ASM #76 (877) review and spoilers

[Lukmendes]

The fight w/ Morlun in spectacular w/ Gwen at the end was by Ryan?If so my bad

Yeah, Zdarsky's last issue was Spectacular#310, fittlingly called "Finale", then Sean Ryan took over the last issues for the sake of those tie-ins before the comic was finished.

Yeah, when they give him the spotlight he shines brighter than any other hero.Highlight of that event

That's part of the reason why I don't mind Spidey usually being sidelined in those events, when he does something like that it looks more special.

[Spiderfan001]

Yeah, Zdarsky's last issue was Spectacular#310, fittlingly called "Finale", then Sean Ryan took over the last issues for the sake of those tie-ins before the comic was finished.



That's part of the reason why I don't mind Spidey usually being sidelined in those events, when he does something like that it looks more special.

Oh okay thanks

Yeah, atleast when they do him it should be amazing

[exile001]

There must have been some between-issue stuff with Peter and Ben because, as far as I recall, their last interaction was in Spider-Geddon (and THAT was their first scene together since The Clone Conspiracy) where Peter says something like "Oh great, The Jackal is here too". That line broke my heart, man. With their history and to call him that like he was just another rogue...

Anyway, I guess they mended some fences off-panel and Peter believes Ben's villainous turn to be a complete one-off anomaly.

This is my one big problem with Ben's return so far.

Last Peter knew, Ben had (directly or indirectly) killed a lot of people and was bent on world domination through the medium of clones. Spider-Geddon was basically a bunch of bullet points, one of which being Ben sacrificing himself but that doesn't undo all the damage he did. I really dislike the trope that one big gesture good dead undoes all the bad a character has previously done.

I like that Ben is in therapy and Peter seemed to know that, but surely the trust needs to be rebuilt? That is the route I thought this was going to take, Beyond should show Ben redeeming himself to Peter. I mean, it's right there! Peter has to give Ben his blessing to be Spider-man again, have him say Ben needs to earn redemption for himself.

But no, it's all just swept under the rug because it's easier to imply a reunion than actually write a complex conversation where the two work out their differences. Hopefully that comes at the end with their reunion.

Otherwise, I'm really enjoying this.

Ben, Pete, MJ and May (the ultra badass!) were all well used, I'm enjoying Ben's new supporting cast (and awaiting the sudden but inevitable betrayal!) and the idea of a corporate Spider-man has always been an interesting one (that has never been done well). I LOVE how Ben's costume looks with current art styles.

[Captain Craig]

Not reading 9 pages. I'm just late to reading the issue.

I was glad to see Ben's about face and seek Peter's blessing.
The U-Foes are about to be seriously handed a booty whooping next issue.

Ben's handler already reeks of the underbelly we all suspect Beyond comes from. Seems Janine is also a bit more tied into things. Possibly cause she is a pawn?

Love the costume. I like that the Daughters or the Dragon are here as well. Wondering how much they suspect the Beyond Corp of having shady ties?

Side note: (probably mentioned) I notice Ben was in Cantwell's Iron Man #13 last week as well. In the Scarlet Spider costume. I know they've been in space so this "takes place before", that is how I figure this works.
My thinking is the Ben side mini will be a bridge from when he's out of Iron Man and confronted by Beyond?

[Spiderfan001]

Not reading 9 pages. I'm just late to reading the issue.

I was glad to see Ben's about face and seek Peter's blessing.
The U-Foes are about to be seriously handed a booty whooping next issue.

Ben's handler already reeks of the underbelly we all suspect Beyond comes from. Seems Janine is also a bit more tied into things. Possibly cause she is a pawn?

Love the costume. I like that the Daughters or the Dragon are here as well. Wondering how much they suspect the Beyond Corp of having shady ties?

Side note: (probably mentioned) I notice Ben was in Cantwell's Iron Man #13 last week as well. In the Scarlet Spider costume. I know they've been in space so this "takes place before", that is how I figure this works.
My thinking is the Ben side mini will be a bridge from when he's out of Iron Man and confronted by Beyond?

Isn't Ben's mini set during when he was Spider-man?

[HypnoHustler]

Not reading 9 pages. I'm just late to reading the issue.

I was glad to see Ben's about face and seek Peter's blessing.
The U-Foes are about to be seriously handed a booty whooping next issue.

Ben's handler already reeks of the underbelly we all suspect Beyond comes from. Seems Janine is also a bit more tied into things. Possibly cause she is a pawn?

Love the costume. I like that the Daughters or the Dragon are here as well. Wondering how much they suspect the Beyond Corp of having shady ties?

Side note: (probably mentioned) I notice Ben was in Cantwell's Iron Man #13 last week as well. In the Scarlet Spider costume. I know they've been in space so this "takes place before", that is how I figure this works.
My thinking is the Ben side mini will be a bridge from when he's out of Iron Man and confronted by Beyond?

If you mean the Ben mini from JM DeMatteis, no. It’ll take place during the 90s clone saga (I think when Peter/MJ were still in Portland)

[Captain Craig]

The mini that was mentioned at the end of #75.

It would be nice to have something that ties the Cantwell IM appearances into a Beyond prequel.

[HypnoHustler]

The mini that was mentioned at the end of #75.
.

Yes, that was the one I was referring to as well.

[JustLuke]

Adding this here because felt like it was the best place to put it, but was checking Marvel's website and saw that the cover for ASM #77 was updated!
clean.jpg

EDIT: Looks like they also added the chapter thing to the cover for 78.
clean.jpg

[Sr. Bungle]

Adding this here because felt like it was the best place to put it, but was checking Marvel's website and saw that the cover for ASM #77 was updated!
clean.jpg

Who could it be? Stromm?

[HypnoHustler]

Who could it be? Stromm?

Maybe Silvermane.

[Sr. Bungle]

Maybe Silvermane.

Ah, good one.

[TheKryptonMan]

Adding this here because felt like it was the best place to put it, but was checking Marvel's website and saw that the cover for ASM #77 was updated!
clean.jpg

I see that Ben has the same sense of humor

[Captain Craig]

Silvermane is a good guess for #77

[Huntsman Spider]

This is my one big problem with Ben's return so far.

Last Peter knew, Ben had (directly or indirectly) killed a lot of people and was bent on world domination through the medium of clones. Spider-Geddon was basically a bunch of bullet points, one of which being Ben sacrificing himself but that doesn't undo all the damage he did. I really dislike the trope that one big gesture good dead undoes all the bad a character has previously done.

I like that Ben is in therapy and Peter seemed to know that, but surely the trust needs to be rebuilt? That is the route I thought this was going to take, Beyond should show Ben redeeming himself to Peter. I mean, it's right there! Peter has to give Ben his blessing to be Spider-man again, have him say Ben needs to earn redemption for himself.

But no, it's all just swept under the rug because it's easier to imply a reunion than actually write a complex conversation where the two work out their differences. Hopefully that comes at the end with their reunion.

Otherwise, I'm really enjoying this.

Ben, Pete, MJ and May (the ultra badass!) were all well used, I'm enjoying Ben's new supporting cast (and awaiting the sudden but inevitable betrayal!) and the idea of a corporate Spider-man has always been an interesting one (that has never been done well). I LOVE how Ben's costume looks with current art styles.

Yeah, I can see your point there on Ben and Peter needing to properly hash things out --- as in "on the actual pages of the comic" --- after how they last left off in Clone Conspiracy and Spider-Geddon. That said, I do generally agree with the rest of your post, and I would also like to see a bridging miniseries or even flashback between Ben's appearances in Iron Man and his resurfacing as Spider-Man in Beyond.