Amazing Spider-Man #15 (December 14): This issue is weirdly jokey given the fact that Peter discovers Ben is still alive and Eddie Brock has reverted to his more brainless (and dangerous) iteration. (Peter responds to both developments essentially with a shrug.) As he goes to save Norman, he comments how Norman helped him when he lost Mary Jane, a situation he described as "a pickle." It's bizarre.
Also, Ben can apparently cast spells now, which he uses to do...something to Ms. Marvel, whose appearance here feels completely unnecessary.
In terms of continuity, this issue clearly happens after "Dark Web: X-Men" #1 (despite the checklist saying it comes before it), since Peter refers to leaving the X-Men at Rockefeller Center, which happens in that issue (see below). To make matters more complicated, Madelyne and Hallows' Eve collect Eddie here for their "secret mission," but they already had him in "Dark Web" #1.
In other words, it isn't the most promising star to this event.
Dark Web: X-Men #1 (December 14): This issue is worth the price of admission only for nostalgic 80s children (like me) who'll appreciate Spidey's team-up with Firestar and Iceman.
Like "Amazing Spider-Man" #15, though, it suffers from an inappropriately jokey tone. For example, as they're imprisoned in Limbo, Alex desperately tries to get Scott to engage with his pain, which he claims is similar to Madelyne's (a stretch, but consistent with Duggan's portrayal of Alex as a whiny brat). Scott completely rebuffs him. To be fair, Scott is trying to get Alex to help him escape their cell, but still.
Beyond the issues mentioned in the above review, this issue's chronological sequencing is also odd. Madelyne is in Limbo torturing the Summer brothers but also in New York going on her "secret mission" with Hallows' Eve. Also I thought she told Ben in "Amazing Spider-Man" #14 that she wouldn't go to New York to maintain some plausible deniability with the X-Men?
It's a mess.
Mary Jane & Black Cat (December 21): For fuck's sake, Wells has got to tell us what happened six months ago.
I say that because Mary Jane didn't just collect a husband and two children in the ensuing period, she also gained superpowers. Said powers involve her spinning a slot-machine wheel and manifesting a power based on whatever she gets spin-wise. It isn't just ridiculous (which it is). It's also repetitive. We've already had two extremely confusing iterations of the Jackpot hero, though neither one possessed these powers. [Sigh.]
If you're asking what Mary Jane's powers have to do with "Dark Web," Black Cat sees her manifest them to protect Paul and the kids from demons. Of course, before we can address that, Belasco kidnaps Black Cat and Mary Jane because he wants a favor. [Sigh, again.]
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #29 (December 14): This issue is fun when it's Bossk and Tasu fighting off Imps or IG-88 taking out the Son-tuul Pride syndicate basically on his own.
But I still have the problem I've had for a while, which is that this series has so many main and supporting characters that it's really hard to keep them all straight. When and why did Crimson Dawn destroy Ankala and her compatriots' villages? How and why did the Pride help Crimson Dawn and thus earn an Imperial bounty?
It's a small complaint, but it does occasionally slow down my ability to follow the action, which is fast and furious here.
WildC.A.Ts #2 (December 14): This issue moves fast.
The beginning is a good time as Cole expresses frustration while he and Zealot find themselves battling the H.I.V.E troops and the Court of Owls' Talons. Cole gets injured, forcing Zealot to fight off their attackers alone while getting a still unconscious Fairchild and him to a place where Void can teleport them.
Cole isn't a "sitting in bed" type of guy, though, so he leaves the hospital early to attend the Halo directors meeting. (In the hospital, he relays another multiverse story, though I don't recognize this one.) At the meeting, we see various familiar faces at the table, including Dr. Anthony Ivo, Norah Fries (who I though the WildC.A.Ts killed per a comment last issue but is clearly alive here), and a resurrected (female) Michael Cray. For reasons Rosenberg doesn't make clear, Cole encourages Marlowe to let them go after the Court, but Void disapproves.
That doesn't stop Cole from getting Voodoo to go over the crime scene with him later that night. She doesn't find anything, though their search clearly pisses off the Court, which sends an assassin after Marlowe at a party later that evening. Marlowe decides that it's time to take the WildC.A.Ts public, though he unveils a team called the Seven Soldiers of Victory, most of whom I don't recognize. I'm sure (I hope) Rosenberg has something up his sleeve.
Also Read: Night Club #1 (December 14); X-Men Annual #1 (December 21)
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