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Posted by Sam Holland
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01:14 PM Tuesday, 28 August 2007 |
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Things have not been going well for Spider-Man lately. He revealed his secret identity to the world to support the Superhero Registration act, but then switched sides during Civil War leaving he and his family unprotected. If being hunted and on the run wasn’t bad enough, his dear Aunt May was shot and is clinging on to life under an assumed name in the best hospital in New York. Through it all, Peter’s been able to toe the line and stay on the side of the good guys.
That can’t be said anymore.
In the final chapter of “Back in Black” we find Peter backed into a corner, and the only way out is to cross that line and become the very thing he swore to defend the world against- a criminal. Everything has been building to this, so it’s not gimmicky, the events are believable, plausible and leave no room for doubt. It is fascinating that this issue reads like the origin of one of the many super villains that Spidey faced over the years.
As intense and satisfying as last issue’s confrontation with the
Kingpin was, this issue is beats it by a mile. Peter never puts on his
Spider-Man costume, there are no snarly villains causing property
damage, only the consequences of Peter’s decisions coming to fruition
and his desperate attempts to fix the immediate situation.
JMS is at his best when he’s putting his characters through the ringer,
and it’s no different here. He’s go the board laid out exactly like he
wants it, and now it’s only a matter of knocking the whole thing over.
His run on the title, and this arc in particular, have challenged my
perception of the character. Like it or hate it, he’s given the
character more weight than he’s had in years.
This is Garney’s last issue on ASM and he doesn’t disappoint.
There’s a lot of story to tell and a fair amount of talking head
sequences (it is a JMS script after all), but Garney handles it with
ease.
Uncle Ben taught Peter that with great power comes great
responsibility, but it that very responsibility that has driven Peter
to make damaging choices for he and his family. Which begs the
question that if with great power comes great responsibility, what
comes with great responsibility?
I bet that in Straczynski’s final arc, “One More Day,” we find out.
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