Amazing Spider-Man #610 Review
Amazing Spider-Man #610
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Penciler: Marco Checchetto and Luke Ross
Inker: Marco Checchetto and Rick Maygar
Colorist: Fabio D’Auria and Jeromy Cox
Cover: Adi Granov
Reviewed by Gerard Delatour II
As always, this review contains SPOILERS. Consider yourself WARNED!
Plot Overview
This issue jumps around, even more so than the previous ones, so be warned – it might get confusing!
The two cliffhangers pick up immediately from last issue. In the past, Ben confronts Damon at his home; in the present, Peter confronts Damon in Aunt May’s house, which is full of squatting Reillys. Ben and Damon struggle, but are interrupted by Kaine, who attacks Ben. Back in the present, Kaine steps out of the shadows to grab Peter – Raptor “invited” Kaine, luring him with promises of a cure. Back in the past, Kaine and Ben fight, and Ben throws Kaine into the fireplace. Kaine pushes on, but since he’s on fire, he lights the entire place up. In the present, Raptor intentionally lights a fire to Aunt May’s home to retaliate. As it turned out, Damon’s family died in the fire caused by Kaine, though Ben blames Damon’s foolishness for the accident. Screwball shows up, apparently expecting a battle with Spider-Man – since she challenged him last issue. Pandemonium ensues, and Harry escapes with Peter’s cousins. With the “witnesses” gone, and Peter thrown through a wall, he changes into Spider-Man. He takes out Screwball quickly, then fights Raptor and Kaine. Kaine unmasks Spider-Man and explains to Raptor that Peter is Ben’s clone (wait … what?!), but is practically the same guy, so Raptor should go ahead and beat the tar out of Peter. In the past, Ben knocks Damon out and confronts Kaine, who tells Ben that they’re really the same person. Kaine lets them live to see what Ben does next, and (off-panel) Ben saves Damon rather than letting him die. In the present, Peter defeats Raptor easily and webs up his face to hide his identity from the arriving police. The police enter the house, but suddenly Kaine, Raptor, and Screwball are all gone. Later on, Peter, Harry, and the cousins talk about the incident, and in particular the fact that Peter would be a ringer for Kaine if he grew a beard and put on more muscle. The issue ends with a deceived Kaine, after discovering that Raptor lied about the cure for his degeneration, strangling and possibly killing Raptor.
The Good
This issue is a tough one to gauge.
The first positive that stands out is, once again, the superb artwork by Checchetto and Ross. One of the most difficult things to draw convincingly is fire, and both artists nail it wonderfully.
Another plus is the fact that this doesn’t drop the ball on the action. This is part three of three, and it shows in the highly dramatic climaxes to both stories. Kudos to the team for wrapping up both stories in a way that allows each one to be interesting on its own, but more importantly allows them to dovetail together. Guggenheim balances the two storylines appropriately, with more weight correctly given to the present-day story.
The Bad
Unfortunately for this issue, the bad once again outweighs the good.
The obvious starting point for criticism of this issue – and the arc in general – is the lame villain. Raptor never interested me at any point in the story, and it comes to a head here. He has a dumb costume, dopey powers, and a flawed motivation. That last point is the key one, because we’re never given a legitimate reason why Damon blames his downfall on Ben Reilly. Blaming Ben is a severe leap in logic that’s only compounded by tying Kaine into the story. What makes Damon Ryder so special to Kaine? There are roughly a zillion geneticists in the Marvel Universe, so naturally he focuses in on one random guy that has yet to make a major breakthrough. Yeah, that makes perfect sense!
We find out why Screwball showed up in each of the first two parts of the story – Guggenheim was setting her up for a prominent role in this issue. The reason that this appears in my “Bad” list is twofold. For one, I despise Screwball as a character, and let’s leave it at that. The other reason is that her appearance strains logic. How could she survive in a burning house for more than two minutes? She’d suffocate to death pretty quickly considering that she’s an ordinary human being. When Peter is unmasked, where is she? It looks like the fight is happening in the same room, so she would have seen him unmasked … except for the fact that she literally disappears in the span of one panel.
The finale itself left a little to be desired. Firstly, it takes three punches to KO Raptor. Three. Considering the buildup, I would have liked to see more. Kaine seems to completely lose interest, because he simply leaves, and that bothered me. Secondly, considering how many Reillys were boarding in the house, why are the cousins the only Reillys captured? Where the hell are the rest of them? This isn’t even mentioned in the “prologue” part of the story. It’s a cheat, and a huge one. Finally, considering how long the place was on fire, the damage doesn’t seem all that bad. In fact, I would even say they got off a little too easy.
The Ugly
Kaine tells Raptor that Peter is a clone of Ben Reilly.
Oh dear lord … back in the Clone Saga, Kaine believed that Peter was the clone, and Ben was the original. That’s the whole reason he hunted Ben and left Peter alone. However, he learned better later on. We even see in last month’s Web of Spider-Man #1 that he’s aware that Peter is the original because he addresses him as such. Now, he’s reverted back to believing that Peter is the clone.
Was he lying? I don’t think so – one way or another, it wouldn’t make a difference to say if he’s a clone or the original. In fact, saying that Peter is the original would make Raptor even more angry because it would mean that Ben adopted Peter’s traits, making Peter directly responsible for Ben and indirectly responsible for the fire (in Raptor’s mind, at least) through Ben. Either Guggenheim didn’t think this through, or Wacker was asleep at the wheel again.
Final Thoughts
The arc started out well, but fizzled and crashed at the end. It was mildly entertaining and has some great art, which keep it out of the sewer, but this is not a story I would recommend to fans of the Clone Saga – Ben Reilly doesn’t factor into the story much at all, Raptor is lame, and Guggenheim seems to lack a grasp of Kaine’s motivation.
Grade
C-.
David Blyth
on November 13th, 2009
Kaine revealing he thinks Ben was the original could, again, be such a saving grace for the title. Again, why would anyone want BND Peter to be the real one? I could say this of any member of Spidey’s supporting cast currently
With Clone Saga Issue Six ending in early 2010, months ahead of this supposed OMD sequel (if it even exists, some think it’s more webhead lie and spin) I’d keep a close eye on this story and Marc’s ASM annual. Maybe every author has thier own opinion on how to retcon/explain the Peter they’ve been writing, maybe this is intentional. I agree with you that it’s just very likely a case of these guys just not doing the research, and not caring.
A wasted oppertunity