Theme: HOPE Yes. I gave it a 10. I usually ignore the top scores or lowest scores of something. But this, for the first time in a long time, I fully believe, ten toes behind this line, will die on this hill give this a 10. I am a 38 year old man. And I cried. I cried tears of joy, Tears of frustration and tears of HOPE. I've read Spider-Man since I was 5.Spider-Man was my hero, as in truly. At 5, my formative years were spent reading old back issues and very early 90s stuff. And more or less, Spider-Man became more than a comic to me, he became an ideal. The things he stood for, his love for MJ. His fierceness to fight for what's right and good. His ability to THINK through his problems,not just rely on his powers, his willingness to never give up. And MJ: Peter's rock, while just human, she brought to the book the strongest superpower of all: Hope. All of that was lost when OMD happened (well it started a bit before, Sins Past for instance, but OMD was...apocalyptic) and it has never been regained in the 616.We had glimpses of Peter and MJ with kids (Spider-Girl, Renew Your Vows) and personally I loved those instances. Never understood why they hated 616 Peter and MJ so much. So, thats where the tears of frustration came from. The tears of Joy and Hope came from Nick man's writing in this (and previous) issue(s). Hickman treats Peter and MJ as humans. As adults. And with love and care. This makes this Peter and MJ not just relateable, but as ideals to strive for in OUR lives. Peter kept his being a hero a secret from his family, and this is revealed to them when Peter comes home after getting beaten badly. But it doesn't devolve into screaming, yelling, or threats of divorce. Its handled maturely, even by the kids. Sure, the family is scared for Peter. But their love for him overcomes any anger about a secret. We even get a peak at some 90s innuendo from MJ about adult activities. Hickman even writes the kids as....well KIDS, with different developmental levels and everything. May(Peter's daughter), in her overwhelming worry about her dad bluffs out his secret in a tearful rambling. May had a hand in creating the Blue and red Costume, and MJ gives Peter the Spider-Man moniker in this issue. Richard (Peter's son) is level headed in the whole situation, but asks his dad to be careful after wanting to ask a million questions. This series, but especially this issue gives me HOPE. It...its a breath of fresh air after being held under water. Words can't do this justice to the hope for a character who has endured SO much over the years...the HOPE it gives me. As a fan, as a reader, and fundamentally on a human IRL level. Its astounding how a comic, when done well, can convey HOPE to real life. The art in this one is great as well. In the fight w the Fisk, the hits seem to have gravitas. The art really conveys Hickman's writing well both in fight scenes and at home with the family.

If I could give this a zero I would. This reminds me too much of the abortion that was called "Sins Past". Here Wells takes yet another love of Peter's life and turns her into a straight slut. Like MJ, who loves Peter can't keep her legs shut for a while??! This is all an extension of keeping Peter and MJ seperate, cept I dunno that this can ever be reversed now. Fuck these pricks for doing this. I literally made an account here just to write this review. Further, this is another use of " magic" to separate Peter and MJ, the writers legit can't even come up with a good story. Also, Peter is transformed into a useless moron here. He literally does nothing but get his ass kicked and his heart ripped out. Good to see the writers hate the fans.

Ok, I admit, not as bad as I thought. Art's fine, action was ok, pacing was decent. Not the best anniversary issue (far far cry from ASM 500), not the worst. Still no where near where I think the book needs to be. MJ having powers seems off, MJ forsaking Peter is what kills it all for me. The time dilation is inconsistent with the time that passed while Peter was gone from new york. Further, its a stupid and lazy plot device to do what Marvel wants to do and keep Peter and MJ seperate. Its a slap in fan's face. The next issue will determine whether I continue with the series or not. The obvious implication is MJ's death, but that may be a red herring like the kids....but I don't have high hopes. Either way, till they put MJ and Peter back together, I'm not holding my breath that this run will get better. They can't even cut Peter slack enough to give him a good night with Felicia. No one likes when a hero NEVER has a hard time or has zero flaws. But then there's this, where the hero can't EVER catch a break. I can't stand to see Peter drug through the mud with no end. Its wearing.

The only reason this is even getting a 3 from me is the action was pretty decent. Spoilers incoming: Here's my problems with this: Yay Kamala was a hero....but her sacrifice means jack in the big scheme of things cause we know she's gonna be back before "The Marvels" movie comes out. So while her death was well done (and I don't care that they killed her off) they did so as rage bait. They did so just cause. They did so to make her a mutant. They did so cause its in some way supposed to mirror Gwen's death and be as significant as When's death. But its a soulless gesture. It will amount to nothing cause she'll be back.All of this strife, all of this enraging the fans just feels like a mastabatory exercise for Wells and the editors to relieve themselves on the fans faces. I'm not a Kampala fan, quite the opposite in fact. I don't like her at all (mainly cause the fans girl thing she does is cringe AF and her character feels forced) but even I can recognize Wells did her dirty. She died with people she hardly knew around her, and not even in her own book with her friends by her side. This arc, the answers we got, it was just too long and drawn out. It coulda (and shoulda) been taken care of in the first 6-8 issues. Kids were a red herring. Now MJ has even less reason to continue to be with Paul....yet she will. She will continue to eschew Peter for a guy she barely knows (comparatively), who is from a different universe, and we're supposed to accept that as normal and coherent. Instead its just lazy and horrid writing. Peter somehow exhibits the wits, wisdom, and coolness under pressure that he had been lacking previously. Black Cat was....where during this fight? A villain who literally kicks Peter's ass everytime they match up gets rocked by Kamala and the Gold Goblin. Peter doesn't dodge Paul's punch....why? Peter stops characters like Wolverine and the Punisher from killing, but when MJ says she's gonna kill Rabbin, he doesn't attempt to stop her? Further, why does he not freak out about her having powers? In Mary Jane/Black Cat she hid them from him and told Felica not to tell Peter, so we assume he didn't know before-hand. The Giant snake gets taken out by a Symbol that acts as basically a computer virus....but the heroes can't take care of Rabbin in the same way? Rabbin can see through space and time....but can't see Kamala is in disguise????? He can't see himself make the wrong sacrifice and die???? It really feels like there are so many plot holes cause Wells made huge promises but didn't really have a vision for how it would pan out in the end. It feels like a kid in school who has to give a report and just fills it with nonsensical fluff in order to make the word count rather than putting in the effort to make coherent points and tell a story that is well thought out.