| Amazing Spider-Man #544 |
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| Posted by Sam Holland |
11:16 AM Sunday, 30 September 2007 |
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 Aunt May is on her deathbead, but Peter refuses to accept it. He has no money to give the hospital to continue treatment, and if he doesn't come up with some quick, May will be moved to a charity ward to die. Our hero can't have that so he pays a visit to the only person he knows with a bottomless pocketbook. Only problem is, it's also a supercop who wants to put Peter in a prison that makes Alcatraz look like a spring break destination. In and of itself, that plot could carry a pretty decent movie, but it's only the opening act of the four part "One More Day" story arc. Straczynski's ambitious final story is not only the culmination of all the plot threads he's laid out over the years but also the payoff to Peter's unmasking in Civil War. JMS has performed keyboard gymnastics before, but is this too much for even him to handle? While I've been a fan of JMS for years and would not doubt his storytelling ability, this first issue gets a very enthusiastic "eh." That's not to say I didn't like it, because I did, it's just that I was expecting this to be more of a WHAM issue. Certainly there's the inevitable confrontation with Tony Stark which is oddly both satisfying and disappointing. It's not a knock down drag out winner take all, but more of an opening salvo. The money issue is handled in a plausible way that keeps Pete from robbing a bank, leaving Spidey the sole quest of finding a way to save his beloved aunt. Pete's back in his red and blue costume with no explanation. He was in the black and whites last issue, and no explanation is given except that maybe Joe Quesada just wanted to draw the classic outfit. While we're on the subject, it's interesting that he chose to go away from the Ditko "whole lotta webbing" style on the costume (made popular again by Todd McFarlane back in the roarin' 90's) and went with the less webby "coloring book" look. I neither applaud nor decry this choice- Quesada's Spidey is great to look at. It's a good looking book, but there are times when he might be trying too hard. There are extra pages in the back that recap Spidey's extensive history in a Reader's Digest format. I don't know if that's just for new readers or if they wanted to drop that in because they're going to play with his continuity so much they thought they needed a primer. If the former, bravo. If the latter, uh-oh. Retcon has its pitfalls. Just ask Ben Reily. Overall it's a good issue, with the centerpiece being the meeting of Tony and Peter. I'm not quite sure it lived up to the hype, but it's unfair to judge the arc on one issue. A lot of this first chapter was chess, moving the players in the right spot so the final gambit can begin. I have a feeling that a WHAM issue in coming soon. Comments (0) |
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