are just better starting points since this came out.

This is a poor portrayal of Batman and just a weird issue as a whole.

Just made me think of an episode of Superman the Animated Series. Love it.

Lois Lane's sister Lucy was blinded previously (but never shown in a single issue prior to this) and as a result, decides to attempt suicide. Enter Bizarro. He saves her then confronts Superman. Whatever substance Bizarro was made of is capable of curing Lucy's blindness. During the battle it is then implied that Bizarro allows Superman to kill him, thus restoring Lucy's sight and all is right with the world. What in the ableism did I just read?

Just a massive expositional word barf of a story. Showing with some telling. Jor-El Jedi downloads all of Kryptonian history into Superman's mind. It's such a weak plot device. Ultimately, what I walk away from this is that Clark is a POS and should have been with Lana. Lois is and has always been not the best fit for Clark. Kal maybe but not Clark and this version of Superman is Clark first. This whole mini series is all over the place in terms of pacing and story quality. The art throughout it amazing though. For all of Byrne's shortcomings from his writing, he makes up for it by being one of the best ever as an artist.

The story is pretty solid. Some choices that felt a little dated but I also get that this is supposed to be a sequel to a single panel written in the late 80s. It's not even the Joker in Iraq aspect. It's just a certain way DeMatteis' flow works. Sometimes it's stronger. Overall though, the story was fantastic and a pretty good though surface level depiction of PTSD and trauma. It's also great how much importance is put on psychology and therapy though again, it's all pretty surface level. You can only get so much from a comic. The art is a little rough. At times it looks solid and others I have hard time deciphering what is on the page. Glad this is a mini series, hopefully it can expand more on the deeper tones and ideas it presents.

I'm really engaged in the story but the art is so rough. I still think the psychological aspects are thin but we don't get much of that in regards to Batman and Robin in a meaningful way so anything is something.

Definitely falling off. I love the approach to Bruce's relationships with Dick and Jason as well as Alfred putting his foot down when Bruce tries to hide from his emotions and accept that what he wants most is family. A great aspect of the character that I want to see explored more in general. Batman is boring when it's just Batman. We've seen that for years now. Why have such a massive Batfamily if they never interact? The plot itself though still feels thin. If they want to do these little side stories with Jason fighting Scarecrow, Batman fighting Mother Grimm and want to really explore what those interactions mean in a wider psychological context then give us more than 4 issues. Not a big fan of the ending here either. It makes sense but it's cliché.

I really want to like this more but it feels like it ended way too quickly. I love DeMatteis but this is the second Batman story of his that I've read and both just felt very surface level. He comes to the logical conclusion of having Dick take up the mantle of Batman. This is and should always be the only choice. No Azreal, no Jim Gordon or Tim Fox. Dick is the only true successor. He's what Bruce can't truly be as Batman. Of course the end has to be left open. "Why don't they so a sequel," someone might ask otherwise? Can't leave money on the table of course. This doesn't need a sequel. It needed more issues to explore trauma, PTSD, guilt, acceptance and growth. Jason's journey to recovery is wrapped up in two panels only to blow it up on the next page. Not surprising but still disappointing.

I'm not really one for obvious attempts at retcons but at least here they are trying to remove the stain that is HoC. This isn't perfect by any means but I appreciate what they want to do with Wally. Have him move past a mistake that should never have been made. As someone who never read Sideways, I don't really care one way or another about Tempus Fuginaut. He's just a plot device and I've seen dumber in good Flash stories.

Big step back. Art is great, dialogue is atrocious and they should have just stuck to using the Earth 23 characters and not the awful X-Men/Avengers stand-ins. They also added a mcguffin rod to get rid of the black goo saying that Tempus gave it to Wally last issue and that definitely didn't happen. Lobdell either completely forgot about it, hadn't created it yet or Booth neglected to draw it, likely because Lobdell forgot.

I didn't hate this nearly as much as other people did. It's definitely moving too fast but I appreciate what they were trying to do in having Wally really feel something about Roy dying even if it's used a bit cheaply. He got more time to acknowledge it in the moment instead of how he did in HoC which is thankfully being run from further and further in this series. Booth's art is always a plus too and we don't get to see him do a lot of the greater JL members let alone even Batman.

I liked it. Sue me. I didn't like the rhyming from Superdemon and the kiss was weird but I was happy to see Wally and Linda run together. I also just really like the art. Booth sells books for me. The story is all over the place and suffers from the same issues I had in the second issue with creating weird characters that do nothing but at least the last issue had a Roy moment and this has a Linda one. I'm invested.

The series is getting better as it gets closer to the end which is actually a nice change of pace. Most mini series start out strong then fumble the bag at the midway point. I do have to agree with ICC in that having Wally or any speedster, "run faster than they've ever run," is tired and it didn't even have weight to it here. At least when Waid and Johns evoked that story telling "device" they did it with intent and made it important. He would almost die most of the time and you were actually worried because Wally was worried. He didn't want to have what happened to Barry happen to him. Now they just do it because the Speed Force really means nothing. Other than that the story is getting better. I am definitely tired of seeing Tempus Fuginaut. I was really hoping he'd be a more passive character than he is and adding more McGuffins into the story like the Mobius Chair isn't very interesting but it works simply enough to get to the point Lobdell wants Wally to reach even if it has to be told directly to him with no subtlety whatsoever. Lobdell really likes to do that. I guess he assumes the only people who read his books are the smooth brain Red Hood stans which kind of makes sense. They need to be spoon fed information otherwise they wouldn't know what's happening.

This could have ended a lot better without Wally in the Mobius Chair. It really wasn't necessary. Just put him back with Linda and the kids and be done with it. That was the entire point anyway. Tempus' presence ruins what could be great about the book as well with needless exposition. Some of it is bordering on poetic at least in regards to Wally's family but it's overwhelmed by all the rest of it. It was also a bit jarring because Linda just remembers the kids, is wearing a Flash shirt and it's on her phone like nothing has happened. I'm glad but there was nothing previous to establish that she was waiting for them to my recollection. I also get that was the point of Wally getting in the Mobius Chair. He's setting the timeline right but it's communicated in a very vague way. It's not a terrible ending but underwhelming to be sure.

The epilogue printed in the trade didn't do much other than frustrate me more at the ending. I'm annoyed that it ties into Death Metal, annoyed that Wally has Manhattan powers even though I do honestly think it's decently explained and works for the plot unlike other ultimate powers bestowed for seemingly no reason. I like the message that everything is important and the past needs to be preserved or fixed it's just disappointing it's coming from Death Metal.

The art here surpasses the story but I was enthralled the whole time on both levels. A fairly basic story but there was enough intrigue with Scarecrow and Jillian that I flew through it to a satisfying conclusion.

A Christmas Carol is one of my all-time favorite stories and this was done so well on all fronts. The art is perfect, the story and dialogue feel so representative of each character as I know them from heart. I hear the various voices from the years of animation and games in their words. It's fantastic.

Out of the three Halloween Specials, this is the "worst". It has the least engaging story, it's hard to place in continuity and is probably Sale's most lackluster art of any of his Bat-books. All that being said it is still worth reading, still has some amazing and striking panels and pages and introducing us to Leslie Thompkins is a treat. I think had they made the whole thing a couple pages longer to give the confrontation with Tetch a bit more length and more weight to Jim and Babs reconciling this would be an easy 9.

A phenomenal issue to expand off Year One. I haven't read much O'Neil but after this I want to read more. His storytelling and flow was fantastic after just one book.

Solid follow up to last issue, pacing was great, art was solid but it's not not as grabbing as the first issue. Mostly setup for what is to come but has actual detective work and that is big points for me.

Great continuation for the murder mystery and detective work.

Kind of a disappointing rush to get to the final confrontation. The solving of the murders happens blisteringly fast and the pay off just doesn't feel strong. Great writing, great art, poor pacing.

An elegant finale. None of the rush from last issue. Completes the story well and gives several emotional payoffs.

This is one of the best looking Batman books from this era. It's a great story and honestly one of Morrison's best works on Batman. The only thing about this entire series that really took me out of it was that Bruce's schooling. It was just very UK prep and that feels like Morrison's own experiences feeding that narrative. It's fine but it doesn't really feel like something the Waynes would do but we also really don't know much about Bruce in his early adolescence. This could very well be the best example and it's something I have to get used to. There are some times Morrison goes a bit above the call of a comic book, switching to some very across the pond references so it might be a bit jarring though it does round out the history of the villain and Bruce himself. It managed to be suspenseful even when we knew who the villain was mostly the entire time. Klaus Janson really is an amazing artist and I think I prefer his work to JRJR's since they are so similar, I'd take this any day.

I wish I could say I liked this more but I really can't. The art isn't great, the story is fine but remains flat. The message at least in this first issue could have been something with Batman rescuing a person going down a dark road and them taking his example to better their lives and try and preach that to others but John just creates another gang. Sure a few Gothamites are thankful they interceded into altercations but they created just as much damage as there would have been. Batman not putting a stop to vigilantes outside of his control doesn't feel right in any situation or time period of his tenure.

This is an absolute mess of a story. Batman acts completely out of character here. He's at odds with Gordon over vigilantes he gave no training to that he in passing okays, is at odds with Dr. Thompkins this early in his career when she's always been one of his closest confidants. Nothing here feels like Batman. The only aspects that really save this are renewing his relationship with Leslie and the small tease at the end but none of this story needed to happen. The rift with Gordon is left unresolved and it all just feels hollow.

The writing is very dated as well as the art. The story ties itself to Year One by making the villain the chopper pilot that crashed as a result of the bats Batman used to cover his escape during the police raid. But here they turn him into a flying Darth Vader ripoff made by his Nazi mother. I have no idea why this was even made.

I wish I had never read this.

Nazi lady tries to SA Batman to produce an Aryan heir. Her son that was a retconned character from Year One murders her and 'dies' himself. I can't believe this was written, approved and printed by DC. All of her dialogue is grossly sexual and not even in an appealing way. The art has flashes where it looks like it could be good but just ends up flat and lifeless much like the dialogue. The panel layout is also a mess. It bounces around too much and dialogue is broken up so poorly between them you get lost trying to read it so much that it hardly makes sense. This is a problem throughout this three issue series. Do yourself a favor and never read this.

This first part of the Other Realms series is fun and a decent read but doesn't feel connected to anything Batman. Not that is has to, this is an anthology series but it feels very alone in regards to everything we know about Batman.

Not really sure how to feel about this. The art isn't my favorite. The premise is interesting. A psychological look at Batman through a different lens. It has since been done better but I don't hate it. Not sure where it's going though.

Okay I don't hate this. It's not great. I liked the deconstruction of who Batman is and what Bruce Wayne truly believes. But having another story where some guy manages to kidnap and mentally manipulate Bruce Wayne is not really a plot device I can get behind. Sure in the real world that would be more believable if we had a vigilante and Legends is supposed to be Batman in his early years so he'd be less cautious of situations like this but Joe Schmo getting the drop on Batman then keeping him in a coma for six weeks is a little hard to believe in the wider context of the Batman. I like the idea of a Dickensian fever dream. Everything else wasn't my favorite.

This is a weird one. It's a reinvention of the original appearance of the Joker without Robin. I like some of the liberties taken, Cousin Melvin was an interesting addition but most of it largely felt very flat. The art didn't really elevate the book either. You can take or leave this one. It's not really better or worse than what it is adapting.

Great story, classic 90's art style, heavy on the shadows and tone. I enjoyed the exploration of Eastern philosophy in Batman's journey into becoming the Dark Knight. It probably could have been done better with more accuracy but it didn't feel like Grant was completely making it up as he went. It felt real and that works a lot of the time. Probably a heavy influence from the Night of the Ninja episode of BTAS though obviously changing it from Japan to China.

Damn near everything I have read of Jamie Delano's writing has been gold. This is no exception. You could read this any time you wanted to just read a cool Batman story. The fact that Batman is a bit character in it is even more engaging. The issue is placed inside of the crumbling, abandoned, delipidated Terminus Hotel and the perspective character narrating the actions of those residing in its walls is the hotel itself. It tells the story of it's tenants' pasts, how they got there, why they stay. It roots for Batman to catch the man he is after, it knows the man's sins. At the conclusion, it invites Batman back in. Any time he wishes.

I don't think reading a book I was so excited for has left me with the feeling that this did after getting through all of Going Sane. I love DeMatteis but I really don't think this was good. You know how it's worse when a parent isn't mad, they're disappointed? That was how I felt about this book. It had everything going for it, great writer, decent artist, interesting premise and it's set early enough into Batman's career that he isn't hampered down with a million ways to escape any situation so his "demise" is believable. I don't think much was handled that well in the story. It's hard to pin down but if it was bad, it would have been easier to read because I wouldn't have been invested and could burnt through. This was simply mediocre from something and someone I had high hopes for.

Solid writing from Grant and solid art from Zeck. I have a fondness for seeing Batman not in the Batsuit and stuck in prison or Arkham.

An intense, thrilling and suspenseful detective story taking Batman out of Gotham. A simple, somewhat goofy premise that manages to pull all of what people tend to want to see from a solo Batman story. While not the strongest story, or art this is still a solid start.

I don't think the story was as strong as the Scarecrow issue from Batman Annual 19 it's much more readable. This is pretty much a direct rip from the Kirk Langstrom origin that I grew up on with BTAS with a little more adult context. It also has a pleasant ending as opposed to the others. Not the best, not the worst. Easy read.

This is an odd one. It doesn't do anything for the Batman mythos, this is not some new origin for an old established character. I have no real idea where it's going. It's very abstract in both the art and storytelling. I kind of like both aspects but it's also kind of too much.

This isn't BAD. It's just weird. Definitely not on any mandatory Batman reading lists. This could take place at any time, it has no bearing on Batman's history whatsoever. To again iterate how abstract this story is, all of a sudden Batman turns into a holy knight and fights a boiler monster from the sewers of Gotham that bleeds when you shoot it. It ends rather abruptly, no real payoff. No idea what the point was. It's interesting both from a storytelling and art perspective but it is still rather rough to get through.

There are some pretty serious subjects being talked about and portrayed here. Hard topics that I enjoy seeing in comics, especially Batman. Ellis is a great writer regardless of how people feel about him personally, all of which in terms of criticism is valid but he tackled the issues well. Or at least well enough in a two part story in an off the beaten path Batman title. You would have really had to dig for this someone told you about it even back in the day. The big downfall of the story is that it isn't a fully fleshed out story and takedown of how terrible the government is, or at least the weaponization of the masses through various means. It's poignant and something to really dig into for the medium but it was relegated to 40 pages.

Kind of a mess overall. I like a few panels but the action just turns into a complete undecipherable mess. The splash pages look great but it's a mixed bag on the art front. In terms of story, considering this is a one-off issue in an anthology series, it doesn't have anything really gripping to make it stand out. Batman hunts a man down who is fleeing from the cops and Gotham onto an incoming helicopter so he has to make it to the top of his booby trapped building swarming with guards before he leaves. Batman makes it to the top right as the helicopter gets there, the bad guy stops paying attention and gets his head cut off by the blades. Batman says nothing and leaves. It would be way more gripping if I could have actually told what was going on between the floors half the time but both the art and story are just middling.

This is mainly just a Green Arrow issue but O'Neil manages to carry Oliver's voice well. Some of the dialogue is a bit outdated, not like offensive just awkward to read by today's standards. We don't often use, "Let me alone" for example. I was a big fan of the art. Classic 2000s. Thick lines, colorful, cartoony and expressive. It feels like a JLU episode. Was also a huge fan of the portrayal of Bruce Wayne. Really oozing that obnoxious playboy, disconnected CEO persona. I couldn't help by hear Kevin Conroy while reading the dialogue. Great issue.

Well the outdated dialogue is back but in the offensive way this time. It was writing of the time. We hadn't moved past stereotyping even through words on a page and even now we still haven't. It's just very blatant here. It's honestly just harder to read and comprehend more than being a caricature of Asian dialects. Not a great way to introduce your villain and their plot if you can't fully grasp what they are saying. Still an interesting story. A little open as to the real plot.

"It's all Gotham." Ostrander does a great job here.

This is getting such a high score because not only is it a good book with an engaging story about Gordon's past and weaving in Barbara for the first time in (my reading order's) continuity, it showcases an African-American character with two moms, cops using racist dog whistles to hide their true words and feelings about the black community in Chicago all while being written in 2002. Ostrander has always flown under the radar in popularity and it's a shame because this is a really good story whose relevance is just as important back in the day as it is now. All the Alt-Right idiots and MAGA-ts that complain that inclusivity is being shoved down their throats or that cops don't uphold the systemic racism baked into our police and judicial systems are completely blind. Batman and the titles that he's carried have always been like this and championed the values of exposing corruption while uplifting and showcasing those that are down trodden or marginalized.

Great story about loyalty. I wish it had been four issues, maybe a little more to deal with the separation of Jim and his wife and Babs losing her mother but all in all this was a good read.

A flat end to an otherwise engaging story.

I think the art here is the highlight. It's fantastic. I love the Year One style suit, the heavy line work brings a lot of depth to each character and panel and everything feels a bit grimy on the color palette. I don't hate the story in anyway but it feels like an old school villain of the week scenario. Frank has the power of suggestion with a single handshake and he uses and abuses this power to get whatever he wants until two goons stumble into somewhat figuring out he conned the Penguin until Batman comes to intervene. Not the most complicated story but still fun.

As the art was a highlight of the last issue and took a hit here, the story simply carried over. I'm not really invested or interested. Batman already figured out who the guy was and Frank's life came crashing down before Batman even had to confront him. Doesn't leave much to get into. It's a fine story but just that.

I get the message overall. Absolute power corrupts absolutely but a helping hand can change everything. Seems a bit lost until the end. That good art really comes back here. Maybe it's just scenes with Batman that are so striking. I really liked the last few pages and it had a touching end. I would be interested to see Frank again but I'm fairly certain he's a one and done guy. Serves this story and that's enough.

I like the art more than the story. It's definitely one worth telling but I think it's just too up front about it's intentions. Little subtlety in the narrative. I'm not against framing the white extremist religious zealots in a bad light but they're very generic. I want this story to mean more and say something more than it is right now.

Better than last issue. Looks like Wagner is moving toward a goal with something interesting to say. Loving the art style. Fits very well with Gotham.

I'm left wanting more at the end. Rough Justice wasn't much of a statement on society as it was a foil for Batman which we've seen a thousand times and will continue to see because it's easy. The story itself was engaging enough to get through but definitely not up there among the best early Batman stories.

This was pretty good. Good reintroduction for Metallo though the ending is wrapped up very quickly and Lois seems like a complete idiot for not being able to figure out Clark is Superman. I get that it's the whole conceit but if you read this issue, it is especially egregious considering how simple and obvious it was and her complete leap in logic to explain it away is baffling.

I want to give this a higher score but the premise doesn't live up to the execution. The art is phenomenal, the story is interesting but not very gripping. I would have benefitted from either more pages or turn it into a mini series. It wasn't much of a gauntlet but Batman's interactions with Robin are really well done.

The first story is set seemingly right after the events of Year One and Pulido's art while being very much his own style is very evocative of that older 80s, even 60s style and it works very well for the story. Overall though the story itself is very one note. We know what Bruce is going to choose in his early start to his war and it's not going to be distractions. Well done and beautiful to look at but a forgettable story that could be placed anywhere.

Berserk is amazing, this is nothing shocking. This however isn't really the best intro to such a revered series. It's definitely the most rough part of Miura's work. It's still breathtaking. His sense of scale and weight in his art is spectacular. It just hasn't aged the best and thrusts you into a world with a lot of unexplained questions. He builds the world around these questions but it's a slow start. This simply serves to establish who Guts is, the dreary and dark world he lives in and what kind of person we will see him as for the time being. One fitting the horrific world he inhabits.

A stronger entry and a great continuation from the last volume. It's a grotesque world depicted in these pages. There is almost no light or joy save for the occasional levity Puck tries to bring. Unfortunately for him, he's the outlier in his surroundings and Guts doesn't let him forget it. It's still rough early Miura artwork but even from the first few chapters you can see how he has evolved. His sense of scale just grows further here and the monsters he permeates the pages with are horrendously, wonderfully illustrated.

It's here that we really get character motivation for Guts. It's still not spelled out and surprisingly there is little exposition given. For every question Miura answers, he leaves you with more. WHO is Griffith, what is the God Hand, why does he bleed in their presence and those of demons or the dead? Nothing is given to you and you have to invest your time in this bleak book. It's not a happy journey but it's one that speaks of struggle. This book will twist your mind a little, with disgusting imagery and soul shattering dialogue and storytelling. I don't have much to say about the story of the Black Swordsman arc itself. It's fairly self contained but a decent and certainly rocky introduction to one of the greatest manga ever. This is also the volume the kicks off the renowned Golden Age arc. We get to see Guts' origin. A very fitting one for the man who grapples against demons. Nothing in his life has ever been simple or elegant. He has always struggles. It is the worst ending to a volume ever.

The Invincible segment in this is rather short, it is an FCBD issue after all and it was very emotional, tackling more of what Mark and his mom are dealing with in the fallout of Nolan's departure and what he said about his family. The weirdest part of this is that in every collection, they place this after some resolution comes up. It mars the pacing of the series because you feel like it's two steps back. Granted, it was a free story meant to introduce the status quo of the book to potential new readers but it's still odd. Placed one to two issues prior in the collections and it hits a lot harder. Also, that cover is a MESS.

There is a lot wrong with this issue and a lot of things that work very well. While overly wordy, that tends to be a mainstay in X-Men and the time period. The depictions of the new individual X-Men, their places of origin and ethnicity are all poorly portrayed or simply derogatory. While seemingly entirely intentional and not for the sake of being prejudiced, in fact drawing attention to those prejudices to break down the problems with them and create comradery among a very diverse group wasn't handled with tact. The intent is there for positivity and growth but fumbles pretty hard with the dialogue and choices in depiction.

Enchantradora story: 7.5

Only for the intro to the new X-Force team, it's fun and engaging.

Decent. There was a great dichotomy between Batman and Superman here. It's a really simple story and I don't think it really nailed either of the characters but it wasn't awful. The art was pretty hit or miss. I think I enjoyed the interactions between Clark and Bruce more than that of Superman and Batman.

A nice way to cap of the second year of Batman's career. I like this through-line for both Clark and Bruce that what ties them together is this shared tragedy that they both want to right over time. It feels very in character for the two of them and each deal with it how you'd expect in their own way from vastly different perspectives.

I wanted to get here before all of the Taylor haters did and they could infect the reviews imparting their pseudo-wisdom into how he doesn't understand characters real motivations even in alternate universes or whatever. I believe in separating art from the artist. Sometimes it's hard and sometimes the artist puts too much of themselves in the art or you just can't see past what an artist is doing but for the most part, Taylor at the end of the day is just telling a story, or a message. That's all comics are about, since day one was to send a message. People are acting like this is something new, that progressive minds are polluting their comics with unnecessary messages of peace, love, caring for each other and the only planet we have. Well, you'll be happy to know that this is just a good story, set in a different universe. No one to complain about Jon Kent, someone will be upset Black Lightning was a king because it's not, "historically accurate". but their opinions don't matter. It's a beautiful book throughout, the pacing and repetitiveness near the beginning could use some polish but I also understand why it happened, I just hate repetition. Always love when they throw in Vertigo characters and the one they chose is perfect for this story. It's also refreshing seeing the entire Batfamily together. There are those who would rather it just be Batman and to kill all of the Robins. To that I say, go join Dan DiDio in obscurity. Your ideas are outdated and unwanted. Batman stories are bolstered by his allies, not his fists. Overall, it's a great jumping off point for a maxi series. We'll see what Taylor does next.

It wasn't as strong for me but I still really enjoyed it. I need more Constantine, felt that while Kal's reaction was excessive, it made sense. Especially in the context and time period this story is taking place. People are more brutal here, even the Els. People need to stop saying how, "out of character" this or that feels in a story especially one where the DC characters are in the age of Camelot. Kal is going to be pissed even at someone he views as his brother and it's only going to get worse. I'm here for it. The art is gorgeous, I need to check out more of Putri's work. I'd also like to add to the people who "review" these books and proudly write that they didn't buy the books that YOU, not the writers or DC's agenda are what is wrong with comics. You should be ashamed not that you know what that means.

More Constantine! Psycamorean is right though, if Constantine isn't plotting something, I'm worried about his characterization going forward.

The art wasn't nearly as strong as Putri's but not terrible. I generally enjoy flashback issues when they really help explain the story at hand. This managed that but the twist of the Green Man was pretty lame. The kinship between the Waynes and Els is believable though I would have liked to see it fleshed out more. That being said, two issues of character building like that wouldn't likely flow well so I will take what I can get.

It has been a while since this came out and I just wasn't reading at the time so some of my hype for the series has waned. That being said, this is a solid issue but it kind of flew by. Not much substantial really happens until the final 5-6 pages. The classic Harley and Ivy partnership is shown and while I love it's existence I would prefer it be fleshed out instead of shoehorned in which with the pacing of this story overall, feels like we will only see it once more. That relationship deserves more than that and I can say the same for Zala and Diana. Their relationship is getting more center stage attention but again this book runs at a break neck pace. The only time is slows down is to show whatever Bruce or Kal are doing and the focus is primarily on them. That story is fine, it's compelling but not wholly original. The ending has a fun but simple twist. My biggest complaint for this and likely going forward is that not enough characters and relationships that are established are going to get their due attention to service the Bruce/Kal story.

I was underwhelmed by this issue. It's also a little confusing why they would use Putri on this issue where nothing of great importance happens or matters and issue 4 they didn't. I understand that artists have crazy deadlines and get backed up or even if this was the plan the whole time. I would have swapped artists on these respective issues personally but Putri's art remains impeccable. I just don't have much to say about the story in this. Not bad but not gripping, simply a segue though my fears with Constantine's characterization and utilization in the story are worsening.

This issue was a ton of fun and I really hope they do more with the Titans but it's likely they will all be shuffled off until the final battle. All of them felt like their respective characters but we can only get so much from a handful of pieces of dialogue. At the very least, Beast Boy actually made me laugh and that was nice. The art here was actually really stellar even without Putri but reinforces the point I made in the last issue review. Why are they putting Putri on the slower books when their art could have been better showcased here. Additionally, I felt like this issue could have benefitted from 3-5 more pages. A little more dialogue with the Titans, more establishing a bond between Bruce and the Kents, a longer battle that wasn't two pages long or at least a two page spread instead of one splash page showcasing the Titans alone. This series is fun but I feel like the trade when all is said and done won't read well due to these oddly structured issues. It's a maxi series and it feels like more mini's get better development and longer page counts.

The hiatuses this series has really hurt it. Not only interest and sales but the pacing is awful. Some of that is definitely due to the breaks but there is just too much happening in this book and I only care about a handful of the dangling threads of certain storylines. This definitely wasn't one of them. I always like the inclusion of the greater DC cast, seeing Dinah and Ollie are great but seeing as there are only 4 issues left there is no way they are going to get decent panel space or characterization in that amount of time. Seeing the Green Man or whatever they are calling him just upsets me. He does nothing for the story and was just an excuse amalgamate three characters into one mediocre one. Same with Constantine. I was really excited to see him in the beginning but he has been bastardized and coopted into a character I don't recognize. Go Lara though.

My criticisms from last issue still stand. There are too many story lines, too many characters that won't get the proper amount of attention and are just used for a scene or two so people will be happy and do the Leo point. The book remains beautiful but seeing as this was "the big battle" even though I'm pretty sure we're getting at least one more likely in issue 11, there was not a lot of substance here. Bruce rides in on a dragon, cool we only see it in one panel, Kal is confronted by Bruce 5 panels, the Green Man 4 panels, introduction of the Martians 5 panels. These are all crucial points in the story but they aren't being given enough time in each story surrounded by some pretty lame action set pieces. One army charges, the other army charges, someone with superpowers lands and says, "STOP!". They do, then they fight again. It happened like 3 times in one issue outside of those panels I mentioned. The plot is gone and needs to be reined in.

This really fell off right near the end. All of the momentum ended last issue then they try to ramp it up in the last few panels, remove an incredibly underutilized but insignificant character to create even more weird tension that's going to have to be wrapped up in two issues. Seems like the ending was tacked on or was diverted away from another Batman vs Superman battle.

I had nothing else to read and seeing as I never finished this with only two issues to go, I decided to finally wrap it up. I like the smaller character moments and the not-at-all subtle messaging from Taylor that we need to stop discriminating because of our race or skin, alien, monster, human, what have you. It's all a good message but I've found that Taylor really just works on the surface. He never delves too far into his messages. Yay everyone is happy now, Bruce apologized and everyone rejoiced. That's not how that works. Especially when you imprison people for a long time. All that being said, the art has always been the biggest highlight when Putri is on the book. No notes, I hope we get more in some run somewhere down the line. I think Superman could be a good book for them. Lastly, it comes as no shocker that Waller is and always will be relegated to being the ultimate secret big bad and it's tiresome. I already hate the character and this is not the character she was originally written to be. She's not supposed to just be evil which seems like all the writers decided that was her ultimate position now. If that is, I'd really rather she just be booted from DC entirely because she's not compelling, she's not entertaining and like Taylor's writing has become so thinly veiled and surface level.

What the first half set up to be an amazing finale, lighting the heroes on fire as they decimate the White Martians is immediately cheapened by another shock death and zero repercussions for Waller. I absolutely hate her character, any time she is on screen or in a comic. I WISH that wasn't the case because she has so much potential for nuance. This was not nuance. This was done to upset and outrage. It is such an unsatisfying ending. I'm really over creators, writers, directors butchering their stories solely for the shock factor or to "subvert expectations". You can have a devastating conclusion without Waller walking free. We also know it is very unlikely to get a follow up series so just teasing ANOTHER Justice League seems so wasteful at least after the Waller incident. If she were taken by them and made an example by the League that would be something else entirely. The conclusion was purely just a wrap up and frustratingly abrupt.

Writing and story are great, I don't think this is Byrne's best work. I think he was at his best on the X-Men with Claremont. I really liked this issue's plot with Jonah's paranoia being exploited and then transitioning over to Robbie and the rest of the Bugle. A fun story that was a breeze to read. Stern's pacing is great.

I'm not even going to try to pretend this isn't good despite its age. Yeah the stories are kind of hokey but they are all things we would see carried into the future. Simple mistakes here and there and some dated writing are really the only thing making this 'low'. I even enjoyed Ditko's art here which I'm not normally a fan of. I still stick by my wishing we had Kirby. Between Amazing Fantasy 15 and ASM 1 covers, I think he really captures Spider-Man. Better than Ditko captures the FF.

"Get me pictures of -- THE VULTURE!" Very dynamic but very wordy. The Vulture's introduction is definitely a few ticks higher than The Tinkerer in quality and managing to keep me awake.

Doc Ock was never a favorite villain of mine. Still isn't but this is a good intro and he has largely stayed very consistent with how he was established here. Cool to see that legacy carried on after so many decades.

Sandman is just kind of... there. He's never been much of a real threat. Definitely a d-tier super villain but he's a classic so he still earns respect.

Apparently if you yell at a spider with a loud enough microphone, Spider-Man can hear you.

Great issue overall. While there is a lot of heavy exposition, it reads fast and builds more to the world of Spider-Man and the people who live in it. Getting the Connors family all together in the same issue was nice to see that it stays mostly the same for the Lizard's entire history.

Spider-Man dealing with an actual injury whilst fighting a stronger version of his (at the time) only recurring villain is for it's time, very compelling.

The Living Brain story is hard to get through because it is such a dated misunderstanding of computers, robotics and Stan can't stop expositing every single line. He has Peter mention how the Living Brain is faster than he expected then two pages later says the exact same thing. Very repetitive throughout, boring story. None of the kids in the school even question how out of nowhere Spider-Man is just casually in the building even though it's not like the Living Brain was this major emergency. This would eventually be handled a lot better in Ultimate Spider-Man but really shows here. The one aspect of the story I liked was the Peter/Flash boxing match. I would have liked more to go into it other than two blows but Stan had to have a short attention span because he abandons/truncates his own plot points very fast to get to the next thing. The Spider-Man vs Human Torch story makes no sense. Peter just crashes a party for no reason other than to initially try to make Johnny's girlfriend think that she chose the wrong superhero and then proceeds to just be a dick and a nuisance for Johnny and his friends. I get that he and Johnny have a teenage rivalry going but it really just seems like Peter is more than antagonist. Johnny just think's he's a showboat but here, he's just proving Johnny right. He even completely unprovoked attacks Reed because he assumes they are going to make fun of him. There isn't even a nice resolution. They stay bitter at the end. How did the FF ever give Spider-Man the time of day ever again after the few interactions he has had with them? Stan keeps putting them at odds where Peter is just acting like a petulant and problematic prepubescent. Sue out of nowhere giving him very generous compliments is also really weird. Stan wasn't great with his depictions of women. Not the best art from Kirby (inked by Ditko) for the Torch half but the Living Brain half was good Ditko art. It's weird, when there is a good story, Ditko usually doesn't have the best pencils but when the art is good, the story is lacking.

Best issue so far. Solid writing and the best art I've seen from Ditko up to this point. The action flows very well, it's dynamic, everything looks consistent. Only thing really holding it back is the lack of backgrounds and details instead opting for solid colors.

Some of the art here is of the best I have seen Steve Ditko pencil. More depth in his lines, more expressive faces than normal but it's not consistent throughout the issue. Much like the pacing of the book. It took me forever to get through, it is such a slog. The main plot of Big Man and the Enforcers is just not very compelling at all. It is interesting seeing a precursor to what we would eventually get in the Kingpin but the characters and plot of that story are just so boring. The side plots of Betty's debts and Jonah's jealousy of Spider-Man are fantastic. Unfortunately Stan drags the Betty plot along issue after issue only leaving crumbs on a single page with Betty and Peter lashing out at each other and then regretting it talking about how much they love each other. Not the best depiction of teenage angst and love but I get what he was trying to do. As a result, the whole book is just too dragged down by what doesn't work that the bright spots can't shine enough.

Solid

Just read Psyc's review

A little heavy on the exposition even for the time but the whole premise and introduction of Mysterio is great. Definitely some of the best interiors from Ditko. He really went all out on the backgrounds and dynamic poses for the fights. Really sold the stunt-man vs Spider-Man angle.

I like that is continues on from the last -1 issue in regards to Peter's comic interest but there isn't really a whole lot of substance to the story. It's not bad, it just doesn't do anything for Peter, his family or those he would end up meeting in the future which is the whole basis behind these issues. To get glimpses into the people before they became who we know them to be. The only really interesting part of the story revolves around Kingpin and a journalist at the Bugle I don't recognize. It may be a call back and I'm looking forward to see it pay off but none of that really had anything to do with Peter.

A fantastic introduction into this iteration of Sonic. We get a very large cast of characters, motivations, worldbuilding and everyone feels fleshed out in just the first issue. Antoine is a stuffed shirt who is jealous of Sonic but still wants to do the right thing, Rotor is a lovable tech wiz, Sally is assertive and while Sonic grates on her, she secretly harbors feelings for him. The list goes on. With the backstory to the main plot in the latter half of the issue we see Sonic's Uncle Chuck and the chain of events leading to Sonic's joining up of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Despite only taking 11 pages to do so, we get a very heart wrenching story of Sonic's loss of his uncle and dog to Robotnik becoming the catalyst for his eventual Freedom Fighter status. Everything done in 26 pages. While definitely designed for kids the humor, heart and the pace of the book is stellar.

I'm personally not a huge fan of the Saiyan arc but this is classic Dragon Ball Z. There really isn't much better manga than this. Much earlier in Toriyama's art style, his characters are much more rounded off, and smoother than they would later develop into. They don't have that iconic look that most are familiar with here but it's still the top of the list here. One hang-up I have is Piccolo's dialogue. It's very Olde English. Very proper and I wasn't expecting that. Might just be a translation choice but it threw me off.

So I didn't really grow up with the Turtles. My dad did in the 80s and tried to pass some of it on to me but they never really stuck. I liked the movie and some of the games and even the early 2000s animated show but they were still a fringe interest for me. Recently, I've been much more interested and decided to pick this up. While I don't know the full history of the Turtles, I know that this is a new origin and status quo for them as well as Splinter. It's fresh, interesting and actually grips me more because I know that it's not the norm. Eastman and Waltz did a fantastic job this issue with setting up a slew of characters, their motivations going forward and a brilliant pace throughout. Establishing Mikey, Donny, Leo, Raph, Splinter, April, Krang, Stockman, this Old Hob character I am not familiar with and of course, Casey. Usually in a first issue I would say that throwing that much in so quickly would be a disaster or at least that the book wouldn't be paced well enough to give each appearance a good hook but Eastman knows his characters well and it's displayed beautifully in the writing as well as artistically on the page by Dan Duncan.

More fleshing out of the new origin which feels like a simplified version of the original, not that it's a bad thing. Bringing April into the Turtles' origin is a nice addition and having her give them their names even with a funny one-off reason. This is dominated in the back half with Raph and Casey bonding and it's a really nice, organic conversation and it touches on some serious subject matter.

Definitely not as strong as the previous two issues. The wordiness I don't have much of a problem with, it's just the pacing. Readers can fly through heavy dialogue books but it requires a different approach. Can't put my finger on the main issue there it just doesn't work here. I really liked seeing Leo, Mikey and Donnie having it out with one another. Definitely feel like teenage turtles to me.

I really like Nocenti's take on this. I am assuming at least that she's on the side against guns and while all of the counterpoints to it are the standard rhetoric we're used to seeing it makes Catwoman seem a bit irredeemable. She has a moral compass. She doesn't kill (generally), she cares for people, the average person and here ALL she cares about is her score, damn the consequences despite so many people telling her how awful the fallout would be. It's a good story, hits you over the head a little bit but sometimes that is what is necessary to hammer home such an important and true critique on guns and gun violence. The problem is just as prevalent today as it was when this was written. The only fault here is EVS. I've never been a fan of his art. Others can take it or leave it, I find it genuinely ugly. Overly detailed, wrinkly, sometimes grotesque and nothing is ever appealing to look at.

This was awesome. I have always loved Matt Wagner's covers and hadn't ever seen his interiors before. Just as cool with a different flavor. This really felt like a real step forward for Batman after Year One. The dialogue is written thoughtfully and matches pretty well with Bruce's cadence. Stellar issue.

Even better than the previous issue. Jim's voice feels much the same as Miller gave him before and it gets the Batman vibe so well. Criminals are really and truly afraid of him and we get to see him attempt at some for of deduction. I love this series so far and am honestly sad it took me so long to get to it.

This story have reminded me of something that I couldn't quite put my finger on but this newest issue really cemented it for me. It's very reminiscent of Mask of the Phantasm. The entire story had a very B:TAS feel to it and the interactions with Julie and her father as well as her father and Sal Maroni capped it off. It's superb. I really enjoy all of the characters in this book. Even the heavy foreshadowing builds a great amount of tension from a simple and predictable plot.

Not a bad issue by any means, we get to see Batman use his skills in a fun way while he is on the back foot out of his element. Other than that, his dialogue with Julie comes across as pretty unbelievable. I don't think that Julie would be that gullible and even Bruce states how smart she is.

This issue showed some cracks and feels like by the end that there is too much to wrap up in a single issue next time to feel satisfying. Jim felt a little off in his characterization, Alfred really bothered me here and he only had a few lines. I love a good jab at Batman's eccentricities and all but this one just didn't feel funny in regards to the "BAT-mobile". Definitely a weak second half so far.

This left me unsatisfied. It was a decent ending. Things wrapped up easier than I had expected from last issue but not enough was really explored. Batman just yells at Sal Maroni to let Norman walk away with a 3 million dollar loan from the mob and he's just cool with it, Strange just runs away and announces himself as a Batman expert on television after only analyzing him really once, the Monster Men are handled with more ease than I would have hoped after they showed their immense strength and prowess as hunters before now. There is also one glaring flaw to me at least that I have a hard time getting past. It was revealed to us in the last issue that Sanjay's younger brother was turned into the most "pure" Monster Man. Batman bursts through the gate of Carmine Falcone's fortress and captures one of the Monster Men in a net. Maroni's men then open fire and kill it and Sanjay mourns his loss talking about his brother. He is then himself dispatched and we later see Sanjay's actual brother trying to kill Maroni on the roof. It would be fine if they all looked relatively the same but there were clear visual distinctions between the original three and Sanjay's brother. He was less hairy, stood up straighter, had long hair and wasn't covered in nodes and growths. He mourned the wrong character claiming it was his brother and it's not like he wouldn't have known. It was just odd and took me out of the experience. Through all of the faults of the ending, I did like the last few pages with Strange on tv and feeding into Norman Madison's increasing paranoia to set up for Wagner's next series.

I liked the start of this as I liked the last but this felt more like a trade run than an issue by issue run and it certainly reads like it. The end of the issues don't really seem to be written at a pace you would expect there to be a real end and each is fairly abrupt. It is nice to see a return of the characters from the last series and I do know that this is a direct sequel but everyone seems intact and in character here. That's about all I can ask for.

The Monk is an actually foreboding and eerie image here and I like that we don't see anything of him other than his robes and the blood spilling from his mask. The foreshadowing to the future of those within Batman's circle is a little heavy handed but it's nice to see Harvey Dent. I wish he had more time here but there wouldn't have been much for him to do.

I get that Julie is in a horrible place at this point, her father is suffering from delusions and is terrified of the outside and light and Bruce has seemingly all but abandoned her but she is just making easy mistakes. A shoulder to cry on or support in such a situation is important but she was touted as a much stronger person than how she's being portrayed and it's frustrating to see a character shoved into the damsel in distress role. Another sticking point is that all mystique the Monk had is immediately gone once you give him a name and show his face. He's just a guy and he's not really an imposing figure anymore.

Best issue of the run so far. It explores the trauma that the many players in Batman's life are suffering through. Julie with her father and interaction with the Monk, Gordon and his friendship creating a rift within the GCPD. The opening is also haunting even though it showcases the Monk with his mask all mystery him is gone, it has a terrifying act committed in the first few pages that really sets the tone back up for the book. Seeing Batman use his tools and knowledge here is a fun trip.

The stakes are raised here and some of it feels rushed or artificial. I like that Batman narrowly escapes from the spike wall trap then immediately goes to meet up with Gordon. As well, Gordon's reaction is appropriately level. This guy is kind of nuts and I should be smarter about how and when I associate with him. We see more of the trauma of the characters, here with Norman and Bruce's parents echoing his fears for Julie. The artificial stakes are just thrown in when Norman does exactly what the Monk wants not that he was in anyway coerced to go off to confront Sal Maroni. It's obviously not going to end well and just feels unnecessary. Have him confront Batman somehow and it creates a rift between Bruce and Julie. Going to Maroni doesn't do anything because Sal considers them square.

I had to reread it to remember everything that happened because I didn't write a review at the time but I think the reread bumped the score up a bit. Another rushed ending where the antagonists simply end themselves very unceremoniously. Batman did next to nothing in actual altercations with the Monk and his lady follower. Norman's fate was heavily foreshadowed but it was still very abrupt. It didn't have enough leadup in the issue and any resolution was simply handled off panel from Bruce and Julie's perspectives. Kind of a shame. I just think that the problem with these two series from Wagner, this and The Monster Men, suffer from the same issue of having to resolve the same way as the originals did which leaves you rather unfulfilled because these stories are intended to be much more fleshed out and they are but that seemingly self imposed mandate to end the same way really hurts both books. Overall, great. Definitely a trade read as that is clearly how it was intended to be written.

The art was phenomenal. Frank with the Hand seems like a logical step for him given their mission though I feel like another writer would say Frank wouldn't partner with them because it's his mission alone and they would be his targets. It gets hard when Frank's ideals are framed as solely black and white and Aaron is taking the liberty here at least to expand what we might think about Frank. Not sure how I feel about the end as we've seen before Frank's reaction to a twist like that and he wasn't happy. Overall, good issue. I haven't read a ton of Aaron outside of Thor and that was great so I hope this lasts for a while.

I think that the Punisher isn't much more than a mass murderer with a seriously selective set of morals but some of Aaron's dialogue is pushing it even for me. Everyone knows who the Punisher is and what he does, he really doesn't need to jam it down people's throats. It's still an intriguing story but it's getting a little heavy handed in the characterization presented AT Frank. Even he seems taken aback by some of the high priestess' definition of his mission. She's a zealot. Like all zealots, she doesn't appear to have lasted for long. It seems like Frank is back.

I did actually like this despite the rating but half the book was nearly unreadable with the tiny cursive which permeates the book every time Batman talks. It's also not the best of the four issues in this "series" but as a direct lead in to Batman: Terror it holds up better.

Decided to start on some Bronze Age Batman because I knew of great stories, writers and artists that I would completely miss out on from bypassing them altogether just reading Post-Crisis continuity. This just feels like a Batman TAS episode with Gordon acting a little campier than that iteration. Less cool and collected. He seems a bit high strung here but it's more of a funny foil to what I am used to so it doesn't ruin the book for me. The premise is so ludicrous it's almost hilarious. The "Schemer" sets up these supposedly blind henchmen to post about the city surveilling for a truck loaded with gold bullion. Gordon is preoccupied with one of the blind men as he was shot and wrote on the wall before his last breath that HE was Batman. Batman's dialogue though isn't at that same level that BTAS managed. He's still a bit quippy, definitely a hold over from the '66 influence which is my only real problem with the book. It's not complicated and a bit silly but it's not a bad story in the slightest. Without the near constant expositional narration, this would be a great book even today. With it, it's a product of it's time that can still be enjoyed.

Not as great as last issue. The dialogue might have gotten to me. Art is great though especially for pre-Neal Adams. His influence hadn't taken hold yet and scenes all have depth and there is a very great sense of shadow and deliberate color here I don't think we've seen in a long time.

Interesting story, a lot less exposition than was the norm at the time. The only real fault is the dated dialogue and horrifically wrapped ending. Just a Scooby-Doo level confession by the crook.

Definitely written in a different time. Bruce is written by Robbins in a very, "60s masculine" way that just makes you reel. I've skipped over several issues because of Robbins' complete inability to write women in any way that isn't completely stereotypical or misogynistic and it's still done here. The only real saving graces of this issue are the art and that Bruce and Batman are moving toward real change. Trying to do better within the city and help more people. The idea and message far better than the execution.

It's perfect. Miller and Mazzucchelli created the greatest Batman comic of all time.

I was hoping to enjoy this more than I did. Coming off of 8 Deaths I was just expecting a little more of a fresh start. I can see that's definitely where they are going with it but Peter struggling to find a job when he has a million and one friends he could ask for one strains credulity. Luke Cage, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, the entire Fantastic Four, Jonah, all know his identity and could hook him up with a job EASY especially one that could cater to his super-heroing much more easily. This is all manufactured editorial, "Peter is an everyman that struggles like the rest of us". Peter is an adult and somehow no matter what can't get his own life together after ALL of the experiences he has had? All of the companies he's been a part of, inventions he has made, places he's been, none of it mean anything because Nick Lowe and the editorial team don't care about Spider-Man's legacy, they care about keeping him as he is and "always has been" which is such crock. He USED to age, he used his experiences to push himself higher! He still struggled be he wasn't a late 20s to 30 something year old man-child that still has to talk to his aunt for the thousandth time that he can't find a job. It's ridiculous. The art is great when it's Larraz. Norman's story is the most compelling thing for me here but my GOD JRJR sucks. The epilogue with the Dark Knight Metal looking dude does nothing for me.

I love this cover first of all. Despite being very basic it doesn't feel generic or derivative. Sure there have been innumerable covers of Spider-Man swinging through the city but this pops in a way many don't. I conveys a great amount of speed/urgency, Spider-Man himself looks determined and the way the colors blend through the speed lined but the light breaks all of that in the street and reflects off of his suit is fantastic. The story is solid though jarring even after coming directly off last issue. We're thrown directly into Peter's hallucination of getting attacked by next to every villain he has ever faced all while he narrates this nightmare he has had about people he is trying to save slowly shrinking smaller and smaller to the point where he can't pick them up anymore because they've become as small as sand and they slip through his fingers and start to fall. It's genuinely haunting. Hard skipping along with Peter halfway into his new job orientation was a choice I initially wasn't sure if I would like. I'm not a huge fan of that storytelling method even if it is to express the character's own lack of knowledge. It end up being implemented well here. What really hooked me was Norman essentially rescuing Peter from another hallucination induced blackout and time skip, clearing Peter's body out of a chunk of the toxins he was pumped with. Please, please, please Marvel. I am begging you. Let Norman stay good. We need Peter to have someone to be in his corner. Someone to lean on and be stern with him. Someone needs to be able to save Spider-Man too. Norman has earned it though many might not believe that. I do. Let Norman stay good. It's such an amazing story.

I like that we're getting more exploration with Itsy Bitsy and the amazing dynamic between Peter and Norman. Also cool to have something of a mystery/ detective work. Nice when Spider-Man does Batman things and gets ginseng in trouble.

The potentially retconning flashbacks/drug induced hallucinations make me a little frustrated because that's not how I want Peter to have been with May and Ben but it's very realistic. I did very similar things as a kid and it's written with real weight. It doesn't feel artificial. Kelly is doing good work here.

I can't believe Aunt May still hasn't been told Peter is Spider-Man. That's not an issue with this story, it's editorial's fault but still ridiculous. This was a good wrap up to a fun story. Very reminiscent of older 80s and 90s storytelling. Small arc, not bearing a ton of weightiness to it. Can be read in a vacuum or as a part of the larger whole. I think Spider-Man works best like that.

The art brings the issue down. Story is great. More allusions to May's deteriorating health that Peter is too oblivious or preoccupied to notice. The colorist JRJR has really saved a lot of his work so they will continue to get compliments from me. Hellgate's design sucks though.

The dialogue between Black Cat and Spider-Man is great. Everything else sucks. I have no reason to care about Hellgate. We have nothing to go off of for whatever his mission is. We are told about a place and people we haven't seen so we have no context. The first time we see Hellgate was in the backup of issue 1 and even then, it felt incredibly out of place. I had put this specific issue down several times because I can't stand the art for more than a few pages. Page 16 in particular exemplifies everything wrong with JRJR's art. Lazy lines, bland, flat backgrounds, characters completely off model, extreme angularity to every character, building or object. The fight choreography is stilted and very rigid. JRJR loves to have Spider-Man bounce around looking like a rabbit instead of swing or incorporate an even remotely dynamic pose in his motion. As I have said since the start of Wells' run, I thank his colorist because it is the only thing making this book even slightly readable. Kelly is trying to do too much Deadpool in his Spider-Man comedy. It doesn't work here. All of the jokes are forced and unfunny. He's trying to be too meta-relevant and it feels so out of place. Talking about DnD, Rings of Power, calling him an "evil fart barbarian". It's just bad. I really WANT to be engaged but the art takes me out, most of the dialogue during the Hellgate fight takes me out and I have no reason to care about Hellgate at all other than, he's currently fighting Spider-Man. WHY is he fighting Spider-Man? Kelly can write a great Spider-Man and Black Cat story. We've seen it before. He's not in an exclusive relationship. Let's see that!

I had written a much longer review critiquing this issue very thoroughly but unfortunately it got erased. I will leave it at this. This issue is not worth your time because it doesn't seem like it was worth the time for Kelly or Romita Jr. to attempt at writing a good story or depicting said story in a way that even conveys what is being told to us through said writing. It is a failure on both ends. Spider-Man doesn't have a spider-sense anymore because that would be too convenient. No super heroes in Manhattan exist because that would make too much sense. Norman or any other number of Spider-Man's friends (Black Cat was literally JUST with him but saw Peter getting the tar beaten out of him and I guess elected to just leave him to it) can't come to help him because that would put a pause on this never ending series of absolute beatings Peter keeps receiving from complete rando villains. Gotta keep him humble I guess. The only bright spots in this issue being the flashbacks with Ben teaching Peter how and when to fight as well as an actually good artist in Todd Nauck interjecting a 2 page interlude with MJ, Paul and Dylan are immediately usurped by everything else assaulting you from words to "art". Hellgate means nothing because we are given nothing to explain his reason for being here. This fight means nothing because we are not given a reason for Hellgate being here. Nick Lowe just loves to see Spider-Man get put in the dirt I guess.

This has plenty of things I like. Shocker, Norman, Aunt May, "Peter" and MJ talking and an awesome new suit (not that it is radically different from the normal suit). The writing is much better because there is actually meaningful dialogue. Characters are actually interacting with one another. And the best part, Michael Dowling isn't JRJR so the art is pretty solid. Especially that new suit reveal.

Seeing an efficient Spider-Man always give me chills. What if Peter let go a little bit more. He WOULD be more effective. We've seen it with Kaine, Superior and now... this person. Whoever they are. It's brutal. It's impactful. Villains are scared. I am super down for this story. New guy in the suit, new Peter prowling around. Felicia actually being impacted by what happened to Peter. Tombstone getting the message that there is a new Spider-Man in town and "Peter" isn't going to be strongarmed into helping him anymore. Really solid issue. I could do without Captain Kintsugi. I think he's just a Kelly creation that he hopes will catch on but so far there is literally nothing to latch onto. He has done nothing but appear, get in the way and then we don't see him once the fight resolves. That's happened twice.

First story - 9/10 I've been very critical of Chasm but I really like how he was used here. I think that Kelly did a much better job here utilizing him, his pain, his rage and justifying it than Wells ever did. I also love who the new Spider-Man is. People are going to and do hate it. I am such a huge fan of the idea. It's perverse. How could THAT person of all people be the new Spider-Man? It's beyond comprehension and yet... it works. Also shout out to Kelly incorporating Black Cat whenever he can. Big fan of that as well. "He saved my life, I will save his dream. His legacy. Can anyone blame me for choosing his over mine?" Second story - 9/10 Peter in space with a new cool suit. The quips were great, the banter with Xantos was awesome. It felt natural. Gorgeous art. Well crafted story setting us on a new adventure that I'm pretty sure we've never seen Peter do before? I'm all in.

Norman is great. I hope Ben doesn't ruin Peter's life by being his broody self.

Loooost innnn Spaaaace! With Peter Parker.

Weaker then normal art from McGuinness but I think it was more of a coloring issue. Just felt rushed. There just didn't feel like there was as much polish as there tends to be. I love seeing Norman learn how much Peter means to the world and how hard it is to just live like him everyday. Learning to appreciate how great of a person Peter Parker really is.

I don't have anything negative to say about this space-era Peter is on. I just want it to last longer which I know it won't.

To piggy back off of Afre, this is what I want from this arc. It just works. Norman struggling with being a hero, living up to Peter, Ben being Ben.

This is some peak, powerful Spider-Man. I'm sad the space saga is already ending. The small retcons to Peter's younger years don't change much at all but further enforce his views of helping others and mystifying Uncle Ben, always the paragon.

It was kind of surreal seeing Norman Osborn in a Spider-Man suit, broken and bloody, toasting the sentiments of Peter Parker with J. Jonah Jameson. I love it, don't get me wrong. This is one of the best ways to take these characters. I will forever be upset if Norman gets reverted back or Jonah and Peter have a falling out. Peter's old supporting cast have come and gone and this new venture is the best I've seen in years. I do wish there was more May and that the romantic interest with Raelith. I doubt that continues once he gets to Earth. It's unfortunately incredibly obvious what they are doing with Brian. I assumed he would eventually grow resentful of Peter for climbing the ladder so quickly and stab him in the back. To just become an undeserved victim to Ben's laziness/lack of technical abilities that Peter has feels like shortchanging this character who could have had more development. Make that fall more tragic. Now he's going to hate Peter and Peter will have no idea why. The art here takes a significant drop from the last issue JRJR was on. No one was consistently on model, lines were stiff. Felt phoned in. Even this cover is atrocious. It's so hard to decipher what is going on in any of the panels with this robot creature abducting Goblins. I'm reserving judgement but I am played out on Goblins and it all being interconnected. We just need two Goblins. Green and Hob and Green is shelved. Hopefully for a long time. No Queens, Kings, Demo's, Proto's or the like.

So this is the end of the Spiders-in-Space. It was spectacular. The writing is amazing, Larraz crafted an amazing issue visually. It's fluid, dynamic, somber and soft when it needs. This is one of the better Spider-Man issues I have read in a while. So sad this era has to end.

This is a DISASTER in visual storytelling. JRJR at some of his lowest, Todd Nauck's work looking pretty ugly as well. The sudden shift from JRJR to another artist whom I can't even remember to then shift again to Nauck for like 3 pages is so jarring I genuinely thought it was misprinted. The story itself is just okay. It feels like we're nearing the end of the road for Norman's Spider-Man arc which I honestly could have taken a lot more of. I guess I'm not the target here.

The story is solid, the art is a mess. I really want more Norman as Spider-Man. He really did try so hard. It feels like this is some status quo mandate where Norman just has to revert back to his old self. Listening to the Goblin, accepting that he's a bad person. Not even thinking about, "What would Peter do?" I loved that mantra.

I get why Peter is upset with Ben but like... that was a bit much. Especially when Ben and Janine are actually being calm the whole time genuinely trying to talk to him. If Ben says I don't know where May is, why would he lie? He cares about her too. This feels very out of character and just a reason to have the two Spider-Men fight. Once again, too many artists. One artist per book please unless it's a backup. There is no reason for this. If your artists can't hit deadlines, delay the book. I don't know.

This feels like a very forced retcon for the upcoming issue 1000. It's powerful don't get me wrong. May keeping this all this time makes sense in context. It's devastating. I hope it doesn't all turn out to be a fake out. That would be the most tragic. I also just don't see what it really adds to the world of Spider-Man. Is this going to be a recurring element or just a one off to sell an issue? That's my hang up. The art and the writing are very good, even if the main story is interjected with a weird villains bidding on other villains tools thing we've seen in countless books before. I really wish Gleason would just stick on Spider-Man for a long time. He does it so well.

This is one of, if not the best issue of the Flash.

This issue is all over the place. The art makes a lot of it a chore to read because things jump around a lot. I love the Rogues and Wally's relationship with chunk but nothing is given enough time to really understand what is happening in a given moment and this was 55 pages long. How do you even do that?

The art is the standout. I like the character dynamics between Catwoman, the Blond and The Riddler but there is something a bit surface level and we still haven't really found the reason for being here.

The story is still engaging but the constant gratuity is getting to be a little much. I appreciate a gorgeous depiction of the female form which Sale does phenomenally but to constantly harp on it as if that's the only redeeming quality that the men in Catwoman's world appreciate is problematic and reductive. And I'm not even the biggest Catwoman fan. I personally feel like there are better characters to pair with Batman but to subject Selina to a constant of passes and innuendos in her own book is a let down. It's also not like we're getting any closer to solving this "mystery", just opening more doors for more questions.

Fantastic. The dark tones in this is kind of what I think of when it comes to Detective Comics. This mostly comes from pre-N52 with Black Mirror but I love the feeling this book sets. I've not yet read anything by Ram V but I've heard fairly positive things and if this book is any indication, we're in for a good time. I will be honest in saying I wasn't the biggest fan of the artwork early in the book. Something about the colors seemed off from Albuquerque's usual art and he does have a new colorist here. It's not bad, it actually evokes that darker tone I mentioned it just felt flat early but picked up significantly once Nightwing was on the page. Slight nitpick, that's not his current outfit and I only bring it up because his current costumes slaps really hard. Definitely pick this up. Between the beginning of Zdarsky's run and this, we could be in for the best Batman/Tec combo is years.

I feel like we all know enough about Batman by this point so if there is a complaint about Ram V or another writer trying to establish a new character it stands to reason they would try to give those newer characters depth so readers don't complain about them down the line for being underdeveloped and one-off. I for one am intrigued at this blooming antagonist. A rich, foreign entity trying to secure Gotham for themselves. It's not wholly original but most stories aren't. The deeper story is going to be how they fill that power vacuum within the criminal element and this disease that is mutating people. Its dark, gothic tones are exactly what I want from a Detective Comics run. The dialogue coming from Batman as he enters Blackgate and even Bruce's is his discussion with Harvey is poetic, almost melodic. Accompanying the fantastic flow of the words is beautiful dark art by Albuquerque. I think it had been some time since I last saw his art and I was more critical of it last issue. Its rough, lines aren't always smooth but in going back and looking at some of his work that I have loved it's all the same. The colorist is different but they bring a different light or lack thereof in this version of Gotham that evokes a mysterious and sinister tone. It may be a personal thing but I've felt that Tec was a bigger showcase of characters within Gotham city and Batman's interactions therein. Granted it's a much more recent occurrence of these types of stories but it gives Tec a way to differentiate itself from the mainline Batman title and this is solid in that approach.

Great first issue and a great ragtag group to start off a Post-Crisis Justice League. This is everything I want when I think of late 80s comics. Fantastic blend of humor, serious tones and messages and character writing.

Batman saying he hates to lie is the most comedic part so far. I love the message and mission of the Champions of Angor. Sadly even since June of 1987 that mission is still far from complete.

The message is still great but the context hasn't aged well for me. I understand it's human history, it was during a different time but opinions change and there was definitely stereotyping going on here. Dialogue throughout was fantastic though. Blue Beetle steals the spotlight whenever he gets the chance to have a word or two and Batman remains the funniest character.

Nothing better than Booster Gold. Plus the Royal Flush gang? The BTAS and Batman Beyond fan in me is over the moon on this issue. "It's one thing to try to KILL me. But when you don't laugh at my jokes -- THEN I get MAD!"