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  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Celgress View Post
    Thus far I'll give it a 3 out of 5 so slightly above average. I would have gone higher: 3.5 or even 4 (if OMD had actually been directly addressed in some fashion and/or if Kindred was someone other than the obvious choice) but the "ending" of Last Remains fell flat with me after a tremendous buildup....
    As mentioned previously, ASM#55 is NOT the ending. The solicits are messed up. ItÂ’s supposed to be ASM#56. I think itÂ’s fairly obvious the arc wouldnÂ’t end of a cliffhanger.

  2. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by HypnoHustler View Post
    As mentioned previously, ASM#55 is NOT the ending. The solicits are messed up. ItÂ’s supposed to be ASM#56. I think itÂ’s fairly obvious the arc wouldnÂ’t end of a cliffhanger.
    The trade is collecting issues 50-55. So unless that gets updated, Marvel considered #55 the end of the arc...


    To answer the original post's question I would rank it below Slott's run. Spencer hasn't had anything close to Spider Island or Superior Spider-Man.

    It should be said that I am far more forgiving of a creators "lows" and far happier to highlight their "highs". I don't totally blame JMS for Sins Past or One More Day as they got thoroughly mucked with (though JMS' original idea for Sin's Past was also bad).

    So Slott may have whiffed a few but his highlights are far more impressive to me than Spencer who has really just been treading water.

    Add to the fact that I think the most recent arc in ASM was kind of a disaster between the padding, the unnecessary .LR issues, the horrible ending, and spending 10+ issues to just reveal Kindred is Harry and really just that...I am pretty frustrated with Spencer's run right now.
    Last edited by Hcmarvel; 01-04-2021 at 03:10 AM.

  3. #48
    Mighty Member oldschool's Avatar
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    This is a really difficult time to assess his run; he is in the final stages of telling his biggest story arc yet of his run and the pacing has been slow with most of the big questions still to be answered so it's not really fair, one way or the other, to try to rate his overall run at this juncture. IMO, we should rate the overall Kindred arc in February when, according to the solicits, the story moves on to dealing with the Aftermath of Kindred----although the solicits have been inaccurate/misleading of late. Still, I think it makes more sense to rate his Kindred arc when it is done and then maybe rate his overall run (to date) when there is a lull from this massive arc later in the year.

  4. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldschool View Post
    This is a really difficult time to assess his run; he is in the final stages of telling his biggest story arc yet of his run and the pacing has been slow with most of the big questions still to be answered so it's not really fair, one way or the other, to try to rate his overall run at this juncture. IMO, we should rate the overall Kindred arc in February when, according to the solicits, the story moves on to dealing with the Aftermath of Kindred----although the solicits have been inaccurate/misleading of late. Still, I think it makes more sense to rate his Kindred arc when it is done and then maybe rate his overall run (to date) when there is a lull from this massive arc later in the year.
    I think we can already make some preliminary judgements about the Kindred arc. Even if it ends fantastically, it’s still too decompressed and drawn out with too many convoluted points and twists that could’ve been simplified or streamlined. Even if this arc undoes OMD (and that’s a big IF) I still don’t see me giving it anything higher than a B+ based on my opinion of what makes a tight and compelling story. And if Spencer whiffs the ending and the OMD stuff is all a big tease that goes nowhere, I can see my grade for this falling to a D. But an A or even A- for this is off the table for me.

  5. #50
    Mighty Member oldschool's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HypnoHustler View Post
    I think we can already make some preliminary judgements about the Kindred arc. Even if it ends fantastically, it’s still too decompressed and drawn out with too many convoluted points and twists that could’ve been simplified or streamlined. Even if this arc undoes OMD (and that’s a big IF) I still don’t see me giving it anything higher than a B+ based on my opinion of what makes a tight and compelling story. And if Spencer whiffs the ending and the OMD stuff is all a big tease that goes nowhere, I can see my grade for this falling to a D. But an A or even A- for this is off the table for me.

    I mostly agree. But, since there is a huge difference between a final grade of a B and D, it’s only fair to wait before we rate it. Though I agree he blew a shot at an “A” already by padding it as much as he did.

  6. #51
    Astonishing Member Vortex85's Avatar
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    I agree Last Remains was too padded with the .LRs. I also don't believe OMD will be addressed yet any time soon. I think that is probably going to be near the climax of Spencer's run and this story is just the first arc that hints at what is to come regarding that.

    In the interviews with Spencer I have read, he has noted that all the arcs of his run are like "domino pieces" that he is setting up for what he believes "will be one of the biggest Spider-Man stories of all time". All the pieces fit together and eventually he is going to knock down the dominos for the big payoff. He said Last Remains is the next "big piece" he is laying down in that chain of dominos. He did indicate that the stories will start to be bigger and the picture will become more defined in 2021.

    But as it goes it could be another couple years before we see the big show and payoff for all he is building to.

  7. #52
    Fantastic Member Dzika_Sowa's Avatar
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    I wonder how he ties everything together. Maybe Kraven's soul will help Peter fight against Mephisto, or something :P

  8. #53
    The Superior One Celgress's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hcmarvel View Post
    The trade is collecting issues 50-55. So unless that gets updated, Marvel considered #55 the end of the arc....
    True, which is why I naturally assumed the story was over for all intents and purposes.
    "So you've come to the end now alive but dead inside."

  9. #54
    World's Greatest Hero blackspidey2099's Avatar
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    I think Spencer’s run has been pretty consistent so far, with no real “highs” (maybe the first issue?) and not too many “lows” (just the 2099 event comes to mind). Overall, I’d say it’s probably pretty average for a Spidey run.

    Personally, I do have a pretty major complaint regarding how much Spencer has been ignoring the Peter Parker side of Spider-Man, and focusing far more on the superhero stuff. But I can understand that not everyone may have the same tastes as I do - I’m someone who thinks the Peter Parker stories are just as (if not more) important than the superheroing and action, and I guess Spencer is of the opposite opinion.
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  10. #55
    Extraordinary Member TheCape's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by blackspidey2099 View Post
    I think Spencer’s run has been pretty consistent so far, with no real “highs” (maybe the first issue?) and not too many “lows” (just the 2099 event comes to mind). Overall, I’d say it’s probably pretty average for a Spidey run.

    Personally, I do have a pretty major complaint regarding how much Spencer has been ignoring the Peter Parker side of Spider-Man, and focusing far more on the superhero stuff. But I can understand that not everyone may have the same tastes as I do - I’m someone who thinks the Peter Parker stories are just as (if not more) important than the superheroing and action, and I guess Spencer is of the opposite opinion.
    I agreed that we should see that part more, but sadly, the civilian part of superheroes really went down in the last decade. So i'm not surprised.
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  11. #56
    Astonishing Member Vortex85's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dzika_Sowa View Post
    I wonder how he ties everything together. Maybe Kraven's soul will help Peter fight against Mephisto, or something :P
    I think I may have misrepresented what he said. Now that I think about it he said parts of each arc sets up or remove things that will matter down the line. Basically it's not that the whole arc will matter, but each arc contains some events, characters, or ideas that will matter down the line.

  12. #57
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    Hard to grade it as a whole but I'd give the arcs something like:

    Back to Basics/Spidey Split - C, nothing too wowing and some simple stories that are fun.

    Boomerang Team-Ups - B+/A, I felt the series didnt hooked till the Bar With No Name issues, where I was super invested. Subsequent stories involving The Syndicate and Gog/Life Tablet were also great. It makes sense these hit so hard because Boomerang is without a doubt Spencer's baby and writes him so well, Spidey plays off him well and it's nice to see Parker bring out the better sides of Fred.

    Hunted - A, I really loathed the Gauntlet storylines and felt like it was such a disservice to Kraven, this arc both functions as the bookend to a "Kraven Trilogy" with also some lite status quo resets that are disguised well enough they dont harm the story, and some that actively give good endings to plots created by Kraven. Gibbons' issue also might be one of the most tragic and heartbreaking Spidey issues out there.

    Absolute Carnage Tie-ins - A+, I think some of the best issues of Spencer's run, and amazing tie in issues to a event. Parker's own internalized guilt combined with the expository musings of Kindred lamenting over the terror of Norman Osborn was really good, some great art by Ottley too.

    2099 - D, pretty lackluster and I just find myself bored reading them. It didnt help that Doom was assassinated in his solo title released the same week as the ASM issue he got sniped in.

    Chance - C+, a pretty fun lil side shot and it was nice to see JJJ end up in a new profession with some characters we havent seen in a hot minute show up.

    Sins Rising - A, probably one of the best Spidey stories in a hot minute, with Sin-Eater being this unstoppable force that keeps gaining more and more strength, climaxing in Ravencroft with a Green Goblin team up. Theres some great writing chops here and a sense of unstoppable dread that fills each issue.

    Last Remains - D, if Sins Rising was the perfect flight in a plane across the sky, Last Remains was skidding down and off the tarmac in a terrible landing. The central reveals of the story are given in the first issue and the event checkbox ends with knowing as much as you did at the start of the event. Saving grace of the arc is Kindred's monstrous powers and grosteque actions, between killing Parker multiple times and spewing Evil Dead tier larva onto his face. If you wanted a physical confrontation between Kindred and Spider-Man it delivers, but falls completely flat in storytelling with a large cast barely given room to breath in the .LR issues.


    Overall it's pretty alright for a Spidey run. I think there are smaller stories that are fun but so far, the central story of Kindred has been failing pretty horribly. Comparing to Slott's run, his Doc Ock buildup of stories at least reaches a shocking climax with Superior Spiderman, whereas Kindred has left most of the series' remaining defenders(myself included) over waiting for payoff, or counting on the epilogue of the story to tell us things we shouldve found out during the story. I think when comparing other runs, the Kindred flub is a big sour note as far as a two year hype story goes, but it doesnt come close too the worst stories like Sins Past or Clone Saga, which is good all things considered.

    I'd love to see in a few years a pretty cohesive story across the entire run that all comes back around, but it is really rough right now to assess the quality and even the idea of doing that and counting on readers to stick around.

  13. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by Celgress View Post
    True, which is why I naturally assumed the story was over for all intents and purposes.
    It might be fair to guess that whatever snafu led to the solicitations being off on contents carried forward to the collected edition solicitations. The ASM v12 solicitation is still empty on Hachette's website, but it's currently due in late May, so it wouldn't shock me if v11 ends up having 50-56/57/58 (the solicitations are so vague for those issues any of them could be the real end of the story) and then v12 would be a smaller trade (say, 58-62, give or take). V11 being quite big might also explain why they separated out the LR issues to a separate trade unlike in Hunted where they were interwoven. That's all just a guess, though
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  14. #59
    Astonishing Member Vortex85's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kingkalamari View Post

    Last Remains - D, if Sins Rising was the perfect flight in a plane across the sky, Last Remains was skidding down and off the tarmac in a terrible landing. The central reveals of the story are given in the first issue and the event checkbox ends with knowing as much as you did at the start of the event. Saving grace of the arc is Kindred's monstrous powers and grosteque actions, between killing Parker multiple times and spewing Evil Dead tier larva onto his face. If you wanted a physical confrontation between Kindred and Spider-Man it delivers, but falls completely flat in storytelling with a large cast barely given room to breath in the .LR issues.

    I would disagree here. The reveal of who Kindred is isn't the only reveal of Last Remains.

    In the arc it also establish that Kindred's origins are tied to what Peter did in OMD. We did not learn this until issue 55. Also, it setup in 51 and 53.LR that Peter did in fact make the deal, and it is affecting him today and his ability to use the hand of Vishanti with Dr. Strange and it left his Astral Plane in shambles infested with demons.

    IMO, Last Remains is a huge deal because it is the first concrete evidence that Kindred is tied to OMD and that Peter is still being affected by the deal in a spiritual sense. This should be the primary purpose of the arc beyond the identity reveal. The reader knows, but Peter doesn't ... yet.
    Last edited by Vortex85; 01-04-2021 at 01:28 PM.

  15. #60
    Extraordinary Member Jman27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by blackspidey2099 View Post
    I think Spencer’s run has been pretty consistent so far, with no real “highs” (maybe the first issue?) and not too many “lows” (just the 2099 event comes to mind). Overall, I’d say it’s probably pretty average for a Spidey run.

    Personally, I do have a pretty major complaint regarding how much Spencer has been ignoring the Peter Parker side of Spider-Man, and focusing far more on the superhero stuff. But I can understand that not everyone may have the same tastes as I do - I’m someone who thinks the Peter Parker stories are just as (if not more) important than the superheroing and action, and I guess Spencer is of the opposite opinion.
    like the school stuff?
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