AMAZING #92 Review and Spoilers

[Pav]

Happy Ben-sday, fellow Spider fans! Once again, we receive another chapter of the Beyond arc featuring Benjamin Reilly, the Sensational Spider-Man!

Does the issue have its, uh... issues? Certainly. A pet peeve of mine is a comic that reads too quickly, and this one certainly does. In fact, I can imagine this issue being merely a page or two of an issue from way back in the day. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the issue and am engaged by the predicament in which Ben finds himself.

So, let's get to it!

1) This cover is the main reason for my belief in the VampLizard being Marcus: the shape of its head. I just feel like it resembles Marcus' big 'ole noggin!

2) The issue starts with action: Peter and the Daughters of the Dragon are being attacked by VampLizard, who was released last issue by Ben so that he could head off to get his memories back unhindered by the others.

3) Colleen has no qualms with chopping off arms, and does so -- only to see VampLizard instantly regrow them almost instantly, in a panel that I found very amusing due to the face the VampLizard is making.

4) This fight is really more about the Daughters of the Dragon than either of our Spider-Men -- which I guess makes sense, considering the enemy being fought is a giant reptile with wings!

5) Eventually, the ladies uncover the truth behind VampLizard when they discover Morbius, seemingly in some kind of induced coma by Beyond!

6) Cut to Ben, breaking into Beyond HQ -- and I do mean "breaking." I actually think we get some decent narration from Ben here: without his memories of Peter's life, Ben has no moral identity on which to stand on, and while he wishes it were otherwise, he acknowledges that maybe it's currently a benefit. "After all, if I could feel bad for the things I'm doing, this would be a whole lot harder."

7) Say what you will about the Beyond arc, but I think the above narration from Ben has more depth than anything PAD wrote in BR:SS.

8) We then get a single page of Maxine Danger, who is being told by the higher-ups at Beyond to get rid of all evidence of Beyond's actions, or at least presumably the ones that are her fault.

9) Back to the DotD, who contemplate waking up Morbius for help. Peter demands they speed up the decision-making process a bit, aaaaaaand YAY it's "back to his old self" Michael Morbius! Seems that Beyond undid some of his monstrousness (for their benefit, not his, of course), so he's game to help the DotD and Spidey, who can't hold back VampLizard for much longer. Now, speaking as huge Morbius fan, getting back a sane, humane Morbius instead of a mindless monster made me grin like an idiot although I'd still like to see him lose the wings.

10) Back to Ben: "I need my memories back. The ones from Peter. The ones that tell me who I am. How I'm supposed to live."

11) On this page, we get one of my favorite things: a Ben Reilly Spidey costume colored red and black instead of red and blue. It looked badass back in the 90s when Ben fought the CyberHobgoblin, and it looks cool on the new Beyond suit! Of course, we all know Ben's costumes are the best Spidey costumes!

12) OH NO MONSTER SANDWICHES!

12) Back to the pseudo- Lethal Protectors, who realize the VampLizard has escaped the facility. Misty Knight tells Peter to go after Ben, while she, Colleen, and Morbius go after their quarry. And at this point, I'm all in on Mobius joining the probably-not-happening new Nextwave team featuring Ben, Misty, Colleen, and Monica Rambeau!!!

13) I don't love the art.

14) Ben is struggling against the evil sandwiches, but LUCKILY JANINE SAVES HIM! CUE HEARTWARMING SCENE.

15) Meanwhile, Maxine decides the best way to protect herself is to get the help of... oh wait! It's Marcus! HE'S NOT THE VAMPLIZARD, YOU GUYS. DISAPPOINTING. Although certainly good for Marcus, who I'm sure would prefer to remain a human. Anyway, he kind of stands up to Maxine while kind of also doing exactly what she wants.

16) Colleen loves hitting things with her Beyond car -- but the VampLizard isn't fazed, and we'll find out how THAT battle goes in the next .Beyond issue! Count me as someone who really wants to know what's up with that Star thingy from earlier in the arc!

17) "I don't remember right from wrong. I don't remember all the lessons that taught me how to live. But Janine, all my memories of her -- those are mine. Only mine. That's what I've got to anchor me."

18) THAT LAST PAGE LEAVES ME WITH HOPE THAT THINGS WILL BE OKAY.

Now, for something a little random that I hope you'll find interesting: I remember a podcast -- maybe Radiolab? -- about a guy who lost his memories because of head trauma. And here's the thing: it's not that he didn't know right or wrong -- he couldn't even make decisions! The memory loss took away his past experiences from him, and along with his memories went all the context for decision-making. He essentially became paralyzed by his lack of knowledge of the world! And that's not all -- he also couldn't plan for the future! He was, in essence, trapped in a pleasant but somewhat confusing present, forever.

Not exactly Ben's situation of course, but I thought I'd mention considering the similarities.

Anyway! We only have a couple of issues left, and I'm really hoping the creative team sticks the landing! I think a lot of us will be more forgiving of the whole arc if it lands in a satisfying way. For now, I have plenty of questions. Will we get Nextwave-related continuity? Will we get a Slingers appearance? Will Ben get his memories back? What will be Ben and Peter's relationship at the end of the arc? Will Janine make it? What will happen to Maxine and Marcus? Will Aunt May, MJ, or Black Cat show up again? So many questions.

As always, thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts on the issue! I look forward to further conversation about Ben and Beyond!

-Pav, who loves seeing Spidey-suit-wearing Blonde Ben unmasked...

[Huntsman Spider]

Generally cosigning your review, Pav. While things could have been better in places, I did like that Ben and Janine were able to reaffirm their love for each other, and as the one thing that was still real to Ben and still uniquely his after having had his foundational memories of being Peter Parker stripped away from him by Beyond, it was very touching. Morbius being more-or-less himself again instead of a raging, literally bloodthirsty beast was cool, too, as was his banter with Misty and Colleen. "Doctor, dammit!" (Not literally what he said, but I'd be pretty sure it crossed his mind every so often.) With that ending, though, I'd be pretty sure on the impetus for the Spider-Brothers' final confrontation with each other, and why the solicit for that was saying we might be surprised as to which Spider-Man we'd ultimately side with, as Ben's motives at this point would be perfectly understandable, particularly in light of the damage Beyond did, both to him and to others, though Peter would also understandably not want Ben tarnishing the Spider-Mantle with bloodshed. Would be the makings of a complex (and perhaps heartbreaking) confrontation, one I'd hope would end better than The Clone Conspiracy did.

[HypnoHustler]

Better than #91, but that’s a low bar. In any event, the Ben parts were fine. Some nice exchanges with Janine and it at least somewhat tried to explain his actions. But the Door Z creature was HUGELY anticlimactic. Im going to copy/paste what I wrote in the preview thread:
The Lizard-Morbius creature being the big thing behind Door Z and then Peter leaving him (it?) to be mopped up by some non-powered C-listers shows how mishandled everything is. The creature behind Door Z should’ve been an existential threat like a Morlun. I felt no sense of danger from Lizard-Morbius (don’t know what else to call it) during the entire issue. THAT is what Maxine thought would be a game-changer??

In addition, I’ll just say I’m still sore over the wasted potential in #91 for a proper Peter/Ben team-up. I really hope #93 sticks the landing. Is it true it’s not coming out until March 30 now?

[Huntsman Spider]

Better than #91, but that’s a low bar. In any event, the Ben parts were fine. Some nice exchanges with Janine and it at least somewhat tried to explain his actions. But the Door Z creature was HUGELY anticlimactic. Im going to copy/paste what I wrote in the preview thread:
The Lizard-Morbius creature being the big thing behind Door Z and then Peter leaving him (it?) to be mopped up by some non-powered C-listers shows how mishandled everything is. The creature behind Door Z should’ve been an existential threat like a Morlun. I felt no sense of danger from Lizard-Morbius (don’t know what else to call it) during the entire issue. THAT is what Maxine thought would be a game-changer??

In addition, I’ll just say I’m still sore over the wasted potential in #91 for a proper Peter/Ben team-up. I really hope #93 sticks the landing. Is it true it’s not coming out until March 30 now?

Really? Where'd you hear that last bit?

[HypnoHustler]

Really? Where'd you hear that last bit?

It was listed on a solicitation I saw.

[IamnotJudasTraveller]

Yep:
https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/...er-man_2018_93

Published:
March 30, 2022

[Huntsman Spider]

It was listed on a solicitation I saw.

Yep:
https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/...er-man_2018_93

Published:
March 30, 2022

All right, then. Well, I hope it's worthwhile in the end. Funny enough, that's the same day we're getting the Moon Knight series on Disney+.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Much better than #91, but that's nothing to crow home about. The art was slightly more polished here and thankfully Mackay salvages some of the more promising aspects from #91.

Pet peeves -

1. The attempts at quippy dialogue and humour again falls flat. If you can't be funny, don't try and write comedy. Besides, at this point in the story, levity should be done away with. Which is why the Ben-centic parts of this issue were the ones I enjoyed the most.

2. I don't care for this version of Misty and Colleen (Colleen especially grated on me). I don't give a rats about them, their flying car, or this insistence to call Morbius "Dr Mike". I buy Amazing for Peter and his associated cast. Not the Daughters Of The Dragon. That whole plot thread served no narrative purpose other than to fill up space here. Then Marvel has the audacity to go "well, we can't finish that thread here, so buy #92.bey instead, true believer!" I don't think so.

3. Cannibal sandwiches? Demonic cats? Sentient snowmen? Christ, who came up with that crap and what psychotropic were they on when they did? I definitely could have used some reading last issue and parts of this one.

4. This should have just focused on Peter and Ben only.

[HypnoHustler]

Much better than #91, but that's nothing to crow home about. The art was slightly more polished here and thankfully Mackay salvages some of the more promising aspects from #91.

Pet peeves -

1. The attempts at quippy dialogue and humour again falls flat. If you can't be funny, don't try and write comedy. Besides, at this point in the story, levity should be done away with. Which is why the Ben-centic parts of this issue were the ones I enjoyed the most.

2. I don't care for this version of Misty and Colleen (Colleen especially grated on me). I don't give a rats about them, their flying car, or this insistence to call Morbius "Dr Mike". I buy Amazing for Peter and his associated cast. Not the Daughters Of The Dragon. That whole plot thread served no narrative purpose other than to fill up space here. Then Marvel has the audacity to go "well, we can't finish that thread here, so buy #92.bey instead, true believer!" I don't think so.

3. Cannibal sandwiches? Demonic cats? Sentient snowmen? Christ, who came up with that crap and what psychotropic were they on when they did? I definitely could have used some reading last issue and parts of this one.

4. This should have just focused on Peter and Ben only.

I mean, it’s no coincidence that Misty/Colleen appear during the Morbius 2-parter by Thompson, disappear for like 13 issues, then reappear once it’s Thompson’s turn again (right during the damn climax too). The weird/goofy Beyond creatures is also a recurring motif from her issues during this event. I dunno, guys, if I had the chance to write ASM one of the most popular books in the whole friggin’ industry, I wouldn’t use it to serve as a backdoor pilot for a couple unrelated pet-characters I like, but that’s just me.

[MisterC]

I mean, it’s no coincidence that Misty/Colleen appear during the Morbius 2-parter by Thompson, disappear for like 13 issues, then reappear once it’s Thompson’s turn again (right during the damn climax too). The weird/goofy Beyond creatures is also a recurring motif from her issues during this event. I dunno, guys, if I had the chance to write ASM one of the most popular books in the whole friggin’ industry, I wouldn’t use it to serve as a backdoor pilot for a couple unrelated pet-characters I like, but that’s just me.

Totally agree. I can absolutely understand that she would want to bring in some more female characters and write them giving her perspective as a female writer but I think we all would have been much happier with the doors of the dragon screen time being given to Janine, MJ, or Felicia. Especially now seeing that their whole deal and Monica's involvement is going to get wrapped up in the .bey issue that I'm definitely not going to buy? Feels as if they're involvement was forced and completely superfluous. Wish I would be more willing to tolerate if the Beyond series itself had done a better job delivering on the Ben side of things.

As for the positives, Ben's inner a monologue was pretty good. I'm not sure why you know he had to let Peter fight vampire lizard when I'm pretty sure Peter would have been more than willing to help him take Beyond down and get his memories back but I guess you can write that off as his mind disintegrating.

I don't know it's a struggle to find a positive lately. With one is remaining I feel like this has been a total dud for Ben. I begrudge Pav his capacity for joy hahah. But it's nice to see a somewhat happy spin

[HypnoHustler]

Totally agree. I can absolutely understand that she would want to bring in some more female characters and write them giving her perspective as a female writer but I think we all would have been much happier with the doors of the dragon screen time being given to Janine, MJ, or Felicia. Especially now seeing that their whole deal and Monica's involvement is going to get wrapped up in the .bey issue that I'm definitely not going to buy? Feels as if they're involvement was forced and completely superfluous. Wish I would be more willing to tolerate if the Beyond series itself had done a better job delivering on the Ben side of things.

As for the positives, Ben's inner a monologue was pretty good. I'm not sure why you know he had to let Peter fight vampire lizard when I'm pretty sure Peter would have been more than willing to help him take Beyond down and get his memories back but I guess you can write that off as his mind disintegrating.

I don't know it's a struggle to find a positive lately. With one is remaining I feel like this has been a total dud for Ben. I begrudge Pav his capacity for joy hahah. But it's nice to see a somewhat happy spin

Agree with your points. I’m not against strong female characters. I loved the MJ/Blackcat .BEY issue (I’d rank it in the top 3 or 4 comics from this entire event). But I have to care about them first. I find Misty and Colleen 2-dimensional cyphers with their only distinguishing characteristics being a lot of cringe humor and somehow being more powerful and competent than Peter and Ben despite actually having no powers.

The best I can say about this event is it’s not as bad as ‘Clone Conspiracy’ or the last few issues of PAD’s SS series, but that’s faint praise indeed. We’ll see how #93 turns out, but Wells is writing, art looks good in preview, and I also saw some nice flashbacks to the clone saga in the preview pages as well, so I’m cautiously optimistic, but I’ve been burned before.

[MisterC]

Agree with your points. I’m not against strong female characters. I loved the MJ/Blackcat .BEY issue (I’d rank it in the top 3 or 4 comics from this entire event). But I have to care about them first. I find Misty and Colleen 2-dimensional cyphers with their only distinguishing characteristics being a lot of cringe humor and somehow being more powerful and competent than Peter and Ben despite actually having no powers.

The best I can say about this event is it’s not as bad as ‘Clone Conspiracy’ or the last few issues of PAD’s SS series, but that’s faint praise indeed. We’ll see how #93 turns out, but Wells is writing, art looks good in preview, and I also saw some nice flashbacks to the clone saga in the preview pages as well, so I’m cautiously optimistic, but I’ve been burned before.

At this point the bar is so low that if I put 93 down and don't throw myself out a window like Father Karras in the Exorcist I'll put it up for an Eisner.

[Kanos]

Yep:
https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/...er-man_2018_93

Published:
March 30, 2022

The preview says we'll be surprised who we root for. But what if the pages on which Peter and Ben fight are bait? Recall the ASM 74 preview where Harry was shown in Hell and everyone thought he was a Kindred, but in the comic itself it turned out that Harry was not a Kindred. Maybe we'll be rooting for Ben and Peter too?

[Somecrazyaussie]

I mean, it’s no coincidence that Misty/Colleen appear during the Morbius 2-parter by Thompson, disappear for like 13 issues, then reappear once it’s Thompson’s turn again (right during the damn climax too). The weird/goofy Beyond creatures is also a recurring motif from her issues during this event. I dunno, guys, if I had the chance to write ASM one of the most popular books in the whole friggin’ industry, I wouldn’t use it to serve as a backdoor pilot for a couple unrelated pet-characters I like, but that’s just me.

Question is this: after reading this issue (or last one for that matter), who in their right mind would suddenly clamour for more of that version of Misty and Colleen fighting talking sandwiches and boxing chickens? With that dialogue? Insanity. Even I'm starting to wonder if I'm right in the head for not only reading this, but paying money for the privilege to do so.

[Somecrazyaussie]

The thing that upsets me the most is that, now we are so close to the end, the more I realise just how great this story could have been if it

1. Had been shorter and

2. More focused/planned out.

Seems to be the curse of Reilly. This whole story is one missed opportunity after the other in my opinion.