First, as expected, Aunt May reacts badly when it comes to Anna Maria's size, asking about whether her "condition" would affect any grandchildren that she and Peter would have. In this way, Slott doesn't just muck with Aunt May's character by making her a bigot, but he also turns her into some sort of grandchildren-crazed mother, something that she's never previously been. It's just drama for drama's sake.
Moreover, Slott again seems to be sprinting through stories. We're dealing with so many sub-plots that it's hard to try to even remember them. (I can't even remember if Spidey somehow knows that Dr. Wirtham is Cardiac. He seems to know, but I'm not sure if Wirtham knows that Peter knows? See what I mean?) It's not enough that Peter has to deal with Aunt May and her reaction to Anna Maria in this issue or that the Venom symbiote took over Spider-Man. We also have him deciding to "cure" Flash of the Venom symbiote, Yuri deciding that Peter kidnapped Carlie after a visit to MJ, JJJ, Jr. commissioning Alchemax to build more Spider-Slayers, and the Green Goblin deciding that Carlie must know Spider-Man's identity if she knows that Otto is controlling his mind.
It would be one thing if Slott was just missing opportunities to tell a fuller story. But, we're not even getting the necessary details. I found myself wondering if Otto never really accessed a memory involving Flash Thompson before he wiped away Peter's memories. I'm reading this story on a trip, so I don't have access to my back issues. However, I'm pretty sure in the Spider-Man 2099 arc, when he was scanning his memories, they were mostly of him in high school. It seems impossible that he doesn't recognize Flash from those memories. On one hand, it at least makes last issue make a little more sense, since Otto was willing to kill Venom because he didn't recognize Flash. But, I don't buy him not recognizing Flash, so it presents a thoroughly different problem.
Moreover, I'm equally sure that Yuri knows that Carlie was trying to discover the identity of the person controlling Spider-Man. At the very least, she announced that she had discovered that Otto Octavius built Spider-Island, so you'd think that Yuri would be starting there when searching for Carlie. Slott tries to cast blame on Peter since Carlie sounds scared of him in the voicemail that she left for MJ. Although it technically makes sense (since Carlie likely didn't reveal Pete's identity to Yuri, leaving her unable to connect the investigation into Spider-Man with Pete), it feels like the overly convenient ruse that it is.
Basically, Slott is just cramming in too much stuff. If he had chosen one or two (at most) of the back-up stories, we might've had a decent issue focused on Peter's drama with Aunt May and Spider-Man's attempt to liberate Flash from the symbiote. Instead, we're distracted by unmade connections and questionable developments that leave you scratching your head.
A Note on Miguel: Miguel appears briefly here when JJJ, Jr. goes to Alchemax asking Liz to build Spider-Slayers to put a stop to Spidey. Liz assigns the job to Tiberius and Miguel.
* (one of five stars)
No comments:
Post a Comment