Afre's Profile

This should be everything I dislike about Snyder writing Batman, but this bombastic comic just keeps entertaining me big time.

I think it finally hit me. I have liked this series the whole time. I think it's great, but I have felt like i don't see the hype. But now I do. This is amazing.

I'm so conflicted on this issue. On one hand, I love everything. Writing, art and Bane's backstory is being told. On the other hand, it feels like we are going back to Snyder being himself. And I hope he can keep it in check, because this was already going on a bit too much with how violent it wanted to be. Sure, it's Absolute line, sure the book has been violent before, but this time it felt a bit unnecessary? I don't know, like I said, I'm conflicted. Because on it's own, I like it a lot. But I've read Snyder's writing for 10 years now. And this seems like a sign that we might go overboard with the violence. It fits with the series, but I hope the team can keep it in check. I have same feelings with Mann's art. At times, it feels wonderful and very fitting. But on other, I am so used to Dragotta's art and how it fits this series, so that Mann's art felt like a different world. He draws Bruce in such different way that it might seem like a completely another character from another universe. But these are small problems in the end. I am not sure how to feel on the cop out. It makes sense to actually see what is Bane's endgoal and not just have him say "I will break you". But it also felt like waste because so much time is focused on that. I don't know. I get why this issue can work for so many people and I can see that. But I also feel conflicted.

I'm speechless.

Holy amazing comic Batman.

Generally one shouldn't give just a plain 10 for a comic based on the first story. But this time I'll make an exception. Something something "comics are now too political" something something "it's woke and bad!"

Snyder is kind of a guy whose work when being extreme, or in this case Absolute, can be an absolute banger, or a shitshow. Thankfully, this is absolute banger. What a comic and what a story.

Snyder and Dragotta just keep cooking. Amazing stuff.

Loved this. And it's funny that Snyder is making Bruce's backstory the question mark Joker usually has in Prime Earth. We don't know for sure was it accidental, or part of a bigger plan.

Snyder and Dragotta just keep cooking with this.

Truly blast. The best Spidey/Venom -teamup. Art and writing is awesome.

A great horror tie-in.

Great writing and art and still going strong. I have only one issue with this issue (heh) and it's that it isn't as long as the first one was. But still amazing.

This was actually very good. A nice tie-in, pointless maybe for some, but I liked it.

It's not necessary, it's more for Ghost Riders fans than Absolute Carnage fans, but it was still pretty good.

This is just so good. The art, the writing, everything. Amazing. Again, only bad thing about this is that it should be longer.

That was amazing. I love how AC has it's characters coming from their own story naturally, instead of being so forced. This issue is a great continuation to Ewing's Immortal Hulk and a nice tie-in, that answers some of the questions. It also answers many questions, aka why Bruce is with the Avengers and why is he interested in this so much.

Not bad, just unnecessary.

I can't wait for the finale but goddangit I love this.

It is pretty meh. Writing for Deadpool is so forced, it doesn't land and art is not that good either. It's not bad, just very mediocre.

Worst tie-in yet. Art is bad, writing worse and doesn't feel connected to the event at all. Like the writer had his own head-canon and went with that. Avoid this one if possible, it contradicts with main issues much.

It is pretty meh and doesn't feel like it has anything worthwhile in it. Just a another bland tie-in.

Since Saladin writes Miles so well, this book doesn't feel so off, like some tie-ins usually do. Art was a bit rough on edges sometimes, but otherwise, a great issue.

It's not bad, but nothing special either. Art and writing are okay but this doesn't feel necessary to the main plot. If you want more Absolute Carnage, this is it, just not that worthwhile.

Absolute peak.

Amazing start

Very interesting. A bit slow yes, but it takes it's time in a good way.

It's... fine? Nothing special about it. The hook "who is the host" isn't that interesting, so don't know how long that will last. The cast feels... odd? MJ, Paul, Rick Jones, Luke Cage, Robbie and Madame Masque all feel very random choices for a Venom cast. It's not really a continuation to Venom War that I wished it would be. Granted, this is a first issue of a new series, but I wasn't that impressed by anything.

I'm not gonna pretend I love the idea. But Ewing makes the script work. And he is the guy whose work I love like 99% of the time, so I will give him a chance. You have me still on board Ewing. I wanna see what you will cook.

Dylan remains a fiend. I dig this. It still works for me and makes sense for me.

This still is an enjoyable comic. Keep cooking Ewing. And thank you for having Otto without him saying superior every five minutes.

This is just fun. Art is amazing and I like how Otto is written. All around good stuff!

This is another good issue. Good action and character writing, Ewing has surprised me with this series. I hope he can do the same with #250 when Knull returns, because right now it sounds like a boring idea.

I liked this series. It just worked for me. Ewing is that good. Let's hope he can make Knull work... Still not excited about that.

It's not perfect, but a lot of the stories are great. Some are even amazing.

I'm totally shipping Kaine and Gwen. I'm calling it Gweine. Or Kawen.

Not a bad start. Surprisingly slow, but that isn't always a bad thing. It's a good thing John remembers Spidey's identity and it wasn't just a Spectacular Spider-Man-thing that woudl be retconnet later. Immonen's art is great as always.

Damn. Haven't felt this kind of excitment for a Spidey comic after Clone Conspiracy. Glad that unlike Bendis, Slott is finishing his Spider-Man run with a bang. +Great artwork from Immonen as always +J.J.J. has good development and his story arc moves forward with Flash. +FINALLY. RED GOBLIN. -Emma kidnapping the kids felt bit odd...? But it could be a good thing after this so it's not a dealbreaker.

This was a great send-off from Slott. See Bendis? This is how you do a final issue. And I haven't felt this sad for a comic book character's death in a long time. But it is great to see that Spidey's relationships with Otto and Eddie have now changed. And Carnage seems to be death. Artwork was great from every artist. I really have no issues with this. Final battle with Gobby was a bith meh, but this was still a great ending to a great storyline.

I don't know how Spencer does this. Spidey is back again as a jobless student, but Spencer makes it interesting and feeling fresh. This isn't perfect comic, but very enjoyable one and sometimes, that is all you need. Awesome artwork by Ottley doesn't make it any worse though.

The idea of prequels is to bring something new to the table, while keeping the story familiar. This does that. It focuses how much Venom actually cared for Spider-Man, what it thought and why it did what it did. And why it started to hate Spidey so much. Great writing and flashback-ish artwork.

That was just great. Awesome and funny.

Another great issue. Who knew that Boomerang would be so interesting character? And I love that Spencer gets Peter right. Peter knows he shouldn't do the right thing since it mibht bite him in the ass in the future but he still does it because it is the right thing to do. And that new villain has me interested.

Well, this is pretty okay. It's hard to tell why it's just okay, but it is. Storyline could be interesting?

Very good issue. I liked Black Cat and loved MJ in this issue. Spencer has great humour in his writing and artwork is great too.

Pretty okay one. WOuld be better if Bachalo's art wasn't so sloppy. It's been better in past, but right now it was mediocre at best, and too often pretty bad. Messy art does distract from the story...

For some reason Bachalo's art is so much better in this issue. And I like how Spencer shows how important May really is to Peter, a lot of times the writers only mention Ben, when it really is May who is the bigger inspiration to Peter nowadays. I don't understand what part former Goblin has in Spencer's storyline, but I'm interested to see where it goes. And Kraven's plan? Even more interesting. Overall, a solid issue.

I'm interested. I like Kraven and this is something new, not just "Kraven's Last Hunt 3.0". Art is great as always. I'm not superhyped, but interested enough.

It's interesting and different. Too early to say it's awesome, but it's not bad.

It's not bad, but lack of Kraven and Spider-Man makes it a bit hard to give it a perfect score. Writing is solid and art is nice, but it's still not Spencer's A-game. Although the last page and the blue boxes are.

Wow. That was so much better than I expected. Simply amazing.

That was pretty good. Not enough focus on Vulture, but I do like the art and how great Kraven is manipulating everyone in this event. And that Vermin stuff was also interesting.

Well, that was it. Surprisingly good ending, and wasn't what I expected. Spencer did write a Kraven storyl arc like no other and even if it wasn't as good as I thought it would be, it was good enough.

That was amazing. A great setup for this new villain. Or old. I'm so interested to know, who is he/she? Art is great too, Beck's writing is on point. Maybe the only downside is that we don't know who that person is?

I liked it. A lot. Spencer doesn't act like Teresa doesn't exist, which is nice. MJ and Peter are not doing "will we, won't we" like in Slott's books, but instead are going forward. And I love it. May's speech for Peter was good. Also art is great. Andf that last page was so good!

A great tie-in too that advanced the plot of both ASM and AC.

A slow start sure, so hard to say if this will be a good one. Art is great and writing isn't bad. So, a pretty okay issue, but the following issues will tell if this slow start is worth it.

I haven't been liking this arc lately. Aside from Teresa and Peter scenes, and Miguel being back, this feels too big and too sudden.

This wasn't that bad. Art wasn't Bazaldua's greatest. But it was an okay ending to a storyline I didn't like that much.

I don't know if it is Ottley being back as the artist, but I really liked this one. A nice, slower issue that teases things to come and gives us nice MJ/Pete -moment. Spencer is better at these smaller stories IMO, the 2099 wasn't good for me.

Another smaller-scale issue that focuses on JJJ. And it is great.Coello's art is amazing too.

I loved it. I like what Spencer has done with Spideys and JJJ's relationship, how it evolves, without forgetting their history. With great art and amazing writing, I cannot recomend it enough. And that side-story... teases things to come.

Another excellent issue. Nothing wrong here.

Boomerang and Spidey team-up. Nuff said.

Spencer reintroduces us to old characters and gives them great backstories. Combined with Ottley's great art, another stellar issue from them.

While a bit rushed, I liked it a lot. The ending was bitterwseet and changes the dynamic a bit. Also, Boomerang's line: "LATER SUCKERS! (not you Spidey, you're cool)" just shows how much development he got during this series. And I love it.

It is starting to get more darker. Spencer's arcs have been a bit more lighthearted so far (Hunted being the exception) but this is starting to go somewhere. I'm as interested to know who Kindred is as the next reader, but currently, I'm fine not knowing. This issue doesn't feel like a big reveal issue, nor is it marketed as such. It is a prelude for Sins Rising, and I am excited for that. And I liked this very much.

Bagley drawing Spider-Man is just something special. I just like it. And the story itself? It is good. Very good. Got me hooked.

Is it good? Yes. Very much so. I've always liked darker Spider-Man stories now and then and this is becoming one more and more. And the best part is that Sin-Eater challenges Spidey in a completely new way. He doesn't even know should he stop him. And the art was excellent too. My only problem with this is Norman. After Absolute Carnage I hoped we wouldn't see him in few years but he is back... I just hope not for long. I know that Green Goblin is set to appear in #49 but I don't think it is not Norman and I hope he isn't.

It is another stong entry to Spencer's "Sins Rising" -storyline. I like how Stan isn't necessarily a villain, a monster, but he has a different way of handling things compared to Spider-Man. And he brings more to the table than just Punisher's "kill them without mercy". And the best part of Sin-Eater is that he isn't just a physical threat to Spidey who he can beat in a fight. He is a more psychological enemy and that is great. Also the art is good, even if I miss Bagley a bit.

Damn. Like really. Damn. I thought having Norman in this story would make it weaker or feel samey. I'm happy to say I was so wrong about it. Spencer is killing it and with Bagley back as the artist, I just like this so much. Everything this issue has is just great. Sins Rising has been a great storyline but this one made it amazing. I cannot praise this enough without spoiling anything so do yourself a favor and go read this. Especially if you are a long-time Spidey fan.

It is good. Very good. I don't want to spoil anything but don't think you can guess what will happen in this and in the #850 issue.

It is almost perfect. I wanted to come here and sing it's praises. But I can't. The story is great and this certainly isn't just ASM #800 done again. It amazes me how well Spencer writers Peter and Norman here. They are the stars of this issue and not in the way you think. The art is great mostly but it doesn't feel that Ramos and Bagley their A-game. But. That Kindred tease began to annoy me now. For 49 issues we've had these and while we finally get them to meet (presumably?) in the next issue it just feels so annoying now. We know about him as much as we did in #31 and I really hoped something more. This issue ends very oddly and I had to check I didn't miss any pages.

Any little problems I had with the last issue are gone. The name truly fits, what an amazing Spider-Man issue. Everything with the art and the writing and what comes next? Oh boy.

This was really good. And the story told here really makes sense why these are "side-issues". It is really refreshing to hear sin-free Norman's take on Harry and other things, especially since we know it is not an act, etc (I hope this doesn't age poorly). It really is an issue that shouldn't be skipped if you are interested in Last Remains. It is very well written and the artwork is good.

Oh damn.

Last Remains is even bigger than I thought. In a good way

Umm, what???

WHAT?

There isn't a lot that happens in this issue. But what happens is huge. That confirms our suspicions and what Spencer is planning. If some of you won't get what that flashback is about, it's ASM #545. I really liked Bagley's art too.

It is good. Not as good as I hoped it would be, but good nonetheless.

Man, that was... that something else. That was good. So good. But I do fear if we will get enough of this in these last remaining issues (I'm sorry). Previous issue was very short and while I enjoyed, I do hope this story doesn't end with #55.

This was surprising. And very well done. I really liked these tie-ins and can't wait for the finale next week.

Well, Last Remains did not conclude since this didn't conclude anything so don't go expect that. Spencer reminded me of "City of Bane", worst Batman run I've ever read with this issue so that is "nice". I'm currently so confused. I don't know how the editorial messed this up but it seems that the "fallout" of Last Remains will actually be the finale. It is hard to review this with this mindset so let's give it a 7/10.

I liked Last Remains. Until we got no answers to anything. This issue work very well. It serves as an excellent epilogue to Last Remains, art is wonderful and writing and the twists are very good. But. BUT. WE GET NO ANSWERS TO WHY LAST REMAINS EVEN HAPPENED. Kindred remains as a big question mark and from the looks of things, that won't change any time soon. And that is the biggest insult of this event. It is starting really hard to care about anything in this run, if the main villain's motivations and backstory aren't told to us readers. And it is really hard to start caring about them after this event. Why is this reminding me of King's Batman run...

These synopsis are really missleading and annoying to read. As for the issue, it's fine? Once you have accepted that Last Remains isn't what you tought it would be, this is not half-bad. Bagley is wonderful as always and I really liked the dialogue between Peter and Norman. Like the previous issue, these Post-Mortem issues are good as themselves and as epilogues. But since the Last Remains was such a letdown for me, these won't fix it. And yes, the teases continue still. It seems that at this rate, Round 2 between Kindred and Spidey will be in #100...

While I was critical on Last Remains and the Post-Mortem, this issue I really liked. Art was nice, especially the opening. And to be frankly honest, having no answers to Kindred didn't bother me at all this week even though he is still looming. Negative Space surprised me in a positive way and made remember why I have enjoyed Spencer's run on ASM.

It's fine. This storyline ends in a nice way while setting up other threads. It's these kinds of smaller stories that Spencer writes very well. They aren't big but they are entertaining and they have nice moments in there. And the book goes to new directions, and Spencer has been good at making interesting changes to Peter's status quo, we just don't get to see it enough. It's also nice to see Fisk being a big Spider-Man baddie again. I do hope a team-up of Spidey and DD aka Zdarsky and Spencer some point in the future, as that would be very interesting.

These last few issues have been an epilogue to Last Remains and I've enjoyd each part more and more. And this one especially nails it. Even though Last Remains was a bit disappointing in the end, this issue feels to fix it in so many ways. The art is great (as usual by Bagley) and Spencer's writing is truly great. We finally hear what Peter has to say about Kindred and it is as good as expected. Spencer has written this series very well mostly and this continues to showcase why I love his take on Spidey.

This was such a fresh issue. I didn't expect this kind of shift to the status quo, but I'm liking it very much. I'm very interested to see what will happen next, especially since Kindred will be taking a backseat for now. Gleason art was wonderful, especially the second page.

Sometimes it seems that Spencer uses self-awareness (like how we didn't see Gog until this arc) to highlight the shortcomings in his books and that way neglate the criticism it would get. Does it work? On me, yes it does, I do the same thing. So it's not a negative from me, just a thing I noticed. Other than that, this book works. I'm really liking all of this. I really have no problems with this issue and I'm interested where this will go. After the first round of Kindred storyline, this smaller-scale(-ish) storyline is just what we needed.

It was very entertaining. And currently I want nothing more from ASM.

I'm really enjoying this arc. And while the Kindred teases are getting annoying, I'm once again intrigued by them.

After Last Remains, King's Ransom has been a very enjoyable ride. It doesn't think it's more than that and that is enough for me.

Wow. Just... Wow. That was amazing in a giant-size way. I didn't have any expectations for this. But boy did this deliver.

This is issue is mostly setup. But it's done well. Callbacks to previous issues (like #16) feel like Spencer has a plan and isn't just making this up as he goes along. I really liked this. It's good. Sure, Peter isn't the main focus in his book, but for an event like this, I understand why.

This is the first issue for a while where I'm bored and annoyed. There are so many moving parts and none of them feel connected to each other. Maybe the finale will fix this and make it more coherent but currently it's very messy.

It's all over the place. There isn't nearly enough Chameleon nor Spider-Man in this for my liking. I really don't know why this was called the Chameleon Conspiracy, because it sure didn't feel like that. This one has two storylines that feel very disconnected. And the part that Chameleon was the man behind T&M wasn't touched upon at all. So why even hint about that? I've liked Spencer's run very much, it has it's problems but it has still been pretty good. But this? This wasn't good. Not terrible, but certainly not good... And what is up with this synopsis? Nothing changes in Spider-Man's life. Nothing shooks him to the core. Because he missed every part that had anything to do with Chameleon. The synopsis of each issue are so missleading and my grodd is it annoying. Why even have them if they don't tell what happens in the issue?

The players are finally set and we are finally getting some answers. So I must admit, this one is good. A great prelude for Sinister War and I am interested to see how Spencer will resolve it.

It is very similarily structured like Last Remains' tie-ins. Once you accept that, this is really good. But if you want definitive answers for Kindred, we are still waiting...

I liked this a lot more than I did the main books. These tie-ins showcases the best of Spencer's writing and the main book showcases the worst.

I'm so confused right now. I am also very confused even thinking how Spencer will wrap up everything in the next issue. Because there is so much to wrap up now. Final confrontation with Kindred and there are currently so many players there, Strange's hijacks with Mephisto, some kind of ending to this, what happens to the 35 villains who are in the graveyard unconscious, what happens after this to JJJ, Norman, Aunt May, MJ and Peter's engagement, Kindred's full backstory, what is the deal with two Harrys, what happens to Gog, hey Chameleon blackmailed Nora and possibly T&M, Ned being back alive, Kingpin's son being back alive, etc... And to add to this list, possibly OMD being retconned, mentioned, who even knows anymore. But yeah. There is much to wrap up. Sure, the final issue is bigger, but is 80 pages enough to cover all of this? And only now, is Sins Past being retconned. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that happens since I too hate it, but the explonation here is kinda odd? And the mystery of Kindred deepens even more... And the penultimate issue really isn't the best place to not give a definitive answer, but even bigger mystery. We had what, 8 issues to cover this whole storyline but only now Spencer starts showing it all had some kind of purpose? Only now he gives an explanation what his endgame with this run is? And this makes me question, why even make Sinister War it's own book? Why not make this main series (ASM 70-73) Sinister War and 71.SW, 72.SW and 73.SW like they did with Last Remains? And this storyline really feels so similar to Last Remains. Plot progresses oddly (sometimes not at all, sometimes very rushed), mystery is getting deeper and even more messy and the answers we have just aren't enough. DIfference is that this is supposed to conclude after next issue. And I dislike how much Spencer relies on old Spider-Man stories. This whole series has been good to those who have read Spidey for more than 20 years, but for newcomers? This is really hard to grasp. Sins Past, as atrocius as it was, happened over 15 years ago and hasn't been acknowledged since (for a good reason). But it's an odd point to suddenly focus without any kind of buildup. Spencer seems to ignore almost everything that happened to Spider-Man after OMD, because his series relies so much of you knowing what happend before that. And that's not a good choice. I mean good example would be my reading history. I started reading Spider-Man monthly in 2008/2009 (aka here in Finland the aftermath of OMD and beginning of BND), and had I read only those, I would be so lost right now. And that was 12 years ago. So should one be so lost after reading the penultimate issue? I think not. These kind of revelations require a lot of buildup if they come so long ago and cannot be done in one single issue. TLDR: I'm confused, 6.5/10 and a seal of confusion. And yay, no Sins Past I guess?

EDIT: After reading that bleedingcool article that confirms that this was rushed (not rewritten) by the editorial due to Beyond storyline, I get why this is so disconnected from the other storylines. I feel sorry for Spencer because he had to rush this, but my opinion on the comic doesn't change which is the following: Okay. I had to triple check that I read all the pages. Because all I could think was "wait what? Seriously? That's it?". Apologies for my language beforehand. Yes, it's childish, but I just can't help myself. This is garbage. A shitshow. Is this because OMD wasn't undone? No. Absolutely not. Let's start with that. OMD can't be undone anymore. It's been 14 years. How could they even undo OMD? Aunt May suddenly dies, Peter and MJ have been married and the last 14 years of stories are suddenly erased? So that means Harry never came back alive, May died due to that gunshot and Peter almost killed Fisk? Or how else? Because those stories just don't work if OMD is undone. So that was almost always the case. It was never going to be undone. It takes a lot of work to evenm address it. And Spencer did that. He even gave Mephisto some motivation to help Peter during OMD. I actually like that retcon. Since OMD is here to stay, at least make Mephisto have some kind of motivation. Spencer did that and I'm fine with that. And the idea to make Harry a demon because of OMD? Another good idea. Because Harry's resurrection was always kinda off. So okay. This wasn't because of OMD not being undone. Why is this comic a 1/10? Because it isn't a culmination to anything nor is it an epilogue. So what happened with Kindred? After last issue, I thought it couldn't be possible to make it even more confusing, but here it is. So there were two Kindreds, who were kinda Harry, but not and were the Stacy twins, but not and who wanted what exactly? Break Peter? Make him confess? Confess what? That OMD happened? What sins MJ had? OMD? Kindred's motivation is different compared to even Last Remains. Everything here feels so off. This doesn't feel connected to anything Spencer previously wrote. And that ending. THAT ENDING. So Kindred(s) suddenly lose? And Harry dies? A character we haven't really seen since #800 3 years ago? And he was a clone? Made by whom? AND. HARRY DOESN'T GET A FUNERAL. HE IS JUST LEFT THERE WITH NORMAN. PETER LEAVES HARRY'S DEAD BODY TO NORMAN. LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. WHAT IS THIS. Flash got a funeral. But Harry doesn't? PETER'S BEST FRIEND? There isn't any epilogue to this Spencer's ASM! "What will happen with Peter and MJ, Mysterio, J. Jonah Jameson, Norman Osborn, Aunt May and Kindred?!" FUCKING GOOD QUESTION NICK LOWE. I WOULD BE GLAD TO READ THE ANSWER IN THE FINAL MASSIVE ISSUE OF ASM THAT IS THE CULMINATION OF THREE YEARS OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. ON THIS CONCLUSION TO NICK SPENCER'S LANDMARK RUN ON THE BEST FUCKING COMIC BOOK IN THE WORLD. Like seriously. What the actual fuck. I've never been this mad for comic in my life. Not even King's Batman run. This comic cost 11‚¬ and I'm so mad. What happens to May? Jonah? Randy? Teresa? Norman now that is free of his sins? Normie and Liz? When will they find out what happened to Harry? Stanley? His father is a clone, what does it make Stanley? Does Peter propose to MJ? I'm speechless. I have so many questions. And now we jump straight to Ben Reilly and Beyond Corporation? AFTER THIS? THERE ARE 35 VILLAINS THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN THE GRAVEYARD UNCONSCIUS! WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM! SIN-EATER? MORLUN? Does Norman get his "sins" back, now that Kindred(s) are dead(?). Or does he stay like that. There are some rumours that Spencer had some kind of fallout with Marvel or editorial, because he hasn't said a word leaving Marvel, nor did he give any interview after Last Remains. And that this comic wasn't completely written by him. That sounds stupid, right? Well I kinda want to believe it. Because this is just can't be the conclusion Spencer wrote. It can't... Peter doesn't feel like Peter here. Nor does he feel like a character even. He gets so much beating from the two Kindreds it's unhealthy. But he is fine? Whaat? I really don't get how strong these two Kindreds are. In #52, Gabe(???) beat Peter easily. AND HERE PETER HAS JUST FOUGHT 36 OF HIS VILLAINS AT THE SAME TIME. AND IS STILL GOING. LIKE WHAT. WHO WROTE THIS??? So yeah. It's terrible shitshow. And don't even get me started on the switching artists. Why even have Bagley here if he makes like 4 pages? Like what? And Humberto Ramos' final pages feel so badly done. Like unfinished mess. Why was this comic so bad and badly done???

It's good. Did you like Spencer's run? Read this too. You didn't like it? Read this. Don't like the idea? Read it, give it a chance. Already read it and liked it? Read it again, it's good. Already read it and didn't like it? Näh, just read it again. Because it's good.

Remember what I said last week? That it's good, go read it. Same thing here. Now that the uininitiated are out of here, let's talk about this issue. First of all,, I just love Gleason's art. It's just so good. Second. Let's talk about Ben. I'm one of those odd people who don't mind clone saga that much. My oldest comics are Spider-Man's clone saga so they have a special place in my heart. And Ben's tenure as Spider-Man was great IMO. I really liked seeing how Peter we all know and love would act without having so much tragedy in his life. And then the Clone Conspiracy and David's bizarre wtf-run happened and that ruined Ben for me. Not Clone Conspiracy necessarily, but David's run especially. To this day, I don't know what that book was trying to accomplish. It's terrible. So I was wary seeing Ben the star of this Beyond. But this last two issues have proven me that it can work. And that the writers have a clear vision what kind of man Ben is. His call to Aunt May showcases that so well. He cannot utter the words "I'm Peter" easily. And I love that page. He needed Peter's blessing to continue. Because deep down, he has the same issues and moral code as Peter has. But even with all the praise I have for this, I do have some criticism and I'm not fully sold just yet. Yes this issue is great, but it can feel a bit short, because it has to focus on both Peter and Ben and their inner circles. Everything here is well done, maybe I just wanted more. And that's usually a good sign. So why I am not fully sold yet? Well, I wanna see more of Ben. I want to see what he thinks, how is he actually doing. His inner monologue, more Janine, just more Ben's life. I'm fine if Peter is left to the hospital for a bit. If this to be Ben's show, show him fully. This whole idea is very ambitious and I do hope the creators are not afraid to sideline Peter. Because otherwise, this might not work as well as it could. TLDR: it's good, go read it.

It's fine. A little intermediate issue. But Pichelli's art felt off here.I've been fan of her for a long time but this felt a bit unfinished? Compared to her work on Miles.

Now this was a bit odd one. It felt shorter than usual and Morbius felt especially wasted here. For a two-parter story it felt like it offered very little. But what it did offer was very good and I liked all of it. Even Pichelli's art felt better here. As much as it reminds me more of Abrams' terrible Spider-Man comic than Bendis' Miles comics. So it's good? With a question mark this time instead of definitive answer.

It's fun. A fun tie-in. So exactly what it markets itself to be.

This issue had everything I felt was lacking in the previous issues. Ben's monologue, his thoughts what is going on, etc... Combine that with stellar art from Dowling and we have anoter great issue from Beyond team.

It's pretty good. Lately all these Beyond issues have been pretty good. I don't have any big problems with them, I just wish this book didn't have to juggle all these characters. So in other words? I wanna see more Ben. And Janice. And less of these Beyond characters. But for what it is, it's fine. Even if this bothers me a bit, it doesn't make this a bad issue.

It's really good. Much better than I thought it would be.

It's okay. But again, it doesn't feel like they are using this idea to it's full potential. This has like 19 parts was it? And we are 9 parts in and not a lot has happened character- or plotwise. It's not like anything here is bad. And this isn't very disappointing read. But I just want more. And some break from this structure.

It's great. Feels very disconnected from the Ben's Beyond storyline, but otherwise I really liked this. This whole Beyond storyline is very odd for me. It's been mostly fine, some times excellent, but for me, it hasn't found that spark yet. I was very negative on the finale of Spencer's run. I haven't brought up Spencer after it ended, because it's hard to compare his run to this. They are so different. But I must say, when Spencer's run was good, it was so good. I was excited to read the next installment everytime the new one came. It had that big spark. It failed to deliver in the end, but in my mind, it was overall pretty good. This Beyond storyline doesn't give me same feelings. As I said, it's fine, but I want more than "just fine". Because there is potential here.

This was very odd read? Gleason's art is wonderful, his writing isn't the best. It surprising what this comic does, but it could've used more buildup in the previous issues. It just has so many ideas but none of them are used to their full potential. Kinda like Beyond. Don't get me wrong. I still liked it. It's fine. Like usually these Beyond comics are. But you know what my problem is? That this Beyond that supposed to be "fresh, new, interesting and cool" thing that was created last year is... getting kinda bland. 9 parts in now. And I'm not that interested what's going on. Like, the more I read this issues, the more baffled I am. They rushed Spencer to end his storyline for this? This kinda bland, not-that-interesting storyline that has too many chief's making it meaning the character work is almost non-existant. Ben is a great example. With so many writers now juggling him, we still don't have a clear vision what kind of man he is now. The basics are there, but they were laid back in the 90's. Marvel can pretend that what Slott and David wrote in the last few years didn't happen, but maybe they shouldn't have greenlighted them back then. Because right now Ben is wasted here. And I hate it. I know this "review" feels more like "man complains about Beyond" than an actual review of this comic, but you know, that's how I feel. It's hard to get too invested, excited or even interested in these comics when the overall storyline doesn't do anything else except be fine. So 7/10, I've missed you Gleason. Also that last issue? I thought this issue would confirm that monster was send by Beyond or something. Or even tease about it. I'm still kinda sure it was Beyond's work to nullify Peter, because if not, it's just too random.

Another week of Beyond storyline, another week of fine issue. Everything here is fine. I just wish the overall storyline was more interesting or that I would care about Ben at this point.

It's fine. As usual. The plot feels like it's finally moving somewhere. How unfortunate that it took us this long for it to happen. But I really can't rate it a higher then 7, because this whole storyline is still too bland for me currently. I'm not invested in any part of this, and I do hope the next issue finally focuses on Ben as a character more.

Wow. Just wow. I've been critical of Beyond lately. It has lacked something for me. And this issue delievered. I liked everything about this. It is a bit shame it took this long for this to happen, but I'm glad we finally got some answers and Ben was the main focus of the show. And with the news that Zeb is the new writer of ASM going forward (with JRJR, my favourite artist of Spidey besides Bagley!), I'm becoming more invested in Beyond. I've felt it's just a placeholder for the next writer. But now? It might not be just that anymore.

The second part of Beyond storyline has been surprising me. Overall it has been fine, but I'm starting to get much more invested in the story. As there seems to be point for all this and this isn't just a placeholder for Wells and JRJR. MacKay is becoming one of my favourites lately. With Black Cat, Moon Knight, Timeless and this, he just keeps delivering.

So I guess Ben missed the part where Queen Goblin is his problem.

It's very mixed. On the one hand, it's okay. Passable story about Hobie and the Slingers. On the other hand, very odd placement for this. We haven't seen Slingers since David's Scarlet Spider run and Hobie was a more major player in Slott's Worldwide run. So that's like 3 years ago since we saw these characters in a Spider-Man story. I really don't understand why introduce these characters now or what purpose do they serve.

Bagley drawing a whole issue of Spider-Man? I've missed that. It's odd to have two of my favourite current artists of ASM working together on a book where the other is a writer. But Gleason's script is good here. I'm a bit confused how that Goblin Gaze works but then again, this is normal comic book stuff. Overall a very good part of the Beyond storyline. But I do wanna see more Ben though...

Both Gleason and Bagley were wonderful here. I can't wait for more.

It's pretty good. I do wish Ben would've gotten more focus, so I would care about his character more.

It's odd to think Beyond will end. Sure, this is pretty good, but ending it now feels so sudden. Like there hasn't been enough buildup. Looking back now, I sure wish the earlier parts would've been much better, so that this ending didn't need to do all the character work for Ben. As for Ben, I'm getting a bit Kaine-vibes now. I don't like it. When Beyond first started, I remember saying Kaine would've been the better choice for this role. Right now, Ben is just eh. I don't really care for him. Then again, I haven't cared for him since his first death.

Beyond once again showcases it really doesn't grasp what kind of scope it wants to have. Is Beyond a bigger event with multiple characters, or is it focused on Ben Reilly once again being Spider-Man? And this is why this one is not very good for me. It's a collection of side-stories that finish any storyline that felt was dropped the issue it was introduced. And none of them really interest me. Queen Goblin for sure and the Daughters of the Dragon somehway. Everything else? I just didn't care. So I don't think this was important. Or necessary to read. Writers seemed to have fun but I didn't. And why was Monica here? It felt like she had a big connection to Beyond but I had no idea what it was. And she also felt very out-of-place. Like the Slingers.

It's an odd one. This didn't feel like true ending, just setting things up more. Sure, Zeb Wells continues as the writer, so I'm not that against it. It just feels odd to end this volume with... such a non-conclusive ending. Art was great. As Gleason usually is. It was nice to see thoe flashbacks to Clone Saga, to part of me wishes Bagley redraw the scenes he first did 25 years ago. As for the story itself? I'm... conflicted. More and more I'm just wondering, why didn't they use Kaine? He would've been a much better choice. Now Ben is just left with... something? This all felt like regression. Ben is now the same man he was before his tenure as Spider-Man, except even more confused, lost and angry. I don't know. I liked most of the stuff here. I'm kinda interested what Wells will bring with Vol 6. But this one could've been better.

So, this was rushed. It felt like Spencer was forced to wrap up everything he had done for Chameleon, Teresa, Foreigner, Jamie and what else. So this event felt very small and at disconnected. Spider-Man didn't even meet Chameleon here, nor did Dimitri do this "biggest play" of his (thank you once again for false marketing Nick!) It's not terrible, and I don't blame Spencer for having to rush this, but... It's not that good either.

This is so hard to describe. How can someone feel so slow, yet so rushed at the same time? The revelations here are a mixed bag. Some work, some don't. Overall a very messy finish to Spencer's run, which I had enjoyed until Chameleon Conspiracy. That wasn't bad, just meh. But this? This is not a good one.

Well. That was a start. Let's start with the art. JRJR is one of my favourite artists. The second Spidey comic I read was with his art and I've been a fan of him since. It wasn't as strong here as it was back then, but good enough for me. And the story? Well... It's complicated. I saw another reviewer saying "if you don't like it, don't read it and buy it". And it makes sense. Why bother reading something you know you will dislike? And I get that. Although It's hard for me, I've been a fan of Spidey for over 20 years and reading his comics as soon I learned how to read. So it would take a lot for me to just stop buying and reading his comics. And this is not so bad that I would stop now. In fact. It's actually fine. It has ideas I don't like. But those ideas are executed well. And I can respect that. Overall, this comic is just teasing and setup and reasons for readers to continue reading. Time skip, mystery and whatnot. Does it work here? Well... it would if the outcome would not be as tiring and bothersome. Spencer's run was refreshing, because he fixed all those problems in Peter's life. And now Wells seems to undo everything here. Does it bother me? Yes. Am I still intrigued? ...yes. As I said. I don't hate this. It's fine. I'm interested and I'm giving this book a shot. Wells is not a bad writer. His vision is not something everybody likes and I completely understand if you don't. It doesn't bother me enough to stop reading this. But it might bother you. TLDR: 7/10, could be worse, not a bad start, but not the best one either.

What an odd choice for cover and synopsis. Yes, they have been misleading before, but I can't remember a last time when a character appeared on the cover of ASM and didn't appear at all in the comic itself, or had nothing to do with the story. I'm just confused. That's just... wrong. Like what the hell Marvel? Especially, what the hell Lowe??? But, back to the issue. It's fine? Like yeah, Peter isn't that big of an asshole that we haven't seen previously. Peter, like a normal human being, isn't always virtuous, happy and nice guy. And he clearly is doing badly currently. It's not anything new, but it would be nice to know the reason for it. But again, it's not out-of-character for Peter. One of the reasons I like him so much is that he can have his bad days (like we all do) and the writers aren't afraid to show them. I like what Wells is doing with Tombostone. I like where this is going. I'm interested. Same with Norman. I'm so glad Wells isn't ignoring that part of Spencer's run. It's something new. But the art? JRJR, I love you, but this isn't as good as it has been before. Sure, those comics are like 12-20 years old, but whereas Bagley still delivers gold every time he is the artist, JRJR seems to downgraded somewhat. I don't hate the art, but I don't love it. So a 7/10, could be worse?

I'm really liking this. It's good. I've reread previous issues and they are better than I reviewed them at first. And hey, no missleading cover, eh? That wasn't so hard, was it Lowe? But JRJR's art thou. I started rereading his and JMS' run and my grodd was his art so much better back then...

"something something, this comic sucks because MJ and Peter not married and OMD not undone, something something" In all honesty, this was great. Like really great. Wells' run has been growing on me and this proves that he could have what it takes to makes this truly memorable, in a good way.

For the first arc, this wasn't bad all. Of course, Nick Lowe cannot write a synopsis, even if his life depended on it, but we are sadly used to that by now. But otherwise, I can't say I hated this. It was good. Sure, this doesn't have any revelations or answers for Peter's current life, so if you are after that, you gonna have to wait with the rest of us. I don't really know either where Zeb will take us next. #900's premise doesn't seem that interesting (when Peter fought against 36 enemies at the same time, fighting a Adaptoid made only from 6 of them doesn't seem like a big foe), but hey, I'm ready to be pleasently surprised. I had been this far. But maybe it's because I have zero expectations for this run. Maybe you should have too!

EDIT: After reading this again, this just felt even worse than before. It's Spidey's 60th anniversary and 900th issue and this is what we get??? Well this was a very odd read. I'm perplexed by this issue. And very mixed. Like, this story feels very filler(-ish). It really doesn't move the main story forward (except with "development" which is very... interesting?). But at least this doesn't annoy me nearly as much like #875 did with it's 10 dollar asking price (I will always hate Spencer's What Cost Victory). The story itself is... fine? Like there is nothing bad about it. But it just feels so random. There wasn't really buildup on it (besides that small tease in #1), nor does it include any big moments. Like Spidey teaming up with Sinister Six fighting a Sinister Adaptoid? Cool I guess. But this just doesn't feel like a big milestone issue, like #400, #500, #600, #700 and #800 did. I prefer all of those before this. It's not that bad, but it's not any in way a meaningful or an interesting read. Just a... fun story. And maybe that's enough for you. But not enough for me. And no, it doesn't reveal anything about Spidey's current status quo, so there's that. It just... exists. There is also a big problem with characterization here. Anna drooling over Otto? What? Most of the Sinister Six just being cartoonish bad guys? Vin Gonzales??? Peter sees Flash returning from the dead and is like "cool"? Most is Felicia. After Nick set her up as a friend and Jed made such wonders with her character in her book, this hook-up feels... just unnecesessary. And since it doesn't really end any big story (like 400, 500, 700, 800 did), or tease anything new (like #600 did), or have anything in it really, it just exists. It's not... that bad, like I said. But certainly not worth this milestone number. And to be clear, I did not expect this to "reverse OMD" or "reveal everything about what happened in 6 months", but I did expect something more. Not just a... Spidey vs. Sinister Six. Like after Sinister War and it's Sinister Thirty-Six, I didn't really need to see them as a team again. It just felt very random. Like this story. Art is great in all of the stories. Backups are... okay? (except the Kimmel one, I did not care). In closing, Wells writes this series like a Brand New Day -comics 14-15 years ago. And this issue would be a lot better, if we were living in that era. But we are not.

Huh. No really, that's all I have to say about this comic. Not because it's bad, disappointing or anything like that (like #900 was), it's just... I have nothing else to say about it. So I'm going to continue telling how little I have to say about this. Everything here works... ish. Sure the mystery is there, so if that's not your cup of tea, this issue might anger you more than it did me. For me? It was... fine. But likewise, this issue isn't great like thefirst 5 issues turned out to be, but then again, only after re-reading them I grew to like the arc more. Maybe the same will happen with this one.

It's interesting. Such an odd, but interesting route for this character to take. And I am enjoying it.

It has nice team-up between Logan and Pete and wonderful art from Gleason. That makes this a pretty good read. The final panels... not so much. It's irritating, but we'll see what happens next.

Huh. It's a tie-in that works. Dragotta's art doesn't, but there are many good moments here.

I'm usually very confused these days when I read Wells' Amazing Spider-Man. The reason is that it has a lot of elements I should dislike, but Wells makes them work kinda sorta. There are interesting things going and, even if they move slowly. But the pacing has been slow so far, so it shouldn't surprise. In short? I kinda liked it. I'm interested to see where this goes. I know that a lot fans currently dislike this run, and I can see why, but I personally just can't. It kinda works for me.

What? It's good and I'm enjoying this. So sue me. (Actually please don't, I have very little money right now.)

I liked it. I'm really enjoying this run, even if I have no reason to, since the status quo should be something I heavily dislike. But it still works for me. Sure, I don't like how over-reliant Peter feels to Osborn's suit sometimes, but I still enjoy this.

The whole idea of Dark Web has been so confusing to me. Having an event so soon after Wells started his run feels odd. Since I don't feel enough has happened character-wise to Peter. And then the event itself. Crossover between X-Men, Venom and Spider-Man to fight demons from Limbo? That really doesn't feel like a Spider-Man event, even if Ben is the antagonist. But the idea of Ben doing that also just feels so... odd. Clone Conspiracy has it's issues, but at least it felt like a Spider-Man event and not just random stuff mashed together. I just... I don't see this working. So with those thoughts, I still wanted to give Dark Web a chance. Because I have been enjoying Wells' run mostly. The whole run has ideas I heavily dislike or ideas that confuse me, but Wells seem to make them work. Maybe this would do? Sadly, that isn't the case. This just doesn't work for me. I don't really care and Ben being just full-on villain (again, just after being "redeemed" from Clone Conspiracy) just doesn't work. And Janice? Just... eh. It all feels so forced. Just so that this event would happen. Art is fine-ish, but I feel like none of the artists bring their A-game to this. All of the art feels unfinished and the writing just feels like a fever dream came to comic. It's odd that Venom had me more excited for Dark Web than this. And you know the oddest part? This event is the biggest thing that has been marketed for this series. This random event that has forced motivations for characters so that they could be baddies. I have zero ideas what will happen to this run after this and I'm starting to lose interest too.

It's... passable. It's not the worse comic I've read, but after a solid opening, this felt much more cartoonish and not as good. The opening gave me a sense that this would be more of a horror event, this part feels more from Scooby-Doo. Maybe it's because the art change, but the writing too feels much more childish. I still dislike what they did with Ben. And this even still doesn't feel like a Spider-Man event. It's just... not what Spider-Man run currently needs. But it is entertaining. Venom being straight from the 90s is an odd move, but I'll read the tie-ins before I judge that move more.

This is so bad and so forced. It's really hard to enjoy this part of the event when it's just Spider-Man vs Chasm and Chasm is written horribly. Like nothing Ben does makes any sense. What is his end goal? Like after he has memories back from Peter, what then??? Will he just live with himself and the Parker guilt, knowing he unleashed demons from Limbo who hurt and maybe killed innocent civilians??? I hate everything they've done with Ben and because he is the focus of this event and especially this issue, it's really hard to enjoy anything about it. Maybe McGuiness's art?

It's better than last time. The scenes of Peter working for Hell Bugle were enjoyable and all, but... This is just so stupid. Ben isn't the focus as much here, which means I am not reminded how terribly he has been written. It still annoys me whenever I see him talking. The "Sinister" Six is also just... what. All this just feels so random and goofy. It's not at all what I hoped Dark Web would be after such a strong opening. Now, it's not entirely negative that the comic isn't what I want it to be, if it otherwise is written well and drawn. This isn't... terrible, but I just can't enjoy this when the event itself still baffles me. It feels like tie-ins take this event much more seriously than the event itself.

It's a very perplexing issue. It's... certainly something. If we put the atrocius and horribly written direction for Ben aside, it's passable. It's a demonic invasion that doesn't take itself too seriously, with great art from McGuinness. So as it's own, it's okay. If we ignore the "wtf is this bs" they did with Ben. (King Chasm...?) But as an event, it's very messy. Pacing for it was off, it felt like not a lot happened in the main book of the event. And the tone was all over the place. This feels like a parody version of the opening issue of Dark Web. Or that the writer changed the direction heavily after that. Tie-ins too take this much more seriously. And because of the tonal inconsistencies, it's hard to enjoy this event as a whole. Gold Goblin, X-Men and Venom all took this event to a very different direction than Wells. Which just confuses me so much. So as a penultimate issue of Dark Web, it's not good. As it's own issue, it's not that bad. So let's give it a meh.

I'll be honest. This was really fun. I'm really confused on why we suddenly had a guest creative team on ASM (can't remember the last time this happened), but I don't mind. Kelly wrote this event well, it's a nice change of pace after Dark Web that I welcome. Seeing MJ and Paul here didn't ruin this for me, I don't really hate Paul because we have seen so little of him. So I'm indifferent about it. I don't like the idea, but we'll see where it goes. The only big prolem for me here is Dodson's art feeling a bit messy and unfinished at times. I loved his work on Marvel Knights, part of the reason why I love Millar's Down Among Dead men, Venomous and Last Stand is Dodson's great art. Here it just doesn't work as well. But that doesn't ruin this issue. I'm looking forward to the conclusion. Maybe I like this so much because my standards for ASM aren't that high currently. At least this didn't include character assassination(s) like Dark Web did.

Before I give my thoughts about this issue, I wanna talk about this series overall. It's currently heavily disliked by the vocal part of the ASM fanbase, and especially this issue's leaked panels just added fuel to the fire. Wells' style is very BND-esque. And tbh, his stories would fit more with BND that happened ~15 years ago than now. Especially since we don't know what caused this "Wells' BND", 10 months later. So, overall, I don't like the premise. But Wells' run hasn't had the time to shine either. 20 issues in and only abouty half of them are actually part of Wells' own run. Only half of them are not tie-in, anniversary issue, part of an event or written by a guest. So it's still too early for me to say this is the worst run ever, we haven't really seen what the run could be. Since I feel like it never had the opportunity to even shine from the start. Like only 10 issues of this run have actually been Wells moving forward his own storyline. And that is not a lot. I say all this, to give an idea that I do not dislike this run. It has ideas I disagree with, some I dislike heavily, but most of them work because Wells writes them pretty okay. I dislike feeling that they come from BND -era, but I still enjoy issues that actually go somewhere. This issue itself just didn't work for me. Dodson's art was very messy and most of this issue was just action. That had bad art. Kelly's dialogue was mostly okay, but the second part made this whole two-parter feel rushed and forgettable. And the final pages? I thought with added context they would flow better, make more sense, but... nope. It feels very out-of-place, maybe because guest writer wrote it, but... I don't get it. And Felicia dating Peter is not something I hate, but for now it hasn't shown to be worth it, especially since Jed did wonders with Felicia's character. The pairing is cute and if MJ isn't the focus, why not have Peter date Felicia. I just hope it goes somewhere and isn't forgotten in the following three months. Felicia deserves better. So this issue was a mess. Just... not good, even if I enjoyed the first part. And Peter and MJ are not happening. I really hate the idea, but let's pretend I accept it. The next arc will focus on what Peter did 6 months ago (because of MJ) which feels... odd? To first say Peter doesn't love MJ that way anymore to immediately jump to a storyline where them caring for each other is the main focus (so much so that Peter fights FF and works with Norman). And that just feels odd? Like what is this run trying to do. I started this by explaining my thoughts on Wells' run. Why? Because I wanted to say that even if I didn't like this issue that much, disliked Dark Web heavily and this run's plan is very perplexing, that doesn't mean Wells' run is "the worst ever". Because it really isn't. The first arc is really good. And this run has had so much potential. But I just wish this was an actually 20th issue of Wells' run and not the 10th "placeholder-issue". But because this is just a placeholder and Wells' run hasn't gone anywhere still like only 10 issues (1-5, 7-8 and 11-13) have actually been his own thing. Yeah, mostly rambling. So TLDR: 4,5/10, mostly bad because the art, "MJ is like a sister to me" didn't help.

I don't hate it. I'm honest. Since this really is a trip down of a memory lane. Fun fact, when my mom first started ordering me Spider-Man every month (here it comes only once a month including 2 issues), it was 2009. And the first arc that it included from start to finish was 555-557. So Wells' Wayeb/Rabin arc is very nostalgic to me. I remember being very excited for it, when I was like 12. So it is and always will be nostalgic for me. Which is why, I don't hate this. I really don't. For a one good reason. There is nothing to hate. Paul and kids are non-existent, so I don't even bother complaining about them. They do nothing, nor do they mean anything for me, so I just don't care about them. But. There is nothing to like here. Plot moves very slowly and barely anywhere. I get why they didn't start the series with this storyline. The first issue offers nothing for readers. There is nothing to hate really. Art is... fine? But nothing to like either. So don't waste your hatred of this run for this issue. There are more interesting issues to talk about. And this isn't one of them. The biggest crime this issue does is for being such a meh one. If you like it, good. If you hate it, good. I can't be bothered to do either. Did Wells and Co. overpromise this? Maybe. But it isn't the first time for Lowe and certainly won't be the last time.

It's... fine I guess. Nothing really peaks your interest if you don't care about the story beforehand, nor does it have any unique twists or story beats you can't see coming. It really doesn't justify wait or the messy storytelling this run has suffered so far. But, it's readable.

It's fine. Like completely fine. It's not the worst issue ever.

Okay. After reading it, it's still not the worst issue ever. This still isn't the worst run ever. Like yeah, I want MJ and Peter to be together. Yes, this run has had it's issues (tee-hee). Especially in pacing and overall structure. But, this just isn't the worst ever. I feel like some fans are just expecting that there isn't anything else here except face value. And some people just assume MJ is a victim of Stockholm syndrome(???) and Paul can't keep it in his pants and that is how the kids were born. Even when Zeb has shown there is something deeper going on with them. My theory? I just think they are both halves of Wayeb, reincarnated in child forms of MJ and Peter, due to them being marked as sacrifices. It's wacky, but that is comics for you. One ofthe inspirations for that was Steph/Romy asking for clowns and if they had ears. Peter being called the sunblood clownpriest (who hasn't had his ears shown when wearing the mask) just feels like there is something deeper going on. But maybe I am just coping here, who knows. That's not to say this issue was particularly the best. It feels lacking. JRJR going cosmic was amazing and F4 was written in pretty funny way. I enjoyed the little there is, but it doesn't feel like there was much. We have to wait 3 weeks for #25 and then 3 weeks for #26 and it feels like that is where the meat of this story is. And that is not really good for 6-part storyline. So yeah, not the best issue. It felt more interlude. But not the worst either. Nor is this 1/10. More like... 6/10? I dunno.

I must admit, I don't see the hate for this issue. Another "passable" one, that you can read. I didn't really feel anything for this issue. This 6-part storyline has felt very messy, oddly paced, but I hoped it would get better. Now it's just... meh. There isn't anything really here for me to grab. Art was fine I suppose. MJ's backstory was... fine I suppose? Some twist with the kids, but otherwise the plot is very straight-forward and doesn't have any twists or interesting stuff to talk about. Biggest problem here is the lack of good writing for the Scribbled Man Rabin. He was much more enjoyable and memorable in his BND appearance than he is now. I don't feel anything when I see him, he is not threatening, or particularly interesting. I just want him gone. I can't wait for this storyline to be done. This past year of ASM has been very messy because of it, and I just wanna move on. I think Wells wants too. If this is all this entire storyline will offer, it feel like a massive fake-out. A year worth of messy storytelling is not justified by this lackluster straigth-forward story with a forgettable villain. I sincerely hope I am wrong about this, since I still somewhat believe in Wells and want this run to succeed.

Umm... so I have a LOT of thoughts about this comic. Maybe the biggest one is... I don't hate it? I think it's kinda okay-ish, not-bad-not-good-but-more-good-than-bad? I KNOW I KNOW. Hear me out, put the pitchforks down. Let's start with the good. I said, put the pitchforks down. I kinda liked the art. Especially whenever Rabin was on scene, his ritual scenes were great. Everything looked kinda amazing. Faces tho, JRJR I love you and always will, but... yeah. Not as amazing to say kindly. And the writing? Well it's mostly good. I re-read the previous issues of this arc and they felt better? A bit? And I was invested on this comic too. I cared what happened and, there were many good scenes. As a singular comic, I liked it. And then came the death scenes. I must be honest, the idea works, how it goes down and all. I think had it not been spoiled, it would've kinda worked... ...had it not been Ms Marvel who dies. I'm not going to pretend that I'm a huge Kamala fan or anything, but this was not the place for it. Not the ASM book. Kamala has been barely a presence here, so her being gone just feels wrong. I remember when I first heard about it and I thought "this must be a troll or something, this is so stupid." I actually laughed becayse I was so sure it was a joke. But it wasn't. So no, this doesn't feel right, nor was it done well. So if you are a massive Kamala fan, or just like her in general, and feels this to be a massive injustice to her, I get you, I won't disagree with you. It's not the worse thing ever for me, but I can recognize how badly it was done. Then the other big thing. Like I said, I still kinda enjoyed this comic. As a singular comic, it's mostly good. As a finale to this "Death Language" -arc, it's still mostly good. As a finale to the first year of ASM, it's terrible. It's bad. I hope you are still hearing me, because I feel now some of you might agree with me more. During the past year, ASM has been plagued by this mystery box and the run has suffered for it. Heavily. There has been good issues (opening arc, Hobgoblin arc) and atrocius ones (#900, Dark Web). It has been hard to sometimes enjoy this run and while this finally gives us some answers, it doesn't make it better in hindsight. Paul finally gets some character. Which is nice. I never hated him (although I love the memes), but this could've been brought up so much earlier to make us care about Paul. Especially since we have barely seen him. The flashbacks do work, but I would've wished to see them previously. Same with the kids. A lot people enjoyed seeing them gone, and while I'm happy I was right about them being related to Wayeb'/Rabin, I just wish we would've seen them more. That I would care about them being gone more. And Rabin as a villain was just poorly done. There was nothing interesting about him, and this family relation would've improved a lot, had it been brought up previously. His previous appearance in #555-557 worked much better for me (although that might be the nostalgia speaking, those were my ASM first comics I got when my mother started ASM subscription. Not my first ASM issues, but the first storyline I got to read fully). To a lot of people, this arc is too little, too late. And I kinda agree. It doesn't justify the poor writing and messy pacing this run has had, nor did we need to wait this for a year. It doesn't feel like it's worth it. And this is coming from someone who has liked (parts of) this run and this storyline too. Had the run started with this arc and then concluded with #900 with someone else dying, I feel like this would've worked a lot better. But, now as it is, this doesn't make this run retroactively better. It just makes me dislike editorial more. So in conclusion/TLDR: not to the worst comic. Not the worst storyline (like seriously, Dark Web exists and it was WAY worse than this). Better than you might think it is. Ms Marvels' death still doesn't work, nor does storyline this save this run. However, I won't give up on this run. I feel like we can FINALLY move forward and to some interesting storylines. And just move past... whatever this is. I still somewhat-ish trust Wells, but if you stop this run because of this storyline and how it was handled (Ms Marvel's death especially), I don't blame ya.

It's a very odd issue. Like, I don't know what this is trying to be. It's a continuation to #900 (that we don't need IMO), but 20 issues later. Which already is an odd placement. It's also continuation to Gold Goblin #5, which ended in such non-conclusive way, I didn't expect it to be continued now. It feels more like this is trying up storylines that were forgotten until someone reminded the Spidey office about it. Or maybe the first year was so poorly planned that it caused it to have major pacing issues and messy storytelling. But that couldn't be possible, could it? Black Cat is back... without any mention where she was during Dead Language arc. Which is... odd? If they setup her to be Peter's love interest for now, you would think she would've had a part in the biggest arc of the Wells' first year in ASM. It feels like we missed an issue here. I get that Fallen Friend will explore this more, but I would've hoped something here. Because now there is just... some talk between Norman and Peter. It's not bad, but it doesn't feel nearly enough. It doesn't feel like Ms Marvel actually died last issue. Of course, it doesn't help that she had such a small presence in ASM so that it's hard to really feel anything about her deaht. Then there is Otto. Whose writing leaves lot to be desired. I don't like this cartoonish take Wells has for Otto. It just feels regressive. And with Superior Spider-Man returning later this year, I don't know what this will accomplish. I don't have anything good to say about this issue really. Art was nice. I didn't hate it, but... boy did it not leave me with anything to be interested about. But. It's not the worse issue ever. And if you think it is, you really need to wonder why are you even reading ASM anymore. If last storyline didn't make you stop reading, I can't imagine this one is the one that makes you stop. If you actually hate this run so much, don't read it. Don't just complain every other week how bad it is, but continue to read it. Because it just gives a picture you want to complain and need something to complain about. And that is just getting tiring. This run deserves criticism, but spamming every other week "FIRE WELLS, WELLS BAD, THIS RUN BAD, HORRIBLE BAD, TERRIBLE, BAD!!!!!" doesn't help anyone. Because criticize this issue for what it does badly or poorly, not just what previous issues did. If we base whole runs on only some issues, JMS run was terrible (it had both Sins Past and OMD) and Spencer's run too (his final issue, What Cost Victory is a atrocious garbage and dumpster fire that should've been rewritten or never released).

There is some really good stuff here. Art is nice. Otto getting his memories back from Superior era is not something I was expecting. And that it was his main driving force is a very interesting plot. So mostly, this issue should be passable or good. If it not for some major issues. First, the placement. It's kinda horrible to be honest. Khamala died three issues ago and we haven't seen it affect anyone here really. We are now getting a wacky Doc Ock story, when it really should be an interlude or character study. You know, about Peter? How does he feel for a teenage hero to die under his watch? How does he feel about Kamala's law? He should be very conflicted, for he was one of the first teenagers who became super heroes. So what are his thoughts? But no, we get none of that. Because Peter is barely a character here. On a book called "Amazing Spider-Man" it sure does focus A LOT on Norman Osborn and the villains. Kamala's death seemingly affected Norman more than Peter. And the whole storyline is about Norman and Otto with Peter being there in the sidelines. There are some interesting stuff here (return of Rek-Rap is not that tho), but it's otherwise just teasing. It's like Zeb is writing something interesting, but doesn't use it to it's full potential. Another good example: Otto doesn't challenge Peter at all for working with Norman. Especially now that he is getting his memories back from Superior era. Otto of all people should know how much Peter hates Norman. But that is also barely a plot point. Peter has forgiven Norman way too easily. We got like one issue of it, when we should've gotten way more. Norman killed Gwen 50 years ago and came back roughly ~25 years ago. And they have been at each other's throats since then, until Spencer's run. And Peter is so cool with Norman? There is no interesting dialogue about it, or anything really. This could've been an interesting study on Otto challenging Peter for working with Norman, while also wanting revenge on Norman. All that would be much more riveting than this. What we got is not bad, but it's lacking severely. Peter has been very passive for years now in ASM (especially in Spencer's run). But it's starting to show how badly it affects ASM. Say what you want about Slott, at least he did SOMETHING with the character. Spencer did pretty much nothing except some retcons and Wells has been... well he does something. I don't know what, but something. Let's not forget that MJ lost kids she has had for almost 4 years and there is nothing about that either. Whatever you feel about the Paul stuff, you have to agree that it's kind of a travesty that in no way has Peter thought about how MJ is doing. "Cuck" """jokes""" aside, it would be pretty in-character for Peter to feel responsible for MJ losing those adopted kids to a villain who wanted revenge on Peter. But no, we get none of that either. Maybe later? Like 20 issues later like this storyline happened after #900? Like happens with most plot points that this book has? They are introduced, then almost forgotten until reintroduced 20 issues later. LOWE EVEN JOKES ABOUT THAT WITH REK-RAP. LOWE. THAT IS NOT A JOKE. THAT IS A CRITICISM THAT SHOWCASES HOW POORLY THIS RUN HAS BEEN PLANNED AND IT'S YOUR JOB TO DO BETTER AND FIX IT SO THAT IT DOESN'T HURT THIS BOOK LIKE THE POOR PLANNING HURT THE FIRST YEAR OF WELLS' ASM. BEING SELF-AWARE AND HIGHLIGHTING THE ISSUE JUST MAKES IT WORSE. I don't hate this run. I really don't. It gets way too much crap (some deserved, some not), but I am very frustrated because it has potential that is not used. Instead we get this stories that are kinda fine at best. This story should've happened before Dead Language arc and instead of the travesty that was that garbage we call Dark Web.

This is incredibly conflicting issue for me. On one hand, it's perfectly fine, having okay dialogue, good moments and amazing art. On other, it's annoying read, having bad placement, little progression, questionable status as Otto story overall and odd ending. I really don't know what to think of it. I can't hate it, it's too good for that and I enjoyed it. But I can't really like it, because it comes with so many issues that I can't ignore so I can't fully enjoy it as standalone story. Let's give it a perfectly fine and annoying read: 5/10.

It's fine. Just fine. Not chicanery.

It's alright. There are stories that weren't most interesting for me, but also great stories in backups. Main story was... pretty good. Nothing groundbreaking, but very enjoyable. Peter and Felicia breaking up was just... sigh. It just made me disappointed becuse it showcased how poorly that relationship was done. 31 issues and Felicia appeared in 8? I'm not sad that it's gone because nothing was done with it, but oh boy it could've been handled better. But since it's the only criticism I got and everything else I enjoyed, I think it's fair to say that it was a success. So in conclusion good issue enough. Pricey, but good. I'm also happy that Wells finally had the talk between Peter and Kamala. I would've liked for it to be longer, but I like what we got.

The panel with Felicia wasn't great. It was oddly written and felt a bit ooc. But come on my fellow readers. You guys know this was a banger. With amazing art and intriguing direction.

I loved it. Short and simple.

What a banger of a comic. JRJR made the best cover he has made in a while, Gleason was on fire with art and Wells script just works It's just damn good comic and I had hell of a time reading it.

Gotta be honest, this was a disappointing conclusion. And kind of a big one. I loved the previous parts and this had good moments in it too, but it wasn't at all what I had hoped it to be. We didn't explore NEARLY enough Peter with Norman's sins. We got small tibits here and there, but for a book called Amazing Spider-Man, this felt like afraid to actually explore Spider-Man. I really like what they have done with Norman, I've said it multiple times, but he is the most interesting he has been in years. And I'm keen to see what he does next. Kraven parts where done well. Previously him being Kraven's son/clone didn't seem to matter and it was nice to see some acknowledgement. Gleason's art was wonderful as always. But the big lackluster here is how they handled Peter. I had hoped that we would see more of Peter with sins, or some lasting conseqeuences. Not just with Norman returning in subtle ways, but with the main character of this book. Who is not Norman Osborn. I have nothing to say about MJ and Paul. MJ does her thing. Paul is a nothing-character who I feel nothing towards. I don't care to see him "painfully killed" or whatnot, he is not interesting enough to hate. This is not a bad comic. But for me, this is a massive disappointment. And I would rather read 4 bad comics than 3 great and 1 disappointing one. Because the disappointing ones always annoy you more.

Okay this wasn't what I expected at all. I thought this would be an epilogue to Spider-Man's Last Hunt and not Part One of this Rek-Rap adventure. I have no idea why the synopsis is so misleading. As a singular comic, it's fine? I'm not the biggest Rek-Rap fan, but I don't hate him. But what is this placement? The tonal inconsistency is once again hurting Wells' run, and once again it happens when McGuinness is doing art. Like this isn't an epilogue to Spider-Man's Last Hunt, nor does it feel like a follow-up issue. It feels like the follow-up issue to Dark Web, that happened 6 months and 18 issues ago. I don't know what is it with Wells and continuing his plotlines ~20 issues after. But if anything else, this retroactively made Spider-Man's Last Hunt worse, so there is that.

A very readable-ish issue. But it really didn't need to exist. Rek-Rap is fun and all, but nothing here made it feel like this was needed besides the Gang War setup. Tonally, this placement was so off, especially if Gang War is setup to be more darker and street-heavy storyline. Once again, in a vacuum these 3 issues were fine, but as part of ongoing TASM, they were very misplaced. Rek-Rap doesn't seem to be returning soon in ASM, so that's nice. The less we are reminded of Dark Web, the better.

Gang War? Hah! More like Bang War, because this was a banger for me. An excellent opening issue, I have been critical to Wells' work but this was worth the wait for me. I have been interested of Gang War for a while and if this issue is any indication, it will be amazing. The only part I didn't like was Miles being angry at Peter for being away 6 months. Not the writing itself, it's good, but the implication. Peter being moping away for 6 months hasn't really been a plot point in ~1,5 year so bringing it back once again showcases me the problem of this run that has been lack of planning and pacing issues. I didn't like the idea of Peter being away 6 months (felt a bit too long and kinda pointless in the long run) and since it wasn't brought up after, it feels very random to bring now. Almost like they forgot about it until now.

It's very chaotic and action-heavy. Much like the city is. It's a very enjoyable second part to this storyline. Not the best comic, but there isn't really anything wrong here. Plot moves forward, we visit all major players and see great action from JRJR. There isn't anything more I wanted from this comic. It's so hard to not compare this to the travesty event we got last year in the form of Dark Web. In almost every aspect that failed, this feels to excel. It's funny looking back.

There isn't anything amazing here, but it's very enjoyable and I'm looking forward for next one.

Yeah it's another issue that is just fine. It's not bad and I enjoy the action but a lot of things feel like they are on hold. The biggest problem I have here is how passive Spidey feels again here. His motivations were very well setup in First Strike and in #39 it felt like he would be running the show. But the past two issues have felt like he is in backseat making quips. I like that in big Marvel events, not so much in Spidey-centric events. Otherwise it's solid, JRJR is at his best nowadays when it's all about brutal action and that is what this issue mostly was.

Gotta start this by saying that the recently released USM has no impact on my view on this issue or series in general. I think it's pretty unnecessary and a bit pointless to even compare these two runs, as they are from completely different backgrounds. Wells could've never done something like Hickman did, not because he isn't good enough writer, but because he is writing with a well established character in a tight playground and not in a completely new universe. But this issue just didn't work for me as much as I hoped. Gang War is losing my interest, despite the strong start. Peter is even more of a side character now, Masque as the main antagonist doesn't work at all. She has had very little setup before this, and she isn't a Spidey-related character, so she can be very unknown to most of the readers. The stuff with Lincolns is nice, but not enough. Art is okay. The twist at the start from Fisk was a nice surprise.

Yeah it's the best ending this event could've received. Nothing major but readable.

Easily Zeb's best issue in a while. The art from Carnero was amazing, but Zeb's script here is very focused and very enjoyable. It's also nice to get some plot threads going again, even ~39 issues ago.

I thought this was fine? Like, a bit confusing on the whole setup for the Goblin storyline, but I'm also a bit excited for it. However, Chasm stuff felt random and didn't seem to go anywhere that much. Maybe I just wish this was longer? And we saw Peter and Ben actually interacting without masks? The same kind of writing we had for Peter in #45-46?

This was a really good tie-in. For someone who had no interest in Blood Hunt, Wells and JRJR delivered. It's sad that this continues in tie-in issues, but with #50 being next, I get why.

Truly an amazing issue. As a standalone story, this was phenomenal, and Ed's art is best that it has ever been. I was worried about the tone, but both Wells and Ed were up to the task and I am excited to see what is next. However, I do have problems with this issue. Not as it's own, but as 50th issue of Wells' run. I have spoken about Norman previously and how I have felt that his turn felt sudden and there wasn't enough personal stuff with him and Peter in first half. So now turning back, it feels... still too sudden. But the much bigger issue is how this story has been build up. Once again Wells continues his stories after ages and it has felt like they were completely forgotten or mostly forgotten. It happened with Chasm and Winkler Device and mostly with Spider-Man's First Hunt. Norman's twist feels too sudden. Like there wasn't enough buildup. And the biggest problem for this are the Rek-Rap story and Gang War. Both stories would've been wonderful times to showcase Peter's change in subtle ways, but they didn't. And because of that, the small panels we get for teasing possible brainwash from Goblin during Last Hunt are not enough. It makes this feel more like an afterthought, even if I presume it wasn't. This is a great comic, and a very good read, but because of the lack of buildup for me, it is not as good as I hoped it would be. However, I am interested what happens next in this Easy Going Green story.

It's an entertaining issue with great art and nice surprises. Zeb started strong and continues his streak with this one.

After the strong start, I wasn't ready for the tone to switch this much, or for anything really. It's a bit disappointing, but let's see where it goes next. Also, how does the goo work again?

I'm more confused about this story than disappointed. Nothing here is bad, but it feels too overcrowded to be concluded in the next issue. There are so many characters here and this story tries to conclude so many plot threads that it hurts the pacing. I have more questions than anything. The cliffhanger is not as exciting as it tries to be. This is the second time ASM issue ends with Peter getting sins and the third time (second time in this story) where ASM issue ends with Peter going Goblin.

The two-page spread is amazing. McGuinness once again showcases how good he is as an artist. This arc, like this book has definitely been uneven. Not sure if this ending is deserved, but I'm satisfied with it. Interested to see what happens next.

I know this reaction can sound very off to a lot of the praise this comic has gotten. I try to explain my thoughts in this long ramble: We can start with Shay. It's her fifth appearance and gotta say, I like her. I don't get why MJ and Peter can't be a thing and how them being together makes Peter seem old and unrelatable and then have Peter date someone else. It just showcases that the problem editorial has is not Peter in a relationship, it's just Peter with MJ that is still a very annoying status quo to have. But, this comic is not about MJ. And as much as I love her and want her to be with Peter, her being on the date with Peter right now would not fit with themes and ideas Wells tries to convey in this run. And like I said, I really like Shay. I appreciate a lot her speech on "responsibility to yourself" and she seems like a character that would work with Peter. I hope to see more of her. I am just worried we will get the same old tired story with Shay inevitably learning Peter's identity. So why am I so annoyed by this comic? Isn't it a charming date that many of us have wanted to see Peter have? And isn't it a comic where we finally see Peter being himself and not just swinging as Spider-Man? Answer to both of those questions is yes, but it just makes me annoyed more, because while this works really well as a one-off comic mostly, it really is hard to like as sixth-before-last issue. It's... hard to explain, but I dislike how little we see what Wells tries to say in this run. This is the first issue in months where we finally see some growth in Peter, some change. And... it's the sixth issue before final one. Like... isn't this a bit too late? With Wells run, we always get these very tiny small snippets of Peter going forward. We saw it with his A World Without Love, Luke's speech to him in Rek-Rap adventure, Ravencroft adventure, etc... And then we get nothing in bigger and longer stories. It gets tiring, when he really doesn't seem to go forward. Within Wells run, it's really hard to get in the headspace of Peter Parker, mostly because this comic rarely focuses on him as a character. But like I said, I mostly enjoyed this comic. The date was charming, but what annoys me the most in this one-off story is Peter stopping Rhino and Screwball. Even if we ignore Rhino for a sec (Spidey editorial seems to have no idea what kind of character he is nowadays), that whole speech to them feels... kinda selfish from Peter? And very naive from him to presume they won't just continue that in another part of the city? It's like the only way he can relax on that date now is because Wells broke fourth wall and informed him the villains stopped and did not lie to Peter. I know, lying from super villains? Never seen before. It's not like I hate the idea of Peter being tired of being Spider-Man. On the contrary, I think that is a very interesting thing to explore and instead of going punching the foes, he tries to talk to them first, maybe even get them to quit. Maybe being sympathetic to them and understanding their struggles? But... that is not a thing that is explored in this run. Not really. We first see it in the excellent opening arc, then get a little snippet in issue 10 and then... not really anything. I don't really know what is going on with Peter. Why is he now ready to date Shay? What makes her special and why does her work with Peter better than say... Felicia? Whose romance story in here was so awful, and barely a plot even. It was just there until it wasn't. Such a wasted story. Like I said, I am not opposed to Peter dating Shay. I think it's interesting to see and perfect way to move Peter forward and not just keep him in a stale place (like dating Felicia again as a rebound). But Peter's date life has not been a plot line really, nor do we see how has he gone to this mindset, after his breakup from Felicia. Why is he ready now, or is he just giving life a chance? Is it because GG seems to be gone from his life (once again showing that we have a comic where it has no continuity to previous issue or storyline). Because this book so rarely focuses on Peter and his mindset, these kind of stories don't feel earned. Like Peter's friendship with Norman and now his date with Shay And I kinda laughed when Nick Lowe posted he likes doing these kind of stories. Would be nice if we saw more of them. Instead of "THE BIGGEST BADDEST STORY YOU HAVE EVER SEEN! THE ONE COMIC THAT IS BETTER THAN ANY SINGLE COMIC RELEASED PAST 60 YEARS. A COMIC THAT WILL HAVE MAGNIFICIENT CONSEQUENCES TO PETER PARKER AND SPIDER-MAN AND WILL FEATURE THE LARGEST, BLOODIEST, MOST BRUTAL BATTLE OF SPIDER-MAN EVER!!!" It's hard for me to be invested in these stories and characters, if Wells acts like they never happened whenever there is a new artist. TLDR: Shay seems nice. Date mostly charming. Peter leaving Rhino and Screwball alone felt a bit ooc. Art nice. But the whole thing doesn't feel earned.

I think this issue is the perfect showcase on why Spidey editorial needs massive changes. I'm not sure if it's Nick Lowe, or who/whom, but something needs to happen. But back to the issue itself. The first story was wonderful. Like amazing, truly deserving the title. Having re-read World Without Love yesterday in preparation to this, the parallels to that are very well done. I love how we see it in Peter. In #1, he is directionless, not knowing where to go, or what to do. Just aimlessly wondering about, not even talking to Randy. He is rusty, takes a beating and wants to do everything alone. Here, it's the opposite. Peter is active. He knows what to do, he supports his friend and even wonders how to do it. He has a plan, he executes it well and relies on his friends to do so. His smile during the court session was just wonderful. That is Peter. And his inner monologue. And reflecting on what happened with Norman! Like, that is what I wanted in this run! Peter's monologue and making it feel like these stories do have some sense of order. After Easy Being Green, Peter decides to actively go after Tombstone. It only needed like two boxes! Like how hard was this!? I'll save my rant for later, since I still want to praise this first story. It has great twists and definitely leaves me wanting more. JRJR was on fire with his art and I can't wait for the next chapter. Just cook Wells. Just cook. The first backup is also great. At first I was wondering when did Peter interact with She-Hulk and was pleasantly surprised by the backup story. Even saying "to be continued... in a story you just read" was really funny. Second backup... not really. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty well written, but it's way too late for this. We saw hints of this 30 issues ago (over a year) and after that... nothing. Paul desperately needed this way before and the first page still doesn't feel earned. We did not see how Peter and Paul got this friendly. We needed this story back in #25 to make this work. But the editorial got scared and decided to just keep Paul... there. As a nothing character. But overall, this is a great landmark issue. One of the best in a long time. And that gets me back to my rant on editorial. Like why on earth is this book so poorly managed. Zeb clearly had a vision and I think this and issue #1 showcase perfectly what he wanted to do. But editorial clearly stopped him from doing what he wanted and it has lead to a run that is really hard to recommend. In my honest opinion, they definitely ruined this run. It did not start well, with a sudden break-up, no explanation and another mystery just after Kindred that made the first year of Zeb's ASM bad in hindsight. First 13 issues are good, but the following 13 issues just kinda ruin it. The second year was not any better due to lack of focus on Peter that also definitely hurt the experience. There was no continuity between stories and Peter was rarely the star in his own book. It made it seem like Zeb did not care to write about Peter, when this issue specifically showcases he really does. Paul is also a nothing character that the editorial (or higherups) clearly wanted to use to explain the breakup, but then also got scared of backclash and decided not to do anything with him. Showing once again they are not confident in their plans, if there even are any. There are 8 landmark issues during the course of this run and I think this is the only one that actually deserves it and utilizes it well. Another mismanagement from editorial. So all this book made me think was to ask "why isn't the whole run like this when you clearly have the capacity, skills and want to make it so???" Like I'm just angry. Because there is potential and this book is perfect showcase of it. But you just don't do it. And this editorial mismanagement annoys me so much, because this run can have so many good stories. But they don't seen to use the potential what they have. If I thought Zeb was a hack fraud who could not write, I would not care this much. But I do not think so, I think he is a great writer who was given a really bad hand.

This issue is exactly what it marketed itself to be. Brutal fight between Spidey and Tombstone. And I'm completely fine with it. I got what I wanted from this issue.

It's not bad. In a vacuum it's fine. JRJR's art is good. Not the most brutal fight, that still goes to Spidey facing Morlun in Coming Home. However, here we see Peter being brutal to someone who is more in his weight class. But as a penultimate issue, this is very lackluster. I didn't think we needed this to last two whole issues. Issue #60 has too much stuff to resolve and conclude, and I think it won't do even half of those. There isn't really any character moments here. Like issue #4 had. No clever twist, or Peter's headspace. There are nice moments that showcase his empathy and heroism, but that really isn't enough. Even if #60 delivers, this just feels padding and not necessary.

It's fitting that for a run that has been mixed for me ends with a book that is mixed for me. It's better than that garbage fire ending that Spencer made, but... yeah it's not that good either. But must say, for a final arc that from start was all about loose ends, it did leave nothing but loose ends. The resolution to Tombstone was very poor for me. It's basically the same ending as Gang War, except he is not as angry to Spider-Man anymore. Janice is gone, Tombstone is still Kingpin and the only change to his operation was losing White Rabbit. So... felt bit like a waste? May's role here feels random. We haven't seen her in pages of ASM in over a year, so it was just odd. It was nice, and a nice symmetry to WWL, but it feels like a resolution to a story that we never read. May wasn't really a character here, so the sudden focus on her feels odd. Jackpot as an idea still doesn't work for me. Them being fine with each other would work very well, if their breakup was more natural. But since they wanted to break them without any argument, bad feelings, still caring for each other but also having a reason not to be together, it just doesn't work. This whole setting doesn't work for me. I'm glad Shay isn't ditched. And Chasm was a huge headache. It's the same ending basically as Beyond. All the stories between DW and this were just lies? I get, supervillain lying? Unheard of. But like why do all this? I don't think anyone cares for Dark Web 2. And what was the point of that mini-arc between #47-48? Rek-Rap was nice. Same as Bubs and art in all stories. But overall, it's really hard to say this landed in any capacity for me. It's hard to recommend Wells' run in any way because there aren't really any good changes for Peter in hindsight, only bad ones, stuff that doesn't stick, or just forced changes that are reverted. I hope Shay stays.

Wow, this really didn't work for me. Ed's art is great as always, but first half felt like a chore. This whole "Peter Parker is down on his luck, with little money and poor management of his relationships" is definitely not what I expected to read after Wells' run started the exact same way and ended with Peter moving on and having something stable in his life. It doesn't feel at all like a continuation to what Zeb did in his run. And Spider-Man dumping his problems on a 10-year old just feels so irresponsible and childish. Peter's dialogue just feels off here. I don't know, maybe I was used to Zeb's dialogue, but here he is so wordy while also saying a lot of nothing with a lot of misses in humor The second part was better. Peter handling the trauma of dying was interesting, but otherwise this whole gimmick feels random. And just screams of Spidey office having no idea what to do next. And why is May scolding Peter for not getting his life together? Wasn't the whole point of last run just that? Like am I crazy, or did Kelly just ignore the entire point of last run? I'm not even kidding when I say that this might be one of the worst first issues of any ASM run I've read in a while.

It's not as bad as the previous issue was for me. How Felicia was handled is awful, but not surprising. I have zero hopes for Spidey office to write her well now that Jed isn't there and so best I can wish is that they just skip her character entirely from now on. And how Peter speaks to her is just... bad. That's his ex, and he has acted way more mature in even previous volume, during Spencer run, Beyond and even WWL. Here he acts like flustered teenager who don't know how to respond when his crush speaks to him and it's so bad. Otherwise it's ok I guess. Mediocre, but so wordy with so much mumbo jumbo that Kelly is known for. And it just doesn't work for me most of the time, but art does. The pacing is kinda awful how the second Scion is defeated. It's too sudden and having this happend 4-6 times more is not something I'm looking forward. Norman scenes were nice. And so was Shay at the end of comic. But yeah, this just feels like Spidey office has zero idea what to do and are just spinning the wheels until something happens. I wish it's not Kelly who is the next writer.

I'll be honest. I liked this. A lot. Maybe it's because of new writer who was doing something different? But damn, the writing here felt so much better. Both Felicia and Shay were written well. I was actually invested and not just being tired of doing the same thing. Ireland doesn't break new ground here. But she does something effective and has a great voice for Peter. Something that is more mature and not just sad miserable loser who shoots jokes from a machine gun like Kelly writes Peter. Art was really nice too! A bit rough, but good enough. Overall, I want Ireland to be new writer for ASM, not Kelly.

Reading this, I'm reminded of Gauntlet from Brand New Day. And how it would've been much worse, had each foe only gotten one issue and all issues followed the same structure. That is the problem with 8 Deaths. As a standalone issue, this is what I call perfectly fine. Everything is in place, plot moves forward, we see some personal life of Peter and Spidey action and have pretty good art. But forgettable villain, the same structure for each issue and bland overall plot makes this worse. I don't really care about this storyline, and while Ireland does her best to make this more interesting (much more than Kelly did), this is just eh. There aren't any unique twists, foes don't look anything special and their gimmick isn't anything to discuss about. This is just safe and bland overall story that I can't think will be remembered after Kelly's run starts. There isn't anything special here (at least yet) to remember it by.

Yeah that was pretty good. Kelly finally wrote a good issue of ASM in a loong time. Cafu's art was the highlight tho.

It's filler. It's well done, but still filler. Enjoyable enough (and better than most Joe Kelly issues lol)

Am I going crazy, or didn't Spidey-Office just tell this story. Wasn't the whole point of Wells run going from depressed and avoiding people to stable relationship and getting back on your feet. We just did this. And we are now doing the same. Art was meh, writing while solid, is just screams repetition, that I can't be bothered to be invested.

I can't believe I am saying this, but I miss Joe Kelly. This was absolutely terrible in almost every way, what a mess this story is. What happened? Why can't Lowe make a single storyline stick the landing???

Yeah... I didn't like it. It just felt too sudden and random after two issues of moping to go "oh yeah people do matter lol". It just feels like it's rushing to epic finale out of sudden... the pacing has been pretty bad for this comic. 66-68 have definitely been the weakest issues so far. And I guess Spider-Man didn't die 8 times?

Buckingham's art is amazing. Everything else is pointless filler that doesn't offer anything to ASM.

I have to say, as someone who doesn't like 5 Deaths of Spider-Man, this was fine. Pretty good actually. As a singular issue. With amazing art. But as the penultimate issue of this story, it just showcases all the weaknesses it had. Too many players and very odd writing for Spidey. Kelly's writing is solid for all characters, but how Peter and Blight and general setting was handled, this doesn't save this story. It's a good singular issue, but not a story saver. And I might go crazy, but I genuinely do not know why is this called 8 DEATHS OF SPIDER-MAN, when he only died like 5 times. Does he die 3 times in the next issue lol.

Gotta say, art was phenomenal. And I liked what Kelly's idea was for this and message was heartful So, I can confidently say that if the hack fraud who works for the Spidey office as the main editor doesn't quit by 1000, then I will. The sheer level of incompetence this storyline has showcased has been disrespectful and horrible to see. Like, way to ruin a nice idea by Kelly. Like what the hell was this storyline. What a waste of time with no consequence What was the point of Peter moping for three issues, cheating Shay or treating her horribly, breaking up with her and then getting back together. The only thing managed was to showcase what a joke that relationship is and how horribly Shay is been treated. At least show some character we saw from her in #55. What was the point of that one-off between Peter and Felicia. It didn't change anything. Only lessened the relationship between them. Why where the rest of the X-Men here besides Juggernaut. This is the second team-up we see with them and Spidey and it means nothing. Why do they need to bring Cyclops and Magik here, if they don't interact with the main character at all. Don't they have trust that this will sell? Who is this for??? I like the idea of Cyttorak being the new casket. But what we have seen from this storyline, rules don't matter at all, so by the next time we see Cyttorak, Randy Robertson can be the new casket because why not. And when the Fraud mentioned that it was Kelly's idea they started to work on, I got the idea how it went down. Kelly wanted to do a story where he showcased Peter's love for life and how it can affect even immortal gods like Cyttorak and motivate them to do good by seeing the beauty of life. It's a beautiful idea and Kelly does his best here to showcase it. The rest of this arc pretty much ruins it by disastrous editing, since there is no clear vision how to make it last for 12 issues. And they even didn't get the name right for this. If all other mistakes and choices weren't enough, they can't even name the storyline correctly. 8 DEATHS OF SPIDER-MAN!!! WHERE HE FACES 8 SCIONS OF CYTTORAK. BUT ACTUALLY IT'S ONLY 5. HE ALSO DIES ONLY 5 TIMES. TWO OF THE SCIONS AREN'T EVEN SEEN, JUST KILLED OFF-SCREEN.

Let's start with the obvious. The art is amazing. Just so beautiful. Welcome to ASM Pepe Laraz, I hope you are staying for a long time. As for stories? Kelly did good. This is so much better than #61 was and I think it is because it feels like there is a direction here. We are actually going somewhere and not just waiting for plot to happen. That is great and Kelly uses his time here well. I have seen comparisons to Big Time and it certainly feels like that. First backup is great. I love that Kelly continues to work on Norman's redemption. And it won't be easy. Second one is... I do not like it. I hope this isn't a random magical hell-related bad guy that has zero connection to Spider-Man like Cyttorak or The Blight, or a friend turned demon like Kindred (that is actually a demonic AI controlling cloned bodies made from DNA of your nemesis and your former love with memories from your friend). Because neither of them worked. Kindred especially was bad. And that brings me to my biggest problem here. I am not excited for this run. I have been this down before, and I don't want to be burned for the third time. And it's all because of the editor. Lowe seems like a nice guy. I have nothing against him personally and he seems cool in his responses on letter pages. But his work output has been mediocre or terrible for the past decade, with some standouts. If two last runs of ASM suffered because of poor editing and somehow opposite mistakes, I think that tells something. From the getgo, Kelly seemed like a safe pic. And that he is. This is a solid introduction. But for me, not an exciting one because editorial stays the same.

This is what we call a great issue two. I have zero complaints. Art is amazing, plot moves ahead while everything feels natural. I am still a bit wary of this run because of the editorial. But I am getting excited what we see next. Keep on cooking Kelly!

I liked this! The run still continues to be very solid and I remain interested what happens next! I've missed ASM being consistently good....

I actually loved this. Like wth, this was a banger issue and this whole arc has been really good. Are we actually getting back? I hope this sentiment ages well. I really do.

Larraz is amazing and the MVP here. Otherwise, this was really fine. Nothing groundbreaking, but enjoyable read.

I really liked this issue. Wells run didn't have these interlude issues that focused on all different parts of Peter's life and they were sorely needed. I like most of the developments, the relationship part I am confused by. Not by the status of the relationship, more that spidey office is actually going there. Interesting choice to say the least. JRJR was okay. I think I will always love his style, he was the artist on second ever spidey issue I bought, so nostalgia will always keep me on his side.

I think this is the weakest issue of this run. Not to say it's bad, it's still enjoyable read, but not on level of previous issues. Since it is mostly fighting. I do like how well Kelly wrote Peter here. He seems to have a good grasp on his voice. But JRJR was a disappointment. The blueprint is still there, I love how his makes the story move from panel to panel. It lacks focus. But if his inker currently is undergoing cancer treatment, I can't be too hard on the art.

This felt like the least Joe Kelly issue he has made in a while. It's not a bad thing at all, I enjoyed this a lot. Maybe it just showcases how much I have underestimated him and his range these past years. Art is amazing. As for spoilers, I believe the popular theory that the "Peter" we see is Ben. There are so many clues that it's hard not to. But I am still interested how this happened. I wish we finally get a good Chasm story.

Yeah this was surely something. I was genuinely surprised.

I liked it. That is my short and simple view on this. I liked both stories, I liked that this milestone issue was used to advance the plot and we know where we will head next. I think this is the best I have seen Ben as Chasm. I am not still fan of the idea, but so far Kelly has made it work better than I saw in Wells run. Pepe's art was amazing. JRJR was fine, but I missed Pepe. What was a bit annoying was how slowly both of these plots move. I hope we will learn more in the future, how and why Ben picked up Peter's identity and learned what his world involves currently, how Norman decided to put on the suit and where Peter is. So far, 3 issues after Hellgate confrontation, the plot hasn't advanced too much nor do we have a lot of answers. I hope Kelly can pick up, because the energy and flow in the first five issues was great and I miss that.

I would say as an overall package, this is a really good and enjoyable comic. Ed's art shines here, I wish he stays on this title for longer. Writing is also really good, I enjoyed all the interactions and especially the voice Kelly has for Norman is really good. The only part I am disappointed in, is how Ben is handled. There are still so many questions relating to him (how and why being the biggest ones) and I hope that plot will start moving soon. To any direction.

This is just really good stuff. Sure, the overall pacing of the plot could be quicker, but I am liking everything this book has to offer. Especially the art, it is astonishing. But the writing here is also really good. Keep on Kelly, you have not let me down yet.

A bit more mixed issue for me, but only because I want to know Ben's deal and I can't wait to find that out. Otherwise, it's really good. Kelly's writing for Norman is amazing and I really liked the other cast too. Janice especially trying to help Peter was a heartwarming scene. But yeah, everything else I like, Nauck and McGuinness work once again as a pair, but I want to find more about Ben. It's still a really enjoyable read and I imagine I will enjoy this even more in trade.

I really liked this. Really really liked this. What a "succulent" issue of ASM.

This arc just works for me so well. Even JRJR's art was good.

I loved this issue. So so much. What a blast. Thank you Joe and Pepe. I needed this. And also, if you had told me one year ago that I would sing praises of ASM while being disappointed by USM issue after issue, I would've asked what you are smoking and if I could have some.

What a way to end Kelly's first year on ASM. Writing for both JJJ and Norman was stellar and I liked all the developments here. Especially the final pages, I did not expect this direction. JRJR's art also worked really well, even if slower paced issues are not his strength as much as more action-focused are. One could think why I praise this comic, while also dissing USM so often. Even if the problems are the same: "no focus on Peter, no development on his side and overall plot moves slowly". Difference is: we see Peter again in the next issue and have seen his growth. There are also isn't a month long timeskip to the next issue, where everything this issue focuses on is ignored. And the two major character in this book talk about themselves and how Peter (you know, the guy who *SHOULD* be the main focus of a Spider-Man book) has affected them and how they have treated him. Amazing stuff. Keep cooking Kelly.

I have read this now multiple times. I do like it a lot. The rematch wasn't as big spectacle as I hoped, but everything here works so well. Even if I was a bit disappointed by the resolution to the fight itself, character interactions, developments and new revelations made this a stellar issue. Larraz is the king for his artwork.

I liked it mostly, but damn the artist switch makes it messy to read. And Ben continues to be the weakest link in this story. We know as much of him and his motivations as we did 12 issues ago.

This book is starting to remind me of Spencer run in the worst way. Aka art being really messy because we have multiple artists with conflicting styles needing to work together. It doesn't work and because of that, we got #875, one of the worst issues of ASM ever imo. Like writing is fine. It's rushed but fine. So much stuff happens and because we have both Nauck and JRJR, two very different artists, it's hard to really immerse in this comic. And because of that, I am left with meh. Sure it's readable. But as a conclusion to Resolute Spider-Man arc, it feels kinda hollow.

If I had a nickel for every time the first big crossover of new ASM is horror related, with second issue marketed as Spider-Man vs Venom fight, drawn by Ed McGuinness and having Eddie as red murderous symbiote, I would have two nickels. That's not a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. This was pretty good. Something felt a bit off, I dunno. Ed's work is amazing, and I was surprised how much it fits here, when I am used to his stories being a bit more comedic. I liked very much that the tone was consistent with what was established (that Dark Web wasn't after that first issue) even if art style was different. Maybe I just wanted more. The plot could've progressed a bit faster, but I liked everything that this issue offered and I am really glad Peter's plotline of coming to home is not sidelined for the crossover (that Dark Web did). So overall, I liked it. It's hard not to compare this two Dark Web and it's second issue, but this was done so much better.

This just continues to work for me so well. I am interested to see more!

It's fine, but this is losing me a bit. Carnage is stealing the show and while it's nice, Torment loses his impact. And why are they trying to pair MJ and Flash...

Yeah I wasn't a fan. It's not bad but feels rushed. All in all, it felt like Kelly wasn't as interested in this as others. His script is fine, how Peter beats Carnage is great, but otherwise, whole event feels lackluster. I was hoping for drama, conversations and tension and all I got was... not a lot. And why do they insist on hinting FlashXMJ...

Amazing issue. These kinds of breather issues are always nice to read and this one especially hits close for me. My life has generally been a mess lately too, even if it is going better, so reading Peter's thoughts and almost giving up is very relatable. But he doesn't. And that's what makes him my favorite super hero. Kelly did a wonderful job here. Art was great and this didn't feel shoehorned. Even if I wasn't a big fan of 8 Deaths, callback to it was great. It just worked. Everything here just works for me. And while I will always love JRJR, I'm not sad to hear he is leaving ASM. New artists are always welcome, I mean look at Pepe Larraz! He is amazing. And I know few others who would be just as great on ASM.

Another banger of an issue. I just like how Kelly keeps everything connected. I wasn't a fan of Death Spiral in the end, but it's nice to see it isn't forgotten. Art was amazing and Brian is creepy and a good villain. Just good stuff.

Finally read this! I really liked it. Art was great and I liked implications. Spore especially looked great. I think Cormac stuff hinges on the next two issues, so I will wait for those before giving my thoughts on him.

I am a bit mixed on this. Don't get me wrong, I loved the art, villain stuff was good and writing for May was excellent. But I just wish there was less action and more talking. I just wanted more of that and not Blood Market.

This was just eh. Like, this didn't make Torment any better, or Death Spiral any better. And his motivation to go after Spider-Man felt more lazy. Like all of this felt just... eh.

I liked it. Short and simple. And very interested to see what happens next.

This was a very meh comic. As it's own, it's okay, writing is okay and art great. But as a continuation to ASM #49, this feels very off. Peter's attitude has gone 180, tone is much more sillier and continuation from previous issue is lacking. I don't really care about continuing Beyond storylines 2+ years later and this comic didn't give me any reason to be invested in those again.

I loved this. JMS writing Spider-Man is always like putting an old comfortable sweater and feeling good. It's nothing new, but the familiarity and good vibes makes it a really enjoyable experience. Also, I just love the voices JMS has for these characters. Especially Peter. His is one of my favorites.

I really don't care this as an Avengers story. To me, it feels more as an amazing Hulk story.

It's good when it's a Hulk story. As an over-the-top-Avengers-story, not so much. I'm glad Al Ewing will continue writing Hulk in his new series. Because when Hulk is in it, it's great.

When Simon and Hulk talk, it's great. When Hulk appears, it's great. When Bruce is in it, it's great. When they don't appear at all, it's mediocre.

Voyager isn't that interesting character. Nor are the Challenger and the Grandmaster compelling villains... But thanks to Bruce and Jarvis, this issue is enjoyable enough.

Very good start. Avengers 1.000.000 BC. are an interesting concept and I want to see more of them. Jason Aaron is the right guy for this series and the artwork is great.

It's Jed MacKay, I knew he wouldn't disappoint. But this was a really strong start. I quit Aaron's Avengers after it started to become too non-sensical, so this was a great starting point.

Splentastic.

This was good, but felt really rushed. I'm glad that this storyline is over, it felt too dragging at times.

Fantastic start!

It is fine. Okay. Not great. Not bad. Just fine.

It is okay. Art is nice and the writing is okay. As a standalone issue, this works just fine. As a penultimate issue? Not so much. There is much more potential here but it is what it is.

Very anticlimactic and boring. Doom's character was wasted.

+We get to go inside Bruce's mind and that's awesome +Nice action scenes +Nice artwork -Not enough Bane -As good as this is, it feels like a filler issue

This feels so unncecessary. Making Ivy villain again just to have her as a villain. It never felts like it's everyone against Bat and Cat and the writing isn't King's best. Artwork is the saving grace here.

King writes a good Catwoman. And the art is good as always.

This is the first time I don't like King's issue. At all. But this is just so bad. -First of all, Booster jokes how Hal killed himself? What? And acts so childish in this. -Second, Dick is Batman who kills superheroes before they will be jokerized? What?? How is that logical, I don't even... WHAT? -We got a glimpse of Duke who is braindead. How was that necessary? And Talia and Ra's sword figting. Yeah, without Batman, Ra's doesn't have a heir. -Even the summary of this comic is confusing. Was King on high when he wrote this? +Artwork is nice I guess?

Last week's issue was the worst of this series. This week's isn't any better. "Oh Brucie, you were never the world's greatest detective." C'MON KING THIS JUST LAUGHABLE. Dialogue is so bad, Booster's actions make no sense, Selina is what now? A serial killer who makes cat noises? And we still don't get why Dick is Batman. And kills. We hear the name Joker, but we don't see anything. Todd is mentioned again but I know there isn't anything else for him except vague mentions. I just cannot comprehend how bad this is. Artwork is better then last week. So this one gets a better rating.

There are good and bad things about this issue. Good: Art was nice. And the major good thing about this is that it's finally finished. FINALLY. Now the bad: EVERYTHING ELSE. MY GOD WAS THIS AWFUL. JUST SO BAD THAT I CANNOT EVEN DESCRIBE IT. DON'T READ THIS. AND MAKE SURE KING NEVER WRITES BOOSTER AGAIN.

Well, that hype was a waste of time. And so was the synopsis for this issue. And all the build up. I guess the cliffhanger is okay-ish? But after all that hype and build-up, why end it just there?

It's pretty good. I hated Batman #50, so as a follow-up to that, this sucks. As a standalone story, this is great. I have so mixed feelings about this. At least the art is great.

This was an interesting story arc. Good, but it came out of a bad 50th issue. So that is my one of my issues. The other one being that that the killing of those 3 women is not yet resolved. i hope it will be. Still, comparing Batman to God was interesting and it shows how Bruce has lost his faith in Batman. In himself. Artwork was very good to this arc. It wouldn't normally work, but in this one, it works very well.

If we would review this comic just by it's art, a solid 9. Tony Daniel is a good artist. And I think he is chosen to be artist every time King writes a terrible comic. This and Booster Gold-future-mess proves that. Just two dudes fighting while a fairy-tale is being read in a flashback. And Batman leaves KGBeast dying. King, the last thing you wanna do is take inspiration from BvS. Overall, terrible issue. Batman acts like he is in Dark Knight Returns, but this isn't a Frank Miller comic from 90s. And the most disappointing thing is that King can do better.

First of all, spoilers. Got It? Ok. This is interesting. How Bane will break Batman by making everyone hating him and himself questioning is he on the right here. Mikel Janin does great artwork. "YOU SHOT MY BOY!" I've been waiting that line for a longest time. How Bruce finally lashes on Bane for hurting Grayson. But it's still very slow. I MEAN VERY SLOW. Ten issues in and we know very little of Bane's plan. I get that King wants to write his Knightfall, but ehhh... 41 issues left and two of them are part of Flash crossover. So 39 issues left? Ehh... And Batman punches Gordon. I get that he is broken and on some level, I'm not surprised. But. I don't know. I still doesn't work. It's complicated. Bruce clearly is shocked that he did it and he has every reason to (I mean, if you were punching someone who you know almost killed your son and s your closest friend tried to stop you, you would punch him). I can understand why he did it, but I still understand if you hated that he did it. So yes, my rating is 8.5. I kinda liked it. But if you disagree, know that I understand where you're coming from. Here, next on Batman, Bruce fights Alfred I guess? Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

Good writing in Batman comic? I've missed that...

Art was okay. And that was the only positive about this issue. What are the negatives you may ask? Well, first of all, nothing happens to move story forward. I get it King, 100-issue story arc is a lot of writing and it is certain that some of the issues would be filler. I'm okay with that. But having an exciting cliffhanger and then not continuing it for two issues? Now that is a problem. It wouldn't be a big one, if this issue was good. It wasn't. And why you may ask? If I look this issue as it's own, not thinking other issues, it has a big problem. I don't hear Batman in most of the inner dialogue. I just don't. Usually when I read character's inner dialogue, I get who that character is. If this was some father in Batman costume, I would totally believe it. So, bottom line: avoid this one.

We have a 8 -part storyline going right now. That hasn't gone anywhere. Positives? +Janin's artwork is simply amazing. I just love it. +It would be nice to have Bruce and Selina as a couple. Now the negatives: -Wanna-be-deep writing? I don't know, it is hard to explain, especially since english is not my main language, but this writing is so wanna-be-deep and it feels so off in a Batman comic. King wants to break Bruce psychologically, but he does it so slowly and it's not that good. It feels so off right now, it's hard to say why. It's not terrible, awful like his Booster Gold storyline was, just meh. And the other big problem we have right now? I don't care. At all. I was interested in having Knightfall 2.0 but right now it is done so slowly that I'm just not that excited for it anymore. At this rate, we will have the conclusion to this King's 100-issue arc in december/next year and that is too long. King has written good filler-issues in the past, that is not the problem here. The problem is that it's filler that doesn't lead to anywhere and it's in a moment where there should be excitment. WE HAVE FLASHPOINT BATMAN WORKING WITH BANE TO BREAK BRUCE AND KING JUST WON'T LET US SEE ANYTHING ABOUT THAT. Right now we have 8-part event Knightmares where each issue is completely different than the previous one in a bad way. If I didn't know these last three issues were numbered 61, 62 and 63, I I would think I would've missed some issues. And that is a big problem.

That was better than Knightmares. But not that good. It was okay. A bit odd and out-of-place, but still, not bad. But it is too early to recommend this no idea what's happening, but not in a good way where Iam invested what happens next. Now I am just confused and I feel like since this can go anywhere, it can go pretty bad too... Art is nice though.

It's pretty okay. Not the detective story like it was marketed, but still pretty good. Artwork is great and I'm glad the drama between Flash and Batman isn't going to be a lasting thing.

Knightmares feels to be pointless arc. We haven't seen anything. This arc focuses on Bruce's feelings on the wedding and him trying to make sense to it. But changing the characters and the artist every issue doesn't make this arc great. It just makes it disconnected. The biggest issue? AGAIN, WE HAVE FLASHPOINT BATMAN AND BANE WORKING TOGETHER TO BREAK BRUCE. AND WE SITLL DON'T GET TOO SEE ANYTHING ABOUT IT. And we have to wait until issue 70. So 3 more issues of this to be honest, nonsense. It's not bad by any means. But pointless. And in a wrong place. The writing isn't so deep and great like King hopes it would be. Not bad, but he can do better. Also the fact that nothing new happens hear in Bat's and Cat's relationship isn't helping.

So, the art was nice. And that about it. Why was this necessary again? This felt even more pointless than usual. AND THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING. Forgettable, wanna-deep comic. King please, don't do heavy-dialogue issues one week and no-dialogue issues next week. There is nothing genius or deep about this. Nothing in Knightmares is. King wants it to be so genius, so deep, breathtaking. It's not. I would be usually fine with this, but again, nothing in Knightmares feels like it's an event. Just 5 random comics that are put together that doesn't amount to anything. This is getting very old. Cannot wait the next issue where art is good, nothing happens and this event feels even more pointless then before.

It is not terrible. Art works very well to this issue. Dynamic between Selina ja Lois is very good. Supes and Bat's -stuff is meh. But this issue doesn't work because it is not real. It would work so much better, if it was before issue 50. And Bruce wasn't written so workaholic. Now, the final panel is something that this event has needed for a longest time. Something to show that this is part of something bigger. Sure, we know that Batman is facing his nightmares, but if you didn't read synopsis, every issue has nothing to do with another. I mean nothing. And while that final panel is something that is needed, this issue shouldn't be that.

To be honest, it was pretty okay. Doesn't save this arc being terrible, but at least this was okay and not annoying or feeling like filler. Art was great and writing was passable, a bit messy but not bad. I get what King was trying to do, but it was executed pretty badly. But this arc took way too long. 8 issues is too much for so little story that feels so disjointed.

After Knightmares, it was pretty good. Art is nice and while Batman talks a bit too much, sounding sometimes a bit too edgy, I can live with that. As long as the next issues aren't so off with his dialogue. But the slow start is an issue here. Usually it isn' necessary, but after Knightmares, which was a waste of 8 issues, it really starts to annoy here, if the progression is still slow.

Well, eh. It's odd. And a hard to review. Non-linear narrative is a new thing now for King and it works and doesn't at the same time. I feel like King doesn't get Bat-family so well, would explain why he doesn't have them so often in his books, except Nightwing. But why non-linear narrative works: we get new revelations at the same time and we get to great artists at work. Why it doesn't work: one could think the other one is a dream. Or they both are. King is known to be very vague about this things, it wouldn't surprise me if one of those was a dream. After the disaster that was Knightmares, where you couldn't figure out were they dreams or not, in about half of them. Also, when Bruce talks how he is gonna break Bane? It doesn't feel like it is Bruce talking. It feels like Miller is writing those lines and that is not good. I kinda get it, Bruce is so broken as he was in Millerverse that he would say these things, but on the other hand, just no. I don't hate this like I did Knightmares. It is not terrible, it is something that you like, hate or are just confused about it. Art is great, writing very on-off. And the last thing that I don't like, Thomas and Bane. ´They don't appear much and I'm afraid that we will see them more in issues 95-100. And all this is just build-up. It's not a bad idea, but 20-40 issues of build-up is too much, because it won't live up to the hype in this case and I know it.

Is it good? Is a question that is hard to answer these days considering King's Batman issues. Some are bad, some good, some meh, and some are hard to explain. This is one of those issues. First, yes art good, you know the drill. Style and presentation? Well, it is just Bruce and Bane fighting with Thomas narrating Bane's plan and how King's whole Batman run has been just all big plan. All connected. And it kinda makes sense and kinda doesn't. And that is the reason if you hate or love this. I am a big Bane-fan and I like him being in the front of King's plan, as Snyder has done Joker enough and never really focused on the other villains that much (yes he did some, but you get my point). No, I'm not comparing his run to King's. So the question. Does all being connected make sense? Well. Kinda. But, does it feel like it? Eh. Personally, I would've liked this to be Bane's revenge for Batman for taking his happiness away. But now that King is "I am Suicide/Bane" were all just misdirection, f it feels forced. Some of you might say that it doesn't and I can see your point. And I also understand if you think this is just garbage. I don't, but that isn't far-fetched. Overall, yes 7/10. It is not bad, kinda makes sense and I'm interested to see what happens next. If you have hated King's run since issue 50, this won't change your mind.

I for one, don't hate it. I like it actually. I like seeing Bat and Cat together. The art is great. Writing isn't bad. What I don't like is the timeline this is set in. City of Bane is happening right now and Bruce is just relaxing. That doesn't fit to his character. I actually hate how Bruce isn't doing everything he can to stop Bane now. It's a hard comic to review. It's not bad, as a stand-alone comic, it's good. But as part of CoB, it is bad.

Great art and nice Bat-Cat moments. But still, the biggest issue I have is that this slow comic with nice moments doesn't fit with City of Bane arc. It is not bad, just feels so pointless. King's Knightfall would be great, if the pacing wasn't so bad. I guess he likes to write more slowly-paced Batman issues, but then he shouldn't write it at the same time he is writing his Knightfall.

That felt very short. I love Romita Jr. art, and there wasn't any issues with King's writing, but this just felt very short. Batman comes to Gotham. Meets his villains. Thomas goes to see Damian. End. I'm glad King didn't do a 100-issue-long saga. If that would've happened, this would've been only 1/3 of this, aka Batman comes to Gotham. End. I don't hate it. But I can't recommend it or say it's good. It is just spinning it's wheels right now. I loved the idea of Knightfall 2.0. But at least, in Knightfall, stuff happened.

I've always loved JR Jr and his art. Especially when he was on ASM. But now it just doesn't seem right. It seems like he is not focusing as much in this, as he did in ASM. A New Ways to Die, ASM #600 all had better art than this. Maybe his style just doesn't fit Batman as well as it does on Spidey. As for the rest of the issue. It was bad. Just no. All this being Bruce's big plan that has too much luck in it? Just no. I liked the idea of Bruce being broken better than Bruce planning this all. And Thomas taking all Batfamily? Just doesn't seem right. I can't see how 30 years older man could take them like Bruce would. I just cannot understand anything anymore. Bane isn't nearly as much in this as I hoped. Thomas doesn't make sense. Bruce is being a god of deception again. Or god of foresee and I hate it. Overall, a bad issue in almost every way. I hated Knightmares, but for different reasons. I'm not mad, just so disappointed, it is hard to feel any excitment anymore, what little I had for Knightfall 2.0.

I am a big Bane fan. For me, Bane has always been the best Batman villain, along with Joker. So of course I was excited for King's Knightfall. And what a disappointment it has been. Not because of art. I love Janin's style and he really sold this fight for me. Which is why this comic isn't a 0/10 or 1/10. But the writing. Why. -First of all, this reminds me a lot of WB Montreal's Arkham Origins. TN-1 = Super Venom. -And Bane talks like he would be injected to TN-1. He talks like a dumbass. He talks in two-word sentences at the beginning. WHY. His dialogue feels way off. The only dialogue I liked is when Bane yells "NO YOU RICH JACKASS. WE ARE NOT DONE." That felt like Bane to me, -Bruce lies about this being a fair-fight. It is okay for me. He is done playing fair. -Bruce says Bane isn't smart. GTFO. WHAT. SHUT UP. -The city is Selina's? Umm. Okay? When has she cared about Gotham? I don't hate it, but feels a bit off. -Bruce trying to break Bane's back. That doesn't feel Bruce to me. It would make sense if Bane successfully broke Bruce, but that was all part of the plan so why is Bruce acting like his Damian or something? -ALSO DID THOMAS JUST KILL BANE. WHAT. Overall, I have no idea what King's plan is. We still have three more issues. But. This book still surprises me. Every time think I couldn't be more disappointed in this arc and every time King proves me wrong. I don't hate guy, I liked his run before that alternate-timeline-crap-with-Booster-Gold. Which is why I was still excited for Knightfall 2.0. I'm not mad Tom, just very, very, VERY disappointed.

Huh. I really don't have anything other to say here. City of Bane that has no Bane in it. Broken Bruce who wasn't really broken. Alfred who is dead, but nobody cares and buys it. Summary so bad and full of lies, but is still better and has more story than this issue. Art so good it almost makes you miss the wanna-be-deep-done-bad-writing. This doesn't make feel anything. Alfred's death means nothing to me right now. Huh. I guess that is an accomplishment. What will happen next? Who even cares at this point.

Eh. Just eh. Reverse flashbacks might sound very artistic and deep. It actually makes it a bit more jarring, especially since I don't remember Flashpoint so well. So if someone wants to enjoy this issue more, you need to read Thomas bits backwards. So, we finally got a Thomas backstory. In a penultimate issue of King's run. There wasn't any better place to put this? Like, after "Fall and the Fallen"? (I am ashamed I remember the names of King's arcs) Put this really needed to happen before City of Bane. "Present Day" arc doesn't go anywhere. Summary is again so misleading. In other news, water; wet. What is in this, isn't actually that bad IMO. I don't hate it. I hate the idea of this, I dislike City of Bane, but this, as an issue, is fine. Okay. If you don't mind the reverse flashbacks. Does this explain Thomas' actions? Well... Eh. Sort of. I guess. He is broken. I like that Selina existed in Flashpoint but Martha killed her. I like a lot of things. King clearly had a vision for Flashpoint Batman, and focused more on him, than Bruce. I guess it takes talent to have 33 issues (from 50-83) to swift focus from Bruce to Thomas and still have Thomas a big question mark. Why didn't King write Flashpoint Batman? And left his Batman run to someone else? Also, a big error happens in this. Art is good, yes, but Flash is colored as Reverse-Flash in the only panel he appears. Sigh. Overall, if you have any interest in King's run, this issue is okay. If you don't dislike City of Bane, this issue is okay. If you dislike both, this issue is pointless. A single "okay-at-best" -issue won't fix any problems Kings run has. So, a 3/10, better luck next time?

Well. That was bad. Like actually bad. Terrible even. Alfred is dead for no reason. And it just didn't feel like it. No one seems to mourn him. What exactly happened to the batfamily? Are they okay? So, Selina and Bruce got married. Yay. But my grodd was this a slow and terrible run. And I'm glad it is over. If 35 issues of this were this slow and bad, I cannot imagine what 20 more issues whit this garbage would've been. So is Bane an idiot again? Thomas is broken but still alive in the main universe? Or dead. Who knows. Who cares. And this showcases events in a different order. Again. I don't get it why Tom loves to have flashbacks to the events while having a boring story happening in the present day. Bruce just lost his father figure and a father from alternate dimension. And seems to be fine. Like nothing happened. Which is why it doesn't feel like Alfred died. BECAUSE NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE. City of Bane was the worst Batman arc I've read after Knightmares. Absolutely terrible. And boy am I glad it is finally over.

Finally, a Batman comic with Daniel's great art that has good writing??? I've been waiting for this. It is a good start, and I've always liked how Tynion handled Bruce. But I'm a bit skeptical. I liked King's first 30 issues too, and hated the last 30 issues.

This was fine. An okay issue, maybe not the best final issue of Their Dark Designs, but not bad either.

It is an epilogue and a set-up for things to come. So yes, it is slow and it is very skippable issue But I still liked it a lot. I just like how Tynion writes Bruce.

It's fine. This whole Joker War has meen mostly fine. It is not a great story arc that felt planned and will feel earned at the #100 landmark. Nor is it the dumpster fire that was King's run from issues 50-85. It's just fine. I really didn't feel a need to have a Joker story arc (he just feels so overused currently) but I don't really hate it. I just feel that Tynion doesn't find a good "voice" to Joker. But I don't hate it. I read and I came to conclusion that this is fine. Okay. Readable.

The Joker War itself hasn't been a good arc. Especially after "Three Jokers", this just feels empty and boring. However, this issue itself is good. But that is mostly thanks to Tynion's writing who fixes the mess that was King's run. King entirely skipped what Alfred's death meant to Bruce and that annoyed me so much. Tynion has been fixing that for a while and this issue is a great conclusion to that. Bruce feels like Bruce again and Jimenez does great arc. But, this storyline just isn't interesting. I don't care about Punchline. I don't care about the "Joker War". I just want it to end so that Tynion can create something new and exciting like his "Detective Comics" run few years back.

I liked it. The art especially was great and it felt like the story was finally actually moving forward. However, it just feels that it is being marketed as a bigger event than it actually is. It doesn't feel that big in scope, just another mediocre Joker storyline. I said it this in my last review, but especially after "Three Jokers", this feels empty and kinda mediocre. It is hard to recommend this storyline, I just want this to end. While I like it, I just cannot recommend it due to it feeling so inconsequential.

It was an okay conclusion to the forgettable Joker War, a big event that didn't feel like an event at all. Fortunately good art makes this better than it's supposed to be and Tynion writes Bruce better than King. I just didn't like how Tynion handled Joker, especially since this was released at the same time as Johns' "Three Jokers", which is much better. I'm rather waiting now what happens next when now Joker is finally out of Tynion's range. I always liked how he wrote batfamily.

It is a good fallout issue to an event I really didn't care about. But that is fine. It is not bad, the writing is solid and art nice. This means a new change to Gotham but unfortunately we don't see it yet. So this is once again one of these issues where only the next one will tell how good this is. But I'm very glad there is not a breakup or anything between Selina and Bruce.

It is not terrible. It is okay. But my biggest problem is with Ghost-Maker. This idea doesn't sound anything new to me. A part Arkham Knight, a part Nobody, you get the idea. He is currently just a rehash of old and done-to-death ideas and not done very well.

I do like the art. I like the costume Ghost-Maker has. But I really do dislike him as a character. Nothing about him works. He is just average copycat of Red Hood, Nobody, etc. All who have been done better. The idea of Clownhunter really doesn't work for me either. Just eh... So the two antagonists we have here are either bad or meh. And since this issue mostly focuses on them, it really is as good as they are.

The writing was best out of these three issues. I did like how Grayson explained Ghost-Maker's backstory and that made him a more of his own character. Whereas Nobody was just a jealous, Ghost-Maker seemed to be Bruce's first friend who he lost after he told what had happened. So I liked that. The art however was a letdown in this. And the cliffhanger. While my problems with this story arc has been mostly Ghost-Maker, for the first time it wasn't him that bugged me. It was the art, Harley, Clownmaker and overall this issue's structure (it was basically just Ghost-Maker's origins). But I did like the role of batfamily.

The ending was much different than I thought it would be. I finally started to care about Ghost-Maker and I am glad he is just not gone. I do like how Bruce acts here, how some people can be saved without puncing or beating someone. By just talking to them. It is the side of Batman we don't get to see enough IMO. I didn't enjoy this event but I liked this final part.

I liked the art. And the writing was okay. I like Clownhunter more than before but if you are expecting more than average, skip this.

There wasn't anything to liek or dislike. I'm starting to get bored by this run. At least when I was reading King's run, I felt something. Anger and disappointment yes, but it was something. This is just eh.

I really liked the art. It was great. As for the story. There is one. It moves like a snail would. So it makes this one hard to recommend. Since nothing happens here. Again, very "meh" issue.

I'm starting to think I maybe should drop this. I don't want to, as I've been reading Batman for then years and I own a t-shirt that says "I read Tom King's whole Batman run", so dropping now would feel very random. But this really isn't doing for me. I'm just bored while reading this. I just don't care. Nothing happens. This is the third part of this arc and I feel like nothing worthwhile is happened or being setup. And the oddest part is that there is nothing inherently wrong with this issue. Art is good and writing is not bad if you don't mind the pacing being awful and losing every sense of progression. Maybe I'm just bored. But I liked Tynion's Detective Comics run very much, his Joker series is good and his run after King's dumpster fire that is called "City of Bane". But this? This ain't it chef. I miss being angry at King after reading Batman. I miss feeling anything when reading Batman.

It's not bad. Art is nice. But the story doesn't go anywhere. This is part four of this story and it feels like the plot has moved finally to part 2. So yeah, slow pacing makes this comic hard to recommend. And this whole series currently.

Why can't something interesting happen. Tynion, why are you ruining the pacing of this book but then hiring amazing artist to hide that. Who do you think you are, Tom King?

The art is just so good in this book. And it is completely wasted in this. And that is the only good thing about this. I am currently so bored and annoyed by this. I do repeat myself by saying that "nothing happens, I am bored, etc..." But it is what I mostly feel by reading this. I loathed King's run. But at least I felt something when I read it. At least it felt like one writer's vision. This one feels just so generic that tries to please everyone but pleases no one. I don't know what happened to Tynion but this just isn't it. Each issue we are introduced to a new character that the readers forget by the next issue. I really don't remember what is going on currently. But I do remember King's run, even if it has been years since I read it. Do I want to go back to those times? No, but I do want this series to be at least memorable. And in some way keep me hooked. Either be good or terrible. Don't be forgettable and mediocre.

It's not like this is bad. But after Alpha being mostly setup, this issue being just recap and more setup really isn't a good thing for this series' pacing. I've reread Tynion's Batman run and while I do like it more now when reading it back-to-back, this series really has poor pacing and plot progression. But Jimenez's art is still wonderful.

It's not bad. It just isn't interesting at all. This whole storyline feels very crowded. Batman feels like a side-character in this storyline. And worst of all, I don't care about anything. There just really isn't much to care. I reread Tynion's run a while back. When collected, it's actually pretty good. But when there are so many players and very little happens, it's hard to stay invested. I mean, this whole Fear State and it's prequel Cowardly Lot has been going on for over 7 months. That's a long time for one storyline. And it shows. So little happens in each part.

Probably the best issue in this storyline. Mostly because it focuses on Batman and what he is doing. It could be better. It could be worse.

Well, that was an okay conclusion to a story I really didn't care for. These Batman events never feel so grand to me, to justify having so many tie-ins. Like Joker War, Fear State felt much smaller in scope than what DC marketed it to be. As for conclusion to Tynion's run, this is really disappointing. I feel like he did nothing with Bruce and this run I will remember as... meh. I have no interest reading it ever again. It felt like Tynion had no idea what to do with Batman and just kept writing some stuff until new writer came in. I remember criticizing King's run a lot. It was a rollercoaster of emotions for me, sometimes it was excellent, sometimes horrible. But Tynion's run was just mostly meh. I have no interest ever coming back to this again. Props for Jimenez's art for making this better than it had any right to be.

Well. It's not bad. Doesn't make Fear State any better. Doesn't make Tynion's run any better. It ties his run's things up. A run that wasn't particulary good or interesting. So, could be worse I guess.

If I'm being honest... I liked this. First of all, Molina's art is wonderful. On par with Jimenez? Maybe. And second of all? Well, it feels natural continuation to Tynion's Batman, which I was surprised with. This isn't just a brand new chapter, it feels like a true epilogue to Tynion's run and a prologue to Williamson's take on the Caped Crusader. The plot progresses naturally and has some interesting twists left here. I'm actually intrigued what Batman book will offer. I haven't felt like this on a Batman run after "Their Dark Designs" which was like 1,5 years ago. But there isn't a lot that happens here. As I said, this book is an epilogue and a prologue at the same time, so you might feel that there was very little here. It doesn't bother me, but I can understand if it bothers someone else. So, Williamson, you got me interested. Don't go all-Tynion on me and make this run boring. Because right now, Batman should be anything but boring.

So, it's nice to read a ongoing Batman book I actually like.

It's not the best conclusion I hoped for, but good enough. Molina's art was phenomenal.

Porter had a bit messy art, so I didn't enjoy this as much.

You know what? This wasn't that bad. Ghost-Maker has been growing on me lately and I might even start reading this new series too.

For someone who skipped Shadow War, this was a nice epilogue to Williamson's Batman story. It was a bit pointless and looking back, just a placeholder for Zdarsky, but I still enjoyed it.

What is this? Intruiging writing finally with Jimenez's art? So that it's not the only good thing about ongoing Batman book? I liked this. But not as much as I wanted to. This wasn't as fresh start as I wanted this to be, but maybe I had too high hopes. Zdarsky is currently one of my favourite writers. It's not bad by any means. A lot of stuff happens here in the first issue and the status quo is changed. But not every single aspect is interesting. I'm not sure where Zdarsky will takes us, but I am hopeful. It's odd to be hopeful about Batman's ongoing series. williamson's run wasn't bad but it was just a placeholder. I just hope I won't be disappointed for the third time (like with King and Tynion). If I am, shame on me.

Oh, I've missed being excited for Batman and not disappointed after reading it.

Zdarsky sold me in the first arc. I'm interested to see more.

New year, same old Zdarsky. I had no idea where this would go after Failsafe. I still don't, but I am very interested.

Hawthorne's art isn't as good as Jimenez or Romero, but I still enjoyed this issue.

It's alright.

It's losing me a bit. The backup has better art than main one. It's not terrible, but not as good as I hoped it would be.

For a storyline that started to get a bit boring near the end, this was a great finale. Full of fan-service, but I didn't mind.

I liked it.

Previous issue, the opening act for the Gotham War was received a bit poorly, and after seeing the first reaction to this issue before reading it, I was a bit worried if this would land. But in my opinion, it does land very well. Bruce isn't acting himself, being tired, on edge and haunted by Zurr-En-Arrh, so being a bit ooc here isn't breaking character or anything. I get why Bruce acts like this. And everyone said that Batfamily would also join Selina in this issue, when in my opinion they just started to think their options before Bruce went unhinged. They are not attacking Bruce because they agree with Selina (besides Jason), they want him to calm down and talk to them, but Bruce can't in his current mindstate. I mean Nightwing doesn't say "Selina is right", nor does Tim. They just want Bruce to stop being so unhinged. And add Jimenez wonderful art and I think that makes this one a win in my books.

Jimenez was amazing here, we can all agree on that. For his art alone, this would get an easy 10/10, accompanied with great coloring. However, the script here is just... not good. I like the parts with Dick and Bruce, and Zur-En-Ar taking very drastic measures is shocking. But as an event, this storyline is not. This is mostly action and this "event" hasn't really gone anywhere in 4 issues. It's a chore to read otherwise, if not the art. And it's disappointing. I'm a huge Zdarsky fan and I had such huge hopes for this one after his Daredevil run. But about 14 issues in and I'm not completely sold. Zdarsky seems to be more interested in setupping his future arcs or writing about Zur-En-Ar than he is making this event. And it shows. Savage parts are good, but they feel out-of-place a bit. They are plot relevant, but if this building for a major twist in last part, the setup is lackluster.

After the disappointment that was Gotham War, this was a massive jump in quality. It's nice to see some recognition from Zdarsky's The Knight mini-series. Having Jimenez do his amazing art was a big bonus too.

There is some really good stuff here. Art for example is amazing. But the writing can be confusing at times. And it's hard to get why this story is released now after Failsafe arc. I'm not sure how this is relevant? Or needed? So, not a bad comic, but can be confusing one to enjoy.

I like this. It still confuses me, but I do like it. Placement is still odd? I feel like this should be a 5 to 6-part mini-series as it's own and not a Batman #142-144 storyline.

One of the best issues from Zdarsky.

One of Zdarsky's best.

Should've been a longer arc, has too much going on currently and with one issue left, it doesn't feel like Zdarsky is going out with a great ending.

I am very confused by this whole story. It's not bad. I think it's perfectly fine. But this isn't 2003. Releasing this story 22 years later, while acting everything is the same as it was in 2003 is such an odd choice. Why isn't this a black label book? Loeb clearly doesn't want to play with current continuity and wants to go to what it was back in early 2000s, why have him write this now?

I feel like I am not this often confused by comics. But seriously. WTF is going on. Who is this for??? Loeb is a genius, I'll give you that. It takes real talent to make everything feel messy, rushed and too slow at the same time.

WTF am I reading. Like seriously. What is this. At least art is still good.

Wtf did I just read? And this is only part one???

It's just nice to read a good Batman comic. Thank grodd this isn't related to H2SH.

I like it otherwise, but Ivy becoming the Mayor just sorta happens. I get it happens in her book, but if you don't read that, it just comes out of nowhere here.

I used to like King's writing but that changed after issue 50. Now? Well. It is not bad. But King likes to show multiple timelines at the same time, it makes reading this a very annoying thing to do. "Good" to se he hasn't changed. I actually liked some of the things we had there. But it was so annoying to read. And the writing on the Joker was... eh. Not good. The art is great and having Phantasm here is not a bad thing. But please King, focus on one time and if you are hellbent on showing flashbacks, make on issue focusing on them.

Maybe I shouldn't read King's comics, I never am happy after that but every time I pick one and read them... And it doesn't hurt that I really enjoy Mann's art here, it is excellent. As for the story? Well, the best I can summarize it: it's like 4 different tv shows are going at the same time, you watch each one of them and just switch channels after 2 minutes to another show just so that you can keep track on what is happening. Surprisingly, it doesn't work. Well, I usually don't get that kind of experience when reading a comic but King makes it happen. And because he does, I don't care about anything that happens in any of the stories. It's hard to start even investing in this. The word messy is thrown a lot when talking about this series and for good reason. It feels messy. Maybe some people like this kind of storytelling. I don't. Again, there is nothing really to hate here. It just doesn't work. I'm not disappointed nor surprised. But at least the art is nice.

It's really hard to enjoy this. I usually enjoy Mann's art very much but I see he was once again horny when making this art. Happens to the best of us and I would let it slide if that was my only problem with this issue. But it's hard to say anything good about this. I really don't get what the narrative is that King is trying to write. We have, what, 3 stories going on and I honestly can't remember anything else except the future parts. Nor do I get what is going on in them. And I don't get what is the hook King should throw at us to keep coming back. I mean, nothing really happens here. Why should I be interested in the 4th issue now?

Clay's art is still good. The only good thing about this series. I know it's very common to dislike King's work these days. But this? It really isn't worth it. It's too bland. Too bland to be bad, too bland to be good, too confusing to be bland. I really hate this 3-stories-at-once -structure. It just doesn't work. It ruins the pacing, as each story moves so slow because you have to keep track on what happens in other two. This is what, part 5? And Phantasm hasn't done anything? Like seriously. There is a reason why people don't usually watch three different seasons of one show at the same time by changing the season every 5 minutes. Because it is confusing, stupid and doesn't work. And what a coincidence, that is how I summarize this series.

Wow. I have never been so confused while reading King's story. I had no idea what's going on or when. Writing for Selina is just... so bad right now. I don't know why King is currently writing present day Selina so oddly? Again. Nothing has really happened. Remember Phantasm? She is a... character I guess? She really doesn't do anything here though. Nobody really does. So in short, I didn't think it was possible to be even more confused by this series, but King suprises me yet again.

Look, I don't read these just to bash them and complain that Tom King is a hack writer. I read these because I want to be surprised you know? That maybe all my time that I've poured in to this series wasn't for nothing. After 9 issues I'm still waiting to be surprised. Art was bad. I really didn't like it. Writing? Eh. Just. Eh. 4/10 Tom, please do better.

You know, this ain't bad. This is pretty good. It's not stellar, amazing, or the best King has written, but it was good. And JPL's art was wonderful, I hope he can find rest wherever he is.