Here are today's Guest Reviews from the guys at Spider-Man Crawlspace for Marvel's; Superior Spider-Man #17, Venom #40, Morbius: The Living Vampire #9, and Superior Carnage #3. I have also added my rating after each review. If you have any questions about my rating or want to discuss anything just leave me a comment.
Superior Spider-Man #17 - Let's Do the Time Warp Again
HE'S BACK...BECAUSE YOU (LOUDLY) DEMANDED IT! THE RETURN OF SPIDEY 2099!
(and an Osborn you have not seen in a while)
Preview
CHAOS FROM THE FUTURE!
Plot
In the year 2099, the time stream is being messed with due to an anomaly that happens in the past. Tyler Stone begins to fade out of existence, prompting Spider-Man to travel back into the Heroic Age to ensure both his and his grandfather’s existence.
Review
So here we are, the long awaited and much hyped return of Spider-Man 2099! How does Slott handle the character in this Superior era?
Pretty well actually. Nothing to complain about in that department.
I’m going to be honest, I’m not the big Spider-Man 2099 fan as the majority of the people who’ve read the series seem to routinely be. Not saying that it’s not good, but having bought the recently released trade collecting the first 8 issues, I wasn’t left clamoring for more. It’s okay. The world is interesting and the character of Miguel is fairly original.
But it was REALLY 90s.
I’m not holding that against the series, but I can’t say that it was a timelessly written title. The slang for one thing is something that Slott completely nails in this issue, because the swear word “Shock!” is uttered again and again, just like in Peter David’s book. To me 2099 was one of those futuristic takes that insisted upon hitting you in the face with how futuristic it was. Again I’ve nothing at all against the series, but I’d be lying if I said it’s my favorite alternate version of Spidey.
My Rating
Cover & Solicit - 4/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 4/5
Layout & Flow - 4/5
Story - 4/5
Verdict - 4 - (Buy Superior Spider-Man #17) SAVE 10%
Venom #40 - Mania, Part 1 of 3
Marvel's newest symbiote-powered character - MANIA - is on the loose!
But is she a hero or villain?
And who killed Daimon Hellstrom?
Preview
New threats appear
Plot
Flash waxes poetic about some dude getting killed in a mugging before the camera pans out to reveal Philly has been transformed into a literal Hellscape.
Review
Flash wakes up from dreaming, only to find Andi in symbiote-form lurking above his bed. We learn three weeks have passed since last issue and Andi is anxious to get revenge on Lord Ogre for her dad’s death. Flash tries to warn her of the dangers of having a symbiote and inadvertently dubs her Mania in some clumsy dialogue.
Flash then gets a call from Katy, who has a lead for him in Texas. Flash leaves immediately telling Andi not to do anything until he returns. In Texas Flash finds the body of Damian Hellstrom with his chest pentagram symbol ripped off his body.
Back in Philly, Mania is completely ignoring Flash’s orders to sit tight. She enters a rave and seemingly slaughters some criminals. She then gets attacked by Lord Ogre’s oddly dressed muscle that we saw in his first appearance, who apparently go by the name The Freakshow based on a literal neon sign above their heads when they attack. Mania kills one of them and KOs the other two. Lord Ogre—looking more like Batman’s Bane than ever—beats a hasty retreat. Also of note, he has some glowing green vials hooked up to his chest apparatus that may or may not be the same alien gunk from the Figure/Symbiote Slayer arc.
Read the rest of the Review at Spider-Man Crawlspace
My Rating
Cover & Solicit - 4/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 3/5
Layout & Flow - 4/5
Story - 4/5
Verdict - 3.7 - (Pre-Order Venom TPB Land Where Killers Dwell) SAVE 20%
Morbius: The Living Vampire #9 - The World Breaks Everyone, Part 2 of 2
The Final Issue of Morbius is here!
"The World Breaks Everyone," part two of two.
The Death of Michael Morbius is finally here!
With Morbius' humanity destroyed, will the monster within be enough to save all he once held dear?
Preview
FINAL ISSUE!
Plot
One year later, Becky has an art show in New York of people’s faces from Brownsville, apparently. The idea that Morbius is dead is reinforced.
Review
This issue was a surprisingly depressing end to what has mostly been an extremely lackluster Morbius series. And I don’t mean to say it managed to make me sad that the series is over. On the contrary, I think I’m more pleased than ever that this is my final review of this particular run. But the issue itself spends an inordinate amount of time talking about how pointless all of this has been – everything Morbius did, everything The Rose did, basically everything we read. So on one hand, the whole tone of everything is just a huge downer. And on the other hand, it is pretty depressing for the comic itself to be preaching about how pointless these nine issues you paid for have been (even when it is absolutely, 100% right).
Considering my expectations for this book have been incredibly low for some time, it is nearly impossible for it to actually disappoint me, but it did manage to do that in one way – the identity of The Rose. I’m not saying I was expecting to have my mind blown by the reveal, but the one thing that still really held any interest at all for me in this story, however little, was the identity of The Rose. So what was it? How could such an important detail have been left out of my story summary? Well, he didn’t have one. Once the pontificating about the pointlessness of everything reached a fever pitch, Morbius realized that this Rose was a nobody. The mask never comes off, a name is never revealed, we never even find out what The Rose was before becoming a masked villain (he starts to say, but Morbius doesn’t bother to let him). And in their conversation, Morbius’ father reveals that he was indeed a nobody – one of MANY Roses in this unnamed organization’s employ. So the once interesting villain legacy of The Rose has now been co-opted by a corporation and assigned to countless nobodies all over the world, rendering it entirely inert. This is MUCH worse than Roderick Kingsley selling villain franchises, because at least he only sells the identities to one person at a time. The Rose identity is now completely devalued. You can’t even say The Rose has been downgraded to a D-List villain, because there IS no Rose. “He” is not on a list because there is no “he.” I can’t think of a more thorough way to destroy the future potential of a villain legacy. And for what? As they say themselves, his role in this was pointless anyway.
The role of Morbius’ mother was made not only irrelevant but rather strange in this issue as well. You may remember the threat made by The Rose to Morbius several issues ago now was that they had his mother captive. But in this issue Morbius reveals that his mother died years ago in his arms. Morbius knew immediately when the threat was made not only that she was already dead, but that The Rose’s employer knew so and that The Rose was “only ever the messenger.” I would love it if someone would explain the logic of this plan to me. The group that employs The Rose concocts evidence of Morbius’ mother’s kidnapping that they know Morbius will not believe. They give it to The Rose, who is their agent to handle Morbius, so he can tell Morbius this, letting Morbius know that they actually have nothing on him and that he shouldn’t really take The Rose seriously. I guess when Morbius and The Rose talk about everything being pointless, they REALLY mean it.
Superior Carnage #3
IT'S ALIVE! The Wizard finally unveils Carnage's BRAND NEW LOOK and releases his personal AGENT OF EVIL out into the world.
But can the new FRIGHTFUL FOUR control their newest member? Or will the team be destroyed from within?
KEVIN SHINICK (Robot Chicken, Avenging Spider-Man) and STEPHEN SEGOVIA (X-treme X-Men) strike at the heart of their own creation with an electrifying story that shouldn't be missed!
Preview
You Know Why You Don’t Fight City Hall
Plot
Dr. Malus is transformed into Carnage and The Wizard finds a way to control him. Mal-Carnage retains awareness and warns Klaw that The Wizard will slip up and when he does, he will murder the both of them. The Frightful Four (two members of which form Mal-Carnage) decided to attack City Hall and Mayor Jameson, tearing through their defenses with ease. Wizard briefly loses control of Mal-Carnage, but regains control of him just in time for SpOck to show up.
Review
Let’s discuss Issue 3 very briefly, because nothing really happens in it. I mentioned briefly in the previous two reviews that I don’t like it when the Carnage symbiote is taken from Cletus Kassidy, but this issue reminded me why I HATE it when they take the symbiote away from him. The personality of any other host is consumed by the symbiote and they got lost in an attempt to have a new take on “Carnage”. I don’t give a damn about Dr. Malus or this Mal-Carnage, it’s just a loose gun waiting to go off, which Shinick constantly reminds us in the issue. Issue 3 was awful, despite some pretty art.
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