Comic Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 692- 694

Greetings all! Richard Wilson III here with a review! After a brief hiatus from reviewing (Okay, maybe a few months is pushing it), I've decided to review what I consider to be one of the most disappointing stories in the history of the Amazing Spider-Man. Since Marvel's canceling the title at issue 700 and replacing it with the "Superior Spider-Man" (Trust me, I'm going to rant about that too), I feel it to be necessary as a Spider-Man fan to offer my opinion on the last stretch of one of my favorite comic book titles in existence.

Amazing Spider-Man 692
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Humberto Ramos

Plot: Midtown High School teen Andy Maguire (see what they did there?) feels shunned by his high school community and family, all while being moody and mopey. Horizon Labs (Peter Parker's current place of employment) decides to host a field trip, with the main feature being Peter Parker's latest discovery of the "Parker Particle" (God, such a narcissist! Wait Hank Pym did it first with the "Pym Particle"!? Never mind...), which malfunctions due to a disgruntled worker turning off the safety devices! Andy "heroically" pushes a fellow student out of the line of one of the energy discharges and gets zapped himself! The machine overloads and collapses about to crush the teens, but Andy catches it and tosses it away! A short time later, Max Modell, his lawyer, Peter and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four/Future Foundation all meet with Andy's parents and their lawyer, and to put a long story short, they all agree to whore out Andy as Alpha to make lots of money and for Spider-Man to train him as a hero! Oh, and Andy is an "Alpha level threat", greater than the Phoenix Force, the Sentry, and the Hulk COMBINED (Excuse me as a barf something foul in a bag)! Weird fights ensue and the Jackal gets involved... Yay...

Opinion: God I wanted to like this. I really did. When they announced that Spider-Man was getting a sidekick, I had a neutral opinion, and only hoped that it go well. Needless to say, Alpha is a failure. First off,

I didn't buy Alpha as a teenager. I didn't buy the key reason for his EXISTENCE! Dan Slott's characterization of a teen seemed more in line with old WB/CW TV dramas: angsty and without any likability. I generally like Dan Slott's characterizations and plot ideas, but this one fell flat. I need to be honest, if Alpha really was this huge threat, WHY THE HELL WAS HE GIVEN TO SPIDER-MAN!? I understand that he accidentally created him, but if he had the potential to destroy reality as they know it, I think he would've been better suited being taken by the Avengers and placed in their Academy to be monitored and  trained, while they could've had Peter and Reed Richards (Who apparently discovered "Parker Particles" YEARS before Peter) trying to depower him, limit his abilities or something like that. But no, Alpha was given to one of the most renowned street level superheroes this side of Daredevil. With two more issues to review, I'll leave it at that.

1.5 out of 5




Amazing Spider-Man 693

Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Humberto Ramos

Plot: I'll keep this one short: Alpha's a douche, Jackal kidnaps him, tries to clone him and fails. Spider-Man pisses his pants at how frightening Alpha's powers are...

Opinion: There is no hope for this. Issue 692 failed to make me like or sympathize with Andy Maguire's Alpha. This issue made me pray that he died at the end of the arc. He's a freaking douche. He made the Jersey Shore cast look classy, and that's saying something! And Peter... my God what happened!? It's bad enough he's been regulated to a background character in his own title (The cover of the issue says it all), but he essentially took a dump in his pants when Alpha "explodes" and he see's his "destructive potential"... I'VE SEEN A BARKING DOG MORE MENACING THAN THAT! We're talking about Peter Parker, who fought the omnipotent Beyonder on Battleworld, fought against an Infinity Gauntlet wielding Thanos, saw the Sentry almost rip apart the world, and kept composure then, but the moment a teen throws a temper tantrum, he shits his pants. I call severe bullshit at that

0 out of 5

Amazing Spider-Man 694 
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Humberto Ramos

Plot: Spider-Man and Alpha don't fight, Spider-Man fights a plane and the laws of physics, a Deus Ex Machina depowers Alpha and I hope it stays that way

Opinion: First off, the cover is a lie. Not like the cake from Portal, that exists but you never actually get, but like it doesn't happen. AT ALL. This cover is a spoof of the now famous Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man. In that issue, Superman and Spidey fight for a bit; they team up, but they fight first. Alpha and Spidey never even gave each other a dirty look. An alien invasion threatens New York again (this came out a little bit after the Avengers film, it "had to happen"), and Alpha gets called into the fight, where Peter see's that the leader's, Terminus, Power Staff reflects Alpha's energy, and gives him an idea to use that as a base for his depowering for Alpha... a Deus Ex Machina at it's finest! As for Spider-Man vs. the Plane, it was a sequence I liked. He goes to save his Aunt May and Uncle Jay (Aunt May married J. Jonah Jameson's father in ASM 600, ironically used as the header for this segment!) from plummeting to death. May goes to call Peter, and he hears her probable last words in real time and directly in his headset hidden under his mask! In the end he wins by beating the Laws of Physics, and saving them both. Mayor JJJ even shows up to thank Spidey for saving his father! It ends with Alpha losing all his power, except for "...That little bit of power's in you. Always there and growing.", hinting that Alpha can return at some point... I can only pray that never happens, unless he comes back as a villain looking for revenge on Spider-Man for depowering him, because that has potential. All in all, this is a semi decent ending to a pretty poor story arc...

This issue gets a 2.5 out of 5, with 1.5 points coming from the Spider-Man in the airplane, and the other point coming from Alpha's depowering. In the end the story arc gets a 2 out of 5, with a so-so beginning, a terrible middle portion and a tolerable ending, regardless of the cover's blatant lie of "The Battle of the Half Century! The Amazing Spider-Man vs. Alpha!" and the Deus Ex Machina.

I'll return in a few weeks to cover the DANGER ZONE!

-Richard Wilson III

The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Review

Hey guys, this is Rich (rwmarvelmaster) here, giving my review of the new Amazing Spider-Man movie. I'm going to do this in sections and subsections with images splashed in there for effect.


(NOTE: THOUGH I DO LIKE THE RAIMI TRILOGY, I FEEL THAT THIS IS A SUPERIOR FILM VIA CASTING, PLOT DEVELOPMENT AND POTENTIAL) 


WARNING: SPOILERS AWAIT

Part 1: Story


(COPIED AND PASTED DIRECTLY FROM WIKIPEDIA)

A young Peter Parker discovers his father Richard's study has been broken into. Gathering up hidden documents, Peter's parents take him to the home of his Aunt Mayand Uncle Ben, then mysteriously depart. Years later, a teenaged Peter attends Midtown Science High School, where he is bullied by Flash Thompson and has caught the eye of Gwen Stacy. At home, Peter finds his father's papers and learns he worked with fellow scientist Dr. Curt Connors at Oscorp. Sneaking into Oscorp, Peter enters a lab where a "biocable" is being created from genetically modified spiders, one of which bites him. On the subway ride home, he discovers that he has developed spider-like abilities.

After studying Richard's papers, Peter visits the one-armed Connors, reveals he is Richard Parker's son, and gives Connors his father's "decay rate algorithm", the missing piece in Connors' experiments on regenerating limbs based on lizard DNA. Connors is being pressured by his superior, Dr. Ratha, to devise a cure for the dying, unseen head of Oscorp, Norman Osborn. In school, Peter gets into trouble after humiliating Flash in an act of revenge. As a result, his uncle is forced to change work shifts in order to meet with the principal; Uncle Ben tells Peter to pick up May tonight for him. Peter neglects his responsibility, instead helping Dr. Connors regenerate the limb of a laboratory mouse. When Peter returns home he gets into an argument with his uncle and storms out of the house. While searching for Peter, Uncle Ben attempts to stop a thief and is shot. The thief escapes as Peter finds his uncle already dead on the sidewalk.

Afterward, Peter uses his new abilities to hunt criminals matching the killer's description. After a fall lands him inside an abandoned gym, a luchador-wrestling poster inspires him to create a mask to hide his identity. He also adds a spandex suit, and builds mechanical devices to attach to his wrists to shoot a biocable "web". Peter accepts a dinner invitation from Gwen, where he meets her father, police captain George Stacy. After dinner, Peter shows Gwen his abilities and they kiss.

After seeing success in the mouse, Ratha demands Connors begin human trials immediately if Osborn is to survive. Connors refuses to rush the drug-testing procedure and put innocent people at risk. Ratha fires Connors and decides to test Connors' serum at a Veterans Administration hospital under the guise of a flu shot. Later, Connors tries the formula on himself. After passing out, he awakens to find his missing arm has regenerated. Learning Ratha is on his way to the VA hospital, Connors, whose skin is growing scaly and green, goes to intercept him. By the time he gets to the Williamsburg Bridge Connors has become a hybrid of lizard and man, tossing cars, including Ratha's, over the side of the bridge. Peter, now calling himself Spider-Man, saves each fallen car with his web-lines.

Spider-Man suspects Connors is the Lizard, and unsuccessfully confronts the creature in the sewers. The Lizard learns Spider-Man's real identity and attacks Peter at school. In response, the police start a manhunt for both Spider-Man and the Lizard. The police corner Spider-Man, where Captain Stacy discovers that he is really Peter. The Lizard plans to make all humans lizard-like by releasing a chemical cloud from Oscorp's tower. Spider-Man eventually disperses an antidote cloud instead, restoring Connors and earlier victims to normal, but not before the Lizard fatally claws Captain Stacy. The dying Stacy makes Peter promise to keep Gwen safe by staying away from her. Peter initially does so, but later suggests to Gwen that he may see her after all.

In a post-credits scene, Connors, in a prison cell, speaks with a man in the shadows who asks if Peter knows the truth about his father. Connors replies, "No", and demands Peter be left alone before the man disappears.

Part 2: Characters

1) Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield)

Andrew Garfield IS Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He gets Peter Parker's awkward and geeky behavior and really makes him charming. His motivations are understandable and really evolve as time goes on. First he starts with the mystery of his father (Richard Parker) and his works: He finds a bag of his fathers that leads him to Oscorp, where he gets his powers. Next Uncle Ben dies and he goes on a manhunt for his uncle's killer and never finds him. Then his next big outing was his first fight on the bridge with the Lizard. From there, he's hunting the Lizard, and proactively attempting to find and cure the one person that can really help him with the mystery of his father. What makes his Spider-Man/Peter Parker more interesting than Tobey Maguire's version of the character is that he's funny throughout the course of the film, which is a big improvement over the more somber and brooding approach Tobey gave (up until Spider-Man 3 that is).

2) Dr. Curtis Connors/The Lizard (Rhys Ifans)


Rhys Ifans casting as Dr. Curt Connors was a genuine surprise for me, as the only movies I had seen him in prior to this were Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2, where his character was eccentric and even a bit over the top at times. However, here he is genuinely sincere and interesting to watch. His goals in the beginning were simple: Finish the serum he and Richard Parker (sound familiar?) were working on to restore missing limbs, whether it be from an accident (like his own) or a birth deformity. Later, he's pressured into testing the serum on himself, which leads to his first transformation into the Lizard. After that, he becomes obsessed with the idea of genetic perfection, convinced that the Lizard transformation would create this new, perfect world... And it's pulled right out of the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko origins of the character.

3) Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone)


If there was one love interest I had wanted to see done right on the big screen, I must say it had to have been Gwen Stacy. Emma Stone's performance COMPLETELY blows Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane out of the water. She is spot on for the early characterization of Gwen (which I approved of more): she was witty, tough, and was able to stand on her own. Gwen is just as proactive as Peter, and even takes the role of secondary protagonist (along with Dennis Leary's Capt. George Stacey) rather than just the simple love interest to be kidnapped later Mary Jane Watson of the Raimi Trilogy.


Part 3: Final Thoughts


I loved Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Films until Spider-Man 3. I like Spider-Man 3, but it felt like all the characters were going through the motions: Peter dealing with being Spider-Man, Mary Jane dealing with something shallow and superficial, insert supervillain of the film's problems here and so on. The Amazing Spider-Man helped breath new life into a character that started grow bored in his own films. Though it does feel choppy in some instances, and whole lines that were in the trailers were absent, along with most of the parent's storyline, it will still be my favorite of the bunch. It is easily my favorite of the Spider-Man movies produced by Sony, followed by Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 3.  I hope the Amazing Spider-Man 2 (or whatever they choose to call it) lives up to it...


8.5 out of 10

So this weekend i saw The Amazing Spider-man and i must say i really liked it. Andrew Garfield was a pleasant surprise in capturing the full emotional aspect of Peter Parker. In this Spider-man we get a small taste of peter's parents dark past and how peter ended up in the care of Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Also we get a more interesting look at Gwen Stacy who takes the place of Mary-Jane Watson as peter's better half. I definitely think Gwen Stacy did justice as Peter's better half. Also how they did the web shooters instead of organic web really showed some light on peter's true intelligence which i feel the first 3 spider-man movies didn't portray. So all in all this movie is a must see it has all of the spider-man feel with a little of modern equipment thrown in. I give it

        

Hey guys for all your emails and questions or if u have an idea for something u want reviewed send me a email at marvelrulez94@gmail.com thanks guys

Hi everyone. This will be My Introduction to this comic book and video game blog thing me and rich are doing. we will be providing reviews on new comic book stuff, new video games and movies.  In addition to our posts, we will be incorporating a weekly mailbag. While it may not look like much now, i promise to clean up the blog and go towards a more professional look as the days go by. For now, Welcome to Steve and Rich present: Black Thunder Reviews