By: Dan Slott & Chris Yost (writers), Matthew Clark (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Rob Schwager (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Ellie Pyle (assistant editor) & Stephen Wacker (editor)
The Story: Detail is provided on the mysterious occupant of Lab Six at Horizon Labs.
Four Things:
1. Unsure what this whole .1 thing is about anymore. – I can never really tell whether .1 issues are supposed to be ideal jumping-on points OR whether they’re supposed to merely be stories that don’t require someone to have been reading the series to understand the action. Or, maybe it’s just a way to sell another issue? But I kinda doubt the latter since Marvel has no problems with double-shipping titles. Anyway, you don’t need to have read much recent ASM to follow along with this story that fully reveals the nature of the occupant of Lab Six at Horizon Labs (which has been a big secret since Slott’s run began with #648). Of course, you’ll probably still get more out of the issue if you have been following along, but that’s par for the course. It’s hard to tell if this is a good jumping on point or not. The story line that is teased on the final page isn’t one that has featured in Spidey promotional materials that I’ve seen, but it could be a lead in to a nice little 2-3 issue arc. All that being said, it’s a fun enough story but hardly Earth-shattering.
2. Morbius is boring, but the reveal on the final page is kinda tantalizing. – Here’s where I have to give a SPOILER WARNING… I’ve never been a big Michael Morbius fan. He’s one of those characters that is straddling all over the line between serious and silly. It seems that creators are never sure whether Morbius is a joke or not. So, he doesn’t get a very consistent characterization in the Marvel U. I guess seeing him revealed at the occupant of Lab Six is kinda cool only in that it makes me wonder how Max Modell (chief of Horizon) knows Morbius. Max has been a fun new character and it seems like we’ve got some nifty stories to look forward to that better explain his past. But, the all-star moment in this issue was seeing the new Lizard on the final page. I’ve really enjoyed the new Lizard in both of his Marvel U appearances: when he was introduced in the Shed arc in ASM around issue #630 and when he featured in an arc of X-Men around issue #7. He’s an interesting, mysterious and creepy character. Of course, Chris Bachalo was drawing him both times, so I’ll be curious to see how he comes off in lesser artistic hands.
3. Strong art. – I feel sorry for any ASM artist who follows a Humberto Ramos arc on ASM. Ramos is one of my favorites and it’s hard for many artists to measure up. This art by Matthew Clark and the venerable Tom Palmer is some pretty strong stuff even if it is 180 degrees different than Ramos’ cartooning. These guys give me a HUGE Neil Adams vibe when I look at their pages. In fact, this issue looks like what I think of as “house style” for a DC comic book. It isn’t quite my favorite style, but it is very effective and lots of fans are going to dig this. For what it’s worth, their work with Peter Parker was much better than their work with Spidey (where some anatomy problems arose with his torso).
4. Horizon Labs remains a pretty interesting place. – Me thinks the denizens of Horizon Labs are among the best new characters in the Marvel U in the last year or so. What’s even better is that they are supporting characters for Peter Parker. Peter needs a few more supporting characters since Harry left and Flash is off playing Venom. All the geniuses at Horizon are interesting and I enjoy every issue where we learn more about them.
Conclusion: Again, these .1 issues are kinda hard to pin down, but this is an enjoyable enough story with strong art (even if it does look like a DC book). On the other hand, I can’t imagine why Marvel would want to direct new readers to THIS issue, which is one of the lesser efforts in ASM recently.
Grade: B-
– Dean Stell
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