Comics Amazing Spider-Man #1 (ugh) By Ryan Ottley! and Nic Spencer

[UltimateWebhead]

Everyone in here caught up? Have you read The Sins of Norman issue?

ASM 49/850 is out this coming Wednesday. Spencer is on a roll...that last issue was really good and things are ramping up.

 

[shinlyle]

Everyone in here caught up? Have you read The Sins of Norman issue?

ASM 49/850 is out this coming Wednesday. Spencer is on a roll...that last issue was really good and things are ramping up.

YES!! Sins of Norman was good, and I'm loving where this is all going. Also, as much as I complain about the multiple variants, there are some great ones. J. Scott Campbell, Bruce Timm...good stuff!

 

[Hobgoblin]

I liked The Sins of Norman Osborn but 850 was underwhelming. It felt like the last few issues were a lead up to nothing. Nothing was resolved or were questions answered. A few seeds for future stories were planted but the Kindred storyline is still dragging on without an answer.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

I liked The Sins of Norman Osborn but 850 was underwhelming. It felt like the last few issues were a lead up to nothing. Nothing was resolved or were questions answered. A few seeds for future stories were planted but the Kindred storyline is still dragging on without an answer.

Well 850 was always about the return of GG. Issue 851/50 was touted as the face to face with Kindred.

I get this has been dragged out for awhile but it's like no one has patience anymore. But it does really come down to the reveal when it eventually comes. If Spencer nails it, this will all be worth it.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

I read 850/49 and I really enjoyed it.

Spoiler

There's quite a bit to unpack here.

We get to see that Norman really does hate Peter and there's a bit of a retcon showing reasoning behind that hatred. It works well and it's some good characterization.

There's some interesting work done here as Norman and Peter work together even giving us a glimpse of what could have been. We already know plenty as to why Peter hates Norman but we also get to see how Peter might have respected Norman with regard to his scientific mind.

The fight scenes are beautifully drawn. One scene in particular shows the speed of Spider-Man.

The Order of the Web was mostly useless however Ghost Spider/Gwen made good use of exposition. Spencer tells and shows us what makes Peter such a great character. He always does what is right and represents the best of us. As Ghost states, he is the true hero and the best of them. Spider-Man fights his own battles and he makes the right decision and so they don't need to interfere. It's refreshing to see Spider-Man once again in this light under Spencer's pen.

Spencer brings up Sins Past in a delightfully creepy fashion. And he also makes a strong point of the fact that 616 Gwen and Ghost Spider Gwen are two completely different people.

In the end, after saving Norman and almost dying because of Norman Peter makes a decision that his back to his roots. He did the right thing by saving Norman but also isn't about to let him just go free into the world, to unleash that evil again. So he tosses him outta the ship leaving him for Sin Eater and so Norman must try to save himself. It makes for a powerful moment.

Overall this was a great issue and despite some minor nitpicks I have again I must say it was enjoyable on several levels. It gets a solid B.

 

[shinlyle]

I will be picking up mine this weekend, but I just got word that Ottley is leaving ASM with this issue! ARGH! He didn't draw but 20 of the 49 issues. What a crap deal. And he didn't draw even one arc with Venom in it, which is what I wanted to see. Shoot, most of his issues were epilogues or one issue stories. Most of the main story issues were drawn by Ramos (ugh) or Gleason (yay).

Oh well. I'm sure this just means they are looking for my number to call me to take over. I await their call. (Hopeless optimism)

 

[Hobgoblin]

Well 850 was always about the return of GG. Issue 851/50 was touted as the face to face with Kindred.

I get this has been dragged out for awhile but it's like no one has patience anymore. But it does really come down to the reveal when it eventually comes. If Spencer nails it, this will all be worth it.

I’m all about patience. I loved the mystery of the first Hobgoblin stories. This just feels drawn out over the past three or so years.

I missed the part why Osborn had to take the Goblin formula again. I thought that problem was solved for him as Red Goblin.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

I liked The Sins of Norman Osborn but 850 was underwhelming. It felt like the last few issues were a lead up to nothing. Nothing was resolved or were questions answered. A few seeds for future stories were planted but the Kindred storyline is still dragging on without an answer.

I feel similar to an extent, but I didn’t know that 851/50 was supposed to be the official Kindred showdown. I’ll cut them a little slack for that. Should they have instead made 850 the Kindred showdown? Probably. Hopefully Spencer wrote a fleshed out GG issue for something later...

I read 850/49 and I really enjoyed it.

Spoiler

There's quite a bit to unpack here.

We get to see that Norman really does hate Peter and there's a bit of a retcon showing reasoning behind that hatred. It works well and it's some good characterization.

There's some interesting work done here as Norman and Peter work together even giving us a glimpse of what could have been. We already know plenty as to why Peter hates Norman but we also get to see how Peter might have respected Norman with regard to his scientific mind.

The fight scenes are beautifully drawn. One scene in particular shows the speed of Spider-Man.

The Order of the Web was mostly useless however Ghost Spider/Gwen made good use of exposition. Spencer tells and shows us what makes Peter such a great character. He always does what is right and represents the best of us. As Ghost states, he is the true hero and the best of them. Spider-Man fights his own battles and he makes the right decision and so they don't need to interfere. It's refreshing to see Spider-Man once again in this light under Spencer's pen.

Spencer brings up Sins Past in a delightfully creepy fashion. And he also makes a strong point of the fact that 616 Gwen and Ghost Spider Gwen are two completely different people.

In the end, after saving Norman and almost dying because of Norman Peter makes a decision that his back to his roots. He did the right thing by saving Norman but also isn't about to let him just go free into the world, to unleash that evil again. So he tosses him outta the ship leaving him for Sin Eater and so Norman must try to save himself. It makes for a powerful moment.

Overall this was a great issue and despite some minor nitpicks I have again I must say it was enjoyable on several levels. It gets a solid B.

I agree with a lot of this, maybe not the art (except for Bagley’s, who I love), but there’s good moments and it’s a very entertaining read/quite a page turner throughout. I must say, I agree with Hobgoblin that, I was under the impression that some big(ger) things was gonna happen this issue, particularly with Kindred. Is 851/50 gonna be a larger issue, too? If so, then it might be worth it, but it does feel like Spencer is stalling just a little bit.

Edit: after a few reskimming/revisits, I will say Spencer did stage the moral dilemma quite well — can Spider-Man, is Spider-Man able to kill? He did that pretty nicely using Sin-Eater as the instigator, if you will. But yes, somewhere around a solid B..

I will be picking up mine this weekend, but I just got word that Ottley is leaving ASM with this issue! ARGH! He didn't draw but 20 of the 49 issues. What a crap deal. And he didn't draw even one arc with Venom in it, which is what I wanted to see. Shoot, most of his issues were epilogues or one issue stories. Most of the main story issues were drawn by Ramos (ugh) or Gleason (yay).

Oh well. I'm sure this just means they are looking for my number to call me to take over. I await their call. (Hopeless optimism)

I hope they call you, dude. I’m actually happy that Ottley is leaving. I was never too crazy about his art — I always thought it looked too “kiddy”..

 

[Hobgoblin]

I feel similar to an extent, but I didn’t know that 851/50 was supposed to be the official Kindred showdown. I’ll cut them a little slack for that. Should they have instead made 850 the Kindred showdown? Probably. Hopefully Spencer wrote a fleshed out GG issue for something later...


I agree with a lot of this, maybe not the art (except for Bagley’s, who I love), but there’s good moments and it’s a very entertaining read/quite a page turner throughout. I must say, I agree with Hobgoblin that, I was under the impression that some big(ger) things was gonna happen this issue, particularly with Kindred. Is 851/50 gonna be a larger issue, too? If so, then it might be worth it, but it does feel like Spencer is stalling just a little bit.

Edit: after a few reskimming/revisits, I will say Spencer did stage the moral dilemma quite well — can Spider-Man, is Spider-Man able to kill? He did that pretty nicely using Sin-Eater as the instigator, if you will. But yes, somewhere around a solid B..


I hope they call you, dude. I’m actually happy that Ottley is leaving. I was never too crazy about his art — I always thought it looked too “kiddy”..

To be fair, I didnt know what 850 would be about. I knew Gobby was involved but assumed that Kindred would have played a bigger role. Any role, actually. Instead he is musing to himself again. I like a thoughtful, contemplative villain but this is too much.

This was a dull, pretty meaningless story. Goblin and Spidey fight a common enemy, fight each other, Peter lets Norman go despite wanting to kill him. After all of the anxiety drummed up by Spidey’s allies about their ominous visions...nothing. Their prophecies will eventually come true in some way of course, but even they thought the threat to Spider-Man was immediate, othewise they wouldn’t have shown up.

Gotta say, I’m glad that Ottley is gone. His art was too cartoony. Who is taking his place?

 

[UltimateWebhead]

First, I'm gonna miss Ottley. Cartoony, yes, but his line work was so clean. He's a good artist. As far as I know, there's no replacement however the next few issues are being penciled by Gleason and Bagley. Which imo is good cause with the darker tone that's upcoming, Gleason is a great match.

I understand that people are feeling frustrated with this ongoing mystery surrounding Kindred and the reasons behind those feelings. It IS taking a long time. I concede that...heck, even the Clone Saga didn't last this long, lol.

But let's take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I must ask though, has Spencer failed at delivering in the end with any of his arcs? I'm not counting the tie-in stuff btw cause imo that wasn't part of his current plan with Kindred and falls outside the scope.

Spencer does this with purpose. He's slow but also methodical. Just singling out his arcs, they start off slow and seemingly meaningless but then they end with purpose. I remember back when Hunted was being released and I remember people complaining about how long that took, myself included actually. I did feel the drag with a couple of those issues but most of my complaints I think were because Ramos ended up drawing most of them and that's not good for anyone, lol. But still, Spencer nailed the ending. And going back and reading those issues in one sitting...it's a really well told story that has some great character defining moments. So, yes I do get the dragged out complaints but at the same time I'm enjoying the details.

I certainly don't feel like this most recent issue was meaningless. Imo, I think people are getting too focused on the whole Kindred mystery that they're so moth to the flame, they're missing some of the great stuff. Are we that far removed from Dan Slott that we don't remember a story like what we just read, would not have happened? Spider-Man fighting his own battles, the recognition that he's the true hero, the "best of us." That was never the case with Slott. Spider-Man was incompetent, always needing assistance, shown that he was incapable of fighting his own battles, making his own choices, would not have shown that he makes the right decisions even under such a difficult set of circumstances. And absolutely would not have been classified as "the best of us." Spencer retcons a bit of the history between Norman and Peter and not just for shock or some other cheap grab, no, he does so with purpose and it resonates and even builds upon the reasoning for their disdain. Spencer even brings up Sins Past...Norman sniffing Ghost and saying 'oh, you're not my Gwendy.' But even more important he makes the point of the fact that Gwen and Ghost are not the same person.

I'm not trying to sound like a d**k so I apologize if that's how I'm coming across but I guess maybe I'm a bit frustrated too. I often see the same complaints across the internet about what's going on with Kindred. But he's also not just a villain of the week. I believe Spencer is setting up Kindred to be an A-lister, the next big bad and imo will have one hell of a conclusion when Spencer's run does come to a close.

So, in conclusion, Spencer is very purposeful in his writing and I'm still filled with great enthusiasm that we have a genuine writer that not only builds these good stories but also truly understands Peter and Spider-Man.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I just want to say I left Amazing after Hunted. That story ticked me off so much.


I’m always conflicted about dark Spidey stories. Some of my favorites have been dark but he isn’t a dark character. Trauma works best after more or less happy stories.

 

[Spidey_62]

A few of my favorite stories from this run so far: the 3 part JJJ arc early on, #24-25 with the Kindred/Mysterio stuff along with MJ beating Electro, and the Gog story. Basically every time Ryan Ottley has drawn a full story, so I'm gonna miss him on the book. He really brought some fresh flavor to the proceedings, I liked seeing Marvel go outside the box with picking up new talent for ASM like that. Same for Gleason coming over from DC, except I don't see him doing as much work on the title.

Nothing against Ramos but he's been a staple on the title for 10 years now, even Bagley feels more fresh at this point because he hasn't drawn the book since the 90s.

I'd like to note how the Gog story was a great showcase for Ottley's skills, with big monster action and almost that whole issue dedicated to Gog's backstory showing alien space battles, and then big Spidey action... just fun comics, ya know? I really liked the JJJ story with Foswell's kid, too. Ottley pretty much got to draw every major Spidey character at some point in his 20 something issues which was nice to see and kind of reminded me of Michelinie writing for McFarlane just giving him pretty much everybody to draw.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I admit, I did like the podcast with JJJ.

 

[shinlyle]

I read issue 850/49....liked it for the most part. My only complaint was, as always, that Norman has yet to be featured in a story since his resurrection that is even a tenth as good as the one that originally killed him off. I was personally hoping that this story would put Norman back under ground. No such luck. Also, a rehash of the "Nothing stops the Juggernaut" story and it's ending left me lukewarm. I think the interaction between Spidey and his pals was what pulled it up for me. Gwen being the one who saved the day really felt organic. If anyone would have a reason to let Norman get killed, it would be her.

That being said, I enjoyed it. I am happy that, even though we are losing Ottley, we are getting to keep Gleason, who is KILLING it. I am now ready to skip to the Kindred story, and let's get it going. Also, ahem.... GET MJ BACK IN THE STORY!!

Ahem.
That is all.

 

[Spidey_62]

So Kindred is revealed today in ASM #50.

Spoiler

I'm excited to see where it goes with Harry. It fits with Spencer's MO so far, like making a big story to put Kraven back in the grave I felt like it made sense that Spencer would be feeling similarly about BND Harry's existence kinda mucking up the overall picture/classic stories.

It's an opportunity to take the BND retcon and retroactively give him new context and make his Spec 200 death real again. I never really cared for Harry being back since BND, at least with how it handwaved away much better stories.

Much like Mysterio, he died, then he showed up as an agent of hell, then he was alive again, it all clouds the waters and I much prefer Spencer's approach here of trying to reframe all these seemingly conflicting disparate past stories under one bubble. Like sure, you can say Mysterio didn't die, and Slott did with the whole "Master of illusion!" stuff but to me it cheapens the authenticity of the world when a guy can come back from shooting himself in the head and then just say "Master of illusion!" when he shows up again.

I like how Spencer flat out said in this run, no yeah Mysterio did die and come back and now he's fine, there's gotta be consequence which there is here in this run.

 

[shinlyle]

So Kindred is revealed today in ASM #50.

Spoiler

I'm excited to see where it goes with Harry. It fits with Spencer's MO so far, like making a big story to put Kraven back in the grave I felt like it made sense that Spencer would be feeling similarly about BND Harry's existence kinda mucking up the overall picture/classic stories.

It's an opportunity to take the BND retcon and retroactively give him new context and make his Spec 200 death real again. I never really cared for Harry being back since BND, at least with how it handwaved away much better stories.

Much like Mysterio, he died, then he showed up as an agent of hell, then he was alive again, it all clouds the waters and I much prefer Spencer's approach here of trying to reframe all these seemingly conflicting disparate past stories under one bubble. Like sure, you can say Mysterio didn't die, and Slott did with the whole "Master of illusion!" stuff but to me it cheapens the authenticity of the world when a guy can come back from shooting himself in the head and then just say "Master of illusion!" when he shows up again.

I like how Spencer flat out said in this run, no yeah Mysterio did die and come back and now he's fine, there's gotta be consequence which there is here in this run.

I wasn't gonna read the spoiler, but I'm glad I did. Makes me want to rush out and pick this up this weekend, if I have time. Going to vote Saturday, so may have to pick this up on Sunday. Glad they chose a SMART path.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Morning everyone. I'm not clicking on that spoiler link though believe me, it's tough not to. I've got my copy sitting on my desk and I'll be reading it shortly. Though I will say, I'm glad that Kindred is finally being revealed and that Shinlyle thinks it's Smart, makes me feel at ease.

Going back to 850/49, imo, I think Spencer may be in agreement with many Spider-Man fans when we say that Norman should have stayed dead. I think he will or is at least setting up to have Norman killed off and give him another proper ending. Spencer is a good writer and I believe he can pull it off.

I really enjoyed the issue, I guess maybe I'm in the minority. I'm not gonna go into details again but I felt it showcased some great character work.

I love Gleason and so that's why I picked up this variant for 850. I had to order it online because my local shop didn't have it unfortunately. Pretty though isn't it?

 

[UltimateWebhead]

So Kindred is revealed today in ASM #50.

Spoiler

I'm excited to see where it goes with Harry. It fits with Spencer's MO so far, like making a big story to put Kraven back in the grave I felt like it made sense that Spencer would be feeling similarly about BND Harry's existence kinda mucking up the overall picture/classic stories.

It's an opportunity to take the BND retcon and retroactively give him new context and make his Spec 200 death real again. I never really cared for Harry being back since BND, at least with how it handwaved away much better stories.

Much like Mysterio, he died, then he showed up as an agent of hell, then he was alive again, it all clouds the waters and I much prefer Spencer's approach here of trying to reframe all these seemingly conflicting disparate past stories under one bubble. Like sure, you can say Mysterio didn't die, and Slott did with the whole "Master of illusion!" stuff but to me it cheapens the authenticity of the world when a guy can come back from shooting himself in the head and then just say "Master of illusion!" when he shows up again.

I like how Spencer flat out said in this run, no yeah Mysterio did die and come back and now he's fine, there's gotta be consequence which there is here in this run.

Spoiler

I'm thinking the same here with regard to Harry. I think this is all meant as an effort to correct BND while at the same time is tugging on the strings of OMD. I'm guessing the Harry that has been around with BND will either end up being a fake of some sort or Mysterio will be involved, meaning Harry may not have died in Spec#200 and faked his death or some other illusion.

That said, I'm interested in where this will go. I loved the issue and Gleason was perfect. Kindred was so creepy and the macabre dinner set up with the Stacy skeletons was excellent.

So I've seen around the internet there's people sparking debate about Kindred being Harry as a fake out. Me personally, I don't buy it. But the argument comes from what Kindred said to Norman in issue #37...that Norman only thinks he knows who he is. But that could just mean that Norman thought that Harry never really died at all.

The one question I have is what exactly does Harry want from Peter and why did he dig up the Stacy's? There's been plenty of animosity between them over the years so who knows.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Here's a link to a new interview with Nick Spencer. Normally I don't click on cbr links but this was a fantastic read. Also, DO NOT read this interview until you've read ASM 851/50. Major SPOILERS are contained within.

INTERVIEW: Spider-Man's Nick Spencer Uncovers Kindred's 'Last Remains'

 

[Nicko-Ray]

I've been more of a fly on the wall here recently. I think it's because I'm lazy to write more thoughtful reviews of each issue lol. But, 851/50 was awesome. I thought it was way better than 850/49, and I can't wait to see what they have in store moving forward. Well written with a couple of twists here and there to keep you on your toes. I've said on here that I freaking love Gleason -- I know it's doubtful but if he can come on as a regular, that'd be amazing.

Spoiler

I wish i knew more about BND Harry as it seems like it's an important ingredient to take into him being Kindred and the way this whole arc can potentially play out in general. As someone who's not privy to that all, still, it makes for an interesting identity reveal and I'm actually glad that Harry is getting the spotlight in terms of "villain love" / the "big bad". Also, you guys would know more than me, but, is this the first time we've seen Norman sorta "stepping down" and getting stripped of his evil? Not just literally, but I guess I mean more in terms of his "position"? I mean, he's the Green Goblin, Spider-Man's number one arch nemesis and what they've done to him at the end of this issue by 1. "Cleansing" him and 2. The way he fears/talks about his son, all makes for quite the new status quo for Norman Osborn moving forward, which I really like.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

I really enjoyed that interview, too, UWH. Thanks for sharing. Funny -- the way he talks about his approach and style to writing is actually how you describe him in these forums lol. While he's definitely had some mediocre issues in his run these past two years, I trust him, and won't be getting off my pull anytime soon.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

I've been more of a fly on the wall here recently. I think it's because I'm lazy to write more thoughtful reviews of each issue lol. But, 851/50 was awesome. I thought it was way better than 850/49, and I can't wait to see what they have in store moving forward. Well written with a couple of twists here and there to keep you on your toes. I've said on here that I freaking love Gleason -- I know it's doubtful but if he can come on as a regular, that'd be amazing.

Spoiler

I wish i knew more about BND Harry as it seems like it's an important ingredient to take into him being Kindred and the way this whole arc can potentially play out in general. As someone who's not privy to that all, still, it makes for an interesting identity reveal and I'm actually glad that Harry is getting the spotlight in terms of "villain love" / the "big bad". Also, you guys would know more than me, but, is this the first time we've seen Norman sorta "stepping down" and getting stripped of his evil? Not just literally, but I guess I mean more in terms of his "position"? I mean, he's the Green Goblin, Spider-Man's number one arch nemesis and what they've done to him at the end of this issue by 1. "Cleansing" him and 2. The way he fears/talks about his son, all makes for quite the new status quo for Norman Osborn moving forward, which I really like.

Spoiler

I may be wrong but no, aside from when Norman lost his memory he never had his powers striped from him. It's my belief that by the time this Kindred story has resolved, Norman will be returned to the grave. And with Harry being Kindred it opens up the possibility to correct BND and even at some point retcon OMD/OMIT.

I really enjoyed that interview, too, UWH. Thanks for sharing. Funny -- the way he talks about his approach and style to writing is actually how you describe him in these forums lol. While he's definitely had some mediocre issues in his run these past two years, I trust him, and won't be getting off my pull anytime soon.

Well, I guess I'm a good judge of writers, lol. But seriously Spencer hits all the right beats for me and for the right reasons. I mean look at his final statement from that interview:

I’m enormously proud of the response we’ve gotten, especially from the lifelong, hardcore readers like me. I promise I’m doing everything I can to do right by them, and by the character.

I think that pretty much says it all. And it backs up what he's written thus far and well, my opinion of his writing whether you agree or not.

There's still so many other storylines that are left to explore that I hope Spencer stays on for awhile to at least start addressing them, i.e. the Lifeline tablet, Randy and Janice Lincoln, the Chameleon, the Clambient predictions, "Sins Past." I'm sure there's more but I can't think of them at the moment.

 

[ragingdemon155]

Ok, so it feels like forever since I posted here. Kinda went into hiding when the world went to hell back around the time covid hit. Then all the the social/political issues hit and seriously just felt drained dealing with it all. Hopefully everyone has been doing good here. Finally decided to pick some all the issues up and catch myself up.

There was alot of good in the recent issues but also.....unfortunately some bad.

Spoiler

First off the good.

- I enjoyed the atmosphere of the last two issues especially 50. I'm one of those fans that love dark Spider-man stories so this horror atmosphere was definitely a welcome change for me. The panel with Kindred at the dinner table with the Stacys is flat out chilling as hell.

- Love the Norman/Peter dynamic. Spencer writes a damn good Norman Osborn and really plays off that psychotic split personality trait of Norman Osborn well. The moments with Norman and anyone in this issue were just written so well. We've done the whole "Guilt" angle with Spider-man so many times, but damn I don't know what it was, but it just felt like Spencer added a different spin on it. Maybe it's just a testament to the writing ability of Spencer that he can take an angle that's been done forever and still make it enjoyable. I'm also very interested to see where the Norman character goes from here now that he's been cleansed.

- Good to see Strange in the mix. I've always felt he's a good character to have Spider-man play off of.

-The Kindred character. Not so much the reveal but the character itself is chilling as hell.

Now the bad....

-The Kindred reveal. Now don't get me wrong. I pretty much knew it had to be Harry. It was almost too obvious but I think it just fell a bit flat in a sense because of the long 2 year wait. Granted some of that wait was out of Spencers hands with what happened in the real world...but still, it just felt like it dragged at times. I was hoping for more of a connection to "OMD" and maybe there is still some hope for that. Strange does mention that Peter made a deal with a demonic entity and told Peter it would come back to haunt him. Is there anything other then OMD that he could have been referring to? Did I miss something in these particular issues? It seems like Strange is blatantly referring to Mephisto there.

- Lack of Mary Jane. It feels like forever since I've seen her in an ASM issue.

Anyway, good to finally grab some issues and get away from the reality of what's going on for a bit. Hope everyone has been doing good here. It's a shame that this site is no where near as active as it was back in the day.

 

[ragingdemon155]

I've been more of a fly on the wall here recently. I think it's because I'm lazy to write more thoughtful reviews of each issue lol. But, 851/50 was awesome. I thought it was way better than 850/49, and I can't wait to see what they have in store moving forward. Well written with a couple of twists here and there to keep you on your toes. I've said on here that I freaking love Gleason -- I know it's doubtful but if he can come on as a regular, that'd be amazing.

Spoiler

I wish i knew more about BND Harry as it seems like it's an important ingredient to take into him being Kindred and the way this whole arc can potentially play out in general. As someone who's not privy to that all, still, it makes for an interesting identity reveal and I'm actually glad that Harry is getting the spotlight in terms of "villain love" / the "big bad". Also, you guys would know more than me, but, is this the first time we've seen Norman sorta "stepping down" and getting stripped of his evil? Not just literally, but I guess I mean more in terms of his "position"? I mean, he's the Green Goblin, Spider-Man's number one arch nemesis and what they've done to him at the end of this issue by 1. "Cleansing" him and 2. The way he fears/talks about his son, all makes for quite the new status quo for Norman Osborn moving forward, which I really like.

Spoiler

You know, I'm not really sure you need to know much about BND Harry for this story of the Kindred angle. Much like you, I'm pretty much completely in the dark regarding anything about BND Harry. I wasn't following the character at that time. Judging from what I gather, it seems like or at least I'm hoping that this version of Harry is pre OMD.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Ok, so it feels like forever since I posted here. Kinda went into hiding when the world went to hell back around the time covid hit. Then all the the social/political issues hit and seriously just felt drained dealing with it all. Hopefully everyone has been doing good here. Finally decided to pick some all the issues up and catch myself up.

There was alot of good in the recent issues but also.....unfortunately some bad.

Spoiler

First off the good.

- I enjoyed the atmosphere of the last two issues especially 50. I'm one of those fans that love dark Spider-man stories so this horror atmosphere was definitely a welcome change for me. The panel with Kindred at the dinner table with the Stacys is flat out chilling as hell.

- Love the Norman/Peter dynamic. Spencer writes a damn good Norman Osborn and really plays off that psychotic split personality trait of Norman Osborn well. The moments with Norman and anyone in this issue were just written so well. We've done the whole "Guilt" angle with Spider-man so many times, but damn I don't know what it was, but it just felt like Spencer added a different spin on it. Maybe it's just a testament to the writing ability of Spencer that he can take an angle that's been done forever and still make it enjoyable. I'm also very interested to see where the Norman character goes from here now that he's been cleansed.

- Good to see Strange in the mix. I've always felt he's a good character to have Spider-man play off of.

-The Kindred character. Not so much the reveal but the character itself is chilling as hell.

Now the bad....

-The Kindred reveal. Now don't get me wrong. I pretty much knew it had to be Harry. It was almost too obvious but I think it just fell a bit flat in a sense because of the long 2 year wait. Granted some of that wait was out of Spencers hands with what happened in the real world...but still, it just felt like it dragged at times. I was hoping for more of a connection to "OMD" and maybe there is still some hope for that. Strange does mention that Peter made a deal with a demonic entity and told Peter it would come back to haunt him. Is there anything other then OMD that he could have been referring to? Did I miss something in these particular issues? It seems like Strange is blatantly referring to Mephisto there.

- Lack of Mary Jane. It feels like forever since I've seen her in an ASM issue.

Anyway, good to finally grab some issues and get away from the reality of what's going on for a bit. Hope everyone has been doing good here. It's a shame that this site is no where near as active as it was back in the day.

I don't really think it's a spoiler but I too am looking forward to having MJ back in the book. It does feel like she's been gone for too long. And I really love the way Spencer writes her and Peter. So, yes, I'll definitely take more of that.

Spoiler

You know, I'm not really sure you need to know much about BND Harry for this story of the Kindred angle. Much like you, I'm pretty much completely in the dark regarding anything about BND Harry. I wasn't following the character at that time. Judging from what I gather, it seems like or at least I'm hoping that this version of Harry is pre OMD.

Spoiler

Well I think that's the biggest takeaway from Kindred being Harry. BND essentially removed Spec Spidey #200 from the equation. It's one of the best Spider-Man issues amongst the fan base and for good reason. With this new revelation, the door is open to retcon BND. And that could easily lead to a retcon or correction of OMD.