It may look like everyone is just glazing this series.

Well we are.

It deserves glazing.

Soundwave fans are gonna love this one. More of a Shockwave guy myself. But he'll be around.

This is a good issue, with baffling editorial decisions behind it. Wells does his best with what he can do in the space of one issue. One of the best things about Wells' run is how he writes Peter's empathy and that comes out in spades in this issue. JRJR's art isn't terrible but there's a fine line between awkward and dynamic, and Romita keeps falling into awkward in this book.

I don't know why this issue exists. Why end this book on a cliffhanger leading into a separate miniseries? Usually with these sorts of tie-ins, it ends with a vague "See what happens next in the main event", and that's fine enough. You can tell your small story and get out, and readers won't wonder how it all plays out. In this case though, you have to read a separate miniseries to get the conclusion to your story. It's frustrating. And the best reason Lowe can give is that they just couldn't stop the Goblin story? Bleh. more

All these were pretty good.

The Amazing Spider-Man story sets up an interesting wrinkle in the ongoing story unfolding in that title. I assumed that the Sinister Six was the one attacking Oscorp's servers, but maybe not? If it is, though, that changes the whole dynamic of the set up of this upcoming Going Green storyline. Also, this issue seems to almost confirm what has been hinted at before, that some part of the Goblin is still in Peter. The art by Stegman feels a bit rushed, unfortunately. It's a bit scraggly. It's still good, but not on the same level as his usual output.

The Ultimates story has some interesting character work and a lot of fun indications of where things are going, but I'm not sure what to make of the title just yet.

The Venom story is incredibly short, and I'm so far behind on that title that I have almost no context for anything happening in these pages. I can't say this story would make me want to read Venom War. The art was amazing though. more

ASM: Really intriguing and engaging for a FCBD story. It's nice to get a good hook though for those just picking this up because it was free, no one will have any idea what is happening. I wouldn't blame current readers for being a little lost. It could take place any time pre or post Blood Hunt really. The biggest takeaway here is the final panels hinting that Norman may be up to something or has been for some time.
Ultimates: Really cool intro to WWII Human Torch. Seeing all of the lost heroes is kind of heartbreaking but Hickman loves his Easter eggs. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Cap, Doom and Iron Lad. Will definitely be picking up The Ultimates when it releases.
Venom: Not really the biggest Venom fan in the world already and post Cates I haven't read anything. I've heard good things about Ewing's run but in general I am just not a big fan of Dylan at all much less Cable-Dylan. It could end up being cool but I'm not going to be venturing into that storyline in the near future. more

The art looks so phoned in if Spider-Man or anything without any action isn't on panel. It's so disappointing. The only thing saving the art is the amazing coloring that really doesn't seem to hit until page 6. As for the story, for someone who isn't diving into Blood Hunt yet this was an engaging and pretty harmless tie-in. Its nice to see Peter getting upset about the world around him constantly turning to crap instead of being so conditioned by it that he's lost his empathy for the city. more

Near perfect. I think the only docks I can make to it is some dated writing and frustrating paneling on spread pages that make it a little hard to read but it's so bombastic and climactic throughout. It flows pretty well and the devastating conclusion really leaves a mark.

Very thrilling but also very dated. Just the general vernacular used is extremely 70s and condescending towards women though it didn't use it SO much as they have in previous issues. The final pages are rather suspenseful and a great lead into an anniversary issue.

I could nitpick this down to a 9.5 if I really wanted to, but I don't. This book reminds me of "Aliens" (1986) in that it's a very straightforward idea that's elevated by outstanding across-the-board, maximum-effort execution.

Ughh. The art change should have been up to the previous issues standards but here it's really just run of the mill. That being said I really enjoyed this book and it basically crawled at a snails pace but I think we needed this issue to really understand some of the new characters (and yes I consider all these familiar faces new because this is a totally different ball game). We are expected to be invested in the book and the people who populate it so we need some deep dives into their characters once in a while. This was as enjoyable as Tarintino dialogue to me. The next issue does need some more action so we don't get bored though. more

Despite the slow pace I really appreciated the opportunity to see more of the individuals we'd be seeing going forward and in a subtle fashion. Hickman is doing an exposition dump but not in the typical way you'd normally see it. We get our character motivations for Gwen and Harry and see how not completely on the same page they are as well as Harry and Peter's dynamic. It's all pretty nuanced and that might be why people are so iffy on it. That tends to go over a lot of heads and is definitely a trait that Hickman employs. I loved seeing how driven Gwen is in pushing the Parkers forward while Harry is very casually forceful to Peter specifically. Also an interesting circumvention of the norm to have Harry of all people tell Peter about great power and responsibility.
The biggest detractor here is the art. I can't rate the issue any lower as it is as a whole is fantastic but the art is very distressing. Messina seems to heavily rely on reference photos for his faces and while that is very normal to use reference to get poses or even some faces down, none of them have cohesion between panels, most egregiously is Gwen. When she first appears she looks like Margot Robbie, then the next panel, someone entirely different, the next panel looks like some other model and the fourth panel she's in has her eating something. The hand in that picture is very odd. It either has five fingers or a really messed up thumb that is in the completely wrong position OR is turned the entirely wrong way around. It's supposed to be her left hand but it is facing the wrong way for that to work. Take a look at it yourself and it'll be a lot more clear. I don't want to accuse Messina of using AI generated art, I really don't think that's the case. I think he just over relies on reference and may have been a little lazy. I'd really rather it be the latter but considering the hands and poses throughout a lot of the issue it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Hands are hard and that could be it but as a professional artist on a very popular and important book you think you'd take a lot more care to raise the quality up a bit. more

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 more

Weird Science Marvel Comics can bolt.

Not sure what to think here. Is Ben going to be the new Goblin? Does Peter have gaps in his own memory and will that be the catalyst for the new Goblin problems? I'm glad that Ben seems to be getting back to normal but the idea that he and Janine share that they might just both be "bad" feels like a cop-out. The Spider team just don't want to deal with him anymore so we'll just write him off as a "bad guy" and push him away after doing him so dirty from the end of Beyond until now. At least he seems to not be crazy and has somewhat come back to BEN and away from Chasm. We'll see. more

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?

The art is good. But, Wonder Woman exists as the truth to combat the lies of the evil patriarchy who spread nothing but lies and only seek power to oppress women. Christianity is a tool of the evil patriarchy, blah blah blah. This series started off OK but after these last two issues maybe it’s time to take this off the pull list.

Another amazing issue! This is the only book I'm picking up this week. tbh, probably an 8 or 9 but I'm rating it 10 because of the weirdos who try and tank the rankings every month. If you don't like it, read something else, weirdos! lol

Satire drawn by Greg Land is just peak.

Two issues in a row they can't help but point out that Ororo is black. The Stan and Jack cameos were actually pretty nice. Much more so than we get nowadays. The novelty of a Christmas issue worked because that aspect didn't become the sole plot point. The Sentinels' return was really interesting, seeing how the new and improved X-Men dispatch them or are captured.

While the plot here is engaging and the conflict between Havoc and Cyclops works well, the dialogue has become very repetitious and somewhat bothersome.

Even if this enemy returns it really felt like the most filler issue ever. The biggest point that I can give it is the fallout of John Proudstar which even then felt rather brushed over. The opening page is depicted beautifully though.

Thrilling. While it dabbles in horror elements there isn't much to call this necessarily scary. That might pick up as we get closer to the end of the mystery but as of now things are a little too intangible to be frightening.