Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Amazing Spider-man #607 Review

With only one comic you’d think I could have gotten this review up earlier! But sadly I’ve been pretty busy today. But hey lets get in this final review for September and get ready for the awesome that is October!

The Amazing Spider-man #607
Written: Joe Kelly
Art: Mike McKone and Adrianne Melo

Opening Comments: After such a great issue last time I was psyched to read more from Kelly about Cat’s return. This issue was a strange mix with solid character work but a boring villain I could care less about. Still another great read.

Story Comments: We see that Spider-man FINALLY gets some. Yes. Ladies and gentlemen Spider-man finally had sex again. I know, I know. We thought it could never happen but somehow he did it. We’re all proud of you, Peter.

In all seriousness I loved the opening of Peter as he narrates after his sex with Black Cat. Now as I’ve said narration can get annoying often in comics but Kelly works well with it. He gives us a good balance of Peter’s inner thoughts and weaves them nicely into the current moment in the story.

I did like seeing that Black Cat doesn’t want to talk after sex. It makes sense that Felicia isn’t that kind of character so seeing that was a nice acknowledgement of her character. Though what really made me love this ending was the part where it turns out the hotel room they did it in was for another couple that walk in after Cat has left and Peter is getting ready to leave. Hilarious.

Once again the comedy here is brilliant and funny all at once. I loved it so much. Kelly doesn’t spare us one crack of the wit whip. We even get a little poke at how Black Cat is so flirtatious with Spider-man comparing it to Tourettes.

Now for my biggest problem with this issue was the villain Diablo. It’s clear he will be more important later on in the Spider-Hunt storyline. Whenever that is. No doubt that he’s an important character to keep an eye on but here he wasn’t very interesting. Even when Cat explains his devious deeds.

Sure he’s a bad guy no doubt. Killing people and really coming off as the kind of ass-hole you like seeing get punched in the face. Though Kelly doesn’t work much up to make him interesting or exciting. He’s pretty much a punching bag I want to see get hit and couldn’t care less about.

I’m not sure if this is Kelly’s fault or not though. Kelly tries to flesh him out more when Cat recaps on him but it doesn’t really do well for me. He sticks out as a bland villain. Sure he’s got a cool ability but even that doesn’t work so well in the story. I’m bored with this villain and I’m hoping we don’t’ see him for a long while.

Once again the best part of this issue was Black Cat. She’s so great and Kelly writes her character so well. She’s a tad on the selfish side and most writers wouldn’t like to acknowledge this at times in fear of making her less likable to the readers. But I enjoy her character more when she has these defects.

I am really glad to see Felicia and Peter together again. They where a messed up couple for sure but at the same time they worked so damn well with how crazy things got. Felicia never did really get that second chance and with the BND status quo at least something good has come of it with her finally getting that second chance.

Her “Hilarity ensues” powers continue to be great and fun. I do love how Kelly doesn’t shy away from showing just how crazy things can get with her. And yes they are still Hilarity Ensues not bad luck.

One other problem I had was that MJ was nowhere to be seen in this issue and that bugs me for 2 reasons.

The first being that MJ has been back and she’s hardly made one major appearance. Even in the arc all about her return she only appeared for a while and was more like a come and go character then an important aspect to the plot. I was expecting with Felicia’s return that MJ would have something important to tell Peter about it all.

My biggest problem was that MJ was even shown to have reacted to the kiss scene at the end of last issue. Making us think that her surprise at this would have some repercussions in this issue. Now maybe it will later on in a different issue but the way last issue ended made it seem that she was going to confront Peter or something.

I like the character of MJ a lot and I liked what we saw of her in Red Headed Stranger. So it makes no sense that you give her a prime chance to show up and do something interesting but then not do anything with her!

Though another highlight was Peter actually being happy. It was great to see him finally not have to deal with Michelle’s crap or any other crazy crap. Just have him enjoy his day for once. Though I’m sure it will all go to hell sooner or later.

I did like the confrontation with Dexter Bennet. He’s nearly reached JJJ level of jackass so seeing Spider-man confront him was so great. Though I wish it had gone somewhere more interesting. They talk, he finds out little and then bam we’re done.

Overall this was a great story though not quite as good as last time. Limited a bit more by it’s weaknesses sadly.

Art Comments: McKone turns in some great stuff though I must admit his Black Cat has one issue. The way he draws the fuzz on her feet looks really weird and out of place. Maybe it’s a new design choice but I don’t like it. Other then that his art was great.

Melo finished up and I must admit this is certainly not his best work. I’ve seen a lot better from him. This art looked rushed and very phoned in and that’s a damn shame since it isn’t awful but it’s very weak.

Final Comments: While I am not reading Spider-man after this issue I do want to be. I look forward to seeing in the future where Spider-man and Black Cat’s relationship goes as they make a great couple that hopefully will go well in the future of Spider-man. This was a great way to cap off an enjoyable story that Spider-man fans should enjoy.

Writing: 4 out of 5
Art: 3 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Must Read

1 comment:

michaeljsmith said...

took a flier on the past two issues of ASM as I have NEVER read a single issue - nice banter and such between the characters but all-in-all it did nothing for me. Art was average and the story was okay.

I tried though