**** (four of five stars)
Favorite Quote: "May!" "Jay!" "Marla!" "Jonah!" "Carol!" "Ben." "Hug?" "Maybe later." -- JJJ, Sr., May, JJJ, Jr., Marla, the Thing, Ms. Marvel, the Thing, and Ms. Marvel, all coming together at the end
Summary
Favorite Quote: "May!" "Jay!" "Marla!" "Jonah!" "Carol!" "Ben." "Hug?" "Maybe later." -- JJJ, Sr., May, JJJ, Jr., Marla, the Thing, Ms. Marvel, the Thing, and Ms. Marvel, all coming together at the end
Summary
John Jameson's shuttle successfully docks with the Horizon space station, but he's trapped there for 12 hours while the tech guys repair the damage to the shuttle. At Horizon Labs, Modell tells Pete that he's figured out his secret: that he builds devices for Spider-Man. Pete "admits" that, and Modell agrees to help him with the Spider-Sense Jammer, since Spidey saved Horizon Labs in the previous arc. Spidey returns to battle with the Jammer, which Modell warns him will axe out his Spider-Sense as well as the Insect Army's if he's within range. At the spa, Marla helps a losing Ben Grimm by rigging the Spider-Slayers to short circuit (since, after all, she built them). Luke Cage and the Iron Fist get time for JJJ, Jr. and his entourage to escape to get to the spa. Meanwhile, at the "Bugle," Robbie orders everyone to evacuate, and Phil Urich uses his Goblin strength to knock down a pillar, pinning Randy Robertson's legs. Robbie realizes the Insect Army is after him and gets Ms. Marvel and Jessica Jones to evacuate him. Spidey heads to the Flatiron Building, which is in the epicenter of the three scenes of battle, finding Smythe's ship there, since he's coordinating the attack from this central location. (..."holy triangulation"...) The Scorpion attacks, accidentally damaging the Jammer and forcing Spidey to use it, knocking out his and the Insect Army's Spider-Sense as well as Smythe's ship. Spidey hustles to the spa, where the JJJs reunite with May and Marla. However, Smythe (who doesn't have a Spider-Sense, so was unaffected) appears from the ruin of the ship, knocks out Spidey with a piece of shrapnel, and goes after JJJ, Jr. Marla jumps in front of JJJ, Jr., saving his life but ending hers. With her dying words, she tells JJJ, Jr. to give up his hate.
In the secondary feature, we see Flash Thompson become Venom, in Project Rebirth 2.0. The military has bonded him to the symbiote, which re-grows his legs. They give him all sorts of equipment, such as a multi-gun, knockout drugs, truth serum, and chemical weapons. Flash is introduced to Captain Katherine Glover, his hard-as-nails (and hot-as-hell) handler. It's revealed that Flash can only be in the suit for 48 hours at a time before the symbiote begins to bond with him and he can only go for 20 missions. After losing the suit (and his legs, which don't stay after the suit is de-bonded), Glover argues with the project director about the morality of the enterprise, expositing that the first recruit had his brain "nuked" when she was forced to hit her doomsday watch when he became overly bonded to the symbiote. The director dismissed her concerns, noting that Flash is "a first class soldier, a true patriot, and he is willing to make any sacrifice."
The Review
In the secondary feature, we see Flash Thompson become Venom, in Project Rebirth 2.0. The military has bonded him to the symbiote, which re-grows his legs. They give him all sorts of equipment, such as a multi-gun, knockout drugs, truth serum, and chemical weapons. Flash is introduced to Captain Katherine Glover, his hard-as-nails (and hot-as-hell) handler. It's revealed that Flash can only be in the suit for 48 hours at a time before the symbiote begins to bond with him and he can only go for 20 missions. After losing the suit (and his legs, which don't stay after the suit is de-bonded), Glover argues with the project director about the morality of the enterprise, expositing that the first recruit had his brain "nuked" when she was forced to hit her doomsday watch when he became overly bonded to the symbiote. The director dismissed her concerns, noting that Flash is "a first class soldier, a true patriot, and he is willing to make any sacrifice."
The Review
The weird thing about the way this issue ends -- with the death of Marla -- is that you wouldn't have known it was coming having read the last two issues. Although Smythe kept threatening the lives of everyone in JJJ, Jr.'s life, it's pretty much standard operating procedure for a bad guy to threaten someone's life. (Hell, Phil Urich pretty much just openly tries to kill Randy Robertson here.) It wasn't until I saw JJJ, Sr. weakly tell JJJ, Jr. that they needed to get to May and Marla despite him being injured that it dawned on me that someone -- namely him -- could die. The first two issues of this arc were so breezy and light that we didn't really seem to be building to such a tragic ending. Obviously, tragedy doesn't necessarily have to come with a warning, but this issue was tonally different from the other ones. Moreover, it ends in a real "Women in Refrigerators" way, with Marla's death clearly intended only to influence the lives of two of the other (male) characters -- Peter and JJJ, Jr. All that said, it was actually better plotted and scripted, with a pretty direct line from start to finish. Without the "Venom" secondary feature, I would've given it a three, but the Venom feature was AWESOME, so it got a four.
The Good
The Good
1) I'm glad JJJ, Sr. didn't die. Seriously. As I mentioned when we first realized he and May were dating, this guy pretty much had a target on him from the start. I actually really enjoy him; he brings a paternal gravitas to the book and, of course, to Peter, who's been missing that for so long. That said, I don't relish the death of Marla. As I mentioned in the review of issue #648, I liked the return of Marla. She had been a catalyst of change since "Brand New Day" began, selling the "Bugle" and getting Pete his job at Horizon. Her death isn't going to leave the gaping hole that the death of JJJ, Sr. would have, but it's still going to be felt. Moreover, the scene where JJJ, Jr. tells Spidey her death was all his fault was really heartbreaking.
2) Slott really changes up the status quo here at the end of the book. We go into the next issue not sure if Spidey has his Spider-Sense anymore and wondering how JJJ, Sr. is going to react to the death of Marla. Marla's final speech to JJJ, Jr. has the potential to alter drastically his approach to life, and I'm fascinated to see how that goes, because it could go really well (with him taking her advice) or really badly (with him going Rhino and hating Spidey all the more).
3) The pacing of the book is MUCH improved over the last issue. In fact, it was so exciting and fast-moving that I found myself having to slow myself down so I wouldn't miss important details.
4) OK, when I first saw that they were going to turn Flash Thompson into Venom, I was all, "Fuck you, Marvel." I've always given DC props for keeping Barbara Gordon in a wheelchair, and I thought that turning Flash into Venom was just a way to ret-con losing his legs. So, I was pleasantly surprised that he only has the legs when he's wearing the Venom suit, and he's only wearing the Venom suit 20 times for 48-hour intervals. It's a really clever twist and totally re-invents the character. Add to that the "nuked his brain" sup-plot, and I'm totally subscribing to this series.
5) Still talking about Venom, the costume is awesome. Seriously, it's totally Spider-Man Noir and I'm totally digging it. Plus, Slott totally gets Flash Thompson here. Of course he'd flirt with his hot case officer, Betty Brant be damned. Great stuff. It totally pushed this issue to a four for me.
The Meh
2) Slott really changes up the status quo here at the end of the book. We go into the next issue not sure if Spidey has his Spider-Sense anymore and wondering how JJJ, Sr. is going to react to the death of Marla. Marla's final speech to JJJ, Jr. has the potential to alter drastically his approach to life, and I'm fascinated to see how that goes, because it could go really well (with him taking her advice) or really badly (with him going Rhino and hating Spidey all the more).
3) The pacing of the book is MUCH improved over the last issue. In fact, it was so exciting and fast-moving that I found myself having to slow myself down so I wouldn't miss important details.
4) OK, when I first saw that they were going to turn Flash Thompson into Venom, I was all, "Fuck you, Marvel." I've always given DC props for keeping Barbara Gordon in a wheelchair, and I thought that turning Flash into Venom was just a way to ret-con losing his legs. So, I was pleasantly surprised that he only has the legs when he's wearing the Venom suit, and he's only wearing the Venom suit 20 times for 48-hour intervals. It's a really clever twist and totally re-invents the character. Add to that the "nuked his brain" sup-plot, and I'm totally subscribing to this series.
5) Still talking about Venom, the costume is awesome. Seriously, it's totally Spider-Man Noir and I'm totally digging it. Plus, Slott totally gets Flash Thompson here. Of course he'd flirt with his hot case officer, Betty Brant be damned. Great stuff. It totally pushed this issue to a four for me.
The Meh
1) It becomes clear here that Slott actually intended the opposite of what I thought last issue, vis-à-vis the Spider-Sense Jammer. I thought it was just an excuse to provoke the confrontation with Max Modell, when, in fact, the confrontation with Max Modell was just there to facilitate the creation of the Spider-Sense Jammer. I'm still not entirely sure it was necessary, though. Why did Modell have to be there to help Peter build the Spider-Sense Jammer, since we've established that Peter is, like, the smartest guy ever to live ever? He comes, actually, to a logical conclusion (that Pete builds Spidey's toys), but I still think Slott could've used a more streamlined plot device that wouldn't have left this arc feeling so jam-packed (in a bad way). But, at least it served a larger purpose -- taking away Peter's Spider-Sense -- than just the confrontation with Max Modell, so I'm putting it firmly in the middle here.
2) I feel like I'm entering "No-Prize" territory here, where I identify a problem and then propose a solution. When Spidey is concussed by the piece of shrapnel thrown by Smythe, it results in Smythe being able to attack JJJ, Jr. and, by extension, to kill Marla when she jumps into the fray to save JJJ, Jr. But, then, suddenly, Spidey pops into the action and takes down Smythe with one punch. What the? My guess is that Slott was arguing that Pete was so horrified by what happened to Marla that he had the energy to re-engage Smythe, but no one actually tells us that. I'm just trying to give Slott the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise, what, Spidey has never fought through a concussion before? He just happens to be unable to do it when a super-villain is threatening his beloved aunt and extended family?
The Bad
2) I feel like I'm entering "No-Prize" territory here, where I identify a problem and then propose a solution. When Spidey is concussed by the piece of shrapnel thrown by Smythe, it results in Smythe being able to attack JJJ, Jr. and, by extension, to kill Marla when she jumps into the fray to save JJJ, Jr. But, then, suddenly, Spidey pops into the action and takes down Smythe with one punch. What the? My guess is that Slott was arguing that Pete was so horrified by what happened to Marla that he had the energy to re-engage Smythe, but no one actually tells us that. I'm just trying to give Slott the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise, what, Spidey has never fought through a concussion before? He just happens to be unable to do it when a super-villain is threatening his beloved aunt and extended family?
The Bad
1) Phil Urich seems to get REALLY homicidal here. I mean, it's one thing to kind of kill random superheroes or super-villains, but he openly tries to kill Randy here, just so he can get closer to Norah. I mean, I get that he's cray-cray, but he's so homicidally insane here it makes you wonder why he's not just killing people willy-nilly.
2) The Scorpion again just kind of disappears in this issue. I mean, a big deal has been consistently made over the last few issues that Gargan was de-symbioted and re-Scorpioned. But, in the second issue of this arc, he and Spidey didn't even really exchange a blow; they mostly just wrestled around a bit before Gargan hit the Spider-Sense Jammer and knocked out the entire Insect Army (himself included). It seems kind of a waste of a character whose reintroduction had been so well plotted.
2) The Scorpion again just kind of disappears in this issue. I mean, a big deal has been consistently made over the last few issues that Gargan was de-symbioted and re-Scorpioned. But, in the second issue of this arc, he and Spidey didn't even really exchange a blow; they mostly just wrestled around a bit before Gargan hit the Spider-Sense Jammer and knocked out the entire Insect Army (himself included). It seems kind of a waste of a character whose reintroduction had been so well plotted.
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