Hex's Profile

Some of the art here is of the best I have seen Steve Ditko pencil. More depth in his lines, more expressive faces than normal but it's not consistent throughout the issue. Much like the pacing of the book. It took me forever to get through, it is such a slog. The main plot of Big Man and the Enforcers is just not very compelling at all. It is interesting seeing a precursor to what we would eventu ally get in the Kingpin but the characters and plot of that story are just so boring. The side plots of Betty's debts and Jonah's jealousy of Spider-Man are fantastic. Unfortunately Stan drags the Betty plot along issue after issue only leaving crumbs on a single page with Betty and Peter lashing out at each other and then regretting it talking about how much they love each other. Not the best depiction of teenage angst and love but I get what he was trying to do. As a result, the whole book is just too dragged down by what doesn't work that the bright spots can't shine enough.more

It's been over a day since I read this issue. Normally, I write these reviews right after reading the issue, and although that can lead to a scattershot review, my main objective with this is to record my thoughts, whether they be orderly or not. With this issue however... There is so much. Too much.

I had just praised last issue for giving us a fulfilling and complete story, where a lo t happened but it was also paced extraordinarily well. And then we have this issue. It's very unassuming with its cover. Four generic looking villains and Spider-Man against a pale green background. But this issue is filled to its very brim and it's genuinely hard to parse through everything.

So, I waited. I thought, yeah, I may forget some of what I wanted to mention, but tackling it outright is just going to be a frustrating endeavor. I was already two issues deep because I wanted to catch up on my reading, in time for... Well, tonight/tomorrow morning's supposed two-parter, issues 11 and 12. These reviews take time, even if it doesn't seem like it, and I was burnt out.

Onto the issue. I'm going to discuss things quickly and in broad strokes. The Big Man is a cool idea, the Enforcers are not. Dragging Spider-Man into a big mobster plot, only to soon resolve it, is too much for one issue. Everything is rushed, including the JJJ fakeout and the promise to find out why he hates Spider-Man. We get some more clues as to what Betty is hiding, which will come to the forefront next issue. Meanwhile, we're still dealing with the aftermath of Aunt May's surgery. And it's all just crammed into this issue. It's just too much.

The highlight of the issue to me was when Flash showed that he does care for Peter in some strange way, warning him about claiming to know who the Big Man is.

The final fight is... Too big. Part of me loves the idea of Spidey taking on a roomful of gangsters. It's a big spectacle and an actual challenge for Spider-Man. But it's so cluttered. It's endemic of the entire issue. I could praise this issue for trying to be big, but man, it is a struggle.

Quote of the issue: "All My Life I've Been Interested in Only One Thing-- Making Money!"more

Woof, that one (one??) critic review of this comic has to be one of the worst misses I've ever seen on this site. This is a tenderly observed story of brutality, slice-of-life by way of Scorsese, and it's one of the highlights of Criminal

Oh God, here we go. IDW Shadow. I'm pretty certain the way Shadow is written is SEGA's fault, not Ian Flynn's, and Ian Flynn has proved he CAN write Shadow either way due to Shadow Generations. Shadow is written as a terrible sterotype, someone who's really "emo" and unhealthily independent and ugh, it's just not Shadow, it gets really bad during the Metal Virus arc. DESPITE all that, this issue i s still super fun. Seeing Sonic and Shadow go against each other's ideals and ideologies is very interesting. I love when Sonic compares Shadow's past to his current self, proving how "Mr Tinker" is as deserving of an apology as Shadow has.more

I was sceptical with these comics placing themselves right after the events of Forces, but this is surprisingly refreshing. Tails is written really, really well here, which is something Forces cannot say for itself. For example, his fear of losing Sonic again here is beautiful. Seeing this duo work so well together is really, really nice too!