Amazing Spider-Man Creators: Story- Zeb Wells, Pencils- John Romita Jr., Inks- Scott Hanna, Colors- Marcio Menyz, Letters- Joe Caramagna

Story:

Glenn:

Action! Blood! Loud Noises! Its two kinds of standoff with the majority of the issue having Tombstone, Spider-Man and She-Hulk fight Kingpin, Typhoid Mary and various goons. Meanwhile, Beetle confronts the Rose and Digger alongside her female supervillain peers. Its a good mix of action with some legit funny moments with the star of the issue, Typhoid Mary flirting with either She-Hulk or Spider-Man.

Not much story progression here, its very much a fight centric issue. I’ve seen better and worse with Amazing Spider-Man 33 (Vol. 2) and the issue long fight with Morlun being an example of the standard and I don’t thing this issue is at that level. Still, it’s great action with some small character moments from all the major players I greatly enjoyed.

Steve: As the Beetle runs headlong into the Rose, Tombstone calls a meeting the Kingpin to try to stop their kids. As you can imagine, it doesn’t go well. As one would imagine, things don’t go well between these big egos. Essentially, this issue is fights on two fronts: one between Tombstone and Kingpin and one between Beetle and the Rose. As the Beetle seemingly has the upper hand with the Rose, Kingpin’s troops show up. In a very parallel sequence, Tombstone is besting Kingpin when Fisk receives a call stating that it’s over. “to be continued…..”

This issue was heavy on fighting and action sequences. The story in a larger sense didn’t progress much. The star of the issue was Typhoid Mary. She is unhinged here and provides genuine comic relief. In a very tense scene, she is looking over Fisk’s shoulder, flirting with either Spider-Man or She-Hulk. The Spider-Man and She-Hulk reaction, banter and confusion over her attention is hilarious. We learn that she flirted to anger Fisk and make him his best, and that she clearly doesn’t like She-Hulk.

Art:

Glenn:

So you know who drew that fight with Morlun I just mentioned? Why it was John Romita JR! So yeah, he can draw action and he has experience drawing the majority of the characters here so this is another easy task for him. I love how visceral in particular the fight between Tombstone and Kingpin is. These two titans have come a long way from being criminals who fought their way to the top but when its just the two of them battling it out, you see what they’ve become kind of melt away.

Again the best thing about this issue is Mary and Romita JR draws her little flirtations with Spidey and She-Hulk so well that it adds to the little bit of bizarre humour to the moment. Having two scene’s of high tension with these little odd moments shouldn’t work but it does.

Steve: The best part of the art was the variant cover by JP Mayer and Dave McCaig- Hasbro Rom. Love the way that Rom pops off the page. As for the interiors, I have made it known many times how I feel about JRJr. I do not like his character work, especially faces. That stays true here. What I do enjoy, though, is his story movement and panel layouts. He does an excellent job depicting the insanity of two different brawls. Lots of characters, all doing different things. He did a nice job selling the battle here, especially between Tombstone and Kingpin. Very intense and nasty.

Overall:

Glenn: 3.5 Webshooters (someone should tell Glenn that we don’t do halves)

It’s another great issue but without much actual story progression and having read better fight centric issues, I have to mark it down slightly. I also am a little worried that we don’t have much time left in this story and there’s still a lot to do.

I hope the ball isn’t dropped here.

Steve: 3 Webshooters-

Next review- Ultimate Spider-Man by Hickman. Join us here.