Oh boy… here we go again. To say that One More Day was a controversial Spider-Man story is like saying that Sarah Palin is just somewhat misguided about her political views. OMD brought the comic book world crashing to its knees and crushed the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of nerds. I mean, if Spidey’s marriage can’t survive a little meddling from the devil, what chance do any of us have? However, you are almost able to forgive Joe Quesada for the bastardization of Spidey canon (I don’t acknowledge that JMS had anything to do with that story) because Brand New Day has been, for the most part, an enjoyable ride. ASM has, since OMD, been a pretty damn good comic book. And to find that kind of consistency from a large group of writers working on one book, pushing it out 3 times a month, is rather astonishing.
And then Quesada decided to pick at that slowly healing scab. Enter One Moment In Time. Even the title brings up horrific, sleepless nights caused by OMD. But enough introduction. Let’s see how the first issue of this thing holds up.
6 hours of driving, 4 hotel rooms, 120+ comic books, TPBs, autographs, standing in line, eating fast food, ordering pizza, sleeping, coffee, Slim Jims, panels, disappointment, anxiety, awesomeness, and lots of damn walking.
That was C2E2 for me.
It began on a Friday, ended on a Sunday, and I wouldn’t change a minute of it. I met a ton of awesome people (writers, artists, web comic dudes, and other random people) and I realized–like I always do at comic conventions–that I love comics with all of my damn heart.
Do I have comic news? Not really. Do I have some cool stories? Definitely.
As you’ve no doubt already read on Twitter, Facebook, various RSS feeds, and half the Internet at large, Joss Whedon is in final talks to direct Marvel’s upcoming “Avengers” movie, slated for release May 4 2012.
Whedon is, of course, well known for his various Whedonverse series’, as well as his runs on Astonishing X-Men and Runaways. Rumors abound of his potentially reworking the Avengers script to some extent, as well.
Geeks are rending their shirts like pre-pubescent Beatles fans. I, for one, am one part excited, one part hedging my bets completely.
There we go. That’s exactly the sort of thing I like to see out of a Spider-Man comic. Roger Stern and Lee Weeks just served up a fresh salad of web-slinger in Amazing Spider-Man #627, with a juicy entree set to follow.
This canned meat has clearly gone bad.
The story ties into Peter “Past Professional” Parker‘s current woes, both financial and romantic, without turning Peter into a used tissue factory. As you can imagine from the cover there, Juggernaut is a prime factor, but he’s really more a plot device that leads to the next stage of this arc.
Stern has been around basically forever, and is credited with a significant amount of work for Marvel. His writing has significantly improved since his Hobgoblin days. His understandable command of continuity comes into play in this book, but he doesn’t let it drown out the story. If anything, he allows that past continuity to provide a sweet logical backdrop.
Weeks’ art has a definite taste of Romita Jr lines, Romita Sr action, and old world framing. He makes it his own, though, with individual faces, dynamic action shots (including a throw-away panel of Spidey hoisting a mugger over a streetlamp which is simply delightful), and precise staging. I need desperately to see him do more new Spider-Man work after this arc.
After not reading comics for almost two months, I finally went and picked up all of the comics I hadn’t bought and in this monstrous stack was Amazing Spider-Man #618. Penned by Dan Slott with art by Marcos Martin, this was the issue I have been looking forward to for months (since I heard word of it back in August) that was apart of Spider-Man’s “The Gauntlet.”
In case you haven’t been keeping up with Amazing Spider-Man, what’s been happening is this: all of Spidey’s old villains have been coming back… with a vengeance. The thing is, they’re not coming back to get Spider-Man, but they’re coming back to do what they do best: do selfish things. So far, we’ve had Electro, Sandman, Rhino (2.0) and this weeks baddy–Mysterio.
It’s been all very good so far, but this week’s issue… I wasn’t feeling it so much, which is a huge surprise since I have an absolute love for Dan Slott’s Spider-Man. But let’s talk more after the break.
Amazing Spider-Man #638 Review
Oh boy… here we go again. To say that One More Day was a controversial Spider-Man story is like saying that Sarah Palin is just somewhat misguided about her political views. OMD brought the comic book world crashing to its knees and crushed the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of nerds. I mean, if Spidey’s marriage can’t survive a little meddling from the devil, what chance do any of us have? However, you are almost able to forgive Joe Quesada for the bastardization of Spidey canon (I don’t acknowledge that JMS had anything to do with that story) because Brand New Day has been, for the most part, an enjoyable ride. ASM has, since OMD, been a pretty damn good comic book. And to find that kind of consistency from a large group of writers working on one book, pushing it out 3 times a month, is rather astonishing.
