Amazing Spider-Man #17 Review
Amazing Spider-Man #17 is out now! Here’s my review and recap as we see once more why Anna Marie is best girl!
Okay, it opens with Anna Marie and Peter at Aunt May’s for dinner. She’s still unaware that Doc Ock was riding in his body for a few months, so she believes they’re still together. Peter is once again being flaky on how to broach the topic, so Anna does it for him by saying they’ve split due to work but it’s rather amicable—which is the truth, more-or-less. She then points out that they can get back to their workplace faster by web-swinging and no one would blink an eye since Spider-Man has saved her twice. I like how she cuts through the neurosis and gets to the point.
Meanwhile, Sanjay is once again bitching about how Parker’s project has little profit rather than being a good thing for the city, which Clayton promptly calls her out on. He earns points in my book there. But sadly she goes back to the whining when Anna reveals that he has a secret entrance for his meetings with Spider-Man and they broke up.
At the same time, Ghost is screwing with their security system, kills a guard, and turns their testing equipment on them. Peter, through a combination of Spider-Sense, Anna being best girl and covering for him, and the Living Brain being a shield, he manages get them out and shift into costume. But not before Sanjay tries to take matters into her own hands and fails to reason with the guy sabotaging the place since he isn’t doing it for profit, but because he wants to.
The comic ends with Peter arriving just in time to see her get stabbed. There was also something with Black Cat, but all you need to know is she plans on robbing Aunt May next issue.
Okay, review time…
Yes, I’m bias in thinking Anna Marie is best girl. She was the one thing Otto did that stayed good in the end. Also, Sanjay lost me when she sold out Parker Industries by telling Black Cat how to sabotage the machine with Electro, which could have potentially killed them all or ruined the company. She did so intentionally, just now too, thinking that she’s the only one who can do something—only this time it bit her in the ass.
I don’t even mind the secret project, because I can see where they’re both coming from. Anna Marie still respects and honors Otto’s legacy and work, so she wants to continue. If she talked to Peter, I’m sure he’d agree. Sanjay… well, she only cares about the bottom-line and would be better off working at Alchemax.
5 out of 5.
Amazing Spider-Man # 6 (2014) Review
So, will the world learn of Spider-Man’s secret identity in issue #6 of the new series? Read my review and find out.
Picking up where the comic ended, JJJ once again tries to expose Peter’s identity to the world instead of doing something to stop it, with everyone in a panic that its’ about to happen….except JJJ stood in the dead center of the shot. Contrived, maybe, but no one was fooled into thinking otherwise. Even though Black Cat gets the mask off, Silk manages to wrap his head before they can get a decent shot and splits with him.
Black Cat then goes to a villain bar to get muscle, but no one really sees her as much since she’s working with Electro, who killed basically half of their numbers when he tried to bust into the prison. Meanwhile Silk and Anna are getting Peter onto his feet as Electo asks Sajani if the device can really cure him when Black Cat arrives. Later on they’re getting ready to prep the device when Black Cat and Electro sneak in while Peter and Silk keep making out in the backseat when she senses something wrong because her spider-sense is better and then suit up, while Anna gets a promotion.
Anna goes to shut the project down and clear the area when Black Cat and Electro get to the machine and she uses it to amp up his power as the web-slinging duo arrive. Black Cat decides to turn Electro into a bomb and its killing him, meaning if he’s really Spider-Man and not Otto, he’d save Electro. Yeah, needless to say he gets right into it and she condemns them both to death before Silk saves them.
In the aftermath Electro is depowered, Silk goes to work for the news company in order to search for her family, Black Cat is back into good graces with the villains and is intent on copying Catwoman on being a new Kingpin (real subtle Marvel), and Sajani arrives to see Anna getting along with Peter. As the comic ends we see that Sajani actually told Black Cat willingly how to destroy the device because it was a bad business model, which doesn’t paint her in a very good light. Then again, she joined up with Otto’s graces…
Okay, review time.
Well, this first arc has been… interesting. The flaws are they’ve basically killed all the character development Black Cat had and they are pushing Silk like an overeager drug-dealer outside a rehabilitation center with a banner stating the first one’s free. I mean come on, we get she’s new and awesome. I even approve of the whole web-shaping abilities and how she can change them, but being faster and better Spider-Sense?
Bull.
Anyway, still loved the rest of it so…4 out of 5.
Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Review
Okay, Miles has been around for a bit so it’s time he got a series named after him. So in this continuation of his life upon donning the Spider-Man mask again I’ll be reading and reviewing it to give you my biased opinion of what I think of it. This is the first review of Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man and it already contains swearing so beware!
The story begins at a top-secret SHIELD containment facility. Since Cataclysm ended the way it did, SHIELD has been disbanded and that means all their prisoners get transferred to a federal prison. That includes one special bastard who by all rights should be dead:
Norman-fucking-Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, aka the man who killed Peter Parker. Apparently he didn’t die and Fury thought to keep his ass locked up since nothing seems to finish the damn job. The guard, no longer assigned to watch him, knocks his teeth in for killing Peter and tell them to keep an eye on the bastard…it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how that’s going to end.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, two guys are discussing whether or not Captain America is dead. Let’s face it, they didn’t find the body so he’ll probably pop up later on. But this meta-discussion gets ended when some spider-man dressed douche-bags decide to make with the robbing of an armored truck. This is not what Miles needs.
Speaking of his needs, he’s making out with Katie Bishop when she’s asking where he was last night. Considering the shot of the All New Ultimates I would say he’s busy, but since he can’t explain that because she’s not in the loop she incorrectly assumes it was because Jefferson had came home. Apparently his Dad decided to simply abandon him…see my end notes about that. Either way the discussion comes to a close when a teacher tells him to get to class and we get an angsty teen shot.
We then skip to Long Island Expressway where Norman turns into the Green Goblin and escapes, shocker, and then back to Miles and Ganke. Miles is once again debating with Ganke on telling Katie his secret identity and Ganke argues against while now crushing on Dagger instead of Gwen. He’s got a thing for older women since puberty kicked in I guess….I can respect that.
Miles reminds him that she’s taken and out of his league and then goes pouty face when Ganke mentions he helped him be Spider-Man. He then decides to call up Mary Jane and gets some advice. She tells him that yeah it’s good to tell the girl because she shouldn’t have to find out after his death makes the front page of the news. But she also warns him that it’s like being married, you tell her then you’re connected for life, so make sure she’s not a villain or decides to go the woman-scorned route if something goes down.
Miles stress-level continues to rise as he learns about the fake spider-men and knows that he’s going to probably be framed for a crime he didn’t commit soon enough. As he enters his home he finds someone ransacking the place looking for something and when they turn around it’s…wait for it…wait for it…wait for it….
It’s Peter Parker!
Okay, review time.
Really, Peter’s back…yeah, I’m not buying it. Last time I checked, Scorpion and Jessica were the only clones still running around so I say it’s him. Actually, did those two Chameleons twins get killed off or not, because that would explain so much…
The debate about telling girlfriend or not doesn’t really interest me because it’s been done before and they have us another shot of Miles being angsty, probably because he resents being Spider-Man again now that it cost him his last family member. His life was so much better before he put it on…
Speaking of which, was the Marvel staff smoking something hard when they thought that up. Jefferson abandoning his son and Miles going angsty? You’re having the African-American father, who was reasonable up until the mask came off, abandon his son? Just to make him a troubled teen rather than the chipper kid he was like ten issues ago? Really?
This…is not the type of controversy they should be trying to stir up. It’d be one thing if Jefferson was shown as abusive before, rather than just one stress-induced incident that they could both sit down and talk about after the end of the world. I mean, he was a semi-bigot with grievances against Spider-Man, but seriously they pulled that out of their asses over the course of ten pages rather than ten issues like Jefferson one day finding his spider-suit and then stewing it over.
I shouldn’t have expected better. I blame myself…no, wait, I blame Marvel. C’mon now, having Jefferson abandon him is just fucking cheap and plays into negative stereotypes on top of Miles going angst over it. The only excuse that I’d accept is that he died and they’re hiding the body. I don’t fucking want broody Miles because his Daddy left him, that daddy issue shit gets old.
You don’t see Cloak bitching about his circumstances…just saying…and for fuck’s sake, stop taking off your mask Miles!
Anyway, I can’t give this a perfect score because of the above and we know that Peter is either a clone or a shape-shifter who appears after SHIELD is closed down. Really, sending super-villains to federal prisons just begs for it. Given that in 616 Mystique breaks in and out of SHIELD for a hobby it’s fairly obvious. In fact I’d like to be proven wrong…
It gets a 3 out of 5. Clean it up, Marvel.
Superior Spider-Man #30 Review
Someone dies tonight in Superior Spider-Man #30 and you can find out by reading my review of it.
This big issue starts off with Superior Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 beating down on the hijacked Spider-Slayers when the Goblin King shows him he has Anna Marie hostage and gives him an ultimatum. He’ll give him a pass to finding her if he leaves Spidey 2099 to fight the robots alone, which he can’t possibly handle on his own. Otto ditches his ass, leaving Miguel calling him a fake because the real one wouldn’t do that.
As he swings over the city, we see that it is still going to Hell and for once Otto blames himself completely. The Avengers are busy handling their own things, when Iron Man and Captain America claim they can’t over look Cardiac’s clinic having the stuff it has and since Spider-Man helped they’re going to arrest him too once this is over.
Really? You can’t unsee the whole medical treatment thing and want to arrest Cardiac and Spider-Man for that? Bullshit.
Leaving aside how the super-cops constantly break the damn rules to do what (they believe) is right, this is what you’re trying to arrest him about? Of all the flimsy-ass things, the fact that they are punishing two men for giving life-saving medical treatment to people who need it (the very same people they are supposed to be pulling from the wreckage) really doesn’t do wonders for my opinion of them. And after AvsX and Uncanny Avengers, that’s saying something.
JJJ is completely and royally fucked at City Hall, since his bots went rogue. He shifts the blame, but Liz Allen has paperwork saying she warned him they weren’t tested and ready. A traitor shot reveals she has a Goblin Mask, making it clear this was how the Goblin King got control over them, doing it for her son’s sake.
Menace leads Otto underground as Peter, in the Mindscape, reaches the point where he gave Otto his memories before his first death while in Otto’s body. In other words, he gives himself his own memories that Otto remembered, that he lived. Yeah, wrap your head around that for a minute. In the end he recovers his own sense of self and pops out of it to make Otto jump and save the little girl who he performed brain surgery on from being hit by a train.
Otto decides enough is enough and calls them both out on their flaws as they swing back to his lab at Parker Industries (which Peter has no idea where it came from). Otto was arrogant, flawed, and liked to overcompensate, while Peter was so guilt-ridden about being better than others that he sabotaged himself. So they both have to own up, with Peter saving the day as the Superior Spider-Man while Otto erases himself from the Mindscape so he isn’t distracted.
The comic ends with Peter getting dressed in his old suit and saying it’s his turn to play Goblin’s little game.
It may be a little pre-mature, but I feel as though if they were really going to wipe the slate clean (get Peter back to being a Street Hero rather than an Avenger, ruin all his previous relationships, make him a menace, etc.) in time for the upcoming movie, they could have done it in another way. Then again, it worked. I came into this series all for Otto and, while I still think he made good points and l liked his character, now I’m cheering on Peter.
So this issue gets an 5 out of 5. Well-played, Marvel. Well-played…
Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #3 Review
The end is nigh?
Okay, the winter break is over and comics have returned to being their usual selves, so I’m back with my review of the end of the current Ultimate Universe. That’s right, they’re relaunching it in the spring. But more on that after the review of Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #3.
So it starts with two pilots attempting to land a plane, ignoring when the military tells them that they need to break off since there isn’t a New Jersey anymore. It goes poorly and they pass by Galactus. This goes about as well as you expect.
It then skips back to Miles being a dunderhead and revealing himself to his father. Jefferson take it poorly, although it is somewhat understandable since he believes Miles killed his Uncle and led to the death of his Mother. Now, Miles could make several arguments in his case, like his Uncle being the reason he gained his powers and used him before trying to kill him, but there isn’t enough time.
You see, that plane got swatted out of the sky and came down right in their neighborhood so Miles had to go be a hero, leaving his father behind to cry over everything. At the scene of the wreck Jessica tells him to put his mask back on and they get to rescuing the survivors. Guess who’s inside that plane?
None other than John J. Jameson, who Miles manages to get him to safety just as the thing goes up in a fireball. They need to evacuate everyone as soon as possible before the whole place goes up, when Cloak and Dagger pop in to help with his teleporting thing. After the first wave of people are gone, the plane blows up a little more and the tail wing comes crashing down to crush hem, but Bombshell swoops in and blows it to ashes.
The team is all together and JJJ tells them all that when this is over, he’s going to change their lives. Hopefully in a good way, considering they’re saving him like he saw Peter doing during Ultimatum. With that taken care of, Miles goes home to find his dad missing and looks upset about it for a second before Captain America tells him they’re coming to get him, ending the Cataclysm version of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man.
So now it ends where Ultimate’s Last Stand #2 did, with Miles heading off to the 616 Universe in hopes of finding the Reed Richards of that universe and getting him to stop Galactus. Now, I want to say Jefferson is a douchebag for spurring his son away, but it’s mostly the circumstances. Miles springs this on him during the end of the world, so you could understand he’s a little stressed.
Therefore, I’m waiting until things pick up after the relaunch to see what’s going on. If they sit down and talk about it, without him kicking the boy out of the house, then I’ll keep my opinion of him high. Otherwise, another shitty parent.
Issue gets a #5 out 5 for heroes being heroes.
Now, on the subject of the relaunch. They’re ending Ultimate Comics Spider-Man this year and no other Ultimate series has a solicitation in March except one called ‘Survive’, which is the aftermath of Cataclysm. However, it became made clear that they are relaunching in April, as they did after Ultimatum, according Comic Book Cast 2.
Better than nothing I suppose, but since I only review the Spider-Man right now it remains to be seen if I’ll cover it. Chances are good if its a team book with the kids and Jessica, but if its the Ultimates then screw that. They’re dysfunctional as hell.
Edit: Apparently they are releasing the new team book under All-New Ultimates…way to be original, Marvel. Oh well, at least Kitty might be in it.
Fanfic Recommendations 19
Fanfics I have wrote that have been updated:
Summary: Due to a chance meeting with Kariya before the events of Fate/Zero, Shinji strives to follow in his uncle’s footsteps and save Sakura from damnation of the Matou Clan. To do so, he must make many sacrifices and will endure pain like no other to compete in the next Holy Grail War, including becoming a Spellcaster—all for Sakura’s sake. An AU Fate Stay Night story.
Fanfics that I have found interesting and have recently been updated:
A Pokemon Fanfic
Summary: In a different life Ash Ketchum looks upon his world from an unique perspective.
The Trinity: The Twilight 35-36 (Book 7)
A Harry Potter/FSN Fanfic
Summary: The series is a retelling of Harry Potter books with the titular character, alongside two other ones readers didn’t really care about, being replaced by three characters (Emiya Shirou, now known as Shirou von Einzbern; Aozaki Takara, with her name unchanged; Jester, with his name becoming Galen Salvatore) from one of his earlier works. With Neville Longbottom being the one of whom the prophecy speaks after Harry Potter’s death at the hands of Lord Voldemort, they are trying to fix what is left of the world they knew from books and movies, to have a place to live.
A Fate Stay Night/Sword Art Online Fanfic
Summary: Ilya likes to play video games, and in the time she has remaining, Shirou is more than willing to play the new VR game with her. But when they are trapped inside the game, [Sword Art Online], they determine something even more distressing: Kayaba Akihiko is definitely a Magus.
Harry Potter: Junior Inquisitor 20-21
A Harry Potter Fanfic
Summary:Before the start of fifth year, Dumbledore changes the plans. Unfortunately he didn’t bother to inform Harry. At his trial, Harry realizes that it is down to him to save his own skin. To do so, his Slytherin side must come out to play, and once it’s out, it sticks around. Now Dumbledore and the Ministry alike must watch their backs…
A Nanoha Fanfic
Summary: There’s no such thing as happily ever after. Life goes on – even dearly bought. All Precia’s plans may come to nought as shadowy actors take to the stage. But nothing unmasks a man like his use of power. Second of the Gamesverse series.
A Sword Art Online Fanfic
Summary: What if Akihiko Kayaba had created the Death Game of Alfheim Online rather than the floating castle of Aincrad—a world in which the nine player races are in competition to escape the game, and player killing was not a crime but rather a predictable product of human nature and tribalism in the face of mutually exclusive goals? AU reboot of the SAO universe. **SPOILERS IN REVIEWS**
A Fate Stay Night Fanfic
Summary: “With swords that aren’t yours, with skills that aren’t yours, for dreams that aren’t yours. Your entire existence is a lie!” – “Then I’ll show you that even fake dreams can become reality.” A different choice, a different path, a different FATE. Shirou/Multi
A Fate Stay Night Fanfic
Summary: How does the Grail choose a Master or a Servant? Fact of the matter is, it knows the difference between want and need. Masters of the Fourth Holy Grail War know they want a strong Servant, but the Grail knows the Servants they need.
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: What do you get when you cross several interdimensional god like beings, raw boredom, a world of Naruto that went wrong, several years worth of off screen training, common sense, insanity, humor, sarcasm, the Log, explosions, plot, and overall chaos? Apparently a lot of headache medicine for Tsunade. May the Games Begin. Sequel to Yet Again With A Little Extra Help.
A To Aru Majutsu Fanfic
Summary:AU/Rewrite. In a city where science has made the impossible mundane, a young man meets a very strange girl, who speaks to him of things yet stranger. Meanwhile, four friends stumble into a conspiracy that threatens to overturn everything they thought they knew about their home.
A Fate Stay Night / Sekirei Fanfic
Summary: Honestly, Shirou was beginning to think that he should be used to this; being unwittingly selected to take part in brutal tournament that he had no idea existed until he found himself in the middle of it. Then again, second times the charm, right?
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: Danzo’s plan for the assassination of the Hokage was almost flawless. To bad he didn’t take six neglected children who ran away the night of the murder into account.
Superior Spider-Man #24 Review
A face not even Aunt May could love…
Otto has officially gone off the deep-end in Superior Spider-Man #24. Just how far you ask? Read on and find out.
The story picks up with Venom merging with Otto to become the Superior Venom. However, the symbiote immediately regrets it when it notes its old host tastes bad and tries to go back to Flash. Must be the octopus taste. Otto, however, refuses to let it go and puts a smackdown on both Flash and Cardiac when they try to stop him, stating with its power and his mind there was no limit to what they could do. He then busts out of his own lab and decides to prove that he’s in control by going to fight crime as the Superior Venom. I feel for the poor bastards he finds today.
Meanwhile, some chumps are robbing an armored truck, having had their super suits rented to them by the original Hobgoblin, Kingsley. He’s franchising super-villain identities…genius and stupid at the same time for a multitude of reasons. When said goblin show up on the scene, they give him his cut of the money and split. However, it turns out that that wasn’t the Hobgoblin, but the Green Goblin and he’s making a point by doing this to send a message, going so far as to toss the cash later on.
Back at Parker Labs, Flash learns that all those drug he used to control the symbiote and the exposure has changed his physiology. He needs the symbiote to live now and he’s got only hours before his body starts failing and he dies. Cardiac states they need to go get it now, but Flash states the symbiote is perfect for stealth and Otto won’t be seen unless he wants to be.
Turns out he does want to be seen, because he’s enacting a brutal set of beatdowns for the simplest of crimes. He even pulled a guy out of his car for texting-while-driving. Okay, given all those commercials on TV he probably should shake him down a bit, but not that much. He only stops his war on petty crime when Anna Maria calls and he sets out to see her.
At the same time as he arrives at Anna’s place, who is feeling guilty about his falling out with Aunt May, Kingsley is chewing out the idiots who gave his cut of the cash to the Green Goblin and tells them to get their payment in or he’ll shut them down. The Green Goblin arrives back to see that Carlie, still in the Goblin Underground, hasn’t spilled the beans yet so he just decides to hit her with the Goblin Formula. Considering what that stuff does to everyone whose been near it, you can tell she’s not going to get out of this okay.
MJ soon arrives to Aunt May place, where Otto learns that Aunt May sees Spider-Man as a monster because she saw him torture this vampire-thing guy who kidnapped her in the Annual. Now, normally I would agree with her, but this dude had it coming and I supported Otto on it since it sent a message. Either way, MJ sees he’s out of control and takes him to the balcony to figure out what’s wrong when Otto gets a call and goes Superior Venom, threatening her to not cross him and make up an excuse for why he was about to vanish.
When Captain Watanabe hears the scream she goes up to see and MJ says Spider-Man took Peter. Now she knows that MJ is holding onto more knowledge than she’s telling, and with Carlie missing she wants some answers. So she tells her she’s coming down to the station to talk and won’t take ‘No’ for an answer.
The issue ends with Superior Venom about to maim those imbeciles who owe Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin, and MJ straight up calling the Avengers and siccing them on him. Now, I’m not a fan of the Avengers, especially not after AvX, but I can’t wait for the next issue.
This one gets a 4 out of 5.
Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #2 Review
They’re missing one.
Well, continuing on as the Devourer of Worlds ravages the Ultimate Universe, we’re picking up right where we left off from Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1.
We begin with a flashback to two years ago, when Ultimatum killed off the majority of characters who should by all means have survived. It was not well received to say the least. Turns out Tandy was at ground zero with her bigoted mother and wanted to help as she watched Spider-Man doing something since he actually had the power to, but her mother stated they had to help themselves first.
Now, she had a point. They couldn’t do anything because they were powerless. Now Tandy feels different since she has the power to make a difference, and she wants to use it by punching Galactus out. Ty thinks she out of it, but he takes her there and she tries to hit him in the eyes. It did nothing but annoy him.
With Miles with the Ultimates saving people, he comes across some kids abandoned by a teacher and one of them calls for their father, reminding him of what he was doing two years ago. He and his father and mother were trying to escape and the man made a comment that clearly showed he wouldn’t have liked it if Miles was born a mutant. This right here is the reason he hasn’t told his dad about his powers and why his mother told him to never let him find out.
With Lana, she runs into her boyfriend that she broke up a few issues ago. He dies, crushed in front of her, just for the shock value. Now, that’s just senseless death right there, but it motivates her to move and join with the Ultimates in doing something.
Said something comes from some dumbasses robbing people as the fucking world is ending. Really, what the hell are they going to do with it if Galactus eats them? Bombshell puts an end to that and Jessica compliments her on it as Miles helps the kid finds his dad, who tells him nothing is more important than family, and Ty and Tandy, who just barely avoid getting an eyebeam to the face, take a moment to help out some injured people, but realize there isn’t much they can do to get more out in time.
At the end we have Miles seeing his father looking for him and drops down in front of him to take him to safety. Naturally, he doesn’t take the costume well because of his bias and the fact that Spider-Man is technically part of the reason his wife bit the bullet. Spurred on by the moment, Miles takes his masks off and tells his father to come with him to safety.
And the bastards end it on a cliffhanger.
I originally thought the issue would end where Ultimate’s Last Stand #2 did, with Miles heading off to the 616 Universe in hopes of finding the Reed Richards of that universe and getting him to stop Galactus, but I suppose that’s the next chapter. Instead, with the world ending, Miles decides to drop the bombshell on his father. If there was ever a damn death flag that was it.
Normally I would give this issue a full perfect score since this issue was heroes being heroes and actually helping out. They’re outmatched by Galactus and the Ultimate Universe is severely ill-prepared so that’s all they can do, but how often do you see good guys like this instead of them punching out some other superpowered thug? But, Sid’s sudden death was just poorly done and there was no build up, which takes marks off.
So the issue gets a 4.5 out of 5.
Superior Spider-Man #23 Review
Well, this is familiar…
Okay, before I take a long nap to deal with the flu, let’s get through this review of Superior Spider-Man #23, a.k.a “The Net Closes In.”
The story picks up where it left off, with the fake Crime Master running away like a little girl and Otto about deep fry Flash. But Flash surrenders and Otto can’t just execute prisoners, not after that whole fiasco in issue #5. So while the man has surrendered and is arguing that, Otto tells him to show a sign he’s in control of the symbiote, planning on executing him as soon as he did. Honestly, Otto is freaking murder-happy in this issue.
But Flash refuses to go out like that and manages to rouse the symbiote into action to save themselves, leaving Otto to interrogate the police until Anna Maria calls. Turns out that because of his men calling him about Venom, he left in the middle of some private time with her. In that case, the murder-happiness can be explained for once and you can’t blame him.*Wink**Wink*
Back with Carlie in the Goblin Underground, the Goblin Kingpin has finished the journal and noted that, while it is Otto inside Spider-Man’s head, he doesn’t know who it is behind the mask. It troubles him since he feels like he should know this, which he should if he was the original Green Goblin. Carlie’s sister tells him that she’ll get the answer from her while he goes to run errands in town.
Otto takes Anna to his place the next day to prepare for their brunch with her parents while Flash, in the meantime, is having a better relationship with the symbiote than he did in his own series and leaves his disguise behind so that they can lay low. Right until he hears abut MJ’s place and figures out that he can see Peter Parker for help. Yeah, that can’t end well.
MJ is at her club, the Grand Opening after the fire, and Chief Watanabe shows up to inform her that Carlie went missing. The last message Carlie left to her was to stay away from Peter Parker, which gives Chief Watanabe a subject of interest, even though MJ didn’t tell her that he’s Spider-Man. So, unaware he has a bull’s-eye on his back as both identities, Otto’s luck once again takes an interesting turn when Flash turns up for brunch just as Aunt May’s surgery has finished and she’s pain-free again.
With Mayor JJ, he’s reached his breaking point when it comes to Spider-Man and goes to Alchemax to have them develop new Spider-Slayer suits for the city. No guesses who he’s going to have them turned on, but you can tell he’s desperate since the original Spider-Slayer murdered his wife and was put down a little while ago and now he has to turn to his research for help. They put Tiberus Stone on it, along with his assistant, Miguel O’Hara, a.k.a Spider-Man 2099.
At the brunch, things take a surprisingly dark turn as Aunt May is somewhat upset that Peter didn’t mention that Anna Maria was a “Little Person”, and she let’s it be known that she’s concerned that any children they had would share this trait. Flash thinks it’s time for him to leave, which I can’t blame him for, but Otto manages to coax him into agreeing to have full artificial limbs implanted since, as a veteran, it could be revolutionary for those who have lost so much in war.
One hour later he’s set up and Peter goes to have a consultant brought in, namely the Superior Spider-Man. He outfitted the machine with sonic device that separated the symbiote from Flash. I know you’re thinking that’s a good thing, not being attached to an alien that occasionally drives you into a murderous rampage. Now, here’s the reason why that’s a bad thing.
While the symbiote has a decent working relationship with Flash now, it acts like a jilted lover in the face of Brock and Spider-Man. So separating the pair of them and leaving it isolated and alone will cause it to react…poorly. Thus it tears down the container and latches onto Otto, forming the Superior Venom.
Now, I hadn’t expected Aunt May to react like she did but given her age it seems plausible that she would be concerned. This issue is mostly a tie-in to the last portion of the Darkest Hour arc, which is living up to its name as we see all the many ways things are closing in on Otto. It was relevant, had decent characterization, and I can’t wait for the next issue.
Superior Spider-Man #23 gets a 4 out of 5.
Superior Spider-Man #22 Review
Introducing Venom!
This issue marks the first time that Venom has shown up since this series was canceled a little bit ago, so I’m really excited about. Let’s hop straight into the thick of things.
The story starts with Flash returning to New York after his run in the Venom comics had him in New Jersey and to the side of Betty Brant. For those who don’t know Flash Thompson is Agent Venom, a secret avenger wearing a Symbiote that allows him the use of his legs since they were amputated because he was a badass at war and saved an ally. The Symbiote is supposed to be docile through the use of drugs, but that was a lie considering that when he was marked as a possible Demon Lord it passed the mark onto his new side-kick, Mania. He’s a Spider-Man fanboy, pre-body-jacking, but had the misfortune of running across Spider-Man after an insane clown tried to kill his girlfriend and a fight ensued since the Symbiote treats seeing Spider-Man (when not doped up) like a jilted lover.
Now, Betty Brant was his girlfriend until her brother, Crime Master, had targeted her and Flash (who she broke up with because he was Venom and kept it a secret) and was killed for it by her. So, naturally, she isn’t pleased to see him but called him up first when someone with the name of her dead brother shows up . Thus, ass-kicking ensues.
On the other side of town, Otto is getting his company off the ground. It’s a busy day, what with his girlfriend, a vigilante he’s tangled with, and former employee of Horizon working for him as well as his biggest investors, Aunt May and her beau, visiting. He reveals he finally got those artificial limbs working so Aunt May could walk without a cane. At least the douche managed to keep his word on that, so it somewhat touches my heart.
Meanwhile, the police chief is investigating Carlie’s kidnapping last issue. She thinks Spider-Man is responsible for this since her place has been ransacked and he’s got those spider-bots everywhere. She’s wrong, but only because she has no reason to suspect that its due to the Goblin King, simply because no one good knows he’s around.
Back with Otto, after Aunt May leaves, he finds his girlfriend working with glowing marine-life and asks her to meet Peter’s parents. She thinks he’s moving too fast, but she likes that about him and, yes dammit, its sweet as hell. But since they have a free moment they decide to get busy before he’s called away for Spider-Man business…Naturally his luck, much like Peter’s, ends when his men spot Venom fighting and has him come along with bots in tow.
He gives the police there a call telling them to hold off so he can handle this. Mayor JJ agrees to it, but only because Otto has him by the balls. But he thinks of a way out of it involving his robots and thus we have more fodder for a future plot.
Meanwhile, Venom is cleaning up the trash, learning that the original Hobgoblin, Kingsley, has been selling super-villain identities. For the record he’s sold Mysterio and his own Hobgoblin identity as franchises. Flash gets pissed when he learns he’s fighting a wannabe and then Spider-Man shows up.
Now, as far as Otto knows, Venom is a villain, so he naturally unleashes hell using the Symbiote’s weakness: Fire and Sonics. He goes down quick, banking on the fact that Spider-Man knows him as Flash. He’s been out of town, so he doesn’t know that Spider-Man isn’t who he used to be and is about to be fried.
Cue Cliffhanger.
Okay, so great introduction issue for the arc, but for those who haven’t been following Venom since Spider-Island it will leave them confused as to what he’s doing or what he’s been up to. Nice to see some progress and there was a short, but explosive fight. The artwork was impressive as well, so my complaints are minimal in that some facts will only make sense as long as you have read the Venom comics.
Issue gets a 4 out of 5.
Fanfic Recommendations 18
Fanfics I have wrote that have been updated:
Harry Potter and the Path of Indifference #9
Summary: Harry Potter may be the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived and his parents may still be alive, but that doesn’t mean everything is perfect. While he may not want anything to do with the upcoming war between Light and Dark, he’ll end up walking between them. An AU fanfic involving Harry Potter as a Ravenclaw and based off Neither Light nor Dark: Steelclaws & Gray Coats.
Summary: Being Spider-Man cost him his uncle, mother, and crippled his father, leaving Miles a broken young man still putting together the pieces. But the city needs him, so he reluctantly dons the mask for a second time, and join hands with a few others to become what the city needed, but not without a price as they would learn in their journey to be heroes.
Fanfics that I have found interesting and have recently been updated:
A Fate Stay Night Fanfic
Summary: Emiya Kiritsugu was happy living the rest of his short days. He had put his past behind him… until he began to dream of futures that had yet to be. Let it be known that the Magus Killer was not dangerous simply because he was dying and had no plans to fight.
The Trinity: The Twilight 31-34 (Book 7)
A Harry Potter/FSN Fanfic
Summary: The series is a retelling of Harry Potter books with the titular character, alongside two other ones readers didn’t really care about, being replaced by three characters (Emiya Shirou, now known as Shirou von Einzbern; Aozaki Takara, with her name unchanged; Jester, with his name becoming Galen Salvatore) from one of his earlier works. With Neville Longbottom being the one of whom the prophecy speaks after Harry Potter’s death at the hands of Lord Voldemort, they are trying to fix what is left of the world they knew from books and movies, to have a place to live.
A Fate Stay Night/Sword Art Online Fanfic
Summary: Before the start of fifth year, Dumbledore changes the plans. Unfortunately he didn’t bother to inform Harry. At his trial, Harry realises that it is down to him to save his own skin. To do so, his Slytherin side must come out to play, and once it’s out, it sticks around. Now Dumbledore and the Ministry alike must watch their backs…
A To Aru Majutsu Fanfic
Summary:AU/Rewrite. In a city where science has made the impossible mundane, a young man meets a very strange girl, who speaks to him of things yet stranger. Meanwhile, four friends stumble into a conspiracy that threatens to overturn everything they thought they knew about their home.
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: What do you get when you cross several interdimensional god like beings, raw boredom, a world of Naruto that went wrong, several years worth of off screen training, common sense, insanity, humor, sarcasm, the Log, explosions, plot, and overall chaos? Apparently a lot of headache medicine for Tsunade. May the Games Begin. Sequel to Yet Again With A Little Extra Help.
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: Being ignored and gazed at with hatred can lead someone to become a boisterous and loud orange-wearing shinobi, but it can also drive him to become a silent and invisible introvert. Of the two, Naruto takes the logical choice for a future in the Ninja World. Team Sai-Naruto-Sakura. No pairings. Future of bloodshed and grittiness assured.
A Sword Art Online Fanfic
Summary: What if Akihiko Kayaba had created the Death Game of Alfheim Online rather than the floating castle of Aincrad—a world in which the nine player races are in competition to escape the game, and player killing was not a crime but rather a predictable product of human nature and tribalism in the face of mutually exclusive goals? AU reboot of the SAO universe. **SPOILERS IN REVIEWS**
A Fate Stay Night Fanfic
Summary: “With swords that aren’t yours, with skills that aren’t yours, for dreams that aren’t yours. Your entire existence is a lie!” – “Then I’ll show you that even fake dreams can become reality.” A different choice, a different path, a different FATE. Shirou/Multi
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: Kakashi made a mistake. Shikamaru is smart. Shino is skilled. Naruto is strong. Maybe something amazing could happen, with the right …motivation.
Superior Spider-Man #21 Review
This issue basically shows Otto got lucky that the universe seems to love him at the moment…
Yeah, this issue has a string of coincidences that saves Otto and hands the bad guys even more ammunition, but I liked it.
The story starts Stunner attacking the Daily Bugle for information on how to find Spider-Man so she can break his face in for killing Otto, who she loved. Yes, the irony is delicious given Otto is Spider-Man. Once it is pointed out that the spider-bots are worse than N.S.A and lets him track crimes-in-progress, she gets the idea to commit a crime in progress with the one currently staring her in the face.
Back with Otto, he’s trying to save his skin from the claims of plagiarizing the works of Otto Octavius since he’s wearing Peter’s body as a meat suit. He suits up when he receives word on Stunner and goes to handle this personally since she’s kinda of his problem at the moment. She states she regained her consciousness the moment Spider-Man killed Otto, and attacks. Again, irony.
We then skip to Carlie at the grave of Otto Octavius, where Peter was buried in his body. She mourns for him, thinking that she should have listened to him after everything they went through when they broke up and vowed to rat Otto out. Unfortunately for her the powers that be decided against this since the grave was booby-trapped and Otto’s body exhumed by someone, leaving her captured.
Back to Stunner vs Otto, she explained that after he was killed by Kaine once she gave up her life to bring him back in a ritual, which put her in the coma, only to wake once he died and have nothing left but her pain and hologram. Otto quickly traps her in new webbing since he’s pressed for time, while having something akin to pity and respect for the woman who he does owe a lot to, sending his bots to remotely shut down her VR program while he pays a little visit to Lamaze for screwing him over back at the campus.
He finds Anna Marie defending him, once again showing that she’s too good for Otto. Stunner decides to interrupt that by tossing a bus at him filled with innocent people that heads straight for her once it misses him. It’s not intentional, but she was this close to offing her main competitor for Love Interest until Otto saves them. Unfortunately it leaves his hands filled as Stunner beats him over the head, demanding the last words he utter be Otto’s name.
He can’t fight since Lamaze pushes Anna down under the bus to get away, douche-bag, and Otto was begging Stunner to stop so she didn’t get hurt. He was this close to confessing his identity to save Anna when those spider-bots shut her down. The day is saved and so are the girls, but to ensure that Stunner’s not a problem Otto steals her VR equipment and meets her in an avatar of his old body before it broke down.
He breaks her heart, surprisingly gently, before paying Lamaze a little visit. While we get an outline of what was said, we do know he withdrew his complaint about Peter the next day. In other words, Otto gets away with everything he’s done. But what should have been a happy ending (for him) is spoiled when we learn that Carlie was kidnapped by a goblin that claims to be her sister and they have her evidence she was going to present to the Avengers, meaning things have gotten worse in the long run.
Okay, issue looked good and the story progressed. We have Otto acting as somewhat less of a douche, always a bonus, but the show stealer was Anna Marie and her influence on him. She’s one of the best characters in Superior Spider-Man and makes him want to be a better person. I’m actually afraid for her once the Goblin Nation arc kicks off.But first Venom and Mania are coming next issue, sweet! Issue gets a 4 out of 5.
Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 Review
They’re screwed.
Well, the end is nigh in the Ultimate Universe. At least that’s what some people think anyway and I can’t blame them. As Galactus from the 616 Universe runs rampant on the extremely under-prepared world, I’ll be covering what’s happening in Miles’ corner of the event rather than the Ultimates’ Last Stand or the X-Men. With that said, let’s get into Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1, shall we?
It starts out with Jessica Drew asking if she was fired for the raid on Roxxon with the Ultimates, who just now learns she’s a clone of Peter Parker since it was apparently classified. Whoops. Captain America thinks she just did her job bringing in bad people doing bad things, while the director states that they had defense contracts with them and says this wasn’t her doing, but Nick Fury’s since she inherited it from him. The discussion comes full circle with Jessica wanting to lead an investigation into Roxxon.
We then skip to Miles sleeping in class, angering the teacher who asks him the usual question that he should only know the answer to if he wasn’t sleeping or she would call his father. He actually gets it right and saves himself. We then skip to Lana, who broke parole by using her powers before she turned eighteen. She states she didn’t want to follow her mother’s footsteps but being a hero felt good, before she runs away from the parole office.
Back to Miles in costume, he ends up breaking up a fight when he gets hit by a beer bottle. Apparently people doubted it was him, claiming the costume was still in bad taste until he webs up the entrance. Webs are the ultimate proof. The police show up and actually hugs him, claiming it was good to have him back. Miles is as confused as we are since the last time he saw them they were shooting at him, but I guess a year off the clock made them fond of the costume.
Tandy and Tyrone are alone in the meantime, with him telling her that their parents gave up on them. She insists he takes her home, where they discover that it was abandoned. Heartbroken, and with no where else to go, we have another case of them discovering that heroics feels good and wondering how they go full time. It’s then that Galactus shows up and the issue ends.
Okay, so great art as usual. That goes without saying, and the plot is moving along nicely.
We’ve learned a bit more about Lana since her absence from the series, namely that she was on a super-power parole and she wasn’t raised to know that being good feels good. Given her mother’s lengthy jail sentence prior to her birth and after it should come as no surprise. And she’s cleaned up her language a lot.
Tandy and Tyrone have come to terms with the fact that their parents abandoned them, at least at the moment, and have decided to make the hero thing a part of their life. Great timing, since the end of the world is upon them. Here’s hoping for the best.
Issue gets a 4 out of 5.
Superior Spider-Man 20 Review
Also known as the issue where Otto fucked up several more times than the last time!
Yeah, this issue is more of Otto screwing himself over and Peter as well once he gets his body back.
The story starts with a flashback to the moment where Peter and Otto had swapped bodies and Peter died. His death woke up a few coma patients, one of whom I believe was Madam Web and predicted the death of all Spiders and the other being a woman who seems to like Otto. It then skips to Otto making his way to dinner with Anna Marie, which his relationship with her so far has been his only redeeming quality lately and makes me fear her impending death all the more because when Spider-Man is happy bad things happen, regardless of who is wearing the suit.
He runs across Black Cat and makes short work of her, earning her ire, before getting back to his dinner date and explaining his plans for the future in his own company. We then go to the next day where Aunt May is putting up a ton of collateral for this, Carlie plans to take her paper trail to the Avengers, and MJ is making plans to see the firefighter who saved her. Then we come up to the meeting where one of them recognizes the work he’s proposing as Otto Octavius’ and plans to ruin him and have him seen as the laughingstock of the scientific community.
Note that this is the same man Otto has been antagonizing all this time in the college. Naturally Otto plans to have him murdered for it. At the same time the woman who loved Otto has decided to avenge his death by killing the Superior Spider-Man. Irony, thy name is Otto.
The issue gets a 2 out of 5 (filler to me more than anything) and this series isn’t going to make it past 30-35 issues after everything that’s happened. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Otto going in as before, but I just don’t see it happening unless the Avengers have been hit with the stupid stick once Carlie presents evidence. What I’m more concerned about is the fallout from it is going to leave broken hearts, broken wallets, and leave Peter Parker a broken man when he returns.
Fanfic Recommendations 17
Fanfics I have wrote that have been updated:
Harry Potter and the Path of Indifference #7-8
Summary: Harry Potter may be the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived and his parents may still be alive, but that doesn’t mean everything is perfect. While he may not want anything to do with the upcoming war between Light and Dark, he’ll end up walking between them. An AU fanfic involving Harry Potter as a Ravenclaw and based off Neither Light nor Dark: Steelclaws & Gray Coats.
Summary: Being Spider-Man cost him his uncle, mother, and crippled his father, leaving Miles a broken young man still putting together the pieces. But the city needs him, so he reluctantly dons the mask for a second time, and join hands with a few others to become what the city needed, but not without a price as they would learn in their journey to be heroes.
Fanfics that I have found interesting and have recently been updated:
Harry Potter and the Puppet of Time #17
A Harry Potter Fanfic
Summary: Time travel. It’s always about Potter. Draco Malfoy doesn’t like that fact, but there is no one else who has the power to change the world. Sending his memories to his younger self he hopes to create a better future. Intelligent Grey Draco. No slash.
The Trinity: The Twilight 30 (Book 7)
A Harry Potter/FSN Fanfic
Summary: The series is a retelling of Harry Potter books with the titular character, alongside two other ones readers didn’t really care about, being replaced by three characters (Emiya Shirou, now known as Shirou von Einzbern; Aozaki Takara, with her name unchanged; Jester, with his name becoming Galen Salvatore) from one of his earlier works. With Neville Longbottom being the one of whom the prophecy speaks after Harry Potter’s death at the hands of Lord Voldemort, they are trying to fix what is left of the world they knew from books and movies, to have a place to live.
Harry Potter Junior Inquisitor #19
A Harry Potter Fanfic
Summary: Before the start of fifth year, Dumbledore changes the plans. Unfortunately he didn’t bother to inform Harry. At his trial, Harry realises that it is down to him to save his own skin. To do so, his Slytherin side must come out to play, and once it’s out, it sticks around. Now Dumbledore and the Ministry alike must watch their backs…
Fate Stay Night: Ultimate Master #5
A Fate Stay Night/ Ben 10 Fanfic
Summary: For centuries the Holy Grail War has operated in secret with no outside interferance, using the spirits of ancient heroes as Servants. Now a new definition of the word Hero enters the Grail War and will bring great change to everything. No Slash.
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: Being ignored and gazed at with hatred can lead someone to become a boisterous and loud orange-wearing shinobi, but it can also drive him to become a silent and invisible introvert. Of the two, Naruto takes the logical choice for a future in the Ninja World. Team Sai-Naruto-Sakura. No pairings. Future of bloodshed and grittiness assured.
A Code Geass Fanfic
Summary: Lelouch had been quite happy with his life. Sure they were living in obscurity, but he and Nunnally were safe. All of that changes however, when his identity is revealed and Lelouch is forced back into the fold of the Imperial family.
A Fate Stay Night Fanfic
Summary: Sometimes, the tiniest of changes can have the greatest impact on the world. One chance encounter goes in a new direction, and the course of the Holy Grail War is irrevocably changed…
A Fate Stay Night Fanfic
Summary: Emiya Kiritsugu was happy living the rest of his short days. He had put his past behind him… until he began to dream of futures that had yet to be. Let it be known that the Magus Killer was not dangerous simply because he was dying and had no plans to fight.
Ultimate Comics All-New Spiderman #28 Review
Roxxon, creating superheroes since Ozcorp went belly under…
It’s been a long time coming, but the 28th issue of Miles’ story is out for us to enjoy.
It begins with Mr. Roxxon being alerted by his security team that they’re about to have a little problem. Said little problem is about five superpowered individuals who have a bone to pick up with him. Just as well, he tells them to get his Brain Trust and asks them on whose authority they are arresting them under, revealing he knows all of their identities and insults Miles by bringing up his mother and the boy has to be restrained by Jessica.
This douche is so damn confident that they can’t touch him he goes onto to say that they should be thanking him for their gifts, cue pissing off Dagger who takes out his guards. Jessica then tells him to cool it before she sics the kids on him, but the asshole goes around claiming she’s fake and he created her in a petri-dish. At this point Miles decides to do a Batman Interrogation and tosses his ass out of the the window and webs him up by his feet.
Roxxon goes on a rant revealing that he was the one who hired Prowler to break into Ozcorp and ended up creating the next Spider-Man. He also reveals that he discovered his identity in three days and knows about Miles’ father’s past. He talks so much shit that when the police get there he thinks he untouchable, but Jessica has her contacts with SHIELD make the NYPD leave. Bombshell is impressed and they’re about to leave with the douche when the Brain Trust shows up.
Doctor Miller has some device that cripples the rest, but Miles webs the device out of her grasp and kicks her in the face. Dagger approves. Then the goblin wannabe hulks out, but Cloak takes care of him. Then they beat on the rest and SHIELD shows up, which is when they split after talking about doing this more. Miles then goes back to Vision Academy and makes up with Ganke and then goes to see his father.
The issue then ends with Jessica having a talk with Monica Chang about the kids. What can I say, I like how this ended and the arc itself ends on a decent note. Once again, perfect score all around!
Edit: Also, I updated my Fanfic for the series here.
Superior Spider-Man 19 Review
Also known as the issue where Otto fucked up one too many times!
After reviewing the last chapter of Battle of the Atom today, I was in a bad mood. But this, Superior Spider-Man #19, pulled me right up out of it. Read on and find out how.
The story begins with Carlie and Wraith harassing a money guy who caters to villains to get a paper trail on unveiling Otto as Spider-Man. Before he snuffed it Peter managed to tell her they swapped bodies while in Otto’s and she’s one of the few people competent enough to follow up on a lead like that apparently. The Avengers have no excuse.
Meanwhile, at Alchemax, Superior Spider-Man decked Spider-Man 2099 right when they needed him the most. Ty Stone has sabotaged the time door and is going to blow the place in a literal time bomb. Otto thinks he can fix it but there’s one thing missing, an equation from Peter Parker that he did on his first day at the job. He spends eight minutes trying to find it, but it is gone and he has no way of retrieving it.
Eventually the smarter people retreat while Miguel tries to do the noble thing and sacrifice himself and Stone so that Alchemax doesn’t come to fruition. Even though it would mean that the future would be completely rewritten. But, Ty manages to coax him into escaping by wagering that his friends and family wouldn’t be safe in the new timeline, and it ultimately ends with him saving them both.
So, with his time stabilized, the boss of Alchemax in the future destroys the machine and strands him in the past. This is stupid because he’s right next to his ancestor and can sterilize him or something, but Miguel has more of a heart than Otto and they know it. Ty Stone is untouchable unless he’s willing to erase his friends and family from the future. The bad guys wins, all according to the history books.
Nine hours later the little douche bag is celebrating when we learn that Miguel O’Hara is his new personal assistant to keep tabs on him and Jameson is willing to keep the feds off of the former owner of Horizon’s back as long as he doesn’t do anything. The moment he’s gone though, he and a few others bring Otto back into the timeline and says they’re even for all the good Peter has done and they never want to see him again.
Otto goes over the missing calls and shows he has wrecked Peter’s life further after costing him his job. He abandoned Aunt May for a dinner and missed Anna Marie, although he has the excuse of being dead for those, but MJ calls it quits completely on dealing with him. Meanwhile the former owner of Horizon heads for greener pastures overseas and leaves behind the other two staff members, one who opted out while the other betrayed his trust to an extent and he was short on it after the betrayal of Ty and Otto. Otto, however, was never one to waste a resource at hand (except deleting Peter’s memories without a damn back up) and offers her a job.
As the issue ends, Carlie and Wraith have found their paper trail on Otto. His actions and changes have drawn attention and have put a bull’s eye on his back now. This is one of the many breaking points Otto has had coming and the Goblin Nation arc bring more after the next filler.
It is important to note this is a sobering experience for him as it cost him his life once again. Instead of retreating because he deleted Parker’s memories like the rest, he tried to prove himself better and paid the price for it, only to be brought back at the mercy of his former boss. Who he thought he was better than. His ego will never let him live that down, that he was inferior to Peter Parker and only brought back by mercy earned by him.
I loved Otto going in, but his ego is too much to stand for so long and needs some sobering and this goes a long way in doing so. On top of that we got Spider-Man 2099 in the present. Perfect issue: 5 out of 5.
Edit: It also seemed like I missed the bottom panels on the double spread, which seems to be a foreshadowing of Ghost Peter returning. It’s an asspull, but whatever.
Fanfic Recommendations 16
Fanfics I have wrote that have been updated:
Harry Potter and the Path of Indifference #6
Summary: Harry Potter may be the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived and his parents may still be alive, but that doesn’t mean everything is perfect. While he may not want anything to do with the upcoming war between Light and Dark, he’ll end up walking between them. An AU fanfic involving Harry Potter as a Ravenclaw and based off Neither Light nor Dark: Steelclaws & Gray Coats.
Fanfics that I have found interesting and have recently been updated:
Harry Potter and the Temporal Beacon
A Harry Potter Fanfic
Summary: At the end of 3rd year, Hermione asks Harry for some help with starting an interesting project. If a dark lord’s got a 50-year head start on you, maybe what you need is a little more time to even the playing field. AU, Timetravel, HHr, mild Ron bashing. Minimizing new powers, just making good use of existing ones.
A Harry Potter/FSN Fanfic
Summary: The series is a retelling of Harry Potter books with the titular character, alongside two other ones readers didn’t really care about, being replaced by three characters (Emiya Shirou, now known as Shirou von Einzbern; Aozaki Takara, with her name unchanged; Jester, with his name becoming Galen Salvatore) from one of his earlier works. With Neville Longbottom being the one of whom the prophecy speaks after Harry Potter’s death at the hands of Lord Voldemort, they are trying to fix what is left of the world they knew from books and movies, to have a place to live.
Poké Wars: The Defervescence 7
A Pokemon Fanfic
Summary: Humanity’s genocide is at hand, but the road to utopia won’t be an easy one. Unforeseen consequences have forced me to remove those unfit for my paradise. By the end of the day the world will never be the same, and those remaining exist because I will it. Sequel to Poké Wars: The Incipience.
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: What if Naruto had been selected for a different team? What if he’d had a different mentor? Who would guess the consequences would be so large?
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: Being ignored and gazed at with hatred can lead someone to become a boisterous and loud orange-wearing shinobi, but it can also drive him to become a silent and invisible introvert. Of the two, Naruto takes the logical choice for a future in the Ninja World. Team Sai-Naruto-Sakura. No pairings. Future of bloodshed and grittiness assured.
A Nanoha Fanfic
Summary: There’s no such thing as happily ever after. Life goes on – even dearly bought. All Precia’s plans may come to nought as shadowy actors take to the stage. But nothing unmasks a man like his use of power.
A Fate Stay Night Fanfic
Summary: When the Einzberns summon a different Servant for the 5th War, Shirou Emiya winds up summoning the Red Saber from Fate/Extra. With this Servant by his side, Shirou’s in for a Grail War unlike any other. Done as a response to The Infamous Man’s challenge.
A Fate Stay Night Fanfic
Summary: Emiya Kiritsugu was happy living the rest of his short days. He had put his past behind him… until he began to dream of futures that had yet to be. Let it be known that the Magus Killer was not dangerous simply because he was dying and had no plans to fight.
Ultimate Comics All-New Spiderman #27 Review
It’ll be funny if the glass is reinforced…
It’s that time again folks, where I review a comic in depth so you don’t have to, so let’s jump right into it shall we?
Issue #27 opens with Cloak and Dagger realizing they are way over their heads and are still coming to terms with what they’ve become. Being a teenager is hard enough, but being one who gained superpowers without consent is another story entirely. See the Chronicle Movie for just how bad that can go. Then explosions happen in the distance and they leave to check it out.
About eight minutes prior we go back to Taskmaster manhandling the group using some illegal Hydra technology to paralyze them. When he tries to remove Miles’ mask like any decent villain should, despite the fact that he’s never met the guy and probably won’t be able to pick a single African-American teenage boy in New York out of the thousands there. However, Miles takes the Batman approach and, like a mook touching the cowl, the man gets tasered.
But it isn’t enough to take him out and he tosses Miles off the side of the bridge. This fortunately puts Miles outside the range of the device paralyzing him, so he can save himself and web-swings around to save Jessica before she gets a bullet to the head. She gets rid of the device and reads him his rights, telling him that he’s just tried to kill the equivalent of a super-cop (she’s an agent of SHIELD) while Bombshell runs away. She hammers him hard, but the Taskmaster no-sells the hits and gets ready to slit her throat.
Bombshell watches in the distance as Miles jumps on the man and Venom Blasts him, only for him to no-sell that too and reveal he’s a power-absorber of some kind. He then fries Jessica with Miles’ attack and throws her off the roof for him to catch while he preps a rocket launcher. Bombshell then decides to blast him, causing the explosion that we saw at the beginning, meaning this guy has been wailing on the good guys for like eight minutes.
Unfortunately for her, he absorbs her power and gets ready to nail her with it. Fortunately for her, that when the Spider-Pair webs his hands and makes him blow himself up. He comes out okay, but Cloak and Dagger show up and Cloak settles it by swallowing the man into his body, which tends to have the adverse effect of draining life-force if Dagger isn’t there with whoever else is, and then spits him out.
Jessica then finds his phone that conveniently has the fact that Roxxon took out a killing contract on them. Then she says screw it and decides to take him down vigilante style, rather than an agent of SHIELD or the Ultimates, and asks who’s in as the Police arrive. They all decide to join her.
Roxxon is going down!
The new team has been assembled and they had their first super-powered fight, which I enjoyed. The art is amazing as always too, and we are reaching the end of the Spider-Man No More Arc. Perfect score all around!
Superior Spider-Man #18 Review
Despite the cover, there’s not a lot of fighting!
Now, remember how Otto erased Peter’s memories? This would be one instant where it bites him in the ass, because Miguel O’Hara has met Peter Parker before. If he kept those memories he would probably have been more inclined to listen to the time-traveler and not cause a scuffle that he loses and wounds his ego.
The battle begins with claws drawn after Otto tries to knock out O’Hara, but Otto’s can’t scratch his outfit because it’s future tech. Low-future tech at that, which insults Otto into trying to crush him with a car. At this point Tiberius uses a device he literally kept up his sleeve to make Otto’s spider-sense go bonkers and endanger a child, which O’Hara saves since he doesn’t have spider-sense. O’Hara notices with his enhanced senses that Tiberius was responsible and disappears with him as Otto claims he would never endanger a child to the child’s mother, which he normally wouldn’t, and then shifts the blame on her for trying to take over Horizon.
Smooth, Otto. Really smooth.
At this point they notice the pair are gone and Otto tells his men to start searching for O’Hara since future Spider-Man is far more dangerous with the knowledge of Parker’s identity. It’s then that his girlfriend calls, Anna Marie, and reminds him of his thesis. Since it’s using Horizon’s resources that means they’ll own it and he would be damned before they get his projects, so he decides to smuggle it out immediately.
O’Hara, in the meantime, is facing the hero’s dilemma. His father, the future Stone, is stabilizing, meaning he’s doing what he’s suppose to. But that means that the future evils Alchemax will commit will come to pass. He’s weighing his own existence against just ridding them from the time stream for the good of all, like a hero normally would, since he has the power to change things now.
Unfortunately Tiberius heard the words “Ancestor” slip from O’Hara’s mouth when talking to his father over his line. He puts together that whoever his descendant was he was someone important enough to send a future Spider-Man to save. He tests this theory by throwing himself over a building. He risks the timeline for this and naturally that pisses O’Hara off and leaves him webbing the guy to a wall and calling for some help from the future to give him an info dump on current events and the connect between everything.
In the meantime, one of Horizon’s employee’s goes to the past while cloaked and catches Tiberius stealing data, while the Otto’s boss catches him smuggling out his goods and states he’s not the man he brought into Horizon. Otto receives a call about the Hobgoblin (Green Goblin in disguise) and decides to leave to handle him, costing Peter his job. At the same time O’Hara learns that Tiberius sabotaged Horizon to literally explode, on that very day, and rushes back to stop it, with Otto spotting him as he hangs up on MJ calling him.
At the end O’Hara arrives to tell them he needs to change the future and that they’re about to blow up, when Otto cold-cocks him and possibly damages his time traveling device to prevent a paradox. In short, Otto has screwed Peter’s life over royally and endangered the people at Horizon at this very moment because of his ego.
The issue was beautiful as always but, to my sorrow, Otto is turning into an unlikeable character. If he put aside his ego for one second so many problems could have been solved. Then again he is a former super-villain. On the other hand, breaking the Status Quo does make things more interesting, but Karma tends to be a bitch about it and I have the feeling that Anna Marie is going to pay the price.
After all, she’s a love interest and the Green Goblin is running around. The fact that he went after a future hero rather than villain only worsens things. Her days and relationship are numbered.
The issue gets a 4 out of 5.
Superior Spider-Man #17 Review
Future Badass, Meet Present Badass
This review is for Superior Spider-Man #17, which has been long awaited since it brings forth Miguel O’ Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099.
For those of you who don’t know he’s a scientist who was pressured into messing around with human experimentation and decided enough was enough once it ended badly the first time. He intended to quit but his boss, Tyler Stone, had him drugged with a drug called Rapture that could only be gained by working for the company. Rather than remain an addict, he used the Human Experimentation process to give himself powers and took on a Day of the Dead costume to battle him.
Even when the 2099 line of series ended, this dude was so popular that he ended up in several crossovers and Spider-Men games recently and, when it was falsely dropped that he was going to be the Superior Spider-Man, people got mad at the lie. Hence why he’s here now.
Anyway, it starts with him recognizing the temporal distortions using his enhanced vision and dealing with bi-planes and dinosaurs. At the source of all evil, Alchemax, he discovers that for once it’s not their fault. That’s fairly rare.
Remember all of those events in Marvel screwing with the time stream in the heroic age? Yeah, like sending Galactus to the Ultimate Universe, it has royally screwed with the time stream and is removing Tyler Stone from existence piece-by-piece. Normally that would be a good thing, but he’s Miguel’s father (not that he knows it) and if he’s removed then no more Spider-Man 2099. So, in the interest of self-preservation, and because he has already gone and would create a paradox if he didn’t, Miguel is forced into the present.
In the mean time, we see the fallout of the events of the Run, Goblin, Run arc.
Former Horizon employee Tiberius Stone (note the last name) has blown the whistle on all of their dirty little secrets in order to get revenge, leading to the company being folded into another company that has employed him. He’s relishing the fact that he now has power over them and threatens Peter that he now even owns Spider-Man’s Web Fluid Formula. You don’t threaten the Superior Spider-Man and because his spider-sense was reacting around him, it’s all the justification he needs to beat the man to a pulp.
The Daily Bugle is getting the information from a source, but after the last screw-up they aren’t taking chances with it, since what happened in the last issue. In the Goblin Underground, Phil Urich is reprimanded harshly by the Goblin Kingpin of Crime since his actions could have led to the Goblin Protocol being discovered, but then the goblin gets an idea and lets up on it. At Horizon Labs, the gang apparently has a time machine lying around and decides to go back to the past to get dirt on Tiberius when the machine activates itself and out pops the future Spider-Man.
Otto catches up with Phil, who is still cocky since everything he’s doing at the moment is above the board. Otto, not really caring, decides to end him when Miguel appears and web-lines him since the douche is his Grandfather, meaning if Otto wastes him then no more Miguel O’ Hara.
So, now we have a reason for the two Spider-Men to duke it out. One’s ego and the other’s self-preservation. Considering Otto has so far fought with just about everyone Peter has teamed up with, I really didn’t expect much else but I’m dying to see it through to the end. Miguel has different abilities than most other Spider-Men as he doesn’t have Spider-Sense but enhanced reflexes, sight, natural webs, and can move so fast he leaves a decoy behind.
It’ll be an interesting match-up to say the least.
The art is beautiful as always and I really cant find anything wrong with the issue barring no Spider-Man beating down the other…yet. For this review I give it 5 out of 5 and worth picking up.
Ultimate Comics All-New Spider-man #26 Review
First day back in the mask and already captured.
Okay, this review follows the latest issue of Miles journey as Spider-Man and he’s back in the black outfit.
The issue starts with a flashback of Lana’s mother, which is Lori and somehow they mixed up the names, being taken from prison in exchange for being a lab rat for Roxxon. Lana herself has escaped from the two who captured her somehow and looks for her boyfriend (Poey, according to the phone) to take her in, but my guess is that she hasn’t been guarding her secret identity well since he knows about her power and essentially cuts her off. Time to update the facebook status.
Miles and Jessica come to offer her some help, but considering that Spider-Man and Spider-Woman put her and her mother in a jail cell, you can imagine her first instinct was to flee. Miles tries to web her, but he’s out of practice and gets teased by Jessica and later Lana. Back in the past we have the Roxxon Scientist insulting Lori’s intelligence at being a High-School dropout as they give her a superhuman drug, before we skip to Cloak and Dagger, who have no one they can turn to and believe that their parents sold them out. They have some kind of list that has the names of people Roxxon has screwed over and decide to make sure they can’t do it ever again.
At Roxxon, one guy is flipping out because he fears this can be traced back to him, while the scientists tell him that they did what he wanted and made super-humans that they really should retrieve. To that end, they hire a guy called the Taskmaster. We then flashback to when Lori found out about her powers and the fact that she was pregnant. How exactly that happened when she was in either prison or a lab leaves a lot of questions unanswered, unless Lana is a baby born from her power somehow…anyway, she promptly escapes like Cloak and Dagger did, proving that they needed better security back then and now.
In the present Lana is being questioned about being a mutant but denies it, saying she got her powers from her mother. Technically speaking, Lana is a mutant as she was born with altered DNA that allows her to use her powers. Even if her mother had been the one altered by an experiment, she’s a mutant. Anyway, their Spider-Sense goes off and rather than move they stand there and get taken out by a shock puck or something and Taskmaster got all three of them.
I like the issue and the art was gorgeous as always, but I feel that the ending was pathetic as we’ve seen all of them take far more damage than a little taser disk should have put out and react far more quickly when under fire. The flashbacks were okay, but Roxxon is shaping up to be behind everything. The next thing you know it’ll be them who created the mutants and not the U.S. Government.
Now, if you’ve followed the latest news on the series, you’ll know that Miles is scheduled for a trip to the 616 universe soon and that they may end the Ultimate Universe. I doubt it, since there is money to be made, but here’s hoping Marvel doesn’t do anything stupid.
This issue gets a 3.5 out of 5.
Superior Spider-Man #16 Review
Well, in a way this is exactly what happened…
The latest issue of Superior Spider-Man is the conclusion of the “Run, Goblin, Run” arc.
With his identity exposed, Phil Urich is screwed and he knows it. Naturally, like most people in a familiar situation, he snaps when Spider-Man arrives and takes his girlfriend, Nora Winters, hostage. At the same time this is going on, the writers used television shows to give insight into not only Phil Urich’s past attempts at being a heroic Green Goblin, but the public’s opinion on the current situation and stating whether or not publicly unmasking him like that was the right thing to do. Also, we have the police captain doing the vigilante thing and interrogating one of his men to trace the money back to an offshore account.
Anyway, back with Phil, the girl he takes hostage proves to be more than dead weight by knocking him away. Finally, a damsel who can get herself out of distress. Phil then uses a sonic attack, only to stop when he got his uncle caught up in the attack and Otto detonated those nanotracers under his skin. Fridge horror kicks in when you realize that if those things had gotten deeper or were slightly bigger, he would have essentially blown the man to pieces.
Phil realizes he’s beaten and surrenders, leaving Otto contemplating killing him (in public and in front of his uncle) when Captain America calls and reminds him he’s on probation, which I thought was settled in Superior Spider-Man Team-Up but apparently not. At this point you would think Captain America would have Tony or Pym go over those brain scans or realize that he doesn’t really care about being on probation. But he spares him and leaves Phil to the police and the Goblin sees the opportunity to do some recruiting and has one of his agents rescue him.
Now, because Phil had been turning in stories with Nora Winters, she has to be let go and his uncle has to take some time off since it is too public, which is a consequence of Otto’s taking over the airwaves. To rub salt into the wound, Otto goes on air about him escaping and calls him a minor threat after ruining his life and leaving him with nothing to lose and he vows to bring the Green Goblin his head as his new Goblin Knight.
Congratulations Otto, you have just created your own supervillain after having gained a new love-interest…I’m sad that I’ve gotten attached to her.
Now, the art here was fantastic and there’s nothing like watching Otto dig his own grave. On top of that we see that the plot is moving forward and the net is closing on our Superior Spider-Man. Not to mention that Spider-Man 2099’s Miguel O’Hara is coming next issue, which is something I am looking forward to. Overall, this issue gets a 5 out of 5.
B.O.P out!
Superior Spider-man Team Up 2 & Scarlet Spider 20
Twice the Spider-Man, hold the responsibility.
This review encompasses two different comics I enjoy crossing over: Superior Spider-Man & Scarlet Spider.
For those of you who don’t know, the Scarlet Spider series follows Peter Parker’s surviving clone, Kaine. He, like Otto, was a villain who murdered and killed for profit and other reasons. When Peter stopped his original cell degradation, he stole a stealth suit from him and disappeared so that he wouldn’t be arrested by the Avengers until he ended up in Houston and robbed some human traffickers of their money.
Since then he’s fought primordial beings, a guy who can make flames snakes, and Carnage, been killed by werewolves and resurrected by the Other, given an evil side that considers just about everything other than him prey, and fought alongside Wolverine to kill a bunch of assassins by assassinating them. He was basically the predecessor to the Superior Spider-man, with his tagline being “All of the Power, None of the Responsibility” and so far he’s ridden with guilt that he shouldn’t be alive as a clone and a murderer.
In the first part of the arc, Kaine comes to find out why Peter is acting like…well, him. Seeing as he’s Peter’s clone, the spider-sense doesn’t work on Kaine and Kaine doesn’t have his spider-sense anymore. Otto, remembering the fact that he got beat down and killed by Kaine, decides to repay the favor and they fight.
Kaine is stronger that Peter and soon overpowers him, but then comes the clones. Lots of fighting and Kaine saving Otto later, Jackal comes in with his clones and they pair get captured.
Jackal was the one who made the clones and sees Kaine as a disappointment, while Kaine wants to kill him. He breaks free of the chains made specifically to hold him, kicks some ass, and frees Otto. Otto then causes an explosion to prevent his DNA from being used to create more clones, which he was a hatred for, and leaves Kaine to die. Kaine escapes, lectures him, and tells him to start acting like a hero.
To this arc I say, despite being a firm supporter of Otto, FUCK YOU, OTTO! CLONES ARE PEOPLE TOO!
Otto is a fucking hypocrite to call him out on pretending to be a hero when he’s been doing the same thing. They both have a supervillain body count and dark past that is nothing to scoff about. Considering Otto actually stole Peter Parker’s life and derailed it, this makes him arguably worse. And for him to hate clones, isn’t he cloning the Sinister Six to form his new team?
Unlike Otto, Kaine actually makes an effort to redeem himself without going for glory after rescuing a girl called Aracely, who was at the human trafficking robbery, left to die among corpses from people who were smuggled into the country inside a storage container. Also she may have a Mayan God stuck inside of her, seeing as a cartel wants her dead to unleash it.
When it comes down to it I like Kaine more because you don’t hear about wanting to leave his own legacy behind, just a guy trying to atone for his past and live up to Peter’s legacy. Kaine has suffered for being the good guy compared to Otto so far, he’s died because of it twice and gotten himself a monster inside of him because of it the second time. Otto disappointed me here.
And, Marvel help me, if I find out he’s the one who kicked started Kaine’s degradation again, I’m rooting for Peter to come back. Personal feelings aside, these issues get 5 out of 5.
Twilit Dreams Circle 