Amazing Spider-Man #559-#561: "Brand New Day:" "Peter Parker, Paparazzi"

**** (four of five stars)

Favorite Quote:  "You'd figure a ba-zillionaire like Carr could afford better speakers.  It's like I pulled up to a Wendy's."  "Hey, focus."  "What?!  Do I want fries with that?"  -- Spidey-MJ banter

Summary

Spidey chases Screwball, a parkouring thief who live-streams her crimes on the Internet thanks to a follow video crew.  She surrenders to police after Spider-Man tags her with a Spider-Tracer, fearing for her life (given his suspected status as the "Tracer Killer") and asking for NYPD assistance (at least this time, it doesn't look like Vin was involved).  Dexter Bennett, "The DB!'s" new owner, decides not to run Peter's photos (since Screwball already saturates the media with her own images), but recognizes Peter's talent and puts him on the paparazzi beat.  Peter photographs movie star Bobby Carr attacking a waitress asking for his autograph, earning him serious bank but the outraged scorn of Harry Osborn, who's had his own troubles with the paparazzi.  (Robbie Robertson, Aunt May, and Carlie also voice their disapproval of Peter's new beat over the course of the story arc).  The waitress tries to sue Carr, but is murdered by a two-dimensional stalker dubbed "Paper Doll."  Carr later assaults an abusive paparazzo outside a hotel; the paparazzo also files suit against Carr.  Peter learns of the waitress' death and watches over the paparazzo, defending him when Paper Doll attempts to kill him at a museum event.  Tipped to Carr's presence at his Hamptons retreat by Carr's agent (who Paper Doll also kills, since he's selling the tips), Bennett sends Peter to get photos of him with his mystery girl, offering $2 million for the shot.  The mystery girl winds up being MJ, which Peter never discovers, since Paper Doll attacks and MJ flees to the panic room.  MJ guides Spider-Man via the panic room's house-wide intercom system in his fight against Paper Doll, whom he re-inflates in Carr's pool.  Realizing Carr's not a bad guy, Peter gives up the paparazzi beat, resulting in Bennett firing him (and remembering his name for the first time).  Peter completes his move-in with Vin, pays off money he owes Harry with the rest of his paparazzi money, and enjoys a good time with friends.

The Review

This story arc started slow, but, holy crap, it was a rush at the finish.  New villains, new dilemmas, Mary Jane.  Craziness!  The only reason I gave it a four and not a five was that the first issue of the arc was kind of meh.

The Really Good

1) OK, the Mary Jane angle was handled amazingly well.  I mean, I actually felt my heart race as the story unfolded, with Mary Jane in the panic room helping Spidey, Spidey telling her they made a great team, and MJ telling him they met in another life.  (Yes, she even repeats it again at the end, but I don't care, it was still awesome.)  It seems apparent (though, I've read comics too long to say definite) that MJ's sotto voce deal with Mephisto was that she would remember her life before the new status quo.  She could be referring to her possible identity as Jackpot as her "other life," a plot that also thickens in this issue when MJ signs an autograph for Sara Ehret, the woman whose name Jackpot provided as her secret identity but isn't actually Jackpot.  The fact that we seem to know more about what's happening with both MJ and Jackpot -- but actually don't really know anything -- is a real testament to Dan Slott's writing abilities.  MJ's entire sub-plot was exciting and it gave the arc an energy it didn't have before MJ's appearance.  Well, well done, Dan.

2) This arc was, in its own way, a great tribute to the original Spidey story.  Peter becomes focused on using his Spider-Man abilities to earn money and, as a result, good people wind up getting hurt.  I thought the revelation that Bobby Carr isn't that bad of a guy was a particularly nice touch, making him not just the two-dimensional (heh) character that I think most writers would've made him be for expediency's sake.  Also, Peter's epiphany was really keeping with the entire Spider-Man mythos.  Kudos all around.

The Good

1) The ending was pretty great.  The new management, if you will, has been underlining the return to the era where Peter was broke but happy, and he basically says that in so many words here.  Plus, Mary Jane signing Sara Ehret's autograph kept the Jackpot identity in the air, just as we were reeling from the (possible) revelation that she remembers the old status quo.  This story really propels the "Brand New Day" narrative forward.  Peter's got a new place to live, but he's also got to find a job.  He's happy where he is (and maybe is, after all, interested in Carlie), but his slightly-less-than-happy past -- in the form of MJ -- is still out there waiting to be explored.  I can't wait for the next story arc.

2) Spidey hitting the "giant metal banana" in front of the Lichtenstein-esque "WHAAM!" piece?  Genius. 

The Bad

1) The Screwball character was kind of weird.  She was introduced in issue #559, but really only served the purpose of transitioning Peter to the paparazzi beat.  I feel like Slott could've accomplished that without introducing a character he drops completely, particularly since the villain of the arc winds up being Paper Doll, yet another new character.  I like all the new villains, but no need to introduce them willy-nilly!  Also, it seemed really weird to me that she surrendered to the police because she was afraid Spidey marked her for death by tagging her with a Spider-Tracer.  People really think Spider-Man is a serial killer?  Seriously?  Plus, she only became afraid of Spider-Man when he tagged her with the Tracer?  I mean, presumably he was the same killer he was when he was chasing her, so why did she get scared only when he tagged her?

2) Honest to God, are Vin and his partner THE ONLY COPS IN NEW YORK?

3) Bennett, the new owner of the "Bugle"...er, sorry..."The DB!" began "Brand New Day" as a sort of kindly-uncle figure.  In the Menace story arc, I imagined him having a soft Southern drawl when he told Peter that he'd pay him well for quality shots.  In fact, he even told Peter, "Without honor, we have nothing."  Then, in the Freak story arc, he's calling Spidey a serial killer and starts behaving more or less as tyrannical as JJJ.  But, he's still focused on publishing good photos, given that he rejects one of Peter's photos for being of poor quality.  Now, in this story arc, quality isn't apparently that important since Bennett rejects Peter's photos of Screwball because he was just going to run a photo e-mailed from a camera phone.   Moreover, he's paying Bobby Carr's agent for tips, a definite no-no in non-tabloid journalism.  The Spidey Brain Trust has done a really great job keeping all the other characters consistent.  But, except for Bennett's penchant for using the wrong names for people, his character is pretty much all over the place.  He's a kindly uncle who wants quality, he's a hard-hitting editor who wants speed, he's a rumor monger who wants access, he's...something.