ASM 87 & MJBK 1 Spoilers and Review

[Pav]

Happy New Comic Wednesday to each of you, my fellow Spidey fans! I gotta say: I REALLY enjoyed both entries in today's offering of the Beyond storyline. Let's take a walk through them, shall we?

Mary Jane / Black Cat #1 -- probably should be read second, but I read it first so I'm starting here.


1) Felicia is turning heads at the hospital. Her jacket reminds me of a costume she wore back in the early 90s(?) -- I remember it from a cover of Strange Tales: Dr. Strange / Black Cat and Dagger. Not a great look then, but she definitely looks good here!

2) I like the idea that, after her dealings with Ben and seeing that he CAN be an effective Spidey, Felicia wants to help Peter earn "the name back."

3) Fun villain choice for this issue. I've liked him since his miniseries, and even if he hasn't been used well throughout his history, I'll always see potential in Parker Robbins, the Hood!

4) Quick thinking by Felicia to get MJ out of danger, and I 100% bought her reasoning that Peter wouldn't've forgiven her if she hadn't.

5) Note to self: need to read Hawkeye: Freefall -- sounds fun!

6) "Moderately famous actress Mary Jane Watson"

7) MJ's bluff about knowing if the Hood points his gun at Peter was fun, and I suppose if you're a demon-powered crime guy living in the MU, you don't risk it. Also, I was happy to see a direct reference to Peter's sickness being a direct result of his spider-sense malfunctioning.

8) "I have literally nothing to lose." -- I wonder what's going on with Robbins' girlfriend/wife(?) and baby.

9) I really like the art in this issue. Both ladies look...well, amazing!

10) The dynamic between the two is really fun -- they play off each other really well, like in the scene where MJ demands to help Felicia track down the demon hood for Parker Robbins. (Of course, this fan of BKV knows he really should go ask Nico Minoru!)

11) Count Nefaria loves Mary Jane! Guess that line from Robbins earlier wasn't throw-away dialogue!

12) Fun montage with our protags interacting with a variety of villains. The Shocker panel was hilarious, but I'd honestly like to have gotten a little of the conversation with the Rhino.

13) Felicia really talks up Tombstone. Personally, I was never much interested in him -- until reading his portrayal in the last Power Man & Iron Fist series. I enjoy seeing him pop up now.

14) Solid heist idea, and while I understood the trick with the dufflebag right away, I didn't see the identity change until Tombstone's hair comment.

15) I guess we know that MJ isn't afraid of bungy jumping, rock climbing, or anything like that! I guess, having been web-swinging with Peter more than once, it isn't such a big deal to jump out of a skyrise window.

16) The notion of a dufflebag-shaped demon is pretty ridiculous

17) Brilliant of Felicia to wear the fake hood into the room herself, guessing correctly that Parker Robbins would demand it back and put it on immediately without considering any possible ways of being tricked.

18) I wonder what'll happen to Parker Robbins. Not a good situation he finds himself in.

19) "Oh. Okay. It's THIS dream again."

20) The talk at the end about being "the bad girl" might just be my favorite moment involving both MJ and Felicia EVER. It's insightful and poignant and really in-character for both of them.

AND NOW, AMAZING 87, THE BEST ISSUE WE'VE GOTTEN FEATURING BOTH PETER AND BEN SINCE THE FIRST ISSUES OF BEYOND!!!

(Of course, to be fair, there haven't been many issues featuring both of them, which I think has been a problem.)

1) Felicia and Cap start this issue off, talking about helping Peter train himself back into shape. Fans of Felicia sure are eating well today!

2) Another issue with excellent art.

3) "Right now, HE'S Spider-Man."

4) Meanwhile, HE is being tested at Beyond by not Dr. Kafka. Ben's being shown pictures of villains and is asked to identify them. The way he answers about Doc Ock definitely had my attention...

5) Back to Peter, wearing the outfit that everyone is talking about!

6) The comment about "swinging like Eddie Brock" was intersting.

7) PETER HAS MAGIC CIVILLIAN CLOTHES THAT CHANGE COLOR!!!

8) So, does Felicia have her bad luck powers right now or no? I didn't follow her recent monthly.

9) Well this isn't good: Dr. Kafka is talking with Maxine Danger about being imprisoned against her will, and Maxine deftly reminds her that she is a clone and potentially has no legal rights. And honestly, this scene makes me hope even more strongly that Dr. Kafka continues to play a supporting role in any stories starring Ben Reilly. I liked seeing her stand up for herself, only for Maxine to slam her back down again. Although -- are we supposed to guess that Maxine Danger has a parent that he know? Kafka seemed ready to bring up betrayal by parentage (I'm guessing) until being interrupted by Maxine, who has that cannister filled with red scary stuff that is probably going to transform Kafka into Queen Goblin. (There's gotta be better names than that. Gobliness? Dr. Goblin?)

10) More fun training scenes with Peter, Cap, and Felicia, who appears to have actually stolen from a jewelry store in order to motivate Peter

11) I'M NOT DAREDEVIL

12) Back to Ben, who remembers all his villains but, based on the art, is feeling empty on the inside -- if he's feeling much of anything at all.

13) More fun training with Peter and Cap sparring. Good character work in this issue -- everyone sounds just like themselves. Well...

14) I literally "oofed" when I got to this: Ben is cleared for the field, but HE DOESN'T REMEMBER WHAT MUST COME WITH GREAT POWER!!!! He's lost foundational Peter Parker memories. So who, at this point, exactly IS Ben Reilly? Tragic stuff.

15) Back to Peter, swinging with a bag on his head. I appreciate the kind of inverse Scarlet Spider clothing situation he's got going on here, whether intentional or not. Looks like Peter still quite isn't up to snuff, losing a fight to Felicia and Cap, but he's going to keep working. Good for you, Peter!

16) EPILOGUE: Okay, I'll admit it -- when MJ walks in and sees another woman in her apartment, my first thought was, "Betty Brant? Kristy Watson?" Hahahaha, so I kind of ruined the teaser for myself: JANINE AND MJ FINALLY MEET!!!! And Janine has the stolen Beyond data drive.

Now we're getting somewhere!

Will Peter be able to get back to 100% before saving Ben from Beyond?

Will Ben and Dr. Kafka be able to free themselves from Beyond's clutches?

-Pav, who can't wait to find out...

[Frontier]

This was probably the best week of Beyond in my opinion.

Mary Jane and Black Cat #1

First...MJ/Black Cat was just awesome. Visually a treat, the story was really fun, and it played to both ladies' strengths and characters while also showing off why they're so awesome and play off each other surprisingly well. So much so that I wish we could get more.

I love how the cover wasn't misleading and MJ does end up wearing a Black Cat costume for the second half of the comic and does a decent job imitating Felicia. I figured it was a wig the moment they showed her in full, especially compared to Felicia's hair in a ponytail prior to the scene.

I don't care about The Hood but I think they used him well here. And reminded us how vicious McKay's Black Cat can be.

Count Nefaria is a cinephile. Also liked that they brought up the failed movie premier, I assumed they were just going to forget about that.

Poor Shocker is now, in-universe, known for his jobbing. At least MJ felt bad for him.

I am not surprised Peter has had dreams of a threesome with the girls in leather catsuits.

Felicia commenting on MJ having a giant butt honestly makes me want to re-read the issue and see if it shows in the art.

Is this the first time Felicia has heard about Gwen? I do think it was pretty nice to see both girls frankly talk about themselves and their relation to Peter, and the relationship dynamics. That they were both the "Veronica" in relation to the other girl, and MJ still has to deal with the shadow of Gwen's death, actually made a lot of sense as something for them to bond over. But still admitting MJ is perfect .

Amazing Spider-Man #87

It's nice seeing Steve and Felicia. They play off each other surprisingly well, and with Peter. This was a good use of Cap in my opinion.

Felicia only drinking champagne is very on-brand. I also love how she dressed like a traditional burglar with a ski mask and everything but her hair is flowing so loose out of the mask and she has on a shiny gold necklace that it's pretty obvious who it is .

I think this is the second time Peter has seen Felicia's crew but I wonder if he even remembers them.

Why am I not surprised Felicia tried to spur them on by committing an actual crime for them to chase after? I kind of wanted to see how that resolved.

Kafka trying to psychoanalyze her captors is unsurprising. Curious how she becomes Queen Goblin now.

We get treated to more of MJ in Felicia's costume if you hadn't gotten enough of it before. Heck, this issue was worth it just for the Carlos Gomez drawn ladies. Curious to see how MJ and Janine interact.

[carmoc1234]

we all knew peter had that dream before we just never thought marvel would admit it

[Vortex85]

we all knew peter had that dream before we just never thought marvel would admit it

Yeah, that page had me smiling pretty hard, LOL.

Also, wanted to comment on the heart to heart between Felicia and MJ in Mary Jane and Black Cat #1, this was worth the price of admission alone, and more. Really loved seeing MJ relate to Felicia and compare it to Gwen and herself (as the original "bad girl") in response to Felicia saying it sucks being seen that way. Mary Jane handled it so well with Felicia at the end, she really was perfect! .... and by the end I am sure they are falling in love! ha ha ha

[Frontier]

Yeah, that page had me smiling pretty hard, LOL.

Also, wanted to comment on the heart to heart between Felicia and MJ in Mary Jane and Black Cat #1, this was worth the price of admission alone, and more. Really loved seeing MJ relate to Felicia and compare herself and Gwen as the original "bad girl" in response to Felicia saying it sucks being seen that way. Mary Jane handled it so well with Felicia at the end, she really was perfect! .... and by the end I am sure they are falling in love! ha ha ha

People so often think of Felicia as the "Veronica" to MJ's Betty and forget MJ was the "Veronica" to Gwen's Betty.

[Vortex85]

People so often think of Felicia as the "Veronica" to MJ's Betty and forget MJ was the "Veronica" to Gwen's Betty.

Right, it's like Peter has two Veronica's now in his life, sorry Betty!

[Pav]

Minor Spoilers for today's issue of IRON MAN:

spoilers:

During a meeting between the Space Friends, Frog-Man and Gargoyle comment on Ben and Misty Knight being away because Ben is "getting to play Spider-Man" again. Frog-Man aka Cantwell comments that Ben really needed a win.

end of spoilers

So there's a bit of the 'ole Marvel continuity for ya!

-Pav, who does miss the Scarlet suit...

[Malachi]

Happy New Comic Wednesday to each of you, my fellow Spidey fans! I gotta say: I REALLY enjoyed both entries in today's offering of the Beyond storyline. Let's take a walk through them, shall we?

Mary Jane / Black Cat #1 -- probably should be read second, but I read it first so I'm starting here.


1) Felicia is turning heads at the hospital. Her jacket reminds me of a costume she wore back in the early 90s(?) -- I remember it from a cover of Strange Tales: Dr. Strange / Black Cat and Dagger. Not a great look then, but she definitely looks good here!

The jacket reminded me of the one she wore while fighting Sabretooth.

Haven't read MJ&Cat yet. ASM was ok. To much cheesecake art and Ben isn't heading in any interesting direction. But since the start of this run I have been hedging my bets on what they will do with Ben. As long as he comes out of it alive and not a villain then it's a win.

[Webhead]

The MJ/BC issue was a blast, #87 was alright. Not thrilled with the spoilers:

imperfect mindwipe

end of spoilers thing.

[Mercwmouth12]

spoilers:

Ben basically became the Spidey version of the hydro cap meme

end of spoilers

[Chris0013]

Both fun issues...

MJBK:

I like that it sets MJ and Felecia in a good place with each other. And like that MJ was not just a tag along. From chatting with "Luchino" to beating Shocker with a bat to pretending to be Felecia.

ASM:

I am not Daredevil. The interaction with Cap and Felecia...and Cap and Bruno. Steve being there for Pete when he needs him. I do think they could have thrown Peter a bone though and given him 'a suit' if not 'the suit'.

[Vortex85]

Both Mary Jane and Black Cat trended today on twitter over these issues!