Doku's Profile

Spencer and Ottley are a talented team and perhaps that's why I am so disappointed with their current run. We have yet to see a truly epic Spidey battle and every villain (usually C or D list) is treated as a joke. Major plot threads are left dangling without much buildup and each issue spends too much time recapping what happened in previous issues. On the plus side, Ottley's artwork is solid and Spencer has a good command of character and dialogue. 13 issues is a long stretch to perform middling work, especially on Marvel's flagship character. Here's hoping this team kicks it into high gear soon.

Nick Spencer has gone back to the Superior Foes well one too many times.

Too many superior foes, not enough Spidey. It's clear that Nick Spencer likes to write D-list villains, but this schtick has gotten old.

Nick Spencer's run on ASM is just plain bad. This latest Spider-man 2099 arc is unfocused and totally disrupted the Kindred story just when things were starting to get interesting. In contrast, take the Immortal Hulk. This book is also published bi-weekly and has maintained a consistently high quality since its launch. The Immortal Hulk has also had the same creative team (Al Ewing & Joe Bennett) on the book from the very first issue. It seems ASM can't have an artist pencil more than two consecutive issues without introducing some fill-in artist. If this were a B or C list Marvel character I could somewhat understand. This however is Marvel's flagship character. Expectations should be higher. After 35 issues of mediocrity, it's time to call this a failed experiment.

This is just bad. How can Marvel consider this writing and art okay for one of its premier characters. I'm dropping this book. I might check back in on it a year from now. I'm sure I won't miss much...Spencer will still be milking the Kindred mystery for all it's worth.

The simple truth is that Nick Spencer is producing a middling run on the Amazing Spider-man. He won't be remembered alongside some of the more influential modern age writers like J Michael Straczynski and Dan Slott; both of whom definitely made their mark on the character with new villains, interesting concepts, etc. The current run of Amazing can't even seem to get a consistent art team. Its a constant rotation of Ottley, Ramos, Gleason, and other random fill-ins. All you have to do is look at what other creative teams like Ewing/Bennett (Immortal Hulk), Zdarsky/Checchetto (Daredevil), and Cates/Stegman (Venom) are doing at Marvel. They are operating at an entirely different level, which is awesome...but is puzzling that Amazing can't seem to get that type of talent on what many people would describe as Marvel's flagship character. Nick Spencer is a gifted writer and Ottley is a talented artist, but they just aren't the right fit for this book. If you look at the reviews for this run from it's inception...it's averaging around 7/10. That's good enough for a b-level title, but not for a tier 1 character. Marvel needs to have Spencer finish up whatever he's trying to do with the 50 issue Kindred build-up and then usher him off in favor of some new talent.

Let's be clear. Spencer, Lowe and Co. needed over 80 issues to complete the Kindred arc. 80+ issues! Repeat that again to yourself and you begin to realize just how absurd this whole fiasco really was. Then to top it off it was completely incoherent storytelling. There are only two possible explanations...either it's total incompetence by the editorial staff or a shameless cash grab. I'm not sure what's worse, but I do know that without a complete changeover in editorial, we're in for more of the same. This is Marvel's flagship character. The fans and the Spider-man legacy deserve better.

I've been highly critical of the ASM editorial and creative teams really since Nick Lowe became editor. However, Joe Kelly has turned things around. Minus the eight deaths of spider man, his run has been very good (trending towards great). We're back to meaningful dialogue and characterization, use of internal thought balloons/callouts, good story pacing, new characters, etc. I'm excited again about ASM. Nick Lowe deserves some credit for finally righting the ship.

I was blown away. Great premise that hits close to home for me. Gillen and Hans have hit this one out of the park. Please check out this series.

There is a ton of humor and heart in this series. In my opinion Taylor and Cabal should be on the flagship Amazing Spiderman book.

This is a great series. Tom Taylor is an excellent writer with a great handle on character and dialog. This book also nails spider-man's humor with many laugh-out-loud moments. Cabal's art is impressive. In short, this team should be on Amazing Spider-man instead of Spencer/Ottley.

Incredible series. All the talk about Ewing & Bennett creating a modern masterpiece is true.

One of the best individual issues of spider-man that I've read in quite some time. JJ and Henry Abrams are a great father/son writing team and Sara Pichelli's pencils are sublime. A new mysterious villain...check. Real stakes and a story that isn't a retread of the past...check. Top notch artwork...check. This one has it all. I urge everyone to check out this book.

I'm really enjoying this book. Gage captures the voice of Otto Octavius perfectly. The art is pretty solid as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how the major sub-plot line plays out.

Scott Snyder was born to write Batman and Jock's art is incredible and gels perfectly with Snyder's storytelling. If you aren't reading this series you need to grab the back issue(s) and add this to your pull list.