Monday, 16 December 2013

Amazing Spider-Man #700.1 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Amazing Spider-Man #700.1. That's right, Peter Parker, the original, actual, totally Amazing Spider-Man is back (even if it is in a flashback series)...

Synopsis:

Several years before his death at the hands of Doctor Octopus, Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, is patrolling the streets of New York City. As November hits with longer, colder nights, Peter thinks on how each of them begin and end the same way, with the hope that people won't need him, and that even Spider-Man can run out of strength.

After listening to J. Jonah Jameson ranting about Spidey at the Daily Bugle. Peter pays a visit to his Aunt May, telling her he feels worn out, as if somethings drawing his heat from him. May tells him about how Uncle Ben would say that November was nature's way of telling people to rest, and that there's nothing so sad it doesn't bring something positive. Peter leaves the conversation more optimistic, thinking it's probably just the November blues getting him down. He arrives back at his apartment way behind schedule on his patrol. He prepares to suit up, but instead winds up falling asleep.


Everyone begins taking shelter as the storm hits, with New York covered in snow by the time Peter awakens. A fire breaks out in an apartment block and the city is soon engulfed in darkness when a branch falls on the lines. Peter tries to check on May, but has no signal on his phone due to the power cut. The furnace at May's house has also stopped working, and things don't get any better as a tree branch breaks through the bathroom window (Man, the trees really have it in for New York this winter?). Peter's worry for his Aunt is compounded further by his Spider-Sense starting to tingle, so he decides to go and make sure she's alright, not as Peter Parker, but as Spider-Man...

Thoughts:

It's hard to believe that it's nearly been a full year since Peter Parker was bumped off in the final issue of Amazing Spider-Man. While it's successor, Superior Spider-Man has improved since it's hit-and-miss first issue, we've been so inundated with Doctor Octopus' twisted incarnation of the wall crawler (not to mention the use of the word Superior), that the mere presence of Peter is refreshing, even more so since David Morrell is doing something more meaningful with everyone's favourite web-head instead of just making this first story a fluff piece.

The tone in particular is what made me enjoy this issue. It's very similar to J. Michael Straczynski & John Romita Jr.'s run on the series (one of my personal favourites), providing us with a slightly somber take on Peter's earlier exploits as Spidey, which feels all the more relevant given his death. We're given a more serious and brooding Spidey, which in the context of this story, actually works to it's advantage, and it's likely that the other stories will feature a more jovial web head. That's not to say that this issue is entirely humourless. The scene with Jameson, while not laugh-out-loud funny, is an amusing diversion from Peter's troubles and it's also refreshing to see Jonah in charge of the Bugle since his position as Mayor is starting to run it's course.

Klaus Janson's work here bears a slight resemblance to Romita Jr.'s, which makes sense given that the former inks a lot of his titles, but Janson's pencill's are still distinct enough that they maintain their own identity. The atmosphere of New York in the grip of a vicious winter is rendered superbly and Spidey himself looks awesome. There's the odd facial expression here and there, but otherwise this is a very good looking comic. This opening issue does a very good job of re-introducing Peter and shows that there are plenty more stories to tell with him. It's funny that I can have so much phrase for an issue where Spidey almost never cracks a joke...

Score: 4.5/5.0

Saturday, 14 December 2013

Superior Spider-Man #21 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #21. Okay, I'm a couple issues behind right now, but I'm going to do my level best to get the following two issues out as soon as I can. I apologise for the delay.

Synopsis:

The newly restored Stunner attacks the Daily Bugle, where Joe Robertson is welcoming back Betty Brant to the team, asking where she can find Spider-Man. Unfazed, Robbie responds that "Spidey" will find her thanks to his Spider Bots (which their doing an expose on), which gives Stunner the idea of committing a crime to lure him in.

At Empire State University, Otto is fuming over the fact that Dr. Lamaze could ruin everything he's worked towards. He takes off, leaving behind a bewildered Anna Maria, and suits up, preparing to deal with Lamaze, but is suddenly contacted by one of his Spiderlings, who reports Stunner's rampage, prompting SpOck to intervene.

Elsewhere, at the supposed grave of Otto Octavius, Carlie Cooper stands with flowers, apologising to the dead man she now knows as Peter Parker for not believing him when he told her (back in ASM #700) that he was really Spider-Man in Doc Ock's body. she lays the flowers at the headstone, only for the ground to suddenly give way beneath her. She falls into the grave, but is more shocked to find that it contains no body. She's not given much time to ponder this surprise development however, as a cackling individual arrives and grabs her.
Meanwhile, SpOck is trying to explain his true identity to Stunner, but Angelina refuses to listen, railing against "Spider-Man" for killing Doc Ock, the man that she loved. Being more concerned about Lamaze's plans, Otto subdues her with his new web formula and sends his Spider Bots to track and shut down the virtual reality rig before taking off to deal with "more pressing matters". But Stunner is smarter than Otto gives her credit for, ripping through the webbing before pursuing him.

Otto catches up to Lamaze only to find that Anna Maria has already been trying to convince him otherwise of "Peter's" plagiarism. Touched by her defence of him, Otto is then forced to dodge a bus hurled at him by Stunner, which nearly crushes Anna & Dr. Lamaze if not for Otto holding the bus up with webbing. Stunner then rips Otto's metal arms from his back in disgust, while Lamaze abandons Anna Maria without a second thought. It looks as though Otto is set to have his own Gwen Stacy, but conveniently, the Spider Bots manage to reach Stunner's V.R rig and disable it, allowing Ock to win by the skin of his teeth.

SpOck soon arrives personally at Angelina's hideout, where he pilfers the rig while she is unconscious from neural feedback. When Stunner awakens, she is stunned herself to see Doctor Octopus standing before her, alive and well. Little does she know it's merely a hologram created and controlled by Otto using her V.R rig.
Ock tells her that, while he'll always care for her, he's moved on in the time she was away and found another, leaving Angelina in tears. Otto later visits Lamaze with his holo avatar, lying to his former colleague that Peter Parker was his assistant and came up with many of his greatest inventions. The next day, Lamaze officially retracts his accusations, meaning that "Peter Parker" is now a Doctor.

In the Goblin Underground, Menace brings the Goblin a present or rather a person, Carlie Cooper to be specific. To make matters worse (for Otto anyway) Menace has discovered her former friends journal (In which she's been keeping all her notes on the Superior Spider-Man) and presents it to the Goblin, who immediately delves in for a read...

Thoughts:

In my review of the last issue, I noted how much of the changes to the status quo seemed more like they were made for Peter than Otto, the opposite is true here, though the fact that Peter is now a Doctor would be an interesting thing for him to deal with. Carlie's capture by the Goblin's forces helps to streamline the many plotlines running through the veins of this comic, while simultaneously increasing the Goblin King's power, which makes his eventual confrontation with SpOck all the more promising. I'm also interested to learn what's become of Doc Ock's original body. Perhaps it's some sick joke by the Goblin?

Perhaps the best thing Dan Slott does in this issue is give Otto some more depth. The scenes with Stunner help to show a softer side to Doc Ock, and it's clear that it's difficult for him when he tells Angelina that he's moved on. This doesn't translate to other parts of the issue however. It's a missed opportunity for Otto to become somewhat humbled after Lamaze, a man he saw as a complete idiot, came so close to ruining him. As it stands, Otto seems as indifferent to him as he was before, which feels rather unnatural and rushed.

It's ironic that a D-List villain like Stunner could give "Spider-Man" more grief than the Vulture or the Spider Slayer, but it's appreciated since it shows that Otto isn't as Superior as he makes out. His acquisition of Stunner's hologram projector would certainly be an effective tool for disproving any suspicions about "Spider-Man's" identity, though I doubt it'll be used again with Darkest Hours and Goblin Nation hot on the heels of this issue.

Giuseppi Camuncoli's art quality is very consistent with last issue, with some beautifully framed shots. It's almost eerie seeing Doctor Octopus appear in his original form after all the time he's spent in Spider-Man's body. The shot of Carlie at Peter's grave is also suspiciously reminiscent of the opening panel of Otto in #1.
 
In short, this story arc was enjoyable, but it might not age well given how much it's built upon changes to the status quo...

 Score: 3.5/5.0

Friday, 29 November 2013

Amazing X-Men #1 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of the first issue of Amazing X-Men! I realise it's quite late to be starting a review of the newest "X-book" to hit the stands (X-book? No? Oh well, worth a try.) But I've been wanting to review a regular X-Men comic for a while now and hopefully when the second issue hits I'll have my review of that up way sooner. I hope you enjoy the review.

Synopsis:

Some time ago, somewhere beyond the realm of the flesh, Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler, sits brooding upon a clifftop. An unknown woman greets him, remarking that it gets more beautiful the further inland you go. Kurt replies that he likes it where he is. He tells the woman that, although this place is everything he imagined it would be, he feels as though his old life has one more chapter to be written (you live in a world of comics Kurt, they'll always be one more chapter).

All of a sudden, Nightcrawler senses something unpleasant. He immediately teleports away, the noise of which surprises the woman. It's not quite as surprising however as the demon pirates that are coming right at her. Fortunately, Nightcrawler reappears and proceeds to kick all forms of demon ass, even stealing three of their swords. He's soon greeted by the leader of this motley crew, it's none other than his own father, Azazel, complete with a group of red Bamfs. The two spar for a while Azazel makes no secret of his disgust that his son "lounges in Heaven". Nightcrawler proclaims that whatever his father is up to, he'll stop him, but Azazel responds that he's forgetting that he's already dead before disappearing. As Nightcrawler stares down into the smoky abyss, his narration talks about how he didn't fall from Heaven. He jumped.

In the present day, Angelica Jones, aka Firestar, arrives at the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning to join the staff as the new physics teacher. While navigating through the somewhat chaotic halls of the building, she meets Hank McCoy, aka Beast, who is furiously pursuing the Bamfs as they have stolen his coffee maker, which he calls "Eleanor". What the two find instead is something that causes Beast to summon the rest of the team and place the school on lockdown
X-Men Assemble!
 
Beast studies the device the Bamfs have built, deducing that it's a gateway of some kind. Rachel Grey notes that their minds (which were previously closed to her) are now open, and that they're all afraid they're too late. While this is going on, Firestar reacquaints herself with Iceman, feeling very attracted too him, though she's met with a harsh reception from Warbird, who informs her "the man of ice already has a mating partner" (wow, presumptuous much?).
The Bamfs' have powered the gateway by splicing into the central battery. Beast severs the circuits, but the Bamfs have also rerouted the power somehow, leaving the gateway open. Rachel continues to read the Bamfs' minds, saying that where they come from, the sky is on fire, there's someone red that they fear and that someone else sent them after the X-Men (I wonder who the latter two could be?). As the portal becomes fully active, the Bamfs teleport away, though the X-Men are soon joined by new ones via the portal. Unfortunately, these ones are Azazel's red Bamfs, which attack the X-Men, pulling several of them through the gateway.
 
Wolverine & Northstar are deposited in "Heaven". Logan gets his bearings while Northstar takes off to investigate, noting the lack of scents and sun. Northstar soon gets the attention of something, that something being a huge, floating pirate ship looming over the landscape. "ALL HAIL THE NEW LORDS OF HEAVEN!" a voice announces from it, warning the two to surrender their souls "OR STAND WITH YOUR PRECIOUS BLUE ELF AND BE LOST FOREVER!"  The words "blue elf" in particular surprise Wolverine...

Thoughts:

In my review of Mighty Avengers #1 over at Spider-Man Reviews (which you can check out by clicking here) I noted that since there were several other Avengers titles on the stands, Mighty Avengers had to make even more of an effort to prove itself a worthy addition to the franchise. The same is true for Amazing X-Men, even more so given that there are ten X-Men comics currently being published. But with Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness writing and pencilling this series respectively, as well as the opening storyline revolving around the return of popular X-Man Nightcrawler, it's hard to see how this series could fail to stand out from the crowd. This opening issue gets things off to an exciting start with plenty of humour abound.

To start with, it's surprising that we see Nightcrawler in what looks to be Heaven, something Marvel doesn't usually explore. I'm interested to see whether this really is a plane of Heaven, or if Aaron has something else up his sleeve and it turns out to be something else entirely. Either way, it's cool that "Heaven" is portrayed as another dimension you can travel to. It's also a nice subversion to see Nightcrawler from the beginning of the issue rather than just a splash page at the end. It helps build excitement for when he's reunited with his teammates. And what do you know, the cover of this issue is not misleading! We actually do get to see Nightcrawler in his classic costume fighting people with swords. The appearance of Azazel is also quite interesting and it makes Kurt's return storyline more personal for him.

As for the X-Men, Aaron has demonstrated in this series' sister title, Wolverine & the X-Men, that he has no problem embracing the more ridiculous and quirky aspects of the franchise. The arrival of Firestar allows for a neat jumping on point, introducing us to the staff of the Jean Grey School and the dynamics between them all. There are plenty of laugh out moments during these interactions. Warbird's courtship of Iceman was particularly funny since Iceman is the last person I'd expect the aggressive and confident Warbird to have a romantic interest in. Opposites attract I guess? The relationship between Wolverine & Storm, as well as Beast's pursuit of the Bamfs (the mystery of whom looks to be quite intriguing) also add to the comedic highlights of this issue.

Ed McGuiness' artwork in this issue is just "sublime" (anyone whose read Grant Morrison's run on X-Men will know what I'm talking about). The same can be said for Marte Gracia's vivid colours, which work in concert with McGuiness' pencil's to provide an animated and excellent look to this comic. In short, this is an "Amazing" start to Amazing X-Men...

Score: 5.0/5.0

Monday, 25 November 2013

Doctor Who Prequel: The Night of the Doctor Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of The Night of the Doctor,
 "I'm a Doctor, but probably not the one you were expecting". With all the media attention, as well as the fanbase, focused on David Tennant, Matt Smith & John Hurt appearing in the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who, The Day of the Doctor (and rightly so), the last thing anyone expected was for Eighth Doctor Paul McGann to star in a prequel to the episode. As well as being a very nice surprise, The Night of the Doctor contains a plot with a remarkable amount of substance given it's modest run-time of six and a half minutes.
The story opens just the way you'd expect with Doctor Who. The Doctor comes to the aid of a young woman in mortal peril, in this case the pilot of a crashlanding spaceship named Cass. But soon our expectations are subverted by Cass refusing to go with the Doctor when she discovers he's a Time Lord. This gives us some much needed insight into how the rest of the universe views the Time Lords and the Time War. They're seen as no different to the Daleks (which is quite a statement), to the point where Cass would rather die than travel with one, even if he claims to be "one of the nice ones". It also says a lot about the Eighth Doctor that, in spite of being capable of escaping via the TARDIS, he still stayed with Cass on the ship when it crashed on the planet Karn.
 
It's at this point that we meet the Sisterhood of Khan (a nice callback to the Fourth Doctor story The Brain of Morbius), who retrieve the now-dead Doctor and revive him temporarily for four minutes. Through the following scene, the main crux of the story becomes clear. The Night of the Doctor is about how the Doctor (quite literally) became a warrior, about how he was forced into the Time War despite trying his best to uphold his morals. This prequel does an excellent job of setting the Doctor on the path that led to his decision to wipe out the Daleks & the Time Lords, as well as finally answering the question of just what caused the Eighth Doctor to regenerate. It's rewarding for the fans as well as a compelling story. And the scene where the Doctor salutes all the companions he had during this incarnation was a nice gesture to fans of the Big Finish audio series that starred the Eighth Doctor.
Paul McGann is brilliant in his return as the Eighth Doctor, giving a charismatic performance as the Time Lord. While he means serious business throughout this episode, he's not above memorable lines of quirkiness, "bring me knitting!" Emma Cambell-Jones & Clare Higgins also provide compelling turns as Cass & Ohila respectively. The production aspects of the episode are surprisingly good. The sets are haunting and atmospheric and the visual landscape of Karn is well realised considering the modest budget this episode had in comparison to the 50th special, not to mention the clever use of archive footage of a young John Hurt. Overall, this was a wonderful send-off for McGann's Doctor as well as a nice linking up of the classic series with the new. I only wish McGann had established a catchphrase I could use to round this review out with. Oh well, Allons-y!

Score: 5.0/5.0

Monday, 11 November 2013

Superior Spider-Man #20 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #20. Once again I'm really sorry for the delay.

Synopsis:

The issue flashes back to the time of Peter Parker's death in #700 of Amazing Spider-Man (like we really need to relieve that all over again). Across town from Avengers Tower, at the hospital, Doctor Mondrian and his team are paged to the coma room, as one of the patients is showing increased brain activity. As they cart this mystery patient away for surgery, they pass Julie Carpenter, aka Madame Web, who wakes from her own coma screaming psychically that "the web of life is coming undone" and soon "all the spiders will die. The surgery is a success and the mystery patient revives only to hear that "Doctor Octopus" has just died, which enrages them.

We then cut to present day in Midtown Manhattan, where Otto Octavius is on his way to a date with Anna Maria Marconi. His conversation with her is interrupted by a Spider-Bot reporting a robbery in progress, which Otto heads towards. The robber turns out to be Felica Hardy, aka the Black Cat, who greets Otto in a flirtatious manner as he approaches her. "Spidey" responds by punching her in the face (WTH!!), which knocks out one of her teeth. Otto then fights and quickly defeats the bewildered Cat, leaving her webbed up for the police and utterly fuming, swearing that she'll never forget this.

Otto's date with Anna Maria involves a picnic on a web strung over a couple of rooftops. Otto answers Anna Maria's concerns about it's longevity with the revelation that he's improved on Peter's web-fluid (well that's certainly going to have a lasting impact). The new formula now stays up indefinitely, until Otto activates a dissolving agent. He also reveals that he's applying for a business loan to start his new company, Parker Industries (kind of ripping off Tony Stark there, aren't we Otto?), and invites Anna Maria to be a part of it. She accepts.

The next morning, Aunt May and Jay Jameson talk at the hospital about "Peter's" plans, which their both investing in. A large, hooded figure (the mystery coma patient from before) then emerges from the therapists office with Sha Shen, commenting that they're back on their feet now before leaving. We then cut to Otto signing the paperwork for his new endeavour along with May, Jay and Sajani Jaffrey, who'll function as his vice president.

Meanwhile, Carlie Cooper is talking to Yuri Watanabe at her apartment, saying she now has enough evidence to take to the Avengers. As Yuri leaves, Carlie calls Mary Jane Watson, warning her to stay away from Peter and to keep May and the others away too. MJ however, is otherwise occupied, she's arrived at the local firehouse, fully glammed up, to ask out firefighter Pedro Olivera (the one who saved her from the fire at the club). Like Black Cat, she doesn't get the welcome she was expecting, instead being pounced upon by Pedro's dog, Jake, but he offers to make it up to her with a coffee, asking that she call him Ollie.

Elsewhere, "Peter" presents his doctoral thesis to the board at Empire State University. It looks as though he has it in the bag, but then none other than Dr. Don "the Shnoz" Lamaze accuses him of "stealing" Otto Octavius' life's work (how deliciously ironic), dismissing everything as plagiarism. He vows to see "Parker" expelled and made the laughing stock of the entire scientific community...unless of course a certain web-head gets involved?

At Avenue B, the mystery coma patient enters an abandoned building, the subsequent scanning revealing her as Angelica Brancale, the former lover of Doctor Octopus. She activates a back-up system of her holographic avatar, swearing vengeance on the "Superior Spider-Man" in the name of Otto Octavius (Irony x2) as Stunner...

Thoughts:

Dan Slott has been teasing for a while now that the events in this issue would have lasting ramifications in the Spidey-Verse, and while I don't think they were all exactly as earth-shatteringly "shocking" as those seen in the previous issue, there's still a lot of very interesting developments and definitely a couple of surprises.

First off, SpOck punching poor Black Cat in the face. That certainly threw me for a loop. I've always liked the character of Felicia Hardy (in fact when I was first introduced to her via the 90's Spidey animated series, I actually wanted Peter to end up with her rather than MJ) and since she's on the cover for this issue I expected much of the issue to focus around the dynamic with Otto & Felicia, so it was a real surprise that this meeting was ended so abruptly and violently, but it was also a good use of misdirection and Slott looks to be taking the Spider-Man/Black Cat relationship in a different direction for when Peter returns (let's face it, we all know it's going to happen).

The concept of Otto forming his own business as Peter Parker was also unexpected, though I doubt it'll come to fruition and even if it does, it will likely be short lived. The scene with Dr. Lamaze brings a fascinating quandary to the table. While it was a very satisfying comeuppance for Otto (given how much he looked down on Lamaze), it could also mean the end for Peter's scientific career if Otto doesn't stop him, but taking that form of action is morally wrong.

Carlie Cooper's investigation into Otto's activities garnered a good piece of evidence last issue and I'm pleased that she's planning on taking this to the Avengers, though it's hard to shake the worry that Slott will cop out with this particular subplot. The reintroduction of Stunner isn't a surprise given the solicitations for the following issue, but I'm interested to see Otto's reaction to his former lover's return, especially since he appears to have moved on. Talking of moving on, Mary Jane's budding relationship with "Ollie", while a very funny scene, is also a little sad since it definitely has legs and would be a legitimate way of keeping Peter & Mary Jane apart even if she were to discover that Doc Ock had taken over his body. I know I keep talking about Peter's return, but it very much seems that Slott is setting up some elements that would affect Peter more than Otto.

Giuseppe Camuncoli provides plenty of polished, eye-catching pages in this issue. Black Cat in particular looks terrific considering her limited panel time. Slott's writing definitely seems to have matured through the course of the series. Here's hoping that he can keep it to this standard with the following issues...

Score: 4.0/5.0 

Friday, 18 October 2013

Superior Spider-Man #19 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #19, the conclusion of the "Necessary Evil" storyline and what looks to be the beginning of the return of Peter Parker (OMG!).

Synopsis:

On the Caribbean island Grand Tauro, Antoine Morant (banker to super villains like A.I.M, the Maggia & the Red Skull) is being pursued in a car chase by Carlie Cooper and Yuri Watanabe, aka the Wraith, who is on board his car. Wraith dives off the vehicle after being shot at and rendezvous with Cooper, who's close behind. Yuri suggests they play it cool since she got some of her fear gas in their vents, but Carlie insists that they need to nail him now since they can't risk losing this lead on uncovering "the Superior Spider-Man's" deception.

Back at Horizon Labs in New York, as people outside begin to notice the growing energy around the building. Otto Gunther (seriously?) Octavius defends his knocking out the Spider-Man of 2099 to the Horizon staff. Grady Scraps informs everyone of how Tiberius Stone's three separate acts of sabotage have led to this "time bomb" occurring. Stone unlocked the safeties on Peter Parker's Alpha energy generator (playing with the fabric of space), recalibrated Scrap's time door (explaining the chronotons) and tampered with Sajani's artificial vibranium (adding an alien harmonic frequency into the mix). SpOck dismisses the situation as "child's play", instructing Sajani and Uatu "Not the Watcher" Jackson (sorry, I just like saying that) to retrieve a sample of reverbium and the Alpha energy regulators respectively (Max Modell is annoyed by the former since Sajani was supposed to have destroyed all of it). He also frees Tiberius Stone to aide in constructing a counter device since he is familiar with the tech.

Max tells "Spidey" that they need Parker (don't we all) too since he was the one who solved the equation that cancelled out the reverbium's vibrations. Unfortunate, since he deleted all of Parker's memories (JERK!), Otto isn't sure if he has the equation. He can still recall the ones he's already accessed, so he furiously goes through them to see if the equation is among them. As this happens, we see a silhouetted figure lift and throw a ton of rubble off of himself in the mindscape (Could it be?!).
Otto is then shaken out of his deliberation by Modell, who reveals that he's been thinking for eight minutes! In that time, the group and Stone have patched together the counter device. All that's left is for someone to input the correct frequency, Peter's equation. Miguel comes to as Otto attempts to calculate the equation instead. Realising that "Spider-Man" doesn't know the equation, Max orders a full evacuation of the building. Everyone leaves except for Stone, who O'Hara webs back and holds down, deciding that Stone should die, regardless of the cost of his own existence.

As the staff of Horizon dash outside, they are confronted by Mayor Jameson who, after yelling at them, asks if they are about to blow up his city. Modell answers that there's still hope as "Spider-Man" is still in there, which doesn't give Jameson any confidence. Inside, Otto thinks he's finally cracked the equation and enter it in, only to get it wrong and run out of time. As the implosion occurs, Miguel has a change of heart and legs it, just making it out of the building with Stone in time as Horizon Labs implodes, seemingly killing Otto. 

86 years in the future, in Nueva York, Alchemax CEO Tyler Stone is informed by his scientists that the timeline has been fully restored. Stone then immediately damages the time machine, stranding Miguel in the past, with nothing but a download of his holo-assistant Lyla, and an ancestor he can't lay a finger on for risk of altering his future. Tiberius smugly leaves, telling Max to look forward to the numerous lawsuits as he has places to be. That includes celebrating the formation of a new mega-corp with Liz Allan and her lawyer Mr. Banks, a mega-corp called...Alchemax. The celebration is interrupted however, by the arrival of a young man named Michael O'Mara (sounds familiar), who notifies Stone that he's been assigned as his personal assistant, which the "bithead" totally buys.

Jameson meanwhile uses his contacts in Washington to have the charges against Max dropped, on the condition that he not pull any "science shenanigans" in New York as long as he's Mayor. Max agrees, though as soon as Jameson leaves, he breaks his promise and he and Grady bring "Spidey" back to life with a Doctor Who reference...seriously, look!
With the so-called "superhero" safe, Max makes a deal of his own with SpOck, that they both go their seperate ways and consider this chapter closed. As they leave, Otto looks on at the wreckage of Horizon with a hint of sadness. Arriving back at "his" apartment, Otto goes through his voicemail, with a whole load having come from Mary Jane. Deciding it's time he told her once and for all that she needs to move on, Otto calls her only to be told exactly that by MJ.

Later that evening, Max, Grady, Bella and most of the staff board the Zephyr (which Max still owns since it's one of his personal possessions) and leave New York for new horizons. Sajani & Uatu stay behind, Uatu because his mother wants him to take a break from all this and Sajani because of her previous indiscretion with the reverbium. SpOck contacts her shortly afterwards with a proposition in mind.

Back on Grand Tauro, Carlie & Yuri break into Morant's private compound, stopping the banker from shredding any potential evidence. Carlie swiftly uncovers a document that proves that the henchmen and equipment were purchased with funds straight from the secret bank account of Otto Octavius (Gotcha indeed)...

Thoughts:

It seems that almost every story-arc in this series ends with a dramatic change to the status quo. Dan Slott has stated that this issue and the next one in particular will feature huge changes to the Spidey-verse, and unlike his repeated claims that Peter Parker is staying dead, he's not lying. There are plenty of exciting developments in this storyline that close it out very well, making this the strongest arc of Superior to date!

For starters its great to see what happens to Otto Octavius in this issue. After spending so long bragging that he's the best there is at what he does (but what he does best isn't very good), watching him not only fail, but have others save the day and him was extremely satisfying and a huge ego-blow to the enormous "bithead" (wow, 2099 slang sure is infectious). It was an especially nice touch of irony to have the one thing Otto couldn't solve be something that Peter managed to do.

At first, I was beginning to consider it a major criticism that Miguel and Otto don't interact too much in this storyline, but the fact that Mr. O'Hara is "sticking" with us for a while renders this point moot and sets up an exciting new status quo for the character that warrants a new series (please get Peter David to at least guest write if that comes to pass!).
Miguel's brief moment of possible self-sacrifice is good as it shows him to be a more selfless hero than Otto, but his change of heart towards the end is also gratifying as this character is way too interesting to die. Maybe now that he's in the present day he can alternate with Otto on the Superior Spider-Man Team-Up series. I'd certainly like to see Chris Yost's take on the character.

It's kind of sad to witness the end of Horizon Labs. It was one of the best things Slott brought into the Marvel Universe and it's staff were all very entertaining. I don't think this is the last we've seen of them though. They'll likely return once Jameson's tenure as Mayor is up. He did say "Not while I'm Mayor" after all, that's more than a little foreboding.

There are a few plotholes present however. Considering Grady successfully went into the past to retrieve evidence of Tiberius Stone's wrongdoing, I'm confused as to why he didn't show this to the authorities once the they were all safe? This shocking bithead is the main reason the building imploded, and yet their happy to let him go free and sue them for their intellectual properties? I don't get it? A throwaway line about Grady losing the evidence would have been enough to explain this.

Ryan Stegman's work here is brilliant. Spider-Man 2099 looks as awesome as ever and the splash page of all the classic moments of Spidey lore when Otto tries to recall Peter's memories is rather striking (not to mention that it seemingly features a certain hero clawing his way back to consciousness). While I stand by my criticisms of past issues, this story arc marks an exciting set of changes for Spidey's corner of the Marvel U and I've enjoyed this story-arc thoroughly...

Score: 4.0/5.0

Monday, 30 September 2013

Superior Spider-Man #18 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #18. Sorry about the long delay with this post, but at least it's finally up, and hopefully when #19 comes out, I'll have my review of that up much faster.

Synopsis:

Face to face with his present day counterpart, Miguel O'Hara attempts to re-introduce himself to who he believes is Peter Parker. Unfortunately for him, it's really Otto Octavius, who has no idea who this guy is (since he erased Peter's memories before he had the chance to study them all). So he just elects to punch Miguel in the face instead. While Miguel briefly confounded by "Spider-Man's" actions, SpOck turns his attention back to Tiberius Stone, who continues to wind him up. O'Hara gets between the two however, declaring that Stone is under his protection (since he's Miguel's grandfather) and the two Spider-Men face off, each unsheathing their talons.

Inside Horizon Labs, lawyer Hector Baez leaves to go and help Max Modell, who is still in federal custody, despite Uatu "Not the Watcher" Jackson's protests. Grady Scraps is also about to enter his "Time Door invention (despite his girlfriend, Bella's protests and the fact that a future Spider-Man just came through the thing!) to expose Stone for the little swear word that he is.

Back outside, Otto manages to slash Miguel in the gut, only to find that it did jack squat! Miguel explains that his costume is made of UMF material, which is standard in the year 2099, though it looks cutting edge to a "low tech" like Otto, which infuriates SpOck to the point where he picks up a car with his retractable tentacles. Seeing his chance, Stone activates a portable Spider-Jammer in his hand, overloading "Spidey's" Spider-Sense and causing him to drop the car, which almost crushes Normie Osborn. Thankfully, Miguel saves him with a web line before taking off with Stone. A frustrated Octavius gives chase, remarking that this is all unacceptable (...you're unacceptable!)
 
He orders his minions to search for Spider-Man 2099 in conjunction with the Hobgoblin. The call is interrupted by another from Anna Maria Marconi, who is offering to come over and help "Peter" with his college thesis. Through his response, Ock realises that all his thesis work is stored over at Horizon and heads back there as fast as he can.

Meanwhile, Miguel puts some distance between himself and Doc SpOck, landing on a rooftop with Tiberius Stone.Tyler Stone (the corrupt CEO of Alchemax, Tiberius' son and Miguel's dad) informs Spidey that his personal timeline is stabilising. Miguel briefly ponders whether or not he should allow his scheming grandpappy to live since that will lead to the creation of Alchemax, but is interrupted from his thoughts by Tiberius, whose figured out that Spider-Man won't harm him, putting his theory to the test by jumping off the rooftop. Miguel saves him and promptly webs him to the wall,
 deciding to hotwire his wrist communicator to another channel. He "dl's" the thought bank of his holo-assistant Lyla to his location, instructing her to "info-dump" him on everything she knows about the connections between Tiberius, Horizon & Alchemax.

Travelling back into the past, Grady (who is invisible to everyone there ala the Pensieve from Harry Potter) uncovers Stone's sabotage of Peter Parker's demonstration of his "Parker Particles", taking photo evidence before contacting Bella and Sajani to input the next set of coordinates so he can jump back further. While this is going on, Otto is removing all of his equipment with the Living Brain. They are met outside by Hector & Max, who begs "Peter" to trust them as they can sort this out. Of course, Otto refuses to listen and ultimately infuriates Max by cutting him off mid-sentence to take a call from his Spider-Lings, who have located the Hobgoblin, but instead of Phil Urich, it's the Goblin King in disguise as the original Hobby. Out of patience, Modell informs "Parker" that if he leaves right now, he's fired! Guess what Otto does? As this is happening, Lyla informs Miguel that Stone's sabotage led to the actual destruction of Horizon Labs, which led to the rise of Alchemax. She also reveals the date of the event, which leaves Miguel "shocked" since (in the Marvel U anyway) it's today!

Heading back into Horizon Labs after firing "Parker", Modell discovers what his employees have been doing with the time door. Grady emerges from it just as Max calls for them to pull him out, saying when they hear what he's found it, the whole thing will be worth it. Outside, Otto frantically pulls on his costume as he fumes over all the different problems that are plaguing him. It's at this point that he receives a call from Mary Jane Watson, who simply wants to talk. Otto basically snaps at her before spotting Spider-Man 2099 heading to Horizon with Stone in hand.

Back inside Horizon, the time door has been shut down, but there are still several chronotons in the air. Grady explains that they aren't from the door and that this was always going to happen, a claim that's backed up by Miguel as he arrives with Stone. He tells everyone that the place is about to blow, but if they listen to him, they can all make it out in one piece. It's at this point that SpOck chooses to wallop Miguel in the face, asking "What?" (I don't know Otto, what could you possibly have done wrong?) as Miguel's watch states that a temporal event will occur in sixteen minutes!

Thoughts:

Midway through this arc and things are heating up nicely. Despite all-out mayhem occurring in these pages, Dan Slott keeps things surprisingly coherent for the most part, with a cliffhanger ending that makes the wait for the concluding chapter all the more difficult.

While I personally would have liked to have seen Otto's decisions throughout the series negatively affect him earlier than this, it's still good to see Slott taking him down this route now. It's rather satisfying to watch the "Superior Spider-Man's" mistakes, both past and present (which I guess is an apt phrase for this storyline), catch up to him. It definitely seems as though Doc SpOck won't be coming out of this unscathed.

Miguel O'Hara continues to function well as a duel protagonist. His detective work ensures that he remains his own character rather than being reduced to a pawn of Alchemax, and it also allows Slott to bring in more characters from 2099 briefly. And while he may not have much of a sense of humour, Miguel's actions provide some much needed comedy to the story, like when he calls Otto low-tech. The only moment that seemed a little out of place was the brief appearance of the Goblin King, though this could pay off in the next issue so it's not really a criticism.

Ryan Stegman provides some truly spectacular panels of artworks here. There's an abundance of detail in the characters and the surroundings, with an awesome action scene between the two Spider-Men. So far this has proved to be a pretty effective story. A lot is resting on the final part however and I'd be lying if I said I haven't been disappointed by Slott in the past, but hopefully he can deliver a satisfying conclusion to this story...

Score: 4.0/5.0

Thursday, 12 September 2013

Superior Spider-Man #17 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #16, featuring the return of everyone's favourite future hero, Spider-Man 2099!

Synopsis:

In the city of Nueva York, in the year 2099, the Public Eye order everyone within the vicinity of the headquarters of mega-corp Alchemax to evacuate immediately. Miguel O'Hara disembarks from a nearby "mag-lev" and suits up as Spider-Man 2099 to investigate.

It turns out that the Public Eye are trying to contain several biplanes and a T-Rex that have emerged as a result of temporal energy distortions. After assisting them in their endeavour, Spider-Man breaks into Alchemax headquarters, suspecting the corporation of causing the distortions in the first place. Instead, he discovers that the CEO of Alchemax, Tyler Stone (Hmm, that surname sounds familiar?) is being slowly erased from history by some unknown force from the past. Unfortunately for Miguel, Stone is his biological father, which means that he'll also be erased if he doesn't prevent whatever's causing the problem, which is pinpointed to the year 2013. He's forced to go anyway as he's recorded as appearing there already (As a Time Lord once said, Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.).

In the present day (2013) Otto Octavius is taking part in a company softball game at Horizon Labs. After hitting a home run and being a complete arse about it, the game is suddenly interrupted by several federal agents, who arrest Max Modell on the spot and take him away, shocking Otto (trust me, no pun intended there.), whilst the devious Tiberius Stone looks on from the distance, musing that this is only the start of a very long fall for Modell.

 As the news spreads of Max's arrest, Horizon's stock prices plummet, and an "anonymous" individual begins leaking classified documents of theirs onto the internet. The Daily Bugle reports about the leaks, but not the footage of Modell's arrest since Robbie believes that this insider is trying to manipulate them all like pieces on a chess board.

Meanwhile, in the Goblin Underground, Phil Urich is whining at the Goblin King to let him go and challenge "Spider-Man" for a rematch, saying he was unprepared before (yeah right). Naturally the Goblin King kicks his arse whilst reminding him of how he nearly led "Spidey" to uncover the Goblin Protocols, though he suddenly stops and giggles to himself, saying that Urich has given him an idea.

Back at Horizon, "Peter" is being reminded of all the questionable actions Horizon has taken, replying that his memories been fuzzy lately (and whose fault it that?). The group then receive visitors in the form of Liz Allan (and her son Normie), who has just become the majority shareholder of Horizon. She's also brought along her choice for the sites new supervisor...Stone, who informs everyone that every unpatented idea they've worked on is now the intellectual property of "Al Chem" (Al Chem, Alchemax...why didn't I think of that?), which includes all of the technology that Peter & Otto built for Spider-Man!

As they leave, Grady gets the idea to use his time door to go back in time and gather evidence of Stone's wrongdoing's, but "Peter" has already decided to solve this problem as "the Superior Spider-Man" and pursues the Al Chem limousines . As Grady goes to activate the time door, it activates by itself and O'Hara comes bursting through! After clarifying what year it is, he takes off to find and prevent the anomaly, noting the name Horizon as he goes.

Outside, Otto lands in front of the limos and demands that the occupants exit them. Liz trusts him as she considers Spider-Man an old friend much like Peter, but Normie creepily says that he knows who "Spidey" really is and that someone should do something about him (All he needs to do now is enunciate "Redrum"!). Stone takes pleasure in telling SpOck that everything he's doing is aboveboard, meaning he's supposedly untouchable. That doesn't stop Otto from trying to knock his block off with his bare fist, but Miguel stops him with a webline. The two Spider-Men confront each other, with Miguel declaring that he's "the Spider-Man of tommorow, here to save today!" (As well as his own "shocking" grandfather.)...

Thoughts:

This issue gets things of to a "shocking" good start. Dan Slott invests a great deal more focus than he has in previous story arcs, which is probably why they were so unfocused in the first place, and delivers a satisfactory first part.

Within seconds of reading the opening scenes in 2099, you can tell that Slott has a real reverence for the character of Miguel O'Hara and his voice for the character is really consistent with Peter David's. Miguel is very distinct from Otto and his motivations are nicely complicated to go along with the Doctor Who-style time-travel.

What's also impressive is how Slott ties 2099 to the present day Marvel U. The reappearance of Liz Allen was a nice surprise and I never suspected that Alchemax could be a future version of Al Chem merged with Horizon Labs. It's good to see Otto express concern over Max Modell's arrest and speak highly of him for once, I was getting tired of hearing him insult everything that moves. There's some good jokes here too, the gag of the Horizon staff being divided into everyone who got turned into a spider versus everyone who got turned into a lizard is pure genius!

Ryan Stegman returns for art duties this issue and he does a great job, with the exception of some of the scenes set in 2099 which are a little hard to follow, though Miguel looks like a total badass in every panel he features. Overall, very promising...

Score: 4.0/5.0