A Spider-Man Podcast

Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 4) #8 – REVIEW

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In the business world, it’s rare to be overwhelmed with praise for going into the office and doing your job the way you’re supposed to be doing it, but that’s obviously one of the many differences between superhero comics and accounting (or insert your favorite profession here).

5044944-asm2015008_int2-1Amazing Spider-Man #8 by Dan Slott with pencils from Matteo Buffagni, is perfectly acceptable superhero comic book storytelling. It brings the three-part “Dark Forces” arc to a sensible, albeit predictable end, while simply and logically setting up the very next storyline, which will bring back Scorpio and the Zodiac. 

This might all sound like very faint praise for a comic book review, but after a frustrating run of issues, it’s refreshing to open up a Slott-scripted issue of Amazing Spider-Man and find something that was crafted with discipline and restraint. There’s an eye towards the future (aka, “the long game”) without the burdensome sense of a creator trying to cram too much exposition and foreshadowing to get there. Nor does this comic feature an abundance of head-scratching moments caused by plot holes that are defended with a “just go with it” shrug from the powers that be (though there is a mercurial bit in the opening sequence where Slott heavy-handedly works in some anti-American sentiments from some of Shanghai’s police officials – not entirely sure what he was going for outside of trying to show yet another crack in Parker Industries’ façade). 

There’s still a sense that “Dark Forces” is a bit of a stopgap story for the Spider-Office as they start to lay the groundwork for bigger things in the future — namely the return of “the most dangerous foes from Secret Wars,” Regent, and the super-duper cryptic “Dead No More.” Sure, the arc unquestionably feeds into the very next one with the reveal of yet another double-agent (or is it a triple-agent?) within the ranks of Parker Industries, but other than that one detail, the storyline gives off a general feeling of being dollar bin fodder at your local Knights of Columbus comic book show in six months. The final panel does tease that long-rumored Cloak and Dagger vs. Mister Negative spinoff series that’s allegedly been on the back-burner of the Spider-Office since the days of “Spider-Island,” but there’s no indication that Marvel is going to pull the trigger on that series any time soon (though to beat that drum a bit, I think Cloak and Dagger would be perfect for Marvel’s Netflix vehicle, which would certainly provide them with the exposure needed to justify their own comic book series). 

5044945-asm2015008_int2-2Slott also does an admirable job servicing more of his supporting cast throughout the issue, chiefly Lian Tang (though having Peter refer to her as his “girlfriend” still seems like a stretch since there’s zero chemistry between the characters). This is an important development since Lian is presumably going to play a larger role in the series moving forward and up until this point, readers have been given very little reason to care about the character. She still lacks some elements of substance, but there’s at least a skeleton and some skin and hair on the character now whereas she was just a face and a name in all of previous appearances. 

All the same, the international “flavor” of this series still comes across as bland at best. Shanghai is a major global city, but beyond the gorgeous cover artwork from Alex Ross, the book’s setting has no discernable personality or flair. At one point, one of the characters says that the action took place inside one of tallest buildings in the world, Shanghai World Financial Tower. But where’s the sense of scope and awe from Buffagni? Outside of one panel involving the Spider-Mobile (Slott finally got his Spider-Mobile-centric story he’s been clamoring for since “Spider-Verse”), the tower reads as being a generic skyscraper in an anonymous city somewhere. With so much emphasis being placed on Peter being a jetsetter in this new status quo, Slott and his art team need to get on the same page so that these fascinating worlds and cities become visually realized on the page.

Listen to us discuss this issue on our podcast, the Amazing Spider-Talk podcast.

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