Amazing Spider-Man #6/#900: I'm so jaded when it comes to these anniversary issues that it's hard to get too excited about them. But this issue is particularly meh for the price. The back matter tells us that issue #7 involves "one of the most monumental status quo changes...in Spider-Man's history." For a $9.99 cover price, it would've been nice if the Spidey team gave us that story in this issue. But it is what it is, I guess.
I was excited when I thought that the Ultra Living Brain was the culprit behind whatever happened at the start of issue #1, given, you know, all the green. It turns out the Brain's quest to answer "Who is Spider-Man?" drives the issue. But he doesn't mean Spider-Man's identity: he means his soul. Get it? GET IT? Apparently, it's all because Peter wasn't kind to the original Brain in "Amazing Spider-Man" (1963) #8. I'm not sure, either. At any rate, the Brain kidnaps Spidey's enemies and friends to get the answer. Ultimately, he learns who Spider-Man is when Peter defends him from the Sinister Six. It's something, I guess.
If I have a specific bone to pick with Wells, it's that some characterizations seem seriously off here. Aunt May brings back her dislike of Spider-Man, Bobbi acts like she's dating Peter, Flash is a dick to Peter, Peter seems completely over Mary Jane: it feels like this issue exists outside continuity. Other than Dr. Octopus' arms falling in love with Peter like the symbiote did, it may be, to be honest.
The highlight of the issue is probably the Ayn Rand and Dr. Faustus jokes in the first back-up story, but it's hard to say it's worth $9.99.
Captain America: Symbol of Truth #3: Just like last issue, this one is a confused mess.
After Sam tells Doom that he's tracking vibranium smugglers, Doom frees him for no other reason, it seems, than the fact that we can't have Sam cooling his jets in a Latverian jail for a few years. Sam returns to the United States and visits a childhood friend (I think) in Sing Sing becuase he may know something about the smugglers. Why would a seemingly random criminal in Sing Sing know anything about the smuggler? Onyebuchi doesn't say, just like he didn't say last issue how Sam tracked the smugglers to Latveria. It's MYSTERIOUS.
Even Sam doesn't seem to know what the plot is, as his recap of the situation for the Wakandans makes no sense./ He tells Shuri that people are going to die if they don't find the smugglers, but I'm not sure why exactly. I mean, obviously, vibranium is powerful but I don't get why criminals having it immediately equates to death. To make matters worse, it turns out the White Wolf is sitting on piles and piles of vibranium, which isn't even feasible. The Wakandans would definitely know if that much was missing.
In other words, I'm really reading this series because it has Sam in it, not because of anything Onyebuchi is doing.
Sins of the Black Flamingo #2: This issue flies by quickly. I mean, I admittedly found it hard to focus at times given all the nakedness; Moore and Bonvillain deserve all the awards for Abe's beauty alone. But Wheeler manages to get you to look beyond the pretty with the clever plot and witty script.
We begin after Sebastian swiped Scar's boat to flee with the Angel. He thankfully arrives on South Beach right where an angel-themed circuit party is happening. Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), it's full of guys Sebastian has done wrong, so he's a little short on help. Enter beautiful, beautiful Abe. He fights off Scar's goons as the golem and then takes the Angel to a synagogue (whose religious energy will hide the Angel from Scar's scanning) to wait for Ofelia.
Knowing Scar is going to throw everything he has at him, Sebastian lures the next round of goons to an abandoned zoo in a cursed swamp. Wheeler is at his best here as he takes the time to humanize the goons. When an alligator eats the goon talking about how he used to love the parrots at the zoo as a kid, it underlines what Wheeler raises several times during the issue, that Sebastian has a "dark heart."
Just when you think Sebastian has won, Scar appears. Sebastian tries to convince Scar to hire him to study the Angel, but Scar shoots him to death instead. Given next issue's cover, it seems pretty clear that Ofelia is going to resurrect him but, damn, I didn't see that coming.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi #3: This series remains one of the smartest ones I've ever read.
It takes a while to settle into the issue, as Cantwell doesn't rush the story. At some point, you want older Obi-Wan's narration to end so we can get to the action. But then you realize the care Cantwell has taken in crafting the pace. After all, you're seeing it through an older monk's eyes: rushing isn't in his nature.
When we get to the younger Obi-Wan, he's somewhere between patient and rash, showing signs of vainglory on the battlefield but also weariness. He volunteers his 212th battalion to lead an attack on Abrion Major where the Confederacy of Independent Systems has constructed a facility producing a new mega-ion cannon. Joined by a Roonian commander named Mekedrix, it's essentially a suicide mission: the split battalion will attempt to take both sides of the sole bridge leading to the island where the facility is located.
Mekedrix is full of piss and vinegar and good-naturedly competes with Obi-Wan to see who can get to the facility first. But Obi-Wan is beginning to make that transition from young warrior to older monk, as he sees the sunrise over Abrion and realizes that he doesn't want to fight anymore. Eventually, the violence subsumes him, and he forgets about the sunrise: he tells Mekedrix that he's going to win.
It's all for naught, though: the remains of the two battalions converge on the facility, where the Confederacy has stashed all its heavy firepower. Over Obi-Wan's objections, the Fleet destroys the bridge, with plenty of Republican soldiers still on it. Mekedrix and Obi-Wan survive with Commander Cody but they're shaken.
Honestly, this series delivers the type of "Star Wars" stories I've been dying to see, and I can't recommend it highly enough. I'd love for it to go past five issues if Cantwell is writing it.
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