Rereading Zeb Wells and co's Amazing Spider-Man

[Alex_Of_X]

Amazing Spider-Man #86
The second half of Beyond kicks off with Wells returning for the first time since #76. He’s the main writer since he had the opening arc and he’s taking over the book solo, so it’s interesting that he’s been gone so long. I don’t know if there was behind the scenes stuff with getting the relaunch ready or if he figured it would be best if he did the opening story, and had a heavier role as it gets closer to a conclusion.


Dowling’s style is a good fit for this story. He seems like the type of guy who would be doing experimental work with Bendis circa 2001. There’s great pacing in a scene in the opening flashing between a conversation between Kafka and Ben, and a mistake he made as Spider-Man. Beyond’s sketchy behavior comes to light, with a major betrayal and Janine reminding people she’s dangerous. Grading this is a bit weird since it’s somewhat incomplete, reading more like the first chapter of a TPB length story than an episode in a larger arc. It’s one of those comic books that is hard to assess because it’s not a standalone, but it’s not also part of a clear discrete story outside of the larger Beyond arc.
B

still mystified as to why he's stuck drawing hallways in Hallows' Eve...man should be on DD or Doc Strange

[Sr. Bungle]

still mystified as to why he's stuck drawing hallways in Hallows' Eve...man should be on DD or Doc Strange

Hallows Eve art seems pretty rushed too. The covers are still top notch though

[Steven Caldwell]

The new stories are bad.
Peter does not act like Peter
Ben did not act like Ben.
It is all reticent of bad fan fic.
I just read the old stories I like.
People who like this stuff can enjoy them.

[Mister Mets]

Mary Jane & Black Cat Beyond
I remember being really impressed with this one-shot by Mackay and C.F. Villa.
It’s probably not a coincidence that some of my favorite stories from Beyond are about supporting characters stepping up to help Peter. There's a decent set-up as a relatively major Marvel villain (the perfect guy for a project like this; enough of a name to be dangerous) thinks threatening the injured Peter would get Black Cat to do his bidding. Black Cat tricks the bad guy into letting MJ help. It's a great set-up, although the A-plot of finding the macguffin isn't as important as getting two supporting characters to address some uncomfortable questions and assumptions. The "bad girl" conversation is a highlight, and MJ has two highlights here, distracting a rich guy who is a fan of a famous coworker, and impersonating the Black Cat.

I like little details like a nurse ripping a cigarette out of a woman’s hands on Page 1, and how everyone's worried that Peter's spider-sense will wake him up, and that he'll feel compelled to get into fights he has no hope of winning. It works well with the regular Beyond issues, showing the stuff that Peter's unaware of.
Villa's work seems a bit unpolished, but there's a spark to it, especially the facial expressions. Some sequences are quite impressive, and he has a style that is not generic. I get why he's now on the Avengers with Mackay.
A

[Kevinroc]

The rich guy in question is Count Nefaria. A superpowered crime lord who mostly deals with the Avengers. He's also the father of Whitney Frost, aka Madame Masque, who is mostly known as a recurring Iron Man villain with a sordid past with Tony Stark.

(I think it's mostly notable because MacKay went on to become the writer of the Avengers.)

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Luchi...ia_(Earth-616)

The actor he was a fan of worked with MJ during Leah Williams' Amazing Mary Jane series, so that was a nice little bit of continuity.

The MJ & BC one-shot was a lot more popular than Marvel had expected.

[FFJamie94]

I like the Beyond era a lot, it felt like they learned mistakes they made back in BND (actually communicating with one another, a set plan and a throughline connecting all the plots). I actually felt 19 issues (or around 24 if you want to include the .BEY issues) is a nice amount to have for this kind of story.
It's filler, but it sets up ideas for later stories. Essentially acting as a benchmark for the next run.

[Frontier]

The rich guy in question is Count Nefaria. A superpowered crime lord who mostly deals with the Avengers. He's also the father of Whitney Frost, aka Madame Masque, who is mostly known as a recurring Iron Man villain with a sordid past with Tony Stark.

(I think it's mostly notable because MacKay went on to become the writer of the Avengers.)

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Luchi...ia_(Earth-616)

The actor he was a fan of worked with MJ during Leah Williams' Amazing Mary Jane series, so that was a nice little bit of continuity.

The MJ & BC one-shot was a lot more popular than Marvel had expected.

Agreed, though I don't think they carried the momentum well at all.

[Kevinroc]

Agreed, though I don't think they carried the momentum well at all.

I don't either, but that's a discussion for another day.

[Mister Mets]

Amazing Spider-Man #88:
The creative team is a bit odd. It's Wells and Dowling from #86 (and I agree with Alex_Of_X that Dowling should be in more major projects) but it's more set-up. It's more like a TV episode written by the showrunner due to its importance to the overall arc rather than a traditional comic book story. Reading it, you might think it's the first section of a three-parter but a different creative team is going to deal with that part. This does mean that they are playing with structure in interesting ways.

Wells and Dowling introduce a new major villain for the series, and a major moment for Ben Reilly. The Beyond heel turn is complete, and makes sense in the larger Marvel Universe with references to events in Siege. The Goblin Queen works as a villain. There is a good role for Mary Jane trying to help someone with info get media attention- MJ has dealt with superhero bullshit before and knows how to handle the media.
A

[Mister Mets]

Amazing Spider-Man #88 Beyond
This seems like the most "filler" issue, focusing primarily on Hobie Brown, who hasn't appeared yet in Beyond and written by Geof Thorne, who is not a member of the Beyond Board. These are red flags, but while this was a writer I haven't heard of doing a story about a character who hasn't been part of the recent run, it is accessible and it does connect to the larger mysteries of the Beyond corporation.

I liked artist Jan Bazaldua in the Spencer run, and she's fine here, selling meaningful conversations and flashbacks to a recent Marvel event, which make Hobie's new focus seem more organic. It seems to be a pilot for a Slingers spinoff, and that set-up has potential. They're pretty good at reminding readers that Hobie is the new Hornet, while making that status quo make sense for anyone who was unfamiliar with that development. I like his views, motives and entry to the story.
The threat is fine, and they had some fun with a common comics trope of time dilation.
B+

[CaptainUniverse]

I wish the Slingers issue had spun off into a mini-series. I thought it was fun seeing Dusk and Ricochet reunite. Hobie as The Hornet is pretty cool too. It was lacking Prodigy but I don't know if he even wears the costume Mary Jane designed all those years ago.

[Mister Mets]

Amazing Spider-Man #89-90


It's immediately clear that Bagley is a top ten Spider-Man artist. The others on Beyond have been good, but I just want to acknowledge that Bagley is very good at what he does.
Gleason writes the showdown with the Goblin Queen, and he continues his focus on Peter's psychology- what he's thinking moment to moment at a time when he wants to help but everyone else thinks he's not ready.


The Goblin Queen is a solid foe. A mad psychiatrist makes sense in the context of the Spider-Man comics, and the goblin gaze is a nasty super-power.
There are some good twists that move the narrative along nicely, although some transitions are a bit clunky.
And this story balances Peter and Ben pretty well. It seems like the Beyond run borrowed that element of the Clone Saga where you switched from Peter to Ben, and it works in a weekly series.
A-

One problem I have with this run so far is the lack of anything truly great. There just isn't any story that I could see being on someone's top ten. That is relatively normal in a 25 issue stretch, but it's something other runs have.

[Mister Mets]

I wish the Slingers issue had spun off into a mini-series. I thought it was fun seeing Dusk and Ricochet reunite. Hobie as The Hornet is pretty cool too. It was lacking Prodigy but I don't know if he even wears the costume Mary Jane designed all those years ago.

I suspected that this issue would connect with some readers here.

I like the Beyond era a lot, it felt like they learned mistakes they made back in BND (actually communicating with one another, a set plan and a throughline connecting all the plots). I actually felt 19 issues (or around 24 if you want to include the .BEY issues) is a nice amount to have for this kind of story.
It's filler, but it sets up ideas for later stories. Essentially acting as a benchmark for the next run.

Definitely agreed.

The rich guy in question is Count Nefaria. A superpowered crime lord who mostly deals with the Avengers. He's also the father of Whitney Frost, aka Madame Masque, who is mostly known as a recurring Iron Man villain with a sordid past with Tony Stark.

(I think it's mostly notable because MacKay went on to become the writer of the Avengers.)

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Luchi...ia_(Earth-616)

The actor he was a fan of worked with MJ during Leah Williams' Amazing Mary Jane series, so that was a nice little bit of continuity.

The MJ & BC one-shot was a lot more popular than Marvel had expected.

I think it was hilarious that MJ was getting along so well with him.

Especially in the context of the larger Marvel Universe, where supervillains probably treat him like he's Elvis. In his debut, he sent the Wasp to the hospital. He killed one of the X-Men. He's killed Echo (even if she got better.)

still mystified as to why he's stuck drawing hallways in Hallows' Eve...man should be on DD or Doc Strange

Those would be great picks for him.

What makes the Daughters of the Dragon think losing to Doc Ock is beneath them!?

I guess they see him as an old, fat guy.

But he's beaten up Iron Man before. They're lucky it didn't go much worse.

[Frontier]

I feel bad for Kafka. Get brought back just to transform into a crazy villain.

[Sr. Bungle]

I feel bad for Kafka. Get brought back just to transform into a crazy villain.

Same fate as Ben.