Weekly Comic Book Review

By Mark Waid (writer), Barry Kitson and Mike McKone (pencils), Rags Morales and Andy Lanning (inks), Jeremy Cox (colors)

The Story: Peter battles the new Vulture only to survive and have to face-off against his new ultra-bossy roommate. JJ and Osborn scheme against good ol’ Spidey as the public, inevitably turns against him.

What’s Good: I would be remiss in not stating what perhaps is my favorite aspect of this arc entitled “24/7:” the covers. Seriously, Joe Quesada put out three awesome– dare I say classic, Spider-Man covers in this arc. All of them catch a special tone of the city, while revealing something unique about Spidey as an iconic character. Completely beautiful!

Anyway, onto the book itself. As I mentioned in my last review, I like this new Vulture, which is a more animalistic and threatening version of the old and mostly harmless version. Although they were a bit overly-expressive, I like the way Mark Waid scripted out the battles with the Vulture. These fight scenes take up the bulk of the book and although I usually zone out over long battle scenes, these kept me interested. The fight that probably stood out the most was the final battle at Yankee stadium, which reversed the cliche of “hero beating up bad guy in front of adorning crowd.”  Also, the way Spidey disposed of the Vulture was unexpected and interesting.

I also like Peter’s bold decision at the end of this issue to pursue his mortal enemy. I always thought Peter made a much more interesting character when he would progressively go-for-broke against all odds, rather than being a passive victim to outside forces.

What’s Not So Good: Overall, there were more clumsy moments in this issue than the previous two. These impasses were most noticeable in the art. I’m not sure if it was Mike McKone taking a front seat while Berry Kitson grabbed the front, but there was a big drop in the quality here.

My biggest gripe is that right when I was beginning to think Marvel was cleaning house of annoying supporting cast around Spidey, they bring in the most irritating character to date: Peter’s new roommate. I am not looking forward to her direct effect in Spidey’s life for the foreseeable future. That aside, the addition of JJ’s father to ASM is a solid move and will make for a richer texture to Peter’s life. Additionally, I was a bit let down that some of the high drama that ended last issue, namely Spidey’s traumatic injury, was so easily worked out of the plot.

Conclusion: An unspectacular conclusion to a solid arc. However, everything post Character Assassination has been enjoyable and worth the time and money. Also, don’t forget that Joe Kelley kicks off a new arc next week. These are good days to be an ASM fan. Let’s just hope the editors don’t get punchdrunk and bring the focus back to Harry Osborn and crew.

Grade: B

-Rob G.

Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews | Tagged: Amazing Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man #594, Amazing Spider-Man #594 - Review, Andy Lanning, Barry Kitson, Mark Waid, Marvel Comics, Marvel Comics Reviews, Mike McKone, Peter Parker, Rags Morales, Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Vulture