Spider-Man

Devil’s Reign: Spider-Man #1

/ / Comics

It seems Ben Reilly‘s role in Marvel’s Devil’s Reign is to get beat up, captured, and rescued. Then repeat. After being freed by his friends, Spidey-Clone is captured again by the Thunderbolts making use of S.H.I.E.L.D. tech. Getting out of his latest jam, Reilly makes it back to Beyond to do a minimal amount of healing before being sent back into danger.

Devil’s Reign: Spider-Man #1 is your typical tie-in issue. While not bad, if you choose to skip the issue there’s nothing here of major interest and  you also won’t miss anything in terms of the larger Devil’s Reign story. The other half of the comment focuses on the Rose, and the character’s obsession with proving himself by capturing Spider-Man for his father. Unfortunately, while his minions are able to momentarily get the upper-hand, things don’t turn out so well in the end. It seems if you want a job done right…

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The Amazing Spider-Man #89

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Ben Reilly has disappeared. Beyond‘s Queen Goblin is still attacking The Daily Bugle. After leaving Peter in the hospital, convinced he’s still not ready, Black Cat arrives to make the save. However when that fails, Peter arrives in the nick of time to save both Black Cat and Mary Jane.

Although we don’t see him in action, other than a quick save to save a confused Black Cat from taking a 60-story swan dive onto the pavement, The Amazing Spider-Man #89 offers us Peter Parker back in costume for the first time in several issues. With his stand-in missing, the comic falls back on an old Spidey trope with our hero out-gunned and his back against the wall. Can Spider-Man, still far less than 100%, save the day? Or will his return be short-lived and need an even longer hospital stay to recover this time?

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The Amazing Spider-Man #89 Read More »

Devil’s Reign #2

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Devil’s Reign continues with the heroes on the run (and others already in prison), Spider-Man being lured into a trap at The Daily Bugle to get the crap kicked out of him by Taskmaster, and the Kingpin making threats against Elektra. While Dr. Octopus engineers a way for the Mayor of New York to make use of the Purple Man to win the election, the heroes throw a swerve and decide it’s Luke Cage (instead of Tony Stark) who should run against him for control of the city.

This is your typical middle issue to a series laying foundation for conflict around the corner, suggesting Otto has his own plans for the technology offered him by the Baxter Building, and giving one hero a brutal ass-kicking. While Spidey is out, I don’t see Beyond or other heroes leaving him out to dry (as his identity would likely compromise others). So, who might show up for a save?

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The Amazing Spider-Man #81

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Despite what the cover suggests, this isn’t a Spider-Man vs. Spider-Man comic although it does feature the first meeting of Ben Reilly and Miles Morales (at least with both of them wearing Spidey costumes) who the Beyond Corporation wants their corporate hero’s help in stopping him from using the name Spider-Man.

The bad guy of the issue (if you don’t count the evil corporate types of Beyond while foreshadowing the inevitable turn of Maxine Danger as a super-villain) is the utterly forgettable Rhizome who the two Spider-Men team-up to stop. Seriously? It took two of them to stop what looks like a drunken mistake by Poison Ivy? Anywho, Maxine isn’t pleased with Ben for not pushing the copyright issue with the other Spider-Man, although she may have other more pressing concerns involving Doctor Octopus.

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The Amazing Spider-Man #81 Read More »

Spider-Man: No Way Home

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Spider-Man: No Way Home
  • IMDb: link

Because there’s so little plot in Spider-Man: No Way Home it’s hard to discuss the film without revealing its many secrets. What writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers tee-up for fans is a loose structure that allows for the film to throw everything but the kitchen sink, with an almost overwhelming amount fan service (admittedly pretty good fan service), into a single film. While it doesn’t measure up to the film that obviously inspired it, Spider-Man: No Way Home turns out to be a pretty fun ride. 

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is fucked, and his friends (Zendaya and Jacob Batalon) are paying for his mistakes. In classic Spider-Man fashion, Peter’s attempts to rectify that situation caused by Mysterio revealing his identity to the world only make it worse. After finding a wizard and loophole to set things right, Peter’s interruption of  Doctor Strange‘s (Benedict Cumberbatch) spell to prevent anyone in the world from remembering he is Spider-Man backfires opening up cracks to the Multiverse allowing anyone who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man from any other reality to bleed through. Let the chaos begin.

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