Even for American superhero comic book standards...this is beyond dumb

Yeah, that was a good comic. The conversations between the characters are more grey than black and white. Hope this series keeps this up

willing to speculate that Charles's deal is a trick for Nimrod so I wouldn't say this is out of character - yet, but yeah giving us a text page...Marvel if you're trying to get into the light novel business, you're doing it wrong lulz

The latest installment of Fall of the House of X had all the makings of a thrilling pentultimate issue, but unfortunately it prioritized quantity over quality. The issue felt like a rushed sprint from one set piece to the next, leaving key moments underdeveloped and lacking the emotional resonance they deserved.

One of the big missteps was the handling of Apocalypse's story. To save a dying Krakoa, he begins a new version of the Crucible, which had the potential to be a powerful and poignant moment acting as an homage to the early days of this era. Instead, it was weighed down with too much dialogue and underwhelming art. Similarly, the utterly consequential deal between Xavier & Nimrod was relegated to a data page. A total cop-out & disservice to the severity that one conversation will have on years of storytelling.

As touched upon briefly, the issue fell short in the art department for me. It failed to bring the action panels to life, leaving them feeling static & removed from the intensity of what the script was trying to imply. At worst, we didn't even get to see the full scope of certain scenes which were either handled via the aforementioned data page, or off-page. If this were a movie or tv show, I'd be saying they had to be mindful of budget but I'm not sure why they made the decision to limit the visuals in a comic book.

Overall, Fall of the House of X #4 was a let down for me. With better attention to pacing & a focus on quality over quantity, this could have been an emotionally powerful chapter in the final days of Krakoa. Instead, it feels like Xavier is getting the Daenerys Targaryen treatment. You can understand how they'd become an ultimate villain, but the writing fails to justify their turns & instead speeds to a finale. more

This issue wasn't as bad as usual, but the status quos of Mary Jane and Ben Reilly are still very frustrating and leave a bad taste, even if the story is more compelling than usual.

I still don't get why Spider-Man and the X-Men didn't give Ben his memories back in Dark Web like they did for Madelyne Pryor. It's such a big plot hole that it makes the Chasm stuff seem really forced.

IDK. I love me some new IP's but Chasm is just a re-skinned Spidey and Hallows Eve looks too much like Hobgoblin to really qualify in my book. Feels like Miles and Kamala syndrome. The goblin Queen is....yet another Goblin and I'm really sick and tired of arrested development Peter. This isn't a bad issue and is in fact one of the better issues of late, but I'm just too checked out at this point to really care. Every issue feels like we're on a hamster wheel that needs oil. The art was nice to look at I guess. more

better than gang war but also nothing happened lmao (why is this a $4.99 issue?)

this was so boring and dumb. why do any of us still bother reading this crap? oh yeah that's right, we can't help ourselves.

Nick Lowe, please retire or fire yourself.

Summary: MJ never fucks Paul — they find their kids in Dimension Goofy and adopt them. Then Spidey rescues them but MJ leaves him cuz too much time went by. And the FF and Cap are still pissed at Spidey for stealing the shit he used to rescue MJ.

Lol Imagine pitching this to an editor and getting the gig to write Spider-Man.

...the second story was actually pretty funny. I did like it quite a bit but we're all here to trash the main story!

The lengths Marvel will go to...to...keep PP from MJ? OK, whatever.

But Peter behaving like a complete man baby and needing to punch other superheroes even *after* MJ is safe? This is just frustrating silliness from the editorial team. Apparently, having Peter act a little adult is also a big no.

I believe there is still a lot of storytelling potential for Spider-Man, but Marvel insists that we the readers do not deserve better, and also they need to remind us that things cannot get better by giving us this crap.

IDK why I still read this... more

This issue was really phoned in, both writing and art.

Lots of the usual fun ideas and banter from Kelly, but the Dodsons turn in messy rush job art that makes the comic borderline unreadable. Such is the way of fill-ins, I suppose.

Was it brain rot? Yes.

Was it funny and at least entertaining? Yes.

Aside from JRJR drawing Kamala to look a little older than she is? O_o pretty fun start to a new arc and looking forward to this

What an odd choice for cover and synopsis. Yes, they have been misleading before, but I can't remember a last time when a character appeared on the cover of ASM and didn't appear at all in the comic itself, or had nothing to do with the story.

I'm just confused. That's just... wrong. Like what the hell Marvel? Especially, what the hell Lowe???

But, back to the issue. It's fine?

Like yeah, Peter isn't that big of an asshole that we haven't seen previously. Peter, like a normal human being, isn't always virtuous, happy and nice guy. And he clearly is doing badly currently. It's not anything new, but it would be nice to know the reason for it. But again, it's not out-of-character for Peter. One of the reasons I like him so much is that he can have his bad days (like we all do) and the writers aren't afraid to show them.

I like what Wells is doing with Tombostone. I like where this is going. I'm interested. Same with Norman. I'm so glad Wells isn't ignoring that part of Spencer's run. It's something new.

But the art? JRJR, I love you, but this isn't as good as it has been before. Sure, those comics are like 12-20 years old, but whereas Bagley still delivers gold every time he is the artist, JRJR seems to downgraded somewhat. I don't hate the art, but I don't love it.

So a 7/10, could be worse? more

This is probably not your usual #1 that promises a ton of exciting new changes to the status quo (they literally brought in the go-to Spidey artist), but it wasn't a bad read by any measure. JRJR's art definitely isn't what it once was, but we've seen worse in the past 2 years lol. Peter/MJ stuff will always be able to reel me in, so uhhh yeah I guess I'll keep reading

I went into this issue with optimism, and a chip on my shoulder. Not for the creators on this book, or even the editor. Rather, I had a chip on my shoulder for the fans. That chip is still there, after reading this book. All that screaming and whining about how this would be the worst run ever, and what have we gotten with this issue? A solidly written piece of a story that sets things up. It is no different than literally any other Spider-Man #1 I've ever read, in terms of its function. And yet, people got so fucking mad about literally two pages in it.

I love the pairing of Peter and MJ. I want them to be together. I am too old to get bent out of shape over a pair of pages purposefully designed to cause outrage and thus, bring in money. If you have been reading comics for any serious length of time, you should understand what those pages are and you should be able to get past your reactionary, boring outrage.

The other complaint, which has more validity in my mind, is that we've seen this before. And we have, kind of. This story is like a remix of so many classic stories that'd it be difficult to go through them all. But it feels comfortable to me.

I saw a review on here that says that Peter is acting like Doc Ock took over his body again. I disagree. Peter has always had an edge to him, that's what makes him relatable. He's imperfect. I'm wasting my time with explaining this though, because it seems like whenever Peter does anything or says anything contrary to being a perfect hero, people forget the 60 years where he wasn't that. I have had my issues with Peter's characterization in the past, especially in the latter half of Slott's run, but this does not read nearly as immature as the outrage mob would have you believe. This reads like a Peter Parker who has been beaten down and made guilty. It does not read like a man-child fighting other heroes because he's jealous over girl trouble. Or like someone invading a sovereign country on a bloodlust mission. This reminds me, in a lot of ways, of mid-to-late 80s Peter Parker. The same Peter that got married. Peter at his most mature, I'd argue. Perhaps only beaten out by early JMS Peter. I like it.

The actual content of this issue is actually interesting to me. I like when Spider-Man is street level and his villains have a good old fashioned crime war. Also, I find it ironic that so many people were acting as though this story throws everything that came before away, only to have this issue tie Spidey more into the Marvel universe than he has been in a while, on top of the main thrust of the story being plotlines that originated from Spencer's run.

I guess the biggest issue here for me is the art. John Romita Jr. isn't killing it these days. This is, believe it or not, an improvement over JRJR's DC work. I honestly didn't look at the credits too heavily, but whoever is doing the inking and coloring have really made JRJR shine here. His art isn't amazing but it isn't... a trash fire, like say, his Action Comics stint. I don't feel shame for paying for this artwork. That seems like a backhanded compliment, but it really is an improvement. All in all, I'm excited to see where this new era of ASM goes, and I hope people can get over their reactionary disdain they've been told is good to have for some reason, and at least give this book half a chance before deeming it the worst thing ever (for this month). more

Overall, incredible first issue. Couple things did annoy me a bit though: Kurt's reaction to the decision (Selene's escalation is *even* more justification for not choosing her) and just a tad bit too much inner thoughts from Mr. Sinister, otherwise excellent still.

It's a little weird that the X-Books have been doing a lot of election stuff as of late...hopefully this is the end of it for now, cause we're about to enter the same disappointing reality in American politics... more

haha looks like I'm on the side that liked the Beyond arc...I love Ben, and while I understand this conclusion is conflicting for many, I do look forward to whatever comes next for everyone's favorite Spider-Clone.

IMO the weakest entry in the main ASM Beyond books so far. Pichelli's art was inconsistent, and most of the plot felt like anime filler lol. Still looking forward to how this finishes and hope this story wraps up strong!

There are some truly...amazing :P panels in this issue, and the character writing is overall top tier.

Can't give it a 10 though - there were some editing issues (looking at you Nick Lowe).

I admit I'm biased. I'm going to give any SM comic that includes anti-capitalist messaging an automatic 9. Memes aside, this was a great issue that did tease us with more exciting stuff about Tesl---oops I meant Facebo---SORRY! Beyond corp.

Solid issue. It feels nostalgic but is also definitely carving its own mythos for Ben. Subtle / not-so-subtle throwing shade at capitalism is cool now. I love how the Beyond staff is basically the stand-in for the PMC (Professional Managerial Class) / petty bourgeoisie here, or maybe I'm reading a little tooooo much into this lol. Really excited to see where the rest of the series is oing!

great start to a new era!

hoping this is a critique on capitalism...if it is, Zeb Wells will be my hero

"I want a Spider-Man book that makes me feel like this", Nick Lowe describes the inspiration of the book on the last page of the issue. He was riding a subway when that happened...

Not everything is a good idea, Nick. This book certainly wasn't.

Real critique: the flow of panels just really doesn't work, add to that some pretty cringe dialog from the villains, and you get a book that reads very annoyingly. I honestly think the story could have worked pretty well in a normal comic book layout. more

I've started reading more manga than comics (no, not because comics are too woke or whatever, that doesn't bother me). The stories there are infinitely more diverse and fresher. Comic book history baggage have led us to...this garbage. As much as I hated OMD, I would really rather them just move on than try to fix the past. No one cares.

At least we'll be getting new creatives on this book soon... more