2.89 (454) Ultimate Fall Out #2 ... Marvel ...

For those who do not know anything about this issue, here is the set up. Basically in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, there comes a point in time, when a huge cataclysm hit their world and in one of the many battles during that moment, Spider-Man who is still a teen in this particular version bit the dust. So the title of Fallout is all about what happens immediately after

And this issue is very serious and sad

It opens up with a huge memorial service in a church where Aunt May is supported by family and friends and whom should offer condolences but the Ultimates led by Captain America. Anyone reading initially will thought that what Cap said is touching but trust the writer to upstage even that moment with an even more emotionally visceral punch via Aunt May. And the artist conveys it perfectly! That anger that was boiling just below the surface, the anger that spilled over and just explodes ...

And as for the cover with Thor? Well, that's something that is told as something of an aside where in the world of Thor, tragedy is something that is not the be all and end all for there is Valhalla, the hall where fallen heroes go to stay and it is like a virtual paradise/ holiday forever ... although shades of Loki do appear here and there

All in all a touching issue ... you can just pick this up to read on its own or follow the series. So well written that you are not left grasping at straws at any point in the pages contained

Ratings: 7/10

2.85 (450) Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 #16 ... Marvel ...

Our overall 450th review! Yipeeeeee and in comicdom, this means something special and for something special, we decided to jump back to Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 back when it was just Peter Parker, Mark Bagley and that writer hehehe!

Check out that cover! Peter has never looked so good and so "real" like a geeky teenager!

In this issue, we see a number of subplot moving forward and in fact, the title with Kraven is only being developed and finally brought to the fore. But of such strength is the writing and artwork that the entire issue just slipped by and before we know it, we are at the end and going WTF ...

We didn't get the big encounter with Kraven yet ... instead we get to see Spidey and his ongoing problems with authority ... we see Gwen ... and we even get a bit of Octopus plus of course more on Kraven as he finally arrives in America to officially hunt Spider-Man as part of his TV show (yup he is a TV star so you know he is going to be a wash out kind of like the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 movie)

All in all, like we said, it is so well told and drawn that the issue is still highly enjoyable

Ratings: 7/10

358. Web of Spider Man vol 1 #25 ... Marvel ...

Well to wash away the bad taste from our mouths (so to speak) of yesterday's blue-ish comics, let's move to perennial favorite, Spider-Man and once again, we have to reiterate to those who do NOT know, we are NOT fans of Spidey and thus our reviews may be biased. So there you have it! You have been cautioned

This story is rather straightforward. Aliens from outer space ... one believes in war and has just acquired a super powered battery that can turn his war machines into super war machines ... while another believes in peace. As said battery is being sent unmanned through space, it got caught in the signals of an earth satellite (I kid you not) and landed on earth

What is actually cool when I think it over is the clever sequence of related events and that final twist on the policeman is quite clever ... but that's neither here nor there ... all the while ... our main man Peter is dating his Aunt to a nice dinner and when they are heading home, Marvel did a DC with a mugger stealing from Aunt May

Well, naturally, Pete goes in pursuit and also happen to end up picking up the weird battery not realizing what it was ... and before you know it, said nasty alien comes looking for it. There is the usual fight here and there but nothing over the top and before you know it, the double sized pages are used up and we are left with a predictable ending

Now in today's world of decompression story telling this tale would have worked better as it would give us great artwork ... and give us time to built the tension and a proper climactic battle instead of a few panels here and there

Nothing special about this special anniversary issue ... just another day in the life of Peter P ... and Spider-Man ... in short buy it for your collection if you are a collector. Otherwise, don't bother

Ratings: 4/10

356. Secret Invasion #1 to 8 ... Marvel ...

And now for something totally different, we are going to review the entire series of a limited series instead of issue by issue ... so over the past decade, both Marvel and DC have decided on 1 big major yearly event that has implications (almost) line wide and at the end of each series, the so-called universe will have a new setting to play on ... until next year's big event. In the cast of Marvel, sometimes if the event is not so all encompassing, then there will be several like one for the mutant books, one for the cosmic books and one for the remainder of the Marvel U ...

But this series encompasses all the titles!

It continues from where Civil War left off and ends by giving us Dark Reign ...

What's it about? Basically Marvel awesome scribe, Bendis decides that years ago, after the nonsense with the Skrull war and intervention by earthlings, they wanted to get even and established a long term plan that studied how to come and invade earth without being detected by magic, science and telepathy ... all the while having other conflicts in space ... this came to a head as their empire fell apart and so they decided to officially adopt earth as their new home

What made this a pain for the heroes and serve as the tension point?

Who do you trust?

When word came out at first, each hero began to question friends around them especially since the first confirmed Skrull was when Elektra was killed and before then, Elektra was everywhere including SHIELD, Avengers, and even DD's world ... with that happening, what else can be wrong?

And then when the Skrulls unveiled their hand, the entire world was taken completely unawares! From even non super powered beings and family, the Skrulls have put plans in motion. And they provided for contingencies like Stark tech, Maria Hill, Shield and even Sword!

So it's a long scramble as the disparate parties try to run away, find a breathing space, recuperate and hopefully find a way to turn around the invasion

It's a decent read BUT ... the biggest letdown for me are 2 things:

1. The end is one slugfest between heroes of earth and skrulls with powers? I mean, that's it? You are an alien race, advanced, years in the planning and your intention is to slug it out with earth's heroes and decided to do it in USA where the most heroes are?

2. Yu's artwork - sorry but it is too scratchy for my taste

Don't believe me? Look at back issue prices online. Of all the past decade's worth of crossovers, this is by far the cheapest to buy still

Ratings: 6/10 (would have been 7 if not for Yu)

306. Ultimate Six #2 ... Marvel ...

Let's close out the month of Feb 2015 on a high note with a review from the Ultimate-verse back when it was good, enjoyable except for spotty artwork like this of Trevor Hairsine. I am not sure if it is him, inker or what but his work looks very ... grainy? And this is not the only limited series he did under the Ultimate banner

What's this about?

It's the Sinister Six and how they came to be, Ultimate style, natch!

So all the villains whom Spidey and others encountered are stashed in a hidden bunker under SHIELD and of all people to put in-charge, there is Henry Pym after his massive disgrace in the Ultimates series. Yes, makes no sense. And to make it worse, he is questioning them as if he is a psychologist

Now before you say bad writer, this bit was picked up and commented on by the Wasp (phew). In fact, in this whole issue, what's great is all the tension and people centric moments. We have Nick discussing the fate of the villains with the Ultimates and we get to see how Cap walked off in anger after one of Nick's comments which is so not 616 Cap which is ... cool and more realistic

And then there is the fact that there are only 5 villains in captivity. So who will make up number 6?

Psycho Osborn's answer in the closing panels will leave you wondering WTF

Ratings: 7/10

302. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars vol 1 #1 ... Marvel (naturally) ...

Well, with the impending arrival of this year's main Marvel event where Marvel will ape DC by having a company wide event that will obliterate all their existing titles (more or less) and restart everything else, including using the title and concept of a limited series from their past (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, eh?) ... so it is only timely that we review the first volume (of which there are 3)

And basically, in this first issue, we are shown that all those heroes who encountered that huge alien device on Earth only to disappear upon walking through its entrance have reappeared in a planet far, far, far away from home

And they are not alone

We have the FF, Avengers, XMen and a ton of villains and to top it all off, even Galactus is brought forth. And while everyone is puzzled and fearful, a voice boomed forth from out of nowhere ... asking them to defeat their foes ... and this said voice will grant them whatever their wish is

Naturally, immediately sides are drawn as parties try to see who will compromise and work with whom best ... will Magneto join the villains or the X-Men? Will the X-Men join the Avengers? Will Spider who at this point in time is still a loner join anyone? And what about Galactus?

With that to lead us off, Marvel knows that we are going to look forward to the future issues as the potential for huge slam-bang action scenes are outlined even though the premise is kind of weak ...

Ratings: 7/10

289. Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 #15 ... Marvel ...

After that stunning cliffhanger of a conclusion, is there any doubt that anyone who read issue 14 would pick up 15 be it to buy or to read in the shops? Nah! That's how a cliffhanger should be and so in this issue we pick straight up with school buddy/ bully/ potential friend testing out his theory

Of course, we have the ongoing development of Doc Ock slowly/ fast developing into a super villain but you know, for all the fact that there needs to be a fight every now and then, for me, as a reader who is not a fan of Spidey, I find myself looking forward to more and more of the life of Petey than Spidey but hey it's all good!

And it's a bit of a laugh when Peter is soooooooo one step ahead of Kong ... while the chicks - damn - they come out of the woodwork to give Petey some support ... but where's Spidey since Ock hasn't come on a rampage?

Well, they give us something minor so that Pete can costume on ... but who cares?

Sad to say when I reach the last page, where Ock is going to make his major move, I was feeling kinda m'eh in terms of this cliffhanger ... as it's just run of the mill villain time

Ratings: 7/10

288. Ultimate Spider Man vol 1 #14 ... Marvel ...

Firstly, check out that cover! Rarely has Doc Ock look so good. Usually he is depicted as an overweight loser, in a bad costume, bad attitude, horrible speech patterns and that hairstyle!

Here, in this issue, we get to see his origins, more or less from a famed scientist with an experiment gone wrong and these metal arms that he used as part of his ongoing research ... now grafted permanently to him and responding to his commands and what did our psycho do once he regained consciousness? Why? A rampage (yeah right)!

But more importantly for us in this issue is not Doc Ock

Heck it is not even Peter going through the motions of a day in the life of ... but two things:

1. Gwen stacy ... she who is famed in real Marvel U ... for dying in a fight between Webs and Gobs
2. How Kong, fat bully in Peter's school, day dreamed with a copy of a mag (that has Black Widow on it!) ... suddenly found his wandering mind typing together Pete with Spidey! And that is the last page of this comic! Definitely wanting you to go try this comic
, eh?

Ratings: 8/10

285. Ultimate Spider Man vol 1 #12... Marvel ...

This is it! The big one! Issue 12! And like the first issue of this comic, it comes with no fanfare. No enhanced cover, no double or triple sized page counts no nothing! So what makes it special? Honestly nothing except awesome cover, storyline and artwork! And since it work so well for the first 11 issues, why change a winning formula, eh?

And once again, it works!

This is the culmination of all the big baddies Ult Spidey has encountered so far ... whereupon we have him in the Kingpin's headquarters ... battling lame ass Enforcers gang and the Electro villain ... lots and lots of action panels including even all out fight with the fatman himself although I wonder how Kingpin can break himself out of Peter's spider-webs ... I mean fatman is strong but not that strong!

And the ending?

Wow! What a great ending ... with Kingpin vowing to definitely make a comeback and getting even on a big scale ... you know you are just going to have to buy the next issue if you have been reading this as it comes out! Sigh! Awesome-ness!

Ratings: 8/10

280. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 ... Marvel ...

Firstly, this is after the BIG Ultimate universe event called Ultimatum in which Magneto turned the Earth on its magnetic pole causing huge global catastrophe with many people dying including heroes. So the landscape of the Ultimate-verse is changed forever! Seriously!

What happens next? Well, here in Spider's corner, this is what happens next as life resumes and people are trying to go back to normal like going to school. We get glimpses of the various supporting cast including JJJ who is now confused because he did witness Spidey saving people during the disaster. LOADS of emotions going on ...

Even at home when Peter SNOGGED someone ...

And to add to the happy mix, as per the cover, we have a few more guest-stars popping in including Iceman and the Human Torch

All in all, that's what this first issue is about ... it's an aftermath issue ... and villains can take a back seat along with the scheming and planning ... there is a new artist ... but in this light and more upbeat issue, it works so well

Ratings: 7/10

234. Ultimate Spider Man vol 1 #10 ... Marvel ... Bagley, Bendis

Right now as we are typing this review, in the Marvel U, there is a replacement in the Ultimate Comics for Peter. Because you see, in the Ultimate-verse, nothing is static and even key characters can die. While this is good, this means that unless the Western comics are willing to follow anime/ manga style with endings in mind and new series, they will run into trouble i.e. if a comic is really good, the sales are good and which company is willing to risk introducing a new replacement and alienating existing readers?

Then again, if the new stuff is good, it can garner new readers not just comics completists, right?

So far, from our perspective, the sad thing is Western Comics i.e. Marvel and DC seem to be losing this battle. If not for the movies, they would have lost an even bigger chunk. So thank you o movie going public for saving us from the end of comic-dom

Now why are we ranting about this?

Because after Peter is killed, they replaced him with a new kid, a "coloured" kid and I guess this is in a way deliberate to diversify the Ultimate-verse! Sigh! Honestly I tried and flicked through the first TPB but gave up ... and as sales will show, it is not doing that well anyway ... so ...

Spider-Man is not just about a guy with Spider powers, it is the story of a person and his growth from teen-hood into a young man, subsequently marrying his childhood sweetheart! That for me is Spider-Man and that for me is why the first volume of Ultimate Spider-Man works because I get to follow this journey whereas in the regular Marvel U, I came upon it too late when he is already a working bloke and when buying back issues, well, somehow the dated feel makes me feel like I am reading for the sake of being a completist!

Right - so for those of you reading this, you must be bored, eh? Hehehe!

If you are still with me, let's move on to the comics. Basically this continues right on the heels of 9 with Peter confronting the Kingpin and in these flimsy 22-pages so much happens, that you just wouldn't believe that the arc is 6-issues. So who said Bendis, writer is all about padding? In this issue, he shows us how assume he can be. Here's a run-down (SPOILER ALERT) for those keeping score:

1. Peter's big fight with the Kingpin
2. Electro enters the fray and Peter gets sent packing
3. Peter and Aunt May's big emotional scene about Uncle Ben
4. Peter having to cancel with Mary Jane
5. Mary Jane and Peter having a tough time
6. Kingpin rounding up his forces and showing that he can get his hands dirty
7. Peter realizing that whatever he touched upon, he needs to do more to close the chapter

See? Lots happen

Ratings: 8/10

232. Ultimate Spider Man vol 1 #8 ... Marvel ... Bagley ...

I am not sure why since the day the Spider is introduced, he has been a hit from comics to cartoons to movies ... although honestly I only enjoyed Spidey in all mediums except the comics ... don't get me wrong ... I tried but found it hard to stomach

I did the Marvel Tales reprints here and there ... found Spider average ... did an Essential or two and that didn't work for me either ... I even subscribed to Marvel Online and read a few and again, didn't do beans for me

But when the Ultimate line was launched? BANG I was addicted. I collected quite a fair bit of the floppies and subsequently read it until the end in either TPB or softcopy from friends

So this issue ... continues after the first arc ... where Spidey is still not well known out there in the regular world ... he is more bogeyman at this stage ... and anyone who encounters him is of two minds ... some believe he is good while others he is a villain ... as per our opening arc here! What a laugh ... or at least a genuine smile inducement moment!

Next up, as Spidey goes on his life, he needs to make a living ... and thus decided to take photos of himself then tries to hawk it to the newspapers ... as fans of the original Spider series will know ... this means time for the Daily Bugle and its characters - JJJ, Robbie, Brant and others ... the good thing about the Ultimate is reporter Ben Urich (who is mainstay in DD not Spider in the original Marvel U) ... is a reporter here who sometimes inspire and sometimes assist Peter Parker

And here ... Spidey found out about someone called the Kingpin and how he may have ties to the chap who killed his uncle Ben ... so you know what comes next, right? Right?

Ratings: 8/10

221. Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #190 & 191 ... Marvel ...

Back in Chris Claremont, writer extraordinaire's hey day, this is the type of work he can produce on a regular basis. As if the past few years' run of non stop good tales was not sufficient to earn him a slip up, as if the past few issues of over-the-top action was not enough, here he comes with another 2-parter that just kicks so much  @$$

The opening issue wastes no time as we see a world immediately transformed and left us wondering in the first few pages WTF happened from the last issue to this! As it is, a green curtain has thrown up around Manhattan and anyone and anything within, is transformed to something from the age of Conan the Barbarian

And with that transformation, everyone sort of loses their sense of self including remembering that they had been transformed. Who is responsible? Kulan Gath - and this is the guy whose plot has been building up in the form of a necklace found by a dock worker (see how sub plots take months to develop and BANG unleashed as something big?)

So while the outside world is trying to understand what is going on, inside the curtain, all is not well. Like any new power, there are those who support (Callisto) and those who object (Avengers). Amongst all these is Spider Man who for some reason is totally unaffected by the master spell. So naturally Gath has it in for the Spider by sending his people to hunt Spiderman down

Everyone and we mean everyone is featured besides Spidey, we have the aforementioned Avengers (Wasp is some disgusting insect!) and the New Mutants (bad guys too) and the X-Men (naturally). The great thing about Marvel tales of that era is that they somehow managed to squeeze so much into 2 issues with no crossover to other issues!

Ummm do we need to say that huge fight ensues?

Oh yes and we learn a bit more about Selene whom we were given a heap ful from last issue

Ratings: 9/10

204. New Avengers vol 1 #3 ... Marvel ... David Finch ...

Yes for those who didn't know when they relaunched Avengers slightly more than a decade ago, they decided to add in the word new ... naturally thanks to today's market, there have since been some more relaunches even from this series ... so it's like (New) New Avengers and what-not ...

Well in issue 3, we finally see the big long drawn out fight to be more or less over ... with the heroes taking a moment's rest ... basically there's a breakout from the Raft prison ... and the Avengers after being disbanded ... well, they don't exist but the individual heroes come back to help arrest the criminals ... some got away and some don't ...

And naturally with Captain America and Iron Man around ... they got to thinking if they were wrong to break up the team and that there is a need for the Avengers after all ... and this also explains why this particular iteration of the Avengers will be different consisting of folks like Wolverine, Luke Cage and Spiderman

Forget the cover with the Sentry ... at this point the guy is merely background noise ...

So aside from some good dialogue that we get to read what else happens? We see some side plots being developed a wee bit more ... and then building up to the next arc ... not really a new arc but more of the same ... as the heroes discovered that they better go after some of the more violent criminals ... we will not spoil it for you except to say ... look at that cover and can you imagine ... the entire book is done in terms of artwork of that detail?

David Finch is awesome!

Ratings: 8/10

200. Mighty Avengers vol 1 (2) #3 to 5 ... Marvel ...

So for the 200th review we decided to do 3 issues of Frank Cho's awesome but unfortunately short run on this the Mighty Avengers

Let's talk briefly about Cho - he is famous for his work on good girl/ bad girl but for me sometimes he overdid it especially on the thighs making the lasses look "chunky". Here the most obvious on his artistic flaws include #3's Tigra (how is that angle even sexy?)

Anyway, this continues from the cliffhanger of issue 2 where thanks to Ultron for some weird reason Iron Man is now a ... woman. Don't get us started. We don't even want to tell you the answer here as otherwise that would constitute a major spoiler

So what can we share? Two things:

1. Ares - finally shows us his true abilities as the God of War. Formerly he is more like a thug that serves no purpose because his strength is easily eclipsed by most of the other Avengers and his nasty uncooperative attitude is less than useless but here, he actually came up with a plan that attempts to take down Ultron. Yes, Ares has a plan

2. Ant Man - whoooo wheee - we see how good the new Ant Man can be when he puts his mind to it as he then takes his power and one other to penetrate Ultron's defences

So lots of action, enough intrigue, enough mysteries to keep you wondering ... and well ... I guess enough decent artwork?

Ratings: 7/10

199. Marvel Team Up vol 1 #147 ... Marvel ...

One more review and we will reach our 200th review!

So for this issue, we move our review backwards instead of forwards - from 150 to 149 and then 148. Now it is 147 and we still have Spidey and here this time he is with his fave buddy, the Human Torch

SPOILER ALERT ... NOT!!!

The cover pretty much tells you everything. First up is that in this issue and across all Spidey mags during that time, Spidey reverts from his black (then new) costume to his classic blue and reds

Next is the fact that the Black Abbott finally makes his full blown appearance and villainy and thus we know his full powers - mind control of a certain limit because here he manages to use the Human Torch to try and take down Spidey. Well, if he has smarts, he should have studied Spidey a bit more, eh?

And that's about it - obviously Spidey could not be tagged by the Torch and found a way to free the Torch and jointly they go after the Abbott. If you had read our earlier reviews, you would know that this issue didn't result in the end of the Abbott as 148 features even more of his type of sheenanigans

Ratings: 6/10

183. Dazzler vol 1 #2 ... Marvel ...

From the Canadian super team, we turn our attention to the only female mutant super-hero who actually has her own ongoing series. I mean, we know Storm is strong and Rogue is a long time fan fave while X-23 is a Wolvie knock-off. Yet all of them have only like one-shots and mini-series while this disco glam lady started straight off in her own ongoing ... and even has a 4-issue limited series with the Beast before she became a part of the X-family!

So while today's readers may slam her and her retro look, all I can say "You go, gal!"

In fact the latest redesign of Dazz makes her look so weird and her behaviour is so not Dazz anymore. Sure people grow and change but that person in comics now? Except name and powers she is nothing like the Dazler of old

So this is her second issue and we are featuring this issue is because ... in order to ensure she has strong sales ... Marvel wisely threw in a ton of guest stars. Basically you have everyone from FF, Avengers, X-Men and solo (at that time) player, Spidey too!

Why?

Because Dazz is performing in a club and her super powered friends are coming out to enjoy and support her. Naturally for the sake of some action, we have the Enchantress! But hey she isn't the main attraction here and like we said, her appearing is merely to give the story some action scenes. Otherwise, it is still a good read about a young woman trying to find her way in this world without compromising on her dreams of being a singer instead of a lawyer like what her dear old dad wanted ... and we can all sure relate to that, right? Hah!

Ratings: 7/10

179. Amazing Spider Man vol 1 #3 ... Marvel ...

From moving forward, we take a huge step back in time ... travelling to the early days of Marvel's first super star solo character i.e. Peter Parker - the star of many a movie and cartoon and comic book series!

Why this issue?

Well, it shows how good the artwork and storytelling really is in the old days. Here we see Peter continuing to learn about his new found abilities. Unfortunately, as life would have it, school work, peer pressure, bullying and dear old Aunt May is not enough to keep him busy

Enter: Doctor Octopus!

Yup like the movie, this issue shows us the origin of Octopus and how Spider-Man encounters him. And in the first fight, the 4 arms actually give Peter a run for his money.  Inspite of his Spider sense, it just isn't enough as an attack can come from 4 different angles at any one time simultaneously. And even though the arms are strong but not yet from Adamantium (like in later versions), it is still plenty tough to knock Peter silly!

So it's interesting to see how Peter managed to figure a way to overcome Doc Ock!

Ratings: 6/10

163. Ultimate X-Men vol 1 #40 ... Marvel ... David Finch ...

You know what the best thing about this review blog? Because we don't do reviews of new comics, we do NOT need to follow whatever's new in stores this week, be it floppies or TPB

So we skip six months down the road when the first arc by Finch and Bendis (Writer) is over ... and now we start something called New Mutants ...

Being a HUGE fan of the 616 New Mutants (vol 1) ... I bought this thinking we are going to get to see Ultimate versions of the NM like Magma and Magik ... but trust Bendis to be different ... and in this case, it is different good not different for different's sake only

So the title and that cover ... well basically the New Mutant here is Angel

What is awesome is that as you read this issue, you will see that basically the trials and tribulations from previous arc continues here ... however, instead of having a breather issue ... Bendis cleverly utilizes this arc (instead of 1 issue) to introduce NM that the school goes about gathering ... so we get adventure, newbies and simultaneously tension from one subplot to the next

Here we see the fallout from the last issues where Jean actually kills others ... and oddly enough her guilt seems a bit less dramatic than what it was ... so Cyclops being her dear sweetheart keeps feeling something amiss and each time, he almost voices it out ... but kept holding back as is consistent with his character

On the flipside, we Angel and how his introduction causes a huge stir amongst the religious belt

And simultaneously we see something brewing in Hank Pym ... the Beast ... who is beginning to feel that ... maybe being a hidden mutant adventurer is not what he wants ... that and the tension with Storm and Angel ... makes ... a new love triangle of sorts?

A good opening arc!

Ratings: 8/10

153. Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 #6 ... Marvel ... Mark Bagley ...

So from one ultimate title, let's move on to the next title - the one that started it all and gave Marvel comics the jumpstart it needed ... including the movies! In this issue, we continue where the first arc left off ... in fact, it felt so seamless like there is no discernible arc ... and perhaps that's why this relaunch work so well ... because when you read it, it feels like the comics of old ...

One chapter continuing into the next ... issue by issue ... and while there is arc by arc yet it all felt like one big story ... like chapters in a life ... the life of Peter Parker

Anyway before we continue we have to say that Bagley while awesome throughout had some parts where he overly cartoonized Parker in his civillian status ... sorry mate ... there were parts when his floppy hair became like that of a girl with longer tresses ... sigh!

But the action scenes were awesome!

So the story line ...

We started off with a few pages on the Bugle and Jonah ... which is good comic relief as who doesn't love the old ranting JJJ, right?

Then came typical school scenes of Peter adjusting back to normal life ... only to have BOOM ... the Goblin attacks ... and here is where Peter consciously need to decide to don his costume and save some butts ... unfortunately for him to his utter shock as he fights the Goblin ... it began to try and utter human words ... of his own name ... and that scared Peter more than anything for if his secret is out, then what will happen to his home life, right?

Ratings: 6/10