Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Positive Feedback - Amazing Spider-Man 698

I haven't written a "Positive Feedback" review in a while, but everyone's talking about ASM 698, and dammit, I have an opinion too. The great thing about the internet is I can share it with the world. The sucky thing about the internet is so can everyone else.

Spoiler Alert: Although I don't go into detail about what happens, I do mention aspects of the story that are made better by a second read-through (in which you know the ending). I may inadvertently hint at things.

So...
Amazing Spider-Man #698

First off, Richard Elson's art threw me off. Not that it's not good - it really is. The splash page after the recap page, and the action sequence page that follows are both gorgeous. But it's not the style we've gotten used to seeing in Slott's Spider-Man. Humberto Ramos, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Stefano Caselli have been the main artists for the Big Time run that is now coming to a close, and they all have distinct styles that are not reflected in Elson's at all. Again, it's good art. Tight pencils. Good storytelling. Dynamic action poses. It just really stood out to me how different it was from what I've gotten used to seeing.

In regards to the writing: At first I thought I was going to have the same problem with the scripting in this issue as I did with issue 692. My problem there was that Slott was trying to pay homage to Amazing Fantasy #15, and so the script was cheesy and old-fashioned, and the teenage characters didn't talk like modern teens, but like you imagine '60s teens may have. I get that it was an homage, but it took me out of the comic because it just didn't sound right. This time around, I was having the same problem. The narration just didn't sound right. It felt like Slott was trying to make the issue too "new-reader friendly," and so he was unnecessarily having Peter explain things like inventing his web-shooters in high school, or how his Aunt May was a "dear old woman." It almost reads as though Peter's really Slott, narrating his own thoughts on the character. That's not it at all though, and on a second read-through, this wasn't a problem anymore. Once you know the ending, it makes more sense and is more enjoyable.

As for the story, I enjoyed the events of this issue, and look forward to seeing what's next. I'm curious about the gold Octo-bot that we see early in this issue, and that we've seen before, even more than I was before. I liked what Slott did with Destructor, and how he was a "bluffer" who dresses up as a super-villain to rob people. That's an idea I had never seen before. On a second read, there's an irony to Spider-Man hitting this powerless human without holding back, and you realize something is off, because in the past Spider-Man would have guilt-tripped himself about possibly hurting the guy. I was worried about the idea of Spidey and Mary Jane getting back together, and initially thought Slott was reuniting them only to kill Peter off in #700. Now that I know the ending to this issue, I'm even more worried about them getting back together. And then there's the ending...

I can't really say anything about the ending. Reacting now just seems too soon, because there's still two issues left in this story, and one of those is huge. Every time I think I've figured Slott out, he surprises me, so instead of jumping to conclusions, I'm going to let that happen. If this was "the end," than Superior Spider-Man would be launching next month, instead of in January. This story isn't over yet, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.