ASM 88 Review and Spoilers!!!

[Pav]

Hello, Ben Friends! Pretty solid issue we've got on our hands today, I dare say! Let's take a walk through it together, shall we?

1) The cover gives us a nice look at Queen Goblin's overall look, but she definitely looks better with the interior art. One subtle thing I like about her design is her mace having different faces on the ends.

2) The positioning of Maxine Danger illustrates the power she has over people like Ben and Marcus. Ben particularly has my sympathy in that moment because his tampered memory clearly has him clueless as to Janine's whereabouts. On the other hand, seeing Maxine talking with her superiors showed her wielding her strength and confidence; particularly interesting was the apparent connection to what's going on in Miles' comic.

3) The Sins of Norman Osborn will UGLIFY you. (I wonder how they were... administered.)

4) Super B.

5) Marcus' spine has disappeared.

6) To a certain extent, a character's utility is dependent on the number of interesting relationships it has with other characters. So I was really pleased to see MJ bringing Janine to Glory in an attempt to expose Beyond via the Daily Bugle. Three very cool, very dynamic characters, and I wish we saw more of them together -- and with the addition of Betty Brant.

7) Awesome shot of Ben putting on the mask as he heads towards adventure -- but it's a shame to see him becoming this thin version of himself. Yes, the memory loss has resulted in Ben's personality and morals being affected. And of course, this is what Beyond has wanted all along: not Spidey-Ben, but Blank Slate Spider-Man.

8) As much as I've grown to like Maxine as a character, I can't help but think she could've easily been replaced in the story with Carolyn Trainer, which would've potentially added more depth to her encounters with both Ben and Doc Ock. Oh well.

9) It's all smoke! I wonder how that fact will show itself (or not) in the upcoming Slingers issue. You know I can't wait to see the new dynamics of the team play themselves out, what their connection to Beyond will be at the beginning and end of the issue, etc. I'm Beyond stoked

10) I really like the proper introduction Queen Goblin gets here as she leaves Beyond.

11) Janine keeps it real. Interesting that she sort of inherits a little resentment about Peter/MJ from being Ben's true love. I appreciate the depth of character being displayed here, especially after months of her repeating the same scene over and over.

12) "We've been nav-ing him around the city, waiting for your word."

13) Not gonna lie: as soon as Queenie displayed her character, I dug it.

14) "...I just want to see your brain."

15) Ben vs QG Round 1

16) The glider IS cool -- although, you'd think Beyond would have some really "out there" stuff with which to arm their Goblin.

17) Even Maxine Danger herself is surprised when Ben grabs Janine and skedaddles from the site of the Daily Bugle fight with Queen Goblin. Apparently, when you delete the formative memories of a person, their moral identity will change! WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT? At this point, Ben seems capable of two things: doing Beyond's bidding as Spider-Man and loving Janine, and the latter trumps the former.

18) Ben leaving MJ behind may further sour the relationship between Peter and Ben, but I'm hoping that Peter's own experiences in losing certain aspects of himself might help him better understand Ben's situation, and thereby allow them to patch things up before Ben leaves for LA. Say what you will about the pace of this storyline, but I do think it has something fairly interesting to say about the way our memories of our experiences create our current self. And yeah, it sucks to see Ben in such a state, but I have hope that Peter will be able to take down QueenGob SquarePants, who will then be able to reform Ben's memories and personality. Then, if we're lucky, Ben and Peter and MJ and Janine will have a heart to heart, part as family, and we'll have a new Spider-Ben in LA comic to read in the near future.

Coming Up: Black Cat vs Queen Goblin? Mark Bagley art?! SLINGERS?! (Did I mention how excited for the Slingers I am?)

-Pav, who figures Marvel has just enough material to create a Slingers omnibus of all their appearances, separately or as a team...

[Spiderfan001]

God I was excited for slingers until I saw the writer

As for QG solicits, teases and covers indicate Peter won't be a part of it.If it's gotta be Ben atleast let Peter help him w/ his memories to finally team up and take QG down.Also she doesn't seem dangerous ngl, Ben whose been a below avg. Spidey for most of his fights this run held his own against her and took her out w/ no need for fancy gadgets.

Need the Peter comeback to be something of note and he's back up and training and yet not a part of the ramping up story?

Also Ben had a apperance is Spider-woman 19.He shows up to help but gets Venom blasted by Jessica who thought he was the skrull, we see him fall into water and they exchange 2 lines of banter

[Sr. Bungle]

7) Awesome shot of Ben putting on the mask as he heads towards adventure -- but it's a shame to see him becoming this thin version of himself. Yes, the memory loss has resulted in Ben's personality and morals being affected. And of course, this is what Beyond has wanted all along: not Spidey-Ben, but Blank Slate Spider-Man.

I don't think Beyond wants exactly that. Maxine didn't want to erase all memories and she seemed concerned here. Beyond wants their heroes to be heroic, just to sell better their services

[Captain Craig]

I enjoyed everything about the issue EXCEPT the shocker that Ben took off leaving MJ there with Queen Goblin(Kafka).

I'm hoping that is something that is quickly remedy in the opening pages of next issue as a necessary ploy.

[Sr. Bungle]

I enjoyed everything about the issue EXCEPT the shocker that Ben took off leaving MJ there with Queen Goblin(Kafka).

I'm hoping that is something that is quickly remedy in the opening pages of next issue as a necessary ploy.

As much as I hate that development I have to admit that it makes one hell of a cliffhanger

[Huntsman Spider]

I don't think Beyond wants exactly that. Maxine didn't want to erase all memories and she seemed concerned here. Beyond wants their heroes to be heroic, just to sell better their services

No, but it did present an excellent opportunity to see if they could remold Ben into the kind of Spider-Man they wanted him to be, which did somewhat backfire on them, given his abandonment of Mary Jane at the end.

I enjoyed everything about the issue EXCEPT the shocker that Ben took off leaving MJ there with Queen Goblin(Kafka).

I'm hoping that is something that is quickly remedy in the opening pages of next issue as a necessary ploy.

Well, considering Ben no longer has the foundational memories of the lessons and morals Peter learned when he first became Spider-Man, it's not that illogical that Ben wouldn't really give a damn about anything that he felt didn't directly concern or immediately affect him.

Speaking of the redheaded loves of the Brothers Spider-Men, I did appreciate the interaction between Janine and Mary Jane. The juxtaposition between them made it pretty clear, at least to me, that as bad as Mary Jane had it in her past, she was practically living the dream compared to Janine's experiences, which also presented an interesting note of comparison to their respective Spider-Men. After all, it could be argued as well that for all the trauma and misery Peter lived through, Ben had all that compounded by his struggle to accept and validate his own existence as more than just a clone of Peter, haunted and dogged by memories of a life that was never truly his. Now that those memories are gone, however . . . who or what is he going to be without them?