Amazing Spiderman #648

          Amazing Spiderman has only been a decent series, the last arc was an improvement but it still wasn't enough to make this a great series. Spiderman is one of the more brilliant characters ever developed, and the only reason I've stayed with Amazing Spiderman as long as I have is purely because of the character, not the stories or the writing.
          In this issue Spiderman leads the Avengers into a city full of Dr. Octopus giant robots.But this is all a diversion for Chamilion and Electro to brake into an army base and plant some weird Doc Oc toys. Doctor Octopus then sets all of the giant robots to explode, and while Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic are trying to figure out what to do, Peter Parker (science wiz) figures it out. Michelle moves out of her apartment, and by doing so also kicks Peter out. At Raft Maximum Security Prison they are ripping the Venom from it's host for examination, and Peter gets a job at Horizon. Also Fisk sends the Hobgoblin to Horizon.
           I don't even know where to begin when I'm trying to describe how good this issue was. This is the issue I have been waiting for. The issue where Marvel says, here is Spiderman, here is Peter Parker, here is his life. Mainly what Marvel did was give structure to Spiderman again. While trying to make him relatable Marvel only succeded in making him complicated. He was hated by the mayor, an out of work photogropher, the whole thing with MJ, plus the whole thing with Michele and all of the evolving villains, somewhere along that road I just stopped caring. But now that his life is put back together I'm very happy. I also like that the "nerdy" part of Peter Parker is being shown again, it disappeared for a while, and with it part of Spiderman, but like many other things this issue, it's back. This issue also established a couple main villains are back in action, like Venom and Hobgoblin, and the little bit in here about Green Goblin. Besides that the writing in this was really good, and the art was extremely well done. This was a funny, happy issue, and I'm going to put it on the must buy list.




Grade: 10/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Amazing Spiderman #639

               I know I never reviewed Amazing Spiderman number 638, but I am going to review this issue and just touch on the previous one. One Moment in time is just going back to see what happened on the day that Peter Parker and MJ Watson, and what did MJ say to Mephisto? The previous issue was cool because they used parts of the issue where they did get married and tied it together with what happened in this new reality. I really didn't think much of the earlier issue, it was just another comic to be filed away, and thats probably why I forgot to review it. But I really liked this one.
               Opposed too just the endless doubts that Parker had, this focused more on what actually happened, MJ and Parker are talking about what happened and how unmasking was the worst thing that Peter ever did. But the main thing that got my attention in this issue is when aunt May got shot and then started dying in the hospital. That is what effects a good seventy percent of the grade, that moment was one of the most powerful moments in comics.
               If Amazing Spiderman ever reverted to what it was like in the seventies and the eighties I would be very happy. I did like that this issue show cased one of the things that was really revolutionary about Spiderman when it first came out, and still later into the Bronze Age, and that is Peter Parker's life is just as interesting as Spiderman's. A lot of the time when I'm reading a book, I'll just sit there and wait for the person to get dressed up and start fighting villains again, but Spiderman was supposed to be enjoyable even during the times when he was a photographer.
           I have had my troubles with this series before, like SHED, I hated SHED, but this story arc has so much potential, and fallow through that this might be a long term great thing. When it ends I hope that effects the series and puts it back in to the state it was in, in the Silver and Bronze ages.



Grade: 8.5/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Amazing Spiderman #632

               All right, Shed continues in this issue (unfortunately). Billy is dead, Connors is dead, and the Lizard is new, improved, and smart.  He is bringing out the lizard in all the warm blooded creatures brains. Making them attack random people, and take what they want.  Also Parker has given up his jokes and is acting seriously. This happened when he saw Billy die, and his foster parents.

              I didn't think there has been a worse comic in the history of comics. It's terrible, the entire story arch is terrible. If I had to read this a second time, I would try to legally classify it as torture. I hate this new Lizard. Lizard was the Killer Croc of the Marvel Universe, now he is just another psychic, megalomaniac. Also I mentioned in an earlier post the words of John Romita Sr. he said: If you have Spiderman standing on the ground, you are wasting Spiderman. I said this about another comic in this arch. The arch has been bad, but this is awful. 
There was one good thing about this comic, and that was the paneling. The way the panels were put together was like a perfect game of tetris. I have never liked the paneling so much that I raved about it, but you have to see it to believe it. But nothing is good enough to make up for that disgrace to comics. I hope something happens after the end of Shed that puts everything, or most things back to the way they were, other wise I don't think I'll be able to read Spiderman for a while. Also what happened to all the side stories? Like Kaine, or Madame Web? Did they just create a bunch of side stories for one issue and leave them unfinished? This was one of the worst comics I have ever read.


Grade: 1/10
[don't] buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Marvel's Blackest Night

            I don't know what has gotten inside the head of the people at Marvel, but they need to straighten out and quickly. Hulk being red, and not Bruce Banner, Bucky being Captain America and Peter Parker being fierd. I don't know if Siege is their attempt at bringing back the old Marvel Universe that I used to know and love. (I used to like Marvel better than DC, now it is the opposite, and very, very in favor of DC) Manly I want the recreation of the Hulk, Now that Abomination out of the way, it will be easier to make him his own villain, but before we get their, Marvel has to make Bruce Banner the Hulk again. After that they have to fix the main characters of Marvel: Spiderman, Captain America. All I want, are two comic universes like the original ones.