Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has officially made it off the Revolution’s Probation List with issue #7. I like the direction that Peter David is heading and his current storyline is pretty interesting.
Creative Team
Writer: Peter David
Penciller: Roger Cruz
Inker: Victor Olazaba
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Total Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The issue starts with J. Jonah Jameson and Robbie in El Muerto’s hospital room. JJ is complaining that Spider-Man did this on purpose to El Muerto.
We then cut to Iron Man and Spider-Man talking about the fact that Spider-Man powers are a combination of science and mysticism. After some entertaining dialogue in which Iron man tells Spider-Man that science and magic aren’t mutually exclusive, Iron Man takes off.
We then cut back to El Muerto waking up in his hospital bed. Suddenly, a man in gold appears behind JJ and Robbie.
We then shift to Jarvis and Aunt May leaving Avenger’s tower to go on their date. After they leave we see a figure watching them from the shadows.
We go back to El Muerto’s hospital room where the man in gold introduces himself ass El Dorado. Natch. El Dorado is there to kill El Muerto for failing in his task to defeat a masked fighter. Suddenly, Spider-Man comes crashing through the window. And it’s a brawwwwwl!! During the fight, El Dorado tells El Muerto that since he lost to a super-powered masked fighter and then lured him here to fight El Dorado, that El Muerto’s life will be spared. The fight doesn’t go well for Spider-Man since nothing can penetrate El Dorado’s mystical gold armor.
We then shift to Iron Man examining Mary Jane’s arm that he fixed several issues ago. Mary Jane tells Tony that she is used to the world being suspicious of Peter and that has made her suspicious of the world in general. And this suspicion includes Tony’s friendship with Peter and that things could change.
We cut back to the fight between El Dorado and Spider-Man. Spider-Man is in the hospital’s lab mixing some chemical. El Dorado finds Spider-Man before he can finish, but El Muerto joins the fight and distracts El Dorado long enough for Spider-Man to finish his chemical mixture. Spider-Man throws it on El Dorado and his gold armor disappears off his chest. Spider-Man tells him he just hit him with “Aqua Regia” a chemical that can dissolve noble metals like platinum and gold. It isn’t permanent but it lasts long enough for Spider-Man to kick the crap out of El Dorado. Spider-Man punches him across the hall into another room. When they get to the room they can’t find El Dorado anywhere.
We then shift back to Aunt May and Jarvis on their date at a fancy restaurant. Aunt May casually mentions Ben and how time has flown by for her. Suddenly Aunt May goes quiet and has a shocked look. Over Jarvis’s shoulder May sees Uncle Ben looking at her through the restaurant window! End of issue! Let me do a little Jim Ross for you. Oh mah Gawd!! He’s back. He’s back! Uncle Ben is back! For the love of Gawd, Uncle Ben is back!
Comments
The Good: Wow! David dropped a serious bombshell at the end of this issue? Could Uncle Ben truly be back? Or is this simply another clone? Or maybe some mystical trick? I guess once your break Marvel’s golden rule that nobody stays dead except for Bucky and Uncle Ben, there is no longer anything sacred. If this truly is Uncle Ben back from the dead, then Marvel will be capping off an already controversial year with the resurrection of Bucky. I think the return of Uncle Ben will be even more controversial. As long as this leads to a good story then I have no problems with Uncle Ben being resurrected. And on top of that the letter column teases that the Hobgoblin is making a return. Wow. That is a lot to look forward to.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #7 was a good issue. David is one of the best writers for Spider-Man. David writes great entertaining dialogue. I enjoyed the El Muerto/El Dorado storyline. It looks like we haven’t seen the last of El Dorado. I like the continuing friendship between Tony Stark and Peter Parker. Mary Jane’s worries are probably going to come to fruition during the impending Civil War. The continuing plotline of Spider-Man being a mix of science and magic should create some interesting stories in the future. It is also nice that J. Jonah Jameson has returned to his old Spider-Man hating personality.
David is really cranking up this title. Friendly Spider-Man #7 was an entertaining issue with a good mix of action and drama. I am eagerly awaiting the next issue!
The Bad: Cruz and Olazaba’s art is average. One panel looks nice and the next panel doesn’t. The faces of the characters look a bit too cartoonish at times. There is an overall lack of detail to the art. The art doesn’t detract from the title; it just isn’t a selling point for the title.