Satire drawn by Greg Land is just peak.

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

This was a fairly strong milestone issue, in my opinion. As usual, I’m not a huge fan of the art changing mid-way (multiple times in this issue) without any explanation/reasoning for it, though just about every artist did a nice job here. Aside from that, I had a good amount of fun reading this, particularly whenever Taskmaster. I also thought this ended on a really intense note, which has me really interested to see how things go in the next issue. All things considered, I think this was a good milestone issue for Miles, no pun intended, and I hope Ziglar keeps up this level of quality. more

Peak. The dream team strikes again.

One of the best things about this title is the character development. No one has a throwaway role in this book and it's all the richer for it. Who the hell ever thought we would care about Tigra again. I do feel they are screwing us on the price and I have personally dropped all big two $4.99 books except this one. That's how good I think it is.

When I opened up this issue, I was incredibly excited to see that Soldier was getting an issue focused on him. Now, after reading, I'm glad to say it didn't disappoint. MacKay continues to do a great job with Marc's supporting cast in this series, and I'm sure that will remain true when the next issue is, presumably, centered around Hunter's Moon. Back to this, however, I really liked the way MacKay wrote Soldier's inner-turmoil about Marc's death, as well as how Soldier was really stepping up to combat this new Moon Knight. On top of that, Cappuccio, once again, puts out some beautiful art. more

MacKay and Cappuccio continue to be a fantastic duo. Cappuccio's art is absolutely gorgeous, which is already evident on the very first page of this issue. As for MacKay, he did a great job of giving us a compelling, character-driven story with some good action as well throughout. That line from Tigra about why Marc didn't return hit me like a truck. I'm really hoping MacKay continues this trend of focusing on a single character for the next few issues. more

Even FCBD issues have more content than this.

I weirdly wasn't super into this one. The Lex/Joker story really didn't do anything for me because it didn't really mean anything. It felt like something that would fit into an annual which oddly enough I had criticized because those stories felt completely separate from the main arcs but Lex and Joker at least are related in mirroring the heroes and would fit in the annual fine. Taking that story out leaves the little we had of the upcoming 5th Dimension tease which we already got a tease for so this issue, while entertaining just felt like ANOTHER annual. Fine overall but feels like a waste for the 25th special. more

It's good, but not the oversized issue I hoped it would be and more of a annual that teases what is to come. Everything we get is solid (as always from Waid), but a bit of disappointing.

this issue wasnt bad. But it was just mid, boring, and forgettable. I wished Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman was here. None of these stories were interesting. Ben Reilly is a jerk, why is Kaine having degeneration again, why bring in TVA from Loki to a Spider-Gwen story.

overall, I just felt nothing for this. The soliictions were again lying to us.

This is a very weird anthology. It honestly shows me a Spider-Office that doesn't really know what it wants. The entire thing is an exercise in synergy, with Madame Web haphazardly being the impetus for the anthology. It gives me the same vibes as when Black Adam got a full page splash in Dark Crisis along with an extended sequence showing just how great and heroic he was, because he and his movie were definitely going to be a smash hit. Luckily, Marvel didn't commit quite so hard to Madame Web, at least. We also get some weird synergy with Loki. I really just want Spider-Gwen to be in her own universe. Half the fun of the original run was exploring Earth-65 and seeing how different it was from 616. You take that away and Spider-Gwen gets lost in the sea of ancillary Spider-Characters with nothing to truly define her besides the memory of her counterpart's death 50 years ago. Now tying her to the off-brand comics-catching-up versions of the MCU's Ouroboros and Mobius, it seems like Marvel simply wants her brand to continue to diminish. The synergy might run even deeper with Spider-Man 2099 taking the lead role in whatever the next Spider-Verse event is, but who knows if he will be by the time issue 1 of End of the Spider-Verse, For Real This Time, comes out. My point with the synergy is that it feels like so much of the creative side of editorial, specifically Spider-Editorial, is being driven by whatever the latest creative flaunt is. That tells me that the editors don't really have a direction or directive, or drive, for how they want to shape Spider-Man and his extended cast's books for the foreseeable future. They're just latching onto whatever might work.

I'm behind on every Spidey book that isn't Amazing, so I know I'm missing context for certain things, but never so much that I felt lost. However, this anthology does not make me want to rush and catch up. The standout story for me was literally the first one. It's Wells and Romita, and it's about Tombstone. As much as Gang War bummed me out, I still really enjoyed the first arc of Wells' ASM run and this brief story has the vibes of that rather than what Gang War was like. The tone feels more consistent, Spidey is turning the tables on Tombstone somewhat... As an incredibly stupid man once said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." I am extremely hesitant here, but I'm looking for something in this anthology. Miles' story was fine, but too caught up in its lore for me to latch onto anything. I haven't read that arc yet, why do I care about whether this vampire guy gets out? Spider-Woman had me interested, until Nick Lowe spoiled it for me in the back matter, and now I'm kinda dreading that one. The second Wells story did *look* fantastic, but it did nothing for me. Green Goblin is coming back, we know. The Chasm/Kaine stories are ones I want to enjoy, but the absurdly awful Greg Land art really took me out of it. Whenever I see artists that *I know* are hired for their speed rather than their ability, it tells me that Marvel doesn't actually care about this story and selling it. So why should I care? The Spectacular Spider-Men story was cute but I wasn't super invested in it either.

It's weird that there are two major elements of the Spider-Comics at the moment that weren't represented here: Ultimate and Slott. Ultimate is edited by a separate group (which is why it's better), I know, but this is supposed to be the grand opening statement of all things Spidey come 2024, so why not include an incredibly brief story by Hickman to grab the 2 and a half people who aren't yet reading that book? Hell, maybe its inclusion would boost sales for this anthology. The Slott stuff being absent is much more perplexing. He's writing two separate titles right now, that's a big chunk. And I assume those stories are building to something in the near-ish future. And Slott participated in the last big anthology issue, so why not here? I don't know about you, but this web feels pretty incomplete!

I wish I could say this book is exciting, or serves a purpose, or feels important. It's not any of these things. You can skip it, in fact, *do* skip it. It's a waste of your money and your time. I only rated it a 5 because nothing is really bad, it's just bland as hell. This book is a statement on editorial's failures. Eight dollars of non-excitement. more

I have no idea why Anna took weird Krakoan medicine but even given that lack of knowledge beforehand that sequence is handled deftly. Wells can write very touching interpersonal dialogue. He doesn't like to tap into it often, relying on really jarring action sequences but when he gets Peter in a room with a small group or just one on one, his dialogue flourishes. Most notably with Norman. It honestly breaks my heart to see how much distance has been crossed for both Peter and Norman together that we know it's coming to an end soon. All the good that Norman has struggled, bled and fought to do will come crashing down and while disheartening will be something to see. Even the short interaction we get between Peter and William Barker (Sandman) is all that deeper personal connection that Peter should always bring to his world. He brings people hope. more

The solicits lie once again, as does the cover. But what we got was enjoyable enough, so it's fine. It's very weird how often this run manages to tie up plot threads without ever actually pursuing the narrative opportunities they offer. We saw it with Black Cat, we saw it with the Spidey Who Laughs, and we see it here with Aunt Anna. Now, I didn't think the idea of Aunt Anna going crazy was very good to begin with, but imagine you're reading this run all in one go at a later time when it's all wrapped up. This plot thread is introduced in an annual by a different writer, is never mentioned unless it's in extreme passing, and is then resolved with all the work to do so being done in another title that's not even a Spidey title. Why was it ever a plot thread to begin with? Why are we spending a whole issue on it now? What is the impetus that made Nick Lowe and Zeb Wells decide this is what needed to come next? I remember the Nick Spencer run having similar issues with plot threads being dismissed and then brought back in these sort of "catch up" issues that aren't necessarily part of any one story arc, but rather serve as a refresher for the reader. I very much think this is a Nick Lowe problem rather than Wells or Spencer.

We do get a solid outing here despite my metatextual problems. I think the characterization is on point, Peter is a peak empathetic here, the script is focused, and we end up with a rather complete feeling issue, which is *very rare* for modern Spidey, especially since the two-week schedule came into effect. My favorite moment of the whole issue was actually Pete and MJ meeting up in costume, and the awkward moment where they both have to change out of their costumes. It was cute. I want more of that.

Also, Carmen Carnero is a great comic artist. She was great on Captain Marvel and is great here. I really hope this issue and the next are not the only time we'll see her on the title for the foreseeable future. She makes a great addition.

I was bummed out on Gang War (and I still am), so it's nice to read an issue that reminds me of the good this run has to offer after being beaten down by its worst elements in the previous arc. more

It's Al Ewing. Of course it's good.

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.