Avenging Spider-Man #7: I am absolutely, totally, and completely a sucker for a madcap museum caper. One of my favorite stories in "The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told" is the one with the Mayan (I think) death mask, and I'm pretty sure that part of the reason that I love the Black Cat is that she's always pilfering something from a museum. As such, this issue was right up my alley.
Immonen does a great job of really embracing the witty banter that this series appears to be emphasizing. Some choice moments here:
"Great! I can be your wingman! I love Egypt!" "You love a buffet." -- Spider-Man and She-Hulk, as Pete tries to talk Jennifer into taking him to her work event
"Right behind you. Well, not right behind you because, you know, right now that's not really, I don't want to...tail-gate." -- Spidey, risking his life by making fun of She-Hulk for her newly grown tail
"I'm not about to start punching kittens!" "Okay. For the record? You went there. Not me." -- She-Hulk and Spidey, in an exchange that speaks for itself
"I didn't have time to find a crocodile and learn how to nurse it!" -- something I honestly thought I'd never "hear" Spidey say
Immonen manages to throw in great non-banter moments throughout the issue as well. Examples? Spidey trying -- and failing -- to keep from commenting when She-Hulk suddenly grows a tail. ("It's SO cute!") Spidey shouting "BEGONE!" while trying to use She-Hulk's (fake) "Eye of Ra" necklace to dispel the cats. Spidey striking the "Walks like an Egyptian" pose while talking to Bastet. Immonen comes close to portraying Pete as the buffoon that less experienced authors (***cough***Bendis***cough***) often make him, but manages to avoid it, using his geekiness to save the day. In fact, it's one of the more subtler uses of Pete's geekiness, a reminder that his banter often masks his social anxiety, something that comes from his geekiness. It's interesting to see us go there again, after it was so brilliantly done in "Avenging Spider-Man" #5, though from a more personal angle in that issue. Here, Immonen reminds us that it also has practical applications, and it works well.
In fact, Immonen actually works in some serious moments in this issue, even if they're the type of moments that you could easily miss if you weren't paying attention. I thought one of the best moments was when Spidey talked about Uncle Ben taking him to the Egyptian rooms when he was a kid. She evokes the great image of a bored Uncle Ben happily taking his excited nephew through the museum's Egyptian rooms. Similarly, she reminds us that Spidey is a young New Yorker by showing us his favorite gyro place, since all young New Yorkers should have a favorite gyro place. (I'm pretty sure Batman doesn't have a favorite gyro place in Gotham.) They're small moments, sure, but they're the type of moments that I hope authors remember to include. "Avenging Spider-Man" isn't supposed to be a continuity-focused series. But, Immonen wisely realizes that it doesn't mean that it's supposed to be a characterization-light series. All in all, this issue is exactly what I think that we all hoped to see when this series was launched.
Finally, I have to give total props to Caramagna. From the hearts around Spidey saying "It's so cute!" about She-Hulk's tail to the bold-faced type when he yells "BEGONE!" (not to mention the hieroglyphics curse when She-Hulk yells, "You unbelievable pain in the $&%#!"), Caramagna uses the thought bubbles and word boxes to convey emotions better than I've seen in a long time, possibly since the early days of "Brand New Day!" when they created an entire type-set for Spidey.
All in all, another great issue of a series I'm happy to keep paying money to get.
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