Happy Wednesday to all my fellow fans of the Sensational Spider-Man, Ben Reilly! Today's issues feature a lot of Ben Reilly and Janine, so anyone who's invested in their personal journeys should find these issues of interest!
As always, I'm just excited to enjoy new issues and share my thoughts. Do I still prefer Ben as a straight-up hero? Yes! Do I love all of the choices that Zeb Wells has made regarding Ben, Janine, Peter, and others? Nope! But I have read today's issues, and I had fun doing so -- but I had to accept from Page One that this isn't an emotional, psychological tale by, say, J.M. DeMatteis.
1) In fact, the first page is the preview page: Ben misremembering what happened at the end of Beyond and crying, "Not psychoreactive goooooo..." as he sinks in. So yeah -- this comic is going for goofy, and I can't damn it simply because of its choice of tone. The question is: can Chasm function as both dangerous and goofy? Let's find out.
2) Back in the present, Ben and Peter are throwing down. Ben wants to bring Hell to Peter (because of the hell he's been through) and Peter isn't going to let Ben hurt anyone. I actually like the banter here between the two -- their banter is always important in a comic featuring them both -- and I'm reminded of the beginning of the Clone Saga, when Peter was still a little unhinged and Ben was often his punching bag. Now it's the other way around. That's Clone Bros for you, I guess!
3) The fight continues and all of a sudden we get the odd inclusion of a talking, demonic scooter who is essentially an innocent bystander caught up in the fight between Peter and Ben. So weird. So stupid. But it IS kinda funny.
4) The fighting and the banter continue. Peter says he's got experience on his side, but Ben's got new tricks -- and WE FINALLY GET TO SEE ONE OF BEN'S NEW POWERS: OFFENSIVE SPIDER-SENSE!!! So, yeah -- Peter's little ambush doesn't work and Ben's Spider-Sense shocks the heck out of him. Beyond seeing the new powers in action, I feel like this sequence of events really shows us where Ben is right now: the moment he realizes Peter is missing FELT very Petery; and I always feel like the secret to writing Ben is knowing you're actually writing Peter. Yet that is followed up with the goofy "I Don't Care What Actually Happened to Me Even Though it's My Motivation For Being Chasm" nonchalance that seems to be Chasm's persona.
5) "Anything you can do, I can do weirder."
6) "C'mon man. This is why we never made the baseball team."
7.0) Elsewhere, Maddie finally tells Janine / Hallows' Eve what she wants: a memory that can be found inside the X-Men Treehouse. Janine finally gets to use her powers by putting on a Frankenstein mask, gaining a bunch of mass and strength, and kicking the story's goofy-ass lobotomized Venom into the treehouse to cause mischief, which he is happy to do -- but that's gonna happen in today's issue of Venom.
8) Back to Peter and Ben fighting. Ben has a round golden thing from Limbo, and he's going to use it, saying that Peter can't beat him because Peter always hold back, but now Ben has all the power and none of the responsibility WHICH WAS KAINE'S WHOLE THING IN YOST'S SCARLET SPIDER SERIES AND FURTHER PROVES THAT BEN AND KAINE SHOULD REALLY BE IN EACH OTHER'S PLACES!!!! But that's not reality.
9) "I don't want to hurt you, Ben." Awwww!!!
10) "When I'm working, you call me 'Chasm!'" And with that, Ben uses the round golden thing to show Peter that Jonah and Robbie are in Limbo! Peter agrees to go, which activates Ben's spell, and an otherworldly thing with an unpronounceable name grabs Peter and pulls him there! Ben enjoys the moment, while Peter wakes up at his new job, working for Demon Jonah!
MEANWHILE...
7.1) Today's issue of Venom starts THEN, with Eddie Brock explaining to Maddie and Ben that all he cares about is getting his son back -- and if they betray him, well... he has a long memory. Ben responds, and the banter here between Eddie and Ben is actually really good -- funny, yes, but also feels very in-character for both AND alludes back to their first meeting! I bet we fought. I bet I beat you up." This is the kind of dialogue that still feels like Ben, even if the role as psychotic villain isn't the role I want for him. But wait! It's ANOTHER OF BEN'S NEW POWERS IN ACTION: it seems 'ole Benny boy can create a "memory chasm" in the heads of others, which is why Eddie has become the slobbering monster he now is in the present.
7.2) In the present, Janine and Eddie are about to do their thing, and we get some really excellent narration from Janine that feels in-character, realistic, and meaningful in that we really understand her perspective on why she's followed Ben and allowed herself to become Hallows' Eve. Honestly, I think it's worth the price of the comic.
7.3) But if you want more, then may I present an EXCELLENT fight between Venom and one of the best-written X-characters these days, Synch! Seems he's currently the only one home, as the other X-Men are out fighting demons. Synch's dialogue is really fun, and I really enjoyed the way he used Eddie's powers against him. I can't emphasize enough how fun their showdown is.
7.4) While they fight, Janine as a "Human Fly Hallows' Eve" sneaks into the X-Men Treefort and steals a portable Cerebro storage unit: Maddie's going to use it to get some Jean Grey memories back! And Eddie...? After getting his butt kicked -- and realizing that something is not right with him -- he runs down the street until he's confronted by none other than... Venom Jr! And that's that!
I still don't love Ben as a villain, and it's clearer to me more than ever that this should be Kaine's new status quo rather than Ben, who should be a (Scarlet) Spider-Man and deserves to be one.But hey -- I do think today's issues were, overall, very fun reads. I'm incredibly interested in seeing Ben's new powers in action and getting explained more fully -- and that goes for Janine too, who I think might be the real winner from Beyond/Dark Web: her narration in Venom really solidified that for me, and makes me all the more interested to read her upcoming miniseries.
My hope is that, after toying with Peter, Ben uses his "memory chasm" powers to fill in his own memory gaps, and in doing so, realizes what a total ******* he's been, then goes after Queen Goblin to cure her, so that SHE can then help Ben fix Peter. But we don't know exactly how this new power works yet, having only seen them used on Eddie Brock so far. And if Ben is destined to stay Chasmed for a little while, I hope Kaine does eventually show up for a tussle!
What does everyone else think about today's issues? Are you as intrigued by Ben's new powers as I am? Do you agree that Kaine would make a better Chasm? Are you able to enjoy the silliness? I look forward to your replies!
-Pav, who also read X-Men: Dark Web #2 and REALLY, REALLY LOVED IT, but left it out of the review due to lack of Ben...