By: Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Edgar Delgado (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Ellie Pyle (assistant editor), Stephen Wacker (editor)
The story: Time is almost up! How can Spidey prevent the future destruction of new York?
Five things:
1. This is how to pace superhero stories! - Slott really understands how to keep it snappy. Last issue presented the problem (that a new York without Spidery-Man for a day gets destroyed) and this issue fully resolves the problem. Done! Finished! Move on! Yet, Slott still manages to keep the story slightly complex by weaving in little things from earlier issues and leaving some tasty tidbits for future storylines. THIS is the kind of storytelling that made me fall in love with comics as a kid in Uncanny X-Men. Those old Chris Claremont stories always had long term plot threads like Rogue’s newness to the team or Storm losing her powers or Cyclops struggling with the loss of Jean Grey, but…..when those X-Men fought the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, THAT story only lasted for a couple of issues and then we moved on to something else. I love that Slott doesn’t feel the need to ALWAYS subject us to 6 months long storylines.
2. Great art from Ramos and company. - Man….is this art team nailing it! Honestly, as I get older, I find I MUCH prefer art that is more stylized and cartoony, especially for a character like Spider-Man. Ramos is able to wring so much personality out of the smallest characters and he uses it to greatly enhance his graphic storytelling. Of course, he does a wonderfully energetic Spidey. That’s nothing new. But, I’m looking at the double-page layout of the Jameson/Silver Sable parade (which looks ‘less than’ on an iPad, I must say) and am just amazed at the little things: the tourists snapping pictures, the cops holding the crowd back, the purposeful stomp of the secret service agents guarding the limo and the subtle change that Silver Sable goes through as she shifts from waving at the crowd to silently telling her guards to snap to it. Great stuff.
3. The importance of Peter being Peter. - Ha. You thought that the key to saving NYC was Spidey taking down some purse-snatchers? Or stopping a bombing? Ha! I love that Slott is also illustrating how important Peter Parker is and how sometimes we need Peter to use his brain instead of punching things. [As an aside: you KNOW that Spidey & Silver Sable defusing the bomb COULD have been an entire 4th issue in a traditional 6 issue story arc, right? Thank you mrs. Slott, Ramos and Wacker for not subjecting us to that.]4. Lots of touching little moments. - love the wrap-up moments in this issue. None are more than a few panels, but it was nice to see Madam Web with her sick daughter. Or see Peter and Grady (the dumpy co-worker) hanging out. Grady is just the kind of friend that Peter SHOULD have. LOVE seeing the it was Mr. Modell’s watch and the deal with Modell’s newspaper at the end. Slott is doing a excellent job of building Mr. Modell up. The way he keeps adding little bits to Modell indicates that Slott has some plans for the guy longer term (and that’s great….when that event happens, it’ll feel organic and not like the character was just introduced 3 issues earlier).
5. Look who’s back in the romantic mix. - I’m on record as not being the biggest MJ fan in the world, but I guess it’s inevitable. Kinda like Asgard must go through Ragnarok, Peter has to get back together with MJ. I’m at least looking forward to seeing Peter going through the romance gauntlet again since I’m sure that we haven’t see the last of Carlie AND that Spidey-Silver Sable kiss is going to obviously come into play too. Love Spidey romance!
Conclusion: This is another example of why amazing Spider-Man was my pick for ‘Best Ongoing Series’ for 2011. It delivers great things to long-time readers, but is accessible to new readers and won’t make them feel like they’re left out. Dan Slott is clearly putting in this extra work to make this title complex, yes accessible, with every issue. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to get art from one of the best in the business in Humberto Ramos. When he (and his team) are handling the art, it’s almost hard to have a crappy issue.
Grade: A (again)
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Filed under: Marvel Comics Tagged: amazing Spider-Man, amazing Spider-Man #679, amazing Spider-Man #679 review, Dan Slott, Dean Stell, Edgar Delgado, Ellie Pyle, Humberto Ramos, Joe Carmagna, Marvel, review, Stephen Wacker, Victor Olazaba Weekly Comic Book Review
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