Afre's Profile

Oh boy. My whole idea for going into this was "I hate the idea, but this might work", since that has happened before. But gotta say, I hated this issue. Might be one of the worst issues I've read in a while. I have so many problems here. The opening pages do not convey at all that they are here because of their dead adopted children. They might've progressed through it, who knows. The last time we saw them going to therapy was almost 6 months ago. And MJ just feels off. Like she doesn't feel like MJ at all. The dialogue is so aggressively mediocre and Paul is still a nothing-character, that this didn't change at all. The fact this does not take accord any superhero stuff MJ has experienced before or even the identity of Jackpot just feels wrong. This feels like we are supposed to just accept this without any setup or anything really. MJ is a superhero now. And it's a direction I strongly dislike, because it's another part of Peter's life that is now Spider-centric. Like if you didn't know any better, this felt like an alternate universe story, because this just doesn't work. MJ's powers don't make any sense. When Zeb or Jed were writing them, there was a sense of randomness and danger because of it. Now MJ can do whatever the plot needs and is somehow so experienced using them? And she can fly now? Because of the suit? That Paul made I guess? And when she can do whatever she needs whenever she needs, it's hard to be interested in anything. The small part that I was intrigued about her new powers is now gone. The placement of this is just so off. Everyone acts like MJ has been doing this for a long time (even Peter which is odd) except we have no clue about this. There has been zero mention of Jackpot since #31, so it's hard to follow where we are with this. Even Peter and MJ interaction just feels so off. The art is nice. It's charming. But when the writing and setup fails so miserably, it's hard to enjoy even the art. I was a bit interested on the next MJ and Felicia book. But if this is the direction they are going, can't say the interest stays.

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.

So we have this big strong guy who can't talk and is angry and his human self cannot control his monster self and he is facing army. WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THIS BEFORE? Awful comic. The writing is so predictable (we don't have to be their monster) or whatever and the artwork is mediocre at best. I don't mind DC and Marvel borrowing each other's ideas as long as they can make it interesting and have new dynamics. Marvel's Hyperion is a "pastiche" (nice word for rip-off) of Superman but seeing him work with Avengers/Ultimates especially Thor is interesting. But this? This is just forgettable version of Hulk's backstory. +Damage looks pretty cool +"Hulk" joining Suicide Squad is interesting I guess...? -Everything else.

Even FCBD issues have more content than this.

First of all, skip the synopsis. Nothing happens in this issue what synopsis says. Positives. Artwork is pretty good. Althought the sexualisation of Harley, Batgirl and Lois just doesn't make sense here. It's so out of place. And yes, the positives just became a negative thjing. And then, what problems does this have you may ask. Well. First of all, nothing happens. Booster escapes, Harley meets Batgirl and Lois Lane releases the vids or something to the public of the Sanctuary because reasons. Writing is bad. Especially for Batman, which is odd, since KING WRITES BATMAN AND WILL WRITE IT FOR ANOTHER 38 ISSUES OR SOMETHING. Or isn't and it shows how doomed we are. 4 issues in and we still have no idea what happened. Was it Harley who doesn't care that Ivy dies or was it Booster who is the one character King clearly cannot write well. At all. Who knows, not me. WHo cares, not me. Perhaps it is an A.I. that Batman created. And that will be revealed in the last issue. All those deaths feel so meaningless, since nobody reacts to them. GA was the only one and that happened in his own comic which was much better. Idea itself isn't bad, the execution is. This event feels like King thinks his writing is so deep and clever. Well it isn't. It's boring and/or bad. And so is this comic. I wouldn't mind but it is so big event that has so many consequences that I cannot ignore it.

What a trainwreck. It's not as bad as the last one because nothing still happens. Superman talks to the press. And that about it. And why bother with this synopsis DC, if nothing happens in this issue like the synopsis says? Falsee marketing to make someone interested in this event because King's writing isn't making it? Still tries to be too deep and it fails miserably. We see so many heroes while Superman talks, but why? They are not part of the event? I think they aren't. Can't remember. BECAUSE IT'S BORING. Art is still pretty good. Not oversexualized potrayals of women this time. That's a plus? A positive. Yeah. It's a positive. I'll take it. +Women aren't potrayed as bad in art as the last time. +Art? -EVERYTHING ELSE. Boring. Bland. So why I read this you may ask? Because still, deep down, I hope King can make this good or reveal it's a dream or something, I don't know. I just hope. And every issue I lose more hope then I thought I could.

Umm, what just happened? I'm not confused because of the plot. Moreso because of the lack of plot. Why does Gnarkk have so important role right now? WHat did it add to the plot? The sudden focus to Wally, Harley and Gnarkk is mindblowing. In a very bad way. They are sad, traumatic, very sad, more traumatic, cry, so deep, oh no. Yes, Wally has every reason to be sad. Harley too. I don't know who Gnarkk is and I'm just confused why King focuses on him now. He did the same with Kite-Man (in War of Jokes and Riddles), but Kite-Man was important to the story. Gnarkk deosn't seem to be. Harley's problems come way too late and I still don't understand why now. These could be good as a separate tie-in issues, but three ones strapped together? No. In a boring event, where nothing happens, filler issue makes it even worse. At first, I thought that this idea is good, execution is only bad. But now I don't even know anymore. I hate this idea now. It is that bad. WHatever you may think of King's other work, don't buy this. I don't hate the guy, but this is just so bad. I don't buy this wanna-be-deep writing King does right now. We are six issues in and nobody has any idea what happened. Six issues in and the plot hasn't moved at all. To anywhere. If you read this after the first issue, nothing wouldn't change. Same goes to any issue if this event.

Like what. You know the drill, art is nice, yes. And the summary is full of crap and now, so is the cover? King really ups his game. But again, nothing happens. That's not anything new, but this time, I wasn't angry after this issue. Just confused. Why is Babs bff with Hartley now? Maybe if I reread HiC, I might remember, but I don't care enough. I'm confused, but enough to be actually mad about this. This is the first issue where the dialogue wasn't totally off for me, just okay. Wally stuff is confusing, I think King has no idea where to focus here. This feels like Wally West -story, but at the same time, it doesn't at all. I mean, this Hartley-Booster-Batgirl-Blue-Beetle -combo is not bad idea, if we start to focus on that. It's just too late. And those 9-panels don't do anything for me, at least they weren't so confusing or unnecessary as usual. This would've worked if Wally was the only one who died, and maybe Ivy as the second victim. And while Trinity is looking it the usual way, Hartley and Booster start looking in it in their own way. Again, the idea isn't bad, and while the execution is usually terrible, it's not this week. It's easy to hate HiC and I get many people's reasons why, but this week, it wasn't honestly that bad. Or maybe I don't have the will to hate this anymore. If I realize it later, I might give this a 3. Not it gets a 4, and that's because the art and that it didn't make me so angry again.

A huge disappointment. For a guy who wasn't invested in this or even cared. First of all. Spoilers. So, they ruined him. Wally. I get why. He is the only one, who could fake this, who had the power and the knowledge to do how. I get that. He was a broken guy, I get that. In some way, it makes sense. If it wasn't for this huge issue that Kings has. He doesn't change the story to fit the characters. He changes the characters to tell his story. And it shows. King tries his best to tell why Wally did it. But it's still wrong, doesn't work and the revelation feels so forced. Wally didn't mean so much to me, but I'm sure he meant a lot for some readers. And this is why this is so bad. If someone wrote that Spidey did the same things that Wally did, I would be enraged. The art is amazing yes, but this time, it doesn't save this comic.

I don't what just happened. Pacing in this comic is just so SO BAD. Art is nice.

Ar t isn't for me, but it is not bad. Writing is eh. For a first issue, it has me interested, but I am not sold yet completely. But it has surprises in it as well. It is something different than what I expected.

This seems to be somewhat based on the cancelled ASM 3 movie. It shows how good this is...

It is terrible. Absolutely terrible. It takes the worst aspects of different Spider-Man stories and mashes them together to make this garbage. Sara Pichelli's art is wasted here and that is an even bigger crime.

This story was so... bad. This final issue felt very rushed, since the first three issues did nothing but tease the mysteries of this universe like Abrams often likes to do. Sara Pichelli's art was amazing and wasted on this series. She deserves much better writers than those two. And the only reason this series is not a 1 for me. As usual, the ideas aren't that bad. But the execution is.

This feels forced. And bad. And so full of cliches. And bad writing. And characters are acting like so oddly here. It is like they are written by a person who hasn't seen their growth in 30 years or so...

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.

So. Clay's back. I missed his art. As for this. This book. That I've wasted so much time on, but I don't want to stop. Because I want to read it till the end so I don't have to wonder how it ended. It's... not bad. I know I know, that sounds odd. But it's not honestly that bad. I have problems with it, quite a lot, from just teasing the revelation to having too much talking made by character's whose voices I don't hear. I don't like how King writes Joker. Because it seems off. I can't really grasp what he is doing with the Joker. But like I said, it's not bad. The three timelines finally work somehow. It took 9 issues, but I'm finally starting to get what King is doing here. So it's not bad. But is it good then? Hell no. Does it justify the time I've spent reading this? Nope. Do I regreat reading this book? Well...

It could be worse. It's not as bad as the previous issues. But that's the highest praise I can give it. I've wasted so much time on this series, so might as well finish it.

What a waste. But at least it's over. Everything about the writing of this series was just so... wrong, bad or poorly done. There really aren't ideas here I like. And I like the execution even less. Only the art saves this from being a 1.

T started reading this after revisiting Metal and that is a mistake. I haven't finished Doomsday Clock nor have I read Snyder's JL so I'm very out-of-loop. And Wally's explanation just doesn't do this for me. But this just isn't as good beginning as Metal was. Metal started as a slow mystery that was the culmination of Snyder's Batman run. Dark Days: The Forge and The Casting were excellent prequels And it worked. Metal doesn't necessarily require you to read Snyder's Batman run, as it works without it. This however, doesn't work without reading previous issues. And that bothers me. Many have compared this to Hickman's Secret Wars saga, which I loved. And yes, there are similarities here. But Doom was so much better than BWL. And Doom did what he did to save reality, BWL is just pure evil and I'm starting to get sick of him. He is a nice idea and he worked so well in Metal, but then DC just continued using him in BWl Vol 2, Infected, Year of the Villain and now this. They overuse him so much and it's getting annoying. If I were to compare this to Secret Wars, this feels like the second issue. Whereas the "final fight" and all that happened was in the first issue, this starts with the new world immediately and it gets confusing. Capullo's art is amazing and water is wet. Overall, maybe I'll enjoy this more after finishing Doomsday Clock and Snyder's JL run, but I'm left with a small disappointment right now.

This just isn't as good I hoped it would be. It is not bad, there isn't as much dialogue and plot as the first one, but... Maybe it is the core idea that I don't like. BWL was a good villain who served his role in Metal. But here? I just don't care. Now he is Dr. Manhattan -tier and I thought he was already but who knows. The plot doesn't really move in this issue. WW and the company just goes from A to B. And the new Batmen just don't interest me. Too many and no backstory. I just really don't care about them either. This is crazy, yes, but that doesn't automatically make it as good as Snyder hoped. Capullo's art is still great. And this really isn't bad, it is just meh.

This was... kinda bad. And pointless. There was nothing good about this. Either being over-the-top or just plain boring. Skip this, as this isn't worth your time or money.

This still just doesn't do it for me. It just feels so rushed. Having the event start after the big battle was a mistake. Maybe the biggest problem for is that I just don't care. I don't care about BWL. I'm just annoyed by him. Every issue it feels he just becomes more and more powerful and it is getting ridiculous. Wonder Woman doesn't feel like the main character currently, because this event is still too much connected to Batman. Do we really need to see Batseid for one issue and then never again? The 7 Dark Knights felt like an horrifying enemy whose backstories were good so Snyder thought it would be better if we had 10 times more Batmen without those backstories. And again, Bruce is way-too-prepared for everything, now he had a bat-plocker to shield from Darksied blast? This isn't bad, just boring and otp. And again we are getting 5 different tie-ins and the whole event doesn't feel complete.

This "Guidebook" is just a collection of short stories that should've been in either A) in the first issue to explain the situation of the DC Universe B) released alongside the main issues or C) not written at all. I don't hate them (I liked Harley's and WW/Ivy story) but the rest are just meh. Aquaman's story doesn't feel like it was necessary nor was Batman's. At all. And the first issue? It was okay but why not write it in the first issue? I usually don't like to compare Marvel or DC, I keep them as their own universes and stories but this just feels like a worse version of Hickman's Secret Wars that thinks crazy means good and random equals great.

The explanation issue. Why this was a separate issue but very important to the storyline just confuses me. Why not make this a DM #4? Anyhow, it was eh. Just meh. Not bad, just a lot of talking and telling. Snyder really thinks anyone cares about the Robin King who is just so bad. So terribly written. He thought he could get another BWL but no. Art too was just eh. Not bad, but nothing special. Overall, an important issue to the storyline that really doesn't go forward with it's plot. Just sets up the characters for #4. Not a terrible one, but just eh. Just like this whole event.

While I've been critical of Death Metal, this was a very good issue. Nice art and writing for Wally made it good. And BWL felt actually intimidating.

It is not as bad as I thought it would be. Tynion wrote a pretty okat one-shot that explained a lot. The art style however is pretty bad and makes it hard to recommend this.

It feels so messy. I really don't like the idea how DC makes more and more one-shots that are required to read so that you understand the main book. Why not make them part of the main series? I don't know what happened to Snyder. I really liked Metal but I really dislike this "EXTREME EPIC METAL WITH WTF MOMENTS AND CRISIS AND WATCHMEN". This book clearly tries too hard and fails miserably. Especially with the main villain. I liked Doomsday Clock but this? This is just wrong. BWL is terrible and as much I hate to use that term, Robin King is just cringe. Pure cringe that should not exist. I also liked BWL. But now? He is just bad. There is nothing in him that resembles Joker or Bruce gone mad. I don't even know what he is.

I really hate using the term "cringe". But that is what Robin King is. He is just so bad. So terrible. I don't buy that a ten-year old could defeat all the heroes of DC. It is laughable. I hate everything about this character. One could ask why even review this. Because this is a part of Death Metal, a part that I wished Snyder would understand is not "cool", not "epic", not "ironic", just bad. Awful. Terrible. Robin King is everything I hate about BWL without having any of the qualities that I originally liked about BWL. DC make sure we never see this again after Death Metal. The worst character in DCU ever made.

For someone who isn't that excited or interested in Death Metal, this was fine. Not bad, good, just fine.

I don't get it. I understand little to nothing what happened in this issue. It is so stupid and over-the-top I don't know should I take this seriously. The art is excellent as always but... what. I haven't read every one-shot there is because there is too many and most of them are bad. How on earth the two guys who reintroduced me to Batman 7 years ago during their awesome run have made the worst event I've read in a long time? (I pretened HiC didn't happen.)

It has Robin King in it so it cannot be better than a 3/10. And it is not. Uninteresting, short storiers that nobody cares about that has no interesting twists on them or great artwork to make them better. A waste of money and time. And the whole Death Metal event starts to feel like that too.

It is a nice comic full of good stories that I liked. It is also the 10th one-shot of an event that bores and annoys me. So yeah. Can't give it a too high score.

It is... fine I suppose? I really like Capullo's art and I really didn't hate anything. Maybe I just don't care anymore. Or maybe because there isn't so much mumbo jumbo in here that makes me question everything. There is some, but not too much. And BWL starts to act like himself. A bit. I finally see the Joker and Bruce in him. It doesn't make me care about him or anything, but it's nice to see. So, 6/10 could be worse?

A very well done tie-in. I really enjoyed this, even if I'm not so familiar with Superboy Prime. I just hope this whole event could've been as good as this. More personal and focus on only certain characters, not just "epic and badass and so crazy and crisis" etc...

This comic showcases everything wrong with Death Metal.

That was bad. Like. Actually bad. Other issues have been mediocre and full of nonsense but this was like bad. I didn't like anything, every problem I had with Death Metal are multiplied in this issue. I did like some of the jokes batfamily made and the art, so it is not a total waste. I do hope that BWL is gone. And never to be seen again because Snyder ruined him. Like others, I got many vibes of Hickman's Secret Wars, but this just wasn't that. I didn't know that WW and BWL were nemesises. Nor did I get that feeling during this event. I haven't hated DC event as much as this after HiC. Maybe it is these Crisis/Anti-Crisis -events that rub me the wrong way. DC, please don't do these kidn fo events in the next 5 years? Please?

The worst DC event I've ever read. The art is the only positive this one has.

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

This was really odd. It is more like an Amazing Spider-Man team-up than Giant-Size ASM. I thought the cover was supposed to be related to cover itself, but it is more related to whole package. Art in all three stories was great. But that is almost all good I have to say about it. Smith's story is so average and boring that it's hard to give it any credit. Ewing was just more focused on G.O.D.S. and 616 than Spidey. And Rapid prelude was just that, not a Spidey story. So overall, meh package.

That was very underwhelming. Very mediocre, from writing to artwork. The idea isn't the best and the synopsis of this issue is not true at all.

It's just... very random?

Not as messy as Infinity Wars. But not good either. Since it is an almost direct sequel to Infinity Wars, it's still pretty bad. Messy storytelling, odd choices, etc.

This is a good issue because we have Turk, Bullseye, Guardians and Thanos in the same setting with infinity stones. I'm very glad that this isn't just a sequel to Infinity Gauntlet or a comic version of Avengers: Infinity War. Gamora's actions could use a bit more of exploring, but otherwise a very enjoyable read. Not great, nor awesome, but good enough.

Artwork is great, story arc is pretty okay. Turk makes this much more interesting and their team-up could be something great. I actually don't know what happens next, Gamora with Infinity Stones and Loki whispering in her ear.

Well that cover is misleading. This issue and the whole event is just a mess. Spoilers, but who cares. So, Emmarine is split by Phoenix Logan who meets Loki with King Thor because...? Why? Why bring Jason Aaron's great characters to this mess if there is no reason to it? And that's what this event feels like. Great characters are in a event just to make it look cool, not that it makes sense. He gives Loki the Power stone who can split them. How? Shouldn't Mind Stone do that? Or reality stone? And then nothing really happens. Loki recruits Kang, Kamala, Hulk, Ant-Man because reasons. And Kang is for some reason accompying them? Why? Kang acts so out of character here. And the main villain is some magical entity or Gamora or Watchers who cares. Marvel has a bad habit of taking good writers and making them to do an event that sucks. This event is a good example of that. Art is nice I guess?

It's not that bad as the last one. Writing on Emma and other Cosmic Avengers is good. Art is mixed back. The twist is okay-ish?

What a mess. Truly awful event. First of all, what were the consequences? None. Okay. Major character death that happens so fast and doesn't make any sense. This was gonna be the epic Infinity Stones saga? Oh please. Duggan usually writes well but this was just so bad.

Noow that was unsatisfying. Bagley has great artwork, but this just feels so meh. I didn't like Initty Wars, so I'm glad that this mostly stays out of it, butit just feels like an preview of things to come in a bad way, not an exciting way.

The best issue of the storyline so far. It's not saying much, but it was okay. +Riri was showing maturity and her scenes were good +Tony and Howard hallucination was great -Doom scenes were not -Tony is now out of his armor, but the "search of Tony Stark" still moves forward very slowly, because they want it to last until 600. So 4 issues more, yay.

They are really stretching this Search for Tony Stark. And what's with the Doom downgrade? Also, Arno appears. For two panels. And other characters. +Artwork is nice -Just decide does Riri have Ironheart armor. Don't change it very comic. -We have many characters appearing for two or three panels. Yay. -DOOM DOWNGRADE

That was bad. This was Bendis farewell issue, not Iron Man's 600th issue. And that is why this feels russed, poorly executed and sloppy. Art is nice, but this just doesn't make any sense when looking it by it's story. And Rhodes is back. WHY. WHY. WHY. WHY DID YOU KILL HIM BENDIS ONLY TO RESURRECT HIM LIKE ONE YEAR AFTER? Skip Search for Tony Stark. It is very bad. Jump right to Slott's issue and hope it is better. And if you wonder why Tony isn't in coma anymore,you won't get anymore answers buy reading this.

Eh. Too rushed.

I didn't like Knightfall much. Too rushed, and so is this. Lois' reactions also feel way over-the-top. I would've like how corrupts her slowly, how she sees her actions slowly not mattering, if she does things like Clark. The Dark Knights worked, because they gave us a setting where Bruce's actions made sense. Or they created a new reality where he chose to do things differently (Batisher, Green Bat). Slowly becoming the Joker? I could see that. Losing Clark and fighting against him to the death? Makes sense he loses hope. Here? Lois is angry and sad and decides to become everything Clark was against and feels so out of character so quickly. So no, I don't recommend another rushed issue if "Tales from the Dark Multiverse". I like the concept in this, but not the execution.

This is not very good issue. Why? Because it tries to fit and event to a single issue. Sure, it is a what-if issue, but at times feels like filler or that everything happens so fast. Lobo was great, but I hate what they did with Scot. Art is passable?

This feels like the only good one for me. That showcases how power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Art was great and writing solid.

It is bad. Like very bad. Sigh...

I've disliked most of the Tales from the Dark Multiverse, as things usually are too rushed or don't make sense. This one I liked very much. Many of the paths these characters made sense and were handled well. Writing is solid and I like how the Silenced is more of a bogeyman than a vigilante. I especially liked Richard of the Gray Sons.

It is much easier to read these ones I am familiar with. The twist here is very interesting and the execution is very well done. I like how Thawne was written and the ending of this all is a surprising one. Like Hush it is good and it is nice to see good issues of these Tales.

This felt... random? I liked Metal, I dislike Death Metal and this felt very eh? I didn't like the art and sometimes I didn't know what was happening. Hard to say why this is worth anyone's time or money...

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 liked it. I'm interested to see where the premise goes.

I don't hate it, but it feels unfocused. I wasn't sure what take Rosenberg wanted to have on Jason, and art felt messy too. At times this was great, at times this was perplexing. Both art and writing. It's not god-awful, but I expected more.

Yeah this wasn't good. It's too messy and all over the place. I had enjoyed some previous parts, but overall I had no idea what this tried to accomplish. Everything set up in Battle Lines is almost forgotten here, making the whole dilemma pretty pointless? It seems like nothing was changed after this. Bruce's and Selina's relationship is still the same. The same "will they, won't they" seems to continue. I thought Vandal would be setup as the next big bad for Zdarsky's run, but he seems to be gone? I don't generally dislike Hawthorne's art, but it's not my favorite. Overall, just a bad conclusion that makes everything I liked (and disliked) about this event worse in hindsight.

That was abrupt and disappointing ending to a pointless event that started from a bad storyline. But at least in Venomverse, Poisons felt like they were a threat. Now? They don't. Poison Thanos, who is supposedly as strong as Thanos with a symbiote is defeated by that Kid Kaiju guy very easily. Eddie headlocks Poison Doom(?). Cletus is now dead(?) until he isn't. Poison Wolverine exists now for some reason in the prime universe. Artwork was meh at best. Dialogue is a big letdown. There are so many characters to write so each one gets two-three panels. Venomverse was bad, Poison-X was a pointless crossover and this was the worst of these three. At least Donny Cates starts writing Venom next week. I'm actually hyped for that, since Mike Costa ended his storyline badly last week and Bunn's run shouldn't be mentioned. Ever.

It's really good for a first part. But I do want some answers on the second part. And I don't know why one of those critics said that Bagley's art doesn't fit here. It's amazing.

It's not bad. In theory. It shouldn't be. There are good artists and writing isn't bad. But nothing happens. Literally nothing. We find out the motivation of all groups and that is it. Spider-Man fights them and that's it. We also have three artists that have so different styles that it makes harder to think this book as a whole package. It feels like someone took quorter of pages from two books, mashed them together and said this is full, overpriced package. This was a huge letdown. After being just buildup for the first two parts of the series, this really isn't the time to slow pacing EVEN MORE. And hey, another very miss-leading synopsis? Otto and Toomer have only small cameo in this issue! But the next issue's synopsis is pretty accurate. "You haven't read the end of SINISTER WAR #2 yet, but when you do, YOU WILL BE VERY MAD YOU HAD TO WAIT TWO WEEKS FOR THIS!" Yup. Pretty much.

So. That was it? What a pointless storyline. I was very hyped for Sinister War but this 4 issues were just fighting. Fighting with 3 different artist working on it, which means it feels even more messy. And the resolution? Well, we're back were we started. Things haven't moved at all since the first issue of this storyline. There wasn't any conclusion in here for storylines set up in Hunted, Sins Rising, King's Ransom and Chameleon Conspiracy. The villains showed up. They fought Spidey. Kindred has some monologue. Repeat. The end. Yes, the plot did move in the ASM tie-ins, but not here. Why even make this one a 7-part storyline when it barely has enough story for 4 parts?

So, that felt like a waste of time. Not a lot happened here, pretty skippable to be honest.

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.

It's not bad, but it is not what I expected it to be Also, this whole timeline feels very off. Wasn't Jason supposed to be Bruce's guardian after Curse of the White Knight?

Well, that's it. With the news of this book being now cancelled, I can't say I am terribly sad. Not because this was a bad comic, but mostly because it was a continuation to H2SH and the less we talk about that, the better.

Good art but very messy writing. I was really hyped for this and I was pretty disappointed.

The Next Batman storyline had me interested and it was good but it was too short. I didn't really care about those backup-stories, Detective Comics' Arkham Knight -storyline was not that interesting for me and I never really read Outsiders.

Dark Detective was a really good one. Dan Mora's art was wonderful and I was interested almost immediately. Other Future State comics haven't been that interesting to me, but this one is.

Again, I like what I see but there isn't enough of anything. The ideas this one explores are interesting. But there are so many stories here but I feel like there aren't enough issues to make these stories as interesting as they could be.

I still like the Dark Detective storyline. It is not groundbreaking or anything, but good enough for me. As for the Jason part, it would be better if the art wasn't so lackluster. I don't mind simple art but this one felt like the artist stopped working on it midway.

I've liked this Next Batman series, but my main problem has been that there isn't enough. And now when I don't like it that much, the lack of investment in this world and characters becomes even bigger issue. And when you are pretty sure that the final installment of this series won't make it any better, you are just left with one question: "Why should I care?" And that is my problem with this series. And this whole Future State. I don't really care about anything and DC won't do anything to fix that. I wanted to like this, I think Ridley is a good writer but this comic just isn't that good. It's mediocre and that would be fine in a long-running series, but in this mini-series it counts a lot. As for the side stories, I care even less than the main story, so... 4/10, could be worse?

Bruce's story is not bad. The art is nice and the writing solid so it's worth the read. But I don't see myself ever coming back to read it. I have no problems with it, but I don't care enough about it to read it ever again. And that is my problem with Future State. These stories can be good at best, but not so good I want to read them again. As for the Grifters -story, I just don't care. About anything in it really. So pass for me.

I really liked the art of this series. At least the first part. But that's about it. Stuff does happen, Bruce's inner monologue is shown to us, but I really just don't know if anything happens. If this is the end, it's a very bad ending. A big bad boom is not a good way to end the mini-series, if we don't have enough time with these characters. I really didn't care about anything and I was confused if we should know who Peacekeeper One is. It was a disappointment, I really wanted it to be better because I loved the artstyle. As for the Red Hood story, eh. Just eh.

That was... Kinda bad? Like sure, the MJ stuff is passable, but the Kree -stuff felt so out of place. It felt like Ewing had to write something and we spent so much time on some random aliens that don't really have anything to do with Venom. Art was also mixed for me. The other story is... fine? But also feels very random. Again, it felt like they made something just to increase the page count because of this being #250. Misleading cover doesn't help. All this hype for Knull's return was to only market his mini-series, not to advance any plot on this book. So, kinda waste of time.

Gotta admit, both back-ups were much more enjoyable reads than whatever that main story was.

This is fine. But it's just not exciting or interesting to me. It just feels like Ewing is spinning the wheels right now.

Consistent tone, solid writing and intriguing ending makes this a very good third part to this crossover. Can't wait to see what is next.

It's alright and it's nice something finally happens to move the plot forward.

I haven't enjoyed this series but this was surpsingly good. +Everything else, except... -Relationship between Kaine and Ben is not earned. -Artwork is a mixed bag.

Bad ending. Nothing is really good here.

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.

As a fan of Otto, I really liked this. It's not necessary, but it's fun.

I liked the first issue, but this? This just felt like it dragged on and the writer desided Otto to be much more two-dimensional now. A disappointment for sure.

Back when I started reasing ASM 12 years ago, I really liked Bachalo's art and Kelly's Grim Hunt. But this? It feels hard to say what I think about it. It feels a bit messy? The innder dialogue for Spidey felt a bit off. Itäs not bad by any means. But not particulary good either.

It's fine, but continues to be a messy series. I just wish it was more focused and script was more tight.

It's messy, a bit boring an odd with continuation. A lot is going on, but so much that it's hard to care about anything.

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.

It was alright, but it just didn't create any big feeling for me about it. Like a first issue of this big event should.

It still continues to be disappointing. If it wasn't for the last pages, this would've been just eh. Like it seems everything interesting happens in the tie-ins, while the main story is kinda hollow with odd pacing.

This finally starts to feel more and more like an event. But there are too many players, when X-Men and Killmonger enter the picture as well. As for losing Potential-Man, it's... whatever. Camp writes him well, especially the letter, but his whole role seems so pointless and in retrospect, makes USM even worse in my eyes. Like Potential-Man really did nothing.

+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.

This was pretty good. Much better than other 2099 issues. But I don't like that this is a standalone that doesn't affect anything. Or so it would seem right now. I could be wrong.

It's not great, but it is okay.

This is not that good. As a first issue to a new series it would be, but as a standalone issue? It is pretty meh. At best I know a lot about Miguel O'Hara but this seemed just so off and hard to follow. And the worst of all, pointless. Like why should I care? Art was nice, even though Miguel and Gabe look exactly the same and I don't remember them looking in the original series? But, read Volumes 1-3 if you are a fan. This one doesn't seem to be important, as it is more backstory for Nueva York than Miguel. And doesn't seem to have a tie-in to ASM -run, even though we have the same writer.

Well, it wasn't that bad actually. Pretty okay too, like ASM #36. I didn't like this storyline very much, but I would be interested to see more.

It's not bad, but we have seen enough "former-fan-who-think-he/she's-hero's-best-friend-turns-to-hero's enemy-because-hero-isn't-with-him/her-enough". It's not interesting, or anything new. Better part of this issue is when Diana is with Jason.

Otto is handled very well and Peter here is written like he is in the game. And his gadgets are used well as his history with Otto. Artwork is just great.

Otto acts a bit too villainous compared to his own issue during the fight. And we lost SPider-UK and Noir, that bad. But still, not a bad start. And since Peter didn't appear in this, other spider-characters go their chance to shine which is always a good thing.

Great artwork and writing for different Spiders, but I'm not interested for Inheritors again. Since they get no development, this is just Marvel killing different Spiders. Also it doesn't help that this is just an ad for different Spider-Geddon tier-issues.

Still pretty meh. Art isn't the best and Inheritors aren't doing anything aren't used very well either. What I do like is the writing on Spiders and how Peter's and Morlun's feud isn't the main focus this time.

Not as bad or mediorce as the other's have been. It's a bit surprising and okay.

That wasn't a good event but the ending was pretty okay. Inheritors were the worst, but at least they have now new role. The ending is as good as it could be, artwork is okay. But if you haven't read the million tie-ins this event had, you're gonna be lost (Spider-Verse had this problem too).

A hard issue to review. It wasn't for me, but it is hard to explain why I didn't like it. For a standalone issue, it's not bad, but not that amazing either.

The symbiote is becoming an interesting "thing". The new host on the other hand is just unlikable dude with full of cliché's. Art is a mixed bag, Venom's new look is great, but some characters look pretty dull.

It's just dumb fun.

This issue was full of cheesy & campy writing, nostalgia-baiting and fan-service. And I loved all of it.

It's... okay I guess?

This was... really bad. Besides Bagley's art, there was nothing enjoyable about this. Ock is right back where he was before this started, so... what was the point? Except now he doesn't even remember Superior, again??? Like what's next? 3 years go by and Otto is back remembering he was Superior Spider-Man and trying to ge tthose memories? Even besides Otto's new terrible status quo, there was nothing new in this. Just rehashing old Slott stories, except they were rushed, poorly done and just reminders of "remember when I did this?" Only Spider-Boy was the new addition and even that was lame, I don't really care about him. I liked the early parts, but this conclusion ruins this whole story. We get no new info about Spider-Boy, so... truly what was the point?

It felt a bit slower and a bit messier than previous parts, but it wasn't horrible or worst issue ever. Just... mediocre.

This finally feels like it's going somewhere. But it's a bit too late.

This would be better if ASM #60 didn't just ruin this ending completely. Good work Lowe!

That was okay-ish. But why is Venom on the cover when he doesn't even appear in the issue?

Bendis had a great time with Miles. So why is he going out with a bummer? This "Sinister Six Reborn" is just boring... Nothing happens until big action scene that feels so off. He has so many characters for this story arc and half of them are wasted and another half doesn't get enough time. Even artwork feels bit off...

The story arc was a mess and there are lots of issues in this comic, but still, it is pretty good. Bendis is at his best, when he writes smaller stories about a very little group of people. BIG events were never his thing. So this comic is pretty good. I mean, there are lots of issues, Cable thingie, disease, disappointing ending to the Sinister Six Reborn storyline, but still, I liked it. Maybe I just like Miles so much, I don't know. Artwork is great, as always.

Rushed but not that bad of an ending. But it is still messy conclusion.

It's pretty good. Nothing groundbreaking, but enjoyable enough. I am willing to continue reading this, feels much better than previous run.

I didn't like the prelude. I still am baffled by the idea. But I did really like this. It was nice to finally have some acknowledgement from Harrys' death. And seeing other people around Peter that weren't just Norman. I missed all that. But this was a solid opening. Kubert's art was amazing here.

As a finale to an event I mostly disliked, this is good. Kubert's art was amazing and this managed to tie up most of the plotlines other tie-ins introduced. This just works as a finale, even if the event itself was bad. And it felt that Wells wanted all along to just write this kind of event. And the atrocious miss-handling of Ben was the only way they managed to make this a Spider-Man event. Although I am confused that Peter still didn't share his memories with Ben. Or what even happened to Ben, does he still feel the chasm inside of him. Dark Web was a horrible Spider-Man event that never seemed to know what it wanted to be. From Ben to odd pacing to conflicting tone, the event just didn't work. But the finale did.

I would say this book is a balancing act. There are some stories I like, some I don't. But overall it's a nice, fun crossover, just what I expected. Main story was just okay. Great art, okay writing. I have no complains. I wasn't expecting anything big, so I got what I wanted. Wonder Woman/Captain America was the highlight. Amazing stuff. Krypto/Jeff was really cute. I liked it. Daredevil/Green Arrow was... Eh. I just don't care how Smith writes his stories. Green Lantern/Guardians story was funny. Just a nice short crossover I wanted from this. The less we talk about Miller's work, the better. Final "story" is just a good way to end this. Amalgam universe coming back reborn would be nice tho.

It's pretty good. Coello's art is amazing and Ziglar's script is solid. I would have no issues here, if this was a true giant-size issue and not just two normal issues, one of which is just an old Miles comic. For newer readers, it might be nice, but I wasn't a fan of how this was handled.

It's fun and fine. Nothing special, but entertaining enough.

David Marquez drawing Batman? Man, was it a pleasant surprise. As for King's script, it was good. As usual, they are always a coinflip for me. They are either great, or boring and tedious to read. Thankfully, this was the former.

It's alright.

I don't know why, but I keep liking this. Maybe King has brainwashed me when I was reading Human Target or something. That man walks in a thin line between a genius and a hack. And Marquez still does wonders. I hope to see him back in Miles' books some day

%#$@#$ I mean, if you read the issue you know.

Killing Time? More like "Killing my interest". It's not that bad but the joke was better.

It's easy to think that all this praise and 10/10 rating comes from the fact that Peter is married and has kids. While that does factor, it's not my sole reasoning. This is legitimately surprising comic. The status quo is so different and there are so many possibilities where we can go from here. It has amazing art and Hickman's writing is surprisingly grounded. SPOILERS: I loved how Peter chose to be bitten by the spider. Stark's message clearly made him wonder about his other life and how he doesn't feel like his life is fulfilling him right now. And it made perfect sense why Peter wanted it. His sense of responsibility is there, but he has been powerless to do anything. But not anymore. And the fact that both MJ and Ben were the catalysts for Peter's choice? Amazing. But I am also interested to see how Peter handles with the pain that comes being Spider-Man. We've always seen him react to it when he is young and didn't choose it. Now neither of those are the case. How will it affect him? And all those beautiful variant covers that tease what could come (Alien Costume and Clone Saga) are so interesting to see in this Brand New World. Plus Ben being alive,friends with Jonah and working for Bugle? That alone is such an interesting twist.

I only have one problem. I wanted this to be longer. Everything else? I love. And ending this with "maybe I'll give it one more day"? I see what you're doing Hickman.

Peak. The dream team strikes again.

Amazing stuff here. This is just the issue USM needed, more slower one that focuses on characters and their relationships. I loved every page and I was hooked on the dialogue. And Messina as a guest artist works really well here. I wouldn't mind seeing more of him once in a while. The only problem I have is the cover. It's a bit misleading, and since I desperately wanna see Ben's viewpoint on Spider-Man, it was a letdown

The art is bit of a downgrade, but I think Messina does a good job still. While I do like almost everything in this comic, reading this monthly and having the pacing be slow, even if a lot of groundwork is done, makes this more difficult to enjoy. It's still really great, but not peak like the first issues felt. However, I imagine with the next issue this will truly ramp up. Original USM was also very slow, but that ended up being mostly great.

I wish this was perfect. Or an amazing conclusion to the first arc. But unfortunately it isn't. There is a lot of amazing stuff here, chemistry between Harry and Peter, amazing art and action. But MJ and Richard were disappointment. Richard feels like a non-character and MJ feels too perfect. There is no struggle, no doubts, not even worries or arguments. Just text-book perfectism, which is nice, but not exciting. I don't want massive argument or anything, but something. Right now I have gotten very little from MJ as a character and I hoped this would give us something. I love MJ. I love her and Peter together, they are my favorite couple in comics and one of my favorites in fiction. So I wanna see her more, as three-dimensional character, not just as "perfect wife". But I know we have only seen 6 issues. My expectations were high because this series overall has been so good. So we might get more out of MJ and Richard later.

After the disappointment that was the last issue, this is a strong start to the new arc. A lot of intriguing setup is done here, can't wait to see more.

One of the best issues in a while. Interesting new developments, a lot of stuff happening, great character moments and amazing art. What more can you ask for.

Those two are simply amazing. Can't wait for more, although I wish this series had as good writing for Peter as it does for Ben and Jonah.

It feels like this book is finally becoming what I wanted it to be. Spider-Man being Spider-Man stopping bank robberies! Nice character moments between Peter and his supporting cast! I like how Hickman writes Peter's inexperience and how he doesn't take things seriously yet. Peter has the power and the responsibility, but it still doesn't feel like it clicks for him. And that seems to be the whole point of this comic currently. Covers are misleading, but otherwise great stuff.

What an issue. I like it a lot. But I also have multiple problems. There is a lot to like here. Art is fantastic and how characters are written is great. I am more invested in MJ now, it feels like the criticism I had for her after #6 is finally being answered. The final pages are fantastic and family dynamic is great. But what problems do I have with this then? Titular character. Normally I wouldn't mind if it was another issue of very little Peter. But it's like every other issue in this series. Hickman seems to like writing every other character besides Peter. Because he is sidelined again and it does hurt the experience. What hurts it the most is the 12 month structure. Peter has been Spider-Man for almost a year now. And I have seen so little of it. I have no idea how much he has matured, how much experience he now has, because Hickman shows Spider-Man being Spider-Man so little. After reading Gabe's review (that many dislike for the lowscore), I get why he is disappointed. For a book called Spider-Man, it focuses very little on Spider-Man. So as a standalone issue, this is fantastic and focus on MJ is amazing. You love to see it. But as issue 12 of an ongoing series that spans one issue per month in timeline of the comic as well, it does hurt the experience a lot. There is so little I know about this Peter and it does annoy me while I read it.

What a way to start second year. Goddamn. Lack of focus on Peter is disappointing, but otherwise this is so good.

I was not a fan of this as much as I was the previous issues. Every issue focusing on one month is really hurting this book. Because we miss crucial moments between the main cast of this book and it makes it seem like nothing important happens between the issues. MJ is just fine with Peter being gone for over a month, tortured and having his identity revealed, which causes them to go on a run for over a month. And that her son is doing the same? Okay, if the point is she pucts on an act, I expect to see something else too. Like this is just perfect wife again and not a real character. Why can't we see the talks between these issues, where we see how characters actually feel about stuff that happens? Why do we need to spent 1/2 of an issue to Sandman, who isn't important character on this book and doesn't seem to be for the next 3 issues. Instead of just... Peter and how he feels that his son is risking his life to do the same that Peter himself did and that causes them to go on a run. It's a fine singular issue. But overall, I can't be invested on the main cast, if the book isn't either. Thankfully something happens with Ben and Jonah. But the last time we saw the Ben Reilly story beat was on #10, which is 5 months ago in the book's timeline. So, what happened during that 5 month period for the Paper?

As a standalone issue, this is amazing. As a 16th issue of USM, it's frustrating. Once again, we get more focus on side characters who aren't related to Peter. This book is basically Ultimate Harry Osborn at this point. Don't get me wrong. I love everything in this. From writing, to art to making it all make sense. But I'm so annoyed, because Peter, MJ or their family doesn't get the same focus. And because this series is so deadset on having each issue cover a month, having an issue have an exciting ending doesn't matter. Last issue we had Ben and JJJ facing Kingpin. This issue, they are barely mentioned. And since Peter doesn't learn this stuff with the reader (like the solicits say he does), he doesn't feel like a main character. It feels like Hickman wants to write about his cast, not about him.

Oh damn, it seems that the editorial team put the wrong synopsis and title to this book. I hope to read real USM issue one day, but Ultimate Green Goblin #17 is good enough until that. Even if I am using a joking tone, I am serious and also getting more and more annoyed. This book just doesn't focus on the titular character. It feels like a B-book that is mostly about the side cast. It's good. Don't get me wrong. It's good. I like the revelations, world building, character interactions and Messina's art is solid. But it's not Ultimate Spider-Man. If it was, it would focus more on the titular character for three months straight instead of just having him make a small cameo for two issues straight. And did anyone catch Richard Parker in the BLACK SUIT?

This book keeps being frustrating I liked most of the stuff, art especially was amazing. MJ is still two-dimensional perfect wife who doesn't seem to have any problem that Peter is going away to fight the same people who kidnapped him for months last time he was in NYC Jonah found out Peter is Spider-Man off-screen, and that's great. I would hate to see any kind of interesting writing for characters that could lead to something. And the cliffhanger is once again exciting, but since the next issue wont happen immediately after this one, we gotta wait for month to see how month has passed and we are in entirely different setting while characters talk about how crazy last month was. Presumably MJ will comment "no worries Peter, I am sure Richard is fine!"

This book is really hard to give thoughts about. There is so much stuff I like here. But I can't just blindly love it, because there is so much stuff that is still missing. And Peter's characterization continues to be weak compared to others. However, I still liked so much stuff. Art, the suit, MJ finally giving us what she feels. All good stuff, but with the series ending in 5 issues, I can't stop thinking how much wasted potential this series had. Because so many interesting character moments and developments are missed because every issue focuses in one month. Kingpin continues to be weak villain. What has he done past year that has really mattered? Only one who did anything was Kraven.

The most frustrating comic book of the century continues. It is harder to be invested in this comic, when the creative team keeps faltering. Is this a bad comic? No. On it's own, it's quite good. I like the focus on MJ and her feelings on the matter, even if this is late. It's clear how this is mirroring issue 4, and I liked that issue. But that issue was still building towards something. This issue... is just stalling mostly. But is it good? Yes. On it's own on. But as 20th issue and 5th to last, it's disappointing. This is what we call stalling. This is not filler, somewhat important stuff happens here, but clearly Hickman doesn't want to have the confrontation before the last 2 issues. So... we are left with character stuff, which would normally be nice... If we had any input from the supposed "main character" of this book. To this day, I have zero clue why Peter does what he does, how his character has changed in any way since issue 2, how good is he using his powers now and how has the stuff affected him. Because Hickman refuses to focus on Peter, it's hard to stay invested. And when he is supposedly the main character, it's hard to stay invested in this book. At least we saw May in five panels now. And few lines. Is that a record? Like, what are we building towards? Gang War? Confrontation with Kingpin? That has been building up since issue 7, or 13 months of this comic's timeline and what really has happened? What has the supposed "main antagonist" of this book done really? Nothing. Kraven did more in spawn of 2 issues than Kingpin has in 13. We are supposed to believe he has the resources to kill every Ben Reilly on the planet, but so far he hasn't been able to do anything towards Parkers? Or Mysterio? Or find out that Harry is alive? Having each issue focus on each month really hurts this book. Nothing feels worthwhile. This comic ends in interesting way. But a month has passed again in the next issue. So we can see maybe flashbacks, or probably just characters talking what happened, instead of seeing. TLDR: not a bad comic, but this series keeps being frustrating to read, because few things advance and lack of focus on Peter is disappointing to see every month.

Easily the worst issue by far. Damn it's sad how disappointing this book has become. I am intrigued to read this till the end, but oh boy is this poorly made series. Again, is this a bad issue in a vacuum? No. Enjoyable one. But the idea is so stupid. This. This??? We have 3 issues left after this and this is what Hickman decides to start focusing on??? A side villain??? Yeah it's nice to get backstory for a character introduced 14 months ago. BUT IT'S NOT THE MAIN PROTAGONIST OR THE ANTAGONIST. AND WE KNOW SO LITTLE OF EITHER OF THEM . Like I don't get how this book is praised as a good Spider-Man comic. How is this a Spider-Man comic at this point??? It's like Hickman is deadly afraid of showing us anything related to Peter at this point. Sure you don't need to focus on the main cast every issue. But it would be nice if you focused on them at all. Remember the punch last issue? That was praised because MJ was so badass? Well that's ignored. As usual. Why even bother with cliffhangers at this point. We see one panel of Spider-Man. And even that raises a lot of questions. It seems to be AI Venom. Is Richard controlling it? Has it gone rogue? Does Richard even know what it did to Fisk's men? Who knows! That would be interesting to follow, right? But stupid me, expecting Spider-Man stuff in Spider-Man comic. JJJ and Ben do literally nothing. We are given an illusion that they have progressed ,but in truth, they seem to be in the same spot as in #10. So you know, 11 months ago. If anyone wants to say this is a good Spider-Man comic, I would ask you: can you tell me anything about this Peter? Even how he and MJ met and established their relationship? Got married? The one thing that is constantly marketed? No? Well screw me I guess, another issue focused on side villains backstory then.

This comic feels like everything one shouldn't be when making a story with set ending in mind. And that is: it tells, it doesn't show. I can always praise art here. I do love it. But the timeskip we got, was way too major. What is left is us being told multiple things without us actually seeing them. We are given implication that they happened and that's it. Otto is now Spider-Man. One can think how, when, why and who taught him, how did Peter and Harry react to it but those kinds of questions are just ignored. We are told that and should just accept it. I also don't know how he got so close to the Parker family, but focusing on that would require some kind of writing for characters which is a big no in this book. Better to just tell us it happened. Otto also suddenly has keen interest in the Maker, someone who hasn't been mentioned at all or very little during this run. Which is odd because the whole thing is Hickman's idea. The cast seemingly survived Negative's attack (as expected) and moved to Savage Land. So of course, we can add that cliffhanger to the list of "never actually established the aftermath". They also now have alliance with the Mole Man. One could think how that happened, when and what was needed. But again, all ignored. Oh yeah and of course Richard going full Venom last issue while Peter sees it is ignored. Why would we want to see how he reacts his former suit with an AI based on him going berserk. Gwen is dead. One could think we would see how the main character, Harry Osborn, reacts to it and how he handles it. But we are told he didn't take it well and last pages try to give something. But again, we are mostly told that it was bad for Harry, nothing else. No funeral, no seeing the first reaction, no Peter and MJ learning about it, nothing. This issue could and should be a masterpiece. If this was issue 40 and all these things were established and shown that I criticize, I would love it. But instead, we are left with an issue that is pretty, but just tells us bunch of stuff happened. And that's what his book is about. It just tells "more interesting stuff happened off-screen, don't worry about it". It's like reading a recap issue every month instead of actual issues of the comic. But hey, MJ and Pete banged in this comic, so I guess it's an automatic 10/10.

Reading this comic and series overall, I can't bring myself to be even angry anymore. I am just so heavily disappointed by this series. What a waste. Nothing here feels earned. Once again, we are told everything and we see nothing. Peter says he is not the same when facing Kingpin as he was in #6. I have zero clue how that is the case, I haven't seen anything that would implicate otherwise. One training session in #7 isn't enough to convince me. We are being told how Fisk is this big bad Kingpin who does bad things. I have zero clues what he has actually done. And how has it impacted anyones life. I guess he is evil? Everything here feels forced. None of the stuff currently going on is something this series has build enough. And with one issue left, I can't imagine it will be a good or even passable conclusion. Nothing here is bad. It's just not earned. In any way. And you know what is worse? I still love #1. It still is one of my favorite issues of Spider-Man ever, but this? This is just a waste. I can't see anyone actually recommending this series as a Spider-Man comic. If you do, please read anything else besides ASM by Zeb Wells. I hoped this series would explore learning responsibility from adult and how normal people and street-level heroes are being impacted by Maker's world. And seeing a good marriage between MJ and Peter, seeing how they got together despite having wildly different backstory than in 616. But we got none of that. We didn't get really anything. I still don't know what motivates Peter. Was it the death of May? Who knows. He hasn't talked about that or anything.

Ok. I'm gonna start my rand about this comic and whole series with something else. TLDR: I hated this and this pretty much ruined UPM (Ultimate Potential-Man) for me. Imagine there is a new pizza place. You know the chef, you have eaten his food before, and you know he is a great cook. And you have been looking for a new pizza place, as the current ones haven’t been delivering. Each month, the Chef’s Special is what’s recommended. And each month you take it. The first 5 times it’s great. Especially the first two. What a joy. You feel like you have found a true amazing pizza place. Then, the quality hinders. It’s still good, with hints of greatness and you like it a lot. But after a year, something changes. You go to this pizza place, expecting pizza and this time the Chef’s Special is a hamburger. Next time it’s a steak. Next time it’s a soup. After that a salad. Every time all those foods are good, but they are not pizza. They are not the reason you came to this place in the first place. And every time you try to explain your view, you are met with comments like this: “IT’S ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD FOOD. YOU ARE JUST A HATER. LET HICKMAN COOK. LET HIM COOK. HE CAN DELIVER. LET HIM COOK”. Then another year goes by, you never get the pizza anymore in that Pizzeria, people still scream how you just need to let the Chef cook and wait until it is closed and… Nothing. Just nothing. This series was a massive disappointment; I think the biggest Spider-Man fumble since Spencer run and mostly a waste of time. I am annoyed. Because first issue still is amazing. And my favorite of that year. But this? After two years? What a joke. Nothing of consequence happens. Nothing really matters. This feels like a fanfiction. And just like every other cliffhanger in this series, everything ends okay and there is no consequences. Again, why is Otto Spider-Man? What did that even mean? What was the point of that? Does he even have spider-powers??? It’s questions like these that make me realize how poor job Hickman did with this one. Sure. You can try to defend it, saying it ended before he wanted. But no. It was his plan to make each issue focus on a month. He knew year before that this would end by 24. And what did he do with it? Nothing. Harry doesn’t do anything here. I don’t even know why was he brought back and his death faked when he as a character doesn’t matter in any way to any of the plots. We don’t know how he is handling all this. He feels very sidelined, which is odd because he was the major focus for the most part. Richard gets the girl and we get a cute quirky line how he is grounded and then isn’t. Nice to know Peter is fine with that an AI-based-on-him monstrosity is still with him and he has no problem that a teenager is acting as a superhero. And seemingly neither does MJ. Parents of the year. May does nothing. Just like her “grandmother”, both are wasted. She doesn’t even say anything. Ben and JJJ? Cool I guess. Their plot would’ve mattered more had we seen anything bad Kingpin did. Why was liberating New York so important? How bad was he? What did he even do? Seriously. Don’t get me even started on Mr. Negative. We waste a fucking issue on his backstory instead of the main character or antagonist and he does nothing. He just dies lol. Just like Fisk. What a joke. And then there is the Potential-Man. What a waste. I think he might be one of the worst interpretations of the character. There is nothing Peter Parker about him. He just feels like a fanfic character who does nothing but gets the happy ending. There were no consequences in the end for him becoming Spider-Man. All that intrigue of seeing Peter choose the powers as a married man with kids. And nothing was done with it. MJ is fine. Sometimes. It would be nice if she wasn’t just super horny for Peter and actually did anything. But silly me, expecting Hickman to make me care about this couple. Because this is not the marriage I have been wanting for so long. Don’t get me wrong. The flashback scene is great. I like it a lot. But too little too late. Now is the time you show us this??? Like. Why now? Why not 22 issues ago??? Why now try to make us invested in this couple and see how they are unique to Earth-616, when we know it’s ending. And what I am most confused about is Peter’s speech. He tells how you don’t need great power to have great responsibility and do things, but that is the literal opposite of what happens to him? He only manages to do anything because he got bitten by a spider and got those powers. And never seemed to care about anything going on? Like we never got any input from him, feeling powerless or anything. His whole arc of finding out he didn’t lack anything because family is what mattered feels hollow. It’s unearned. We never saw this kind of need for Peter ever again after first issue. So to focus on it now is just kinda pointless. Just like this series. I would rather read Spencer or Wells run again than this. I don’t think I ever need to visit this series again. Why would I? Adventures of the blandest version of Peter Parker and his jinks as Potential-Man are so uninteresting and this final issue also kinda retroactively ruins all stories of more interesting characters because nothing is done with them. So good work Hickman, this is how you ruin a series after amazing introduction. And the fact that this series shares the namesake of Ultimate Spider-Man is a crime. Ultimate Potential-Man has nothing compared to it. It’s all potential and ideas, but fails to deliver in almost every aspect.

It's pretty good. But feels disconnected from Immortal Hulk #50, so if that bothers you, it's not good for you. Me? I'm waiting for Cates to explain us Bruce's current mindset.

This is a good second part for this series. If looking this as it's own thing, it's a fun comic with interesting ideas and wonderful art. However, many might be annoyed or disappointed that this doesn't feel like a continuation for Immortal Hulk. And I agree, but I'm not surprised. When Cates started Venom, it also didn't really feel like continuation for the previous volumes. The first part, Rex was clearly it's own thing. I mean Cates has a clear structure that he usually follows. First we get a 6-part storyline that introduces us to his ideas and takes on the character. And then we move from there. So give it a chance will you? I highly doubt Cates ignores what Ewing wrote. The story just doesn't take place in a setting that has a chance to explains us everything. Because clearly there has been a time jump between Immortal Hulk #50 and Hulk #1.

Currently, Ottley's art is what makes this so good to me. As for Cates' writing? It's fine, honestly. However, it's slower paced then I would like to. I don't want to compare this Immortal Hulk, and I won't. Which is why I feel I like this more than most. But, if Cates doesn't deliver with suffice answers in the final parts of this first arc, it's hard to stay invested in this. I don't believe Cates chooses to ignore it, as it has been such well-received storyline and it's so recent, but I hope he can make his Hulk story a compelling sequel to it.

Ottley's art is so good and fits so well in this book. From Stegman to Klein to Ottley, Cates works very well with artists who bring his vision to comic book medium. As for the script? It's fine. It's fun and enjoyable still. Sure there are some big problems like the unanswered questions we have, but I'm fine with it for now.

At this point I'm just enjoying the ride.

It's a crazy ride. But a very enjoyable one. With great art.