I started reading Amazing Spider-Man again with #583, the comic that grabbed all of the headlines because it featured President Obama on its variant covers. I had stopped reading just before #400, when I quit comics all together. I had never been as satisfied with ASM anyway, after the fantastic storylines of Spidey's black costume, the first appearances of Venom, and Todd McFarlane's art chores. The stories were just kind of so-so.
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| Amazing Spider-Man #698 |
Jump to #583 and beyond. The stories still were just kind of average, but I still kept buying them. I've
put up with Mary Jane and Peter Parker splitting up as if they've never
been married, Spider Island with a bazillion Spider-Man rip-offs running
around NYC, the introduction of the annoying Alpha, and all of the extra "Point One" issues. I even put up with ridiculous three issues per month stint with various writers and artists, making the series so incoherent and inconsistent. Finally, Marvel signed on Dan Slott and went to a twice monthly publication (at a heftier $3.99 price tag), giving the series at least some consistency and regularity. I truly admire Dan Slott for being able to put out so many stories of Spidey every month. It's quite a feat. Unfortunately, to me, the stories, again, have just been so-so (with the exception of the poignant issues, #655 and #657). That is, until issue #698 when it was revealed that -- SPOILER ALERT!! -- Doctor Octopus had mysteriously switched bodies with Spider-Man, leaving our web-headed friend in a dying body. Even the cover is one of the best I've seen since picking up ASM again. At first you think Doc Ock has discovered Spider-Man's secret identity and is calling him out on his deathbed. Only inside do you discover that that's actually Peter saying his own name to try to get people to help him. Now, that's AMAZING.
There are a lot of angry readers out there, disgusted by the thought of a "Superior Spider-Man." I, for one, am actually looking forward to where Slott is going to take us with Doc Ock as the new Spider-Man, since this is one of the best storylines I've seen for Spider-Man in YEARS. I also wonder when Peter Parker will "come back to life" and take back control of his own body. And...will the series still be called Superior Spider-Man? Or will we see the dawn of another Amazing Spider-Man title? Will the sequencing start over again with #1? Or will it return to the 700s?
Ever since Gambit first appeared in the X-Men comics in 1990, I thought he was a pretty cool character, despite rarely being able to understand what he's saying because of his Cajun accent. I loved the flirtation between he and Rogue, before she got into daddy figures (see: Magneto). Plus, you've gotta admire a straight dude that can pull off purple (see also: Hawkeye). But what's with the long overcoat? Doesn't that get in the way of battle...or make the Louisiana Bayou heat even more unbearable?
Unfortunately, Marvel hasn't really done Gambit justice, evidenced by the numerous attempts at solo series for him. The latest (2012) attempt isn't any better. After reading the first seven issues, I'm all, "A sphincter says what?" I couldn't even follow what was going on from issue to issue because I was so disinterested. There was battle sequence after battle sequence with little to no character or story development. Sure, we got to see some Gambit nips as his costume was destroyed, but that hardly makes up for the lack of decent storytelling. Now he's supposed to be some sort of international James Bond? I just don't get it. And, frankly, I don't have to. This is just another Gambit series headed for cancellation due to lameness. Mon Dieu!
