US Shipping Date: February 6, 2008

Previous Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #548 Next Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #550

Synopsis
At The Port Authority Marine Terminal a gang is under attack by a mysterious assailant who travels through the air at awesome speeds. He corners the gang and, cackling, announces that he needs the warehouse they are in. So, he silences them for good…!

The next morning, at The DB! (formerly Daily Bugle) the assailant attacks again, manically cackling and slices through one of the cables of a rig working on removing the letters on the building! A worker plummets to the earth but Spidey swings in with perfect timing and webs him to safety. Suddenly, the giant letter “U” falls as well and Spidey has to use all of his webbing up to cushion it’s fall!

Minutes later, Peter is inside the DB! and learns from a fired employee (Jack) that a spider-tracer has turned up in a corpse dredged from the river…! Peter ponders into the staff meeting and is met by Dexter Bennett who is busy berating the staff for being lazy. He uses Peter as a good example as he is always in and out, never resting and wasting time in the building! Bennett uses this new assailant as another example; a break in at Stark Labs, Kevlar stolen from the police precinct and no pictures! Bennett demands that the DB! become a leading paper and offers ten thousand dollars to the first picture of this new Menace!

Spidey is soon on the trail of Menace but gets distracted by a mugging. He swings down into an alley to find the red-haired, registered superhero Jackpot tussling with a crook. They chase him into the subway but he escapes. Jackpot tells Spidey that he was a link to Menace, her arch-nemesis! After they have to leap onto an oncoming subway train, Spidey asks Jackpot if her initials are M and J. She gives a mysterious response - her secret identity is a secret!

That evening, Peter is with Harry, Lily and Carlie at Coney Island and they discuss MJ. The girls tell Peter to leave her alone but Harry suggests that if he wants to reach out to a friend, he can follow her trail. Peter suddenly gets an idea, and runs off!

Atop The DB!, Spidey uses a device to track down the exhaust trail from Menace’s glider and follows it to the docks. He punches an approaching shadow to find its Jackpot again! She caught up with the crook and learned that Menace stole this warehouse from his gang and then killed them a couple of nights ago. Spidey is about to send Jackpot home when a mysterious man announces he is here to arrest them!

Highlight
Guggenheim’s light-hearted writing of Spidey and neat teasing of Menace.

Comments
The structure of this issue is excellent.

I have never read a Guggenheim comic before but was looking forward to this through his approach to his previous projects (Blade and Wolverine) that came across as logical, educated and unique through the countless internet interviews I read. I’m not at all disappointed. There is a sense of method in these pages, which creates a sensible structure, some strong plays between Spidey and Jackpot and some clear and clever scenes which build up Menace (much as Mr. Negative was in Swing Shift and #546).

So far the plot again seems a simple premise designed to allow other things to be as equally important. In this case, Spidey is investigating a new villain with a secret identity and some powers but the inclusion of and relationship with Jackpot is just as important. Marvel are not going to make Jackpot MJ, it’s too obvious, but there is a nice nod to this through Spidey’s reaction to her. In my opinion, his reaction isn’t proactive or protective enough of someone he clearly has had feelings for. Guggenheim’s construction of Jackpot began in ASM#546 and continues well here with the cheesy lines, un-aggressive reaction to Spidey and a claiming of a nemesis (which is hilarious!). Guggenheim bounces her against Spidey with banter similar to Black Cat, just refreshingly less flaunt.

Setting up the status of The DB! is simply done, the spider-tracer remains important and everything else is kept pretty fast. And I love the way that the issue ends – it is simple and emphasises the fact that Spider-Man is a criminal in the eyes of the law. Unfortunately I know who the mysterious man at the end is (darn previews!) but I still like that Guggenheim has moved away from the obvious confrontation with Menace and gone for something quirky and different.

Larroca’s art has come on a long way. I wasn’t a huge fan of his during Spider-Man: House Of M but here there is more emphasis on simplicity and space. He is not afraid to use acres of shadow, long shots and bold backdrops to achieve his desired affect and actually produces some incredibly realistic depictions of his characters. This is also accompanied by an expert and thorough colourist, Jason Keith. Bringing Larocca’s pencils to life and creating basic yet true locations through colour is clearly a strength of Keith. My only gripe is that Spidey and Jackpot are a little too bold and need a little toning down on the costume front, particularly in the night scenes.

I’m still not sure of the actual point of the new larger though boxes as there are numerous bubbles as well. It’s being picky but if they are going to do something, do it consistently.

On the whole, a very good intro with a nice amount of time spent on Spidey and not just his Brand New Day. Rating
Cover –
Overall –

Reviewed by Adam Rivett

Back Return to Reviews Home Return to the Homepage

Previous Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #548 Next Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #550