'New Ways to Die' ends in an old way

Amazing Spider-Man #573 Review
"New Ways to Die" began on an extreme high note. We read solid writing for Dan Slott and saw great art from John Romita Jr. It almost appeared some questions regarding a few of the stupid new villians were going to be answered.Unfortunately, nothing is resolved and what the reader is left with is a profound sense of disappointment.

I understand you can't kill off a villian. It's an unsaid rule. But the writer can explain the origin of the character i.e. Mr. Negative or Menace. It looked like we were going to get some answers as to why Menace looks so much like Green Goblin, but no. Instead, we get another villian in Antivenom and no explanation to anything. God, this is awful.

It wouldn't be as bad if it didn't start so strong. Readers thought their diligent waiting was about to payoff in the 6-part story. Nope...sorry.

The series almost seems to be going for a "Lost" story where they just keep introducing question after question. The problem is that the story for ASM is just stupid and won't keep any intelligent reader interested. There has to be some sort of storyline and not a series of events which provide no character development. All the villains are alive and well, Spidey's life still blows and there's no sign of Mary Jane.

I don't know how much longer I can go reading this. I've loved Spidey since I was a tike, but sometimes you just have to move on.

2/5 stars

Spider-man #572 Review

Spider-Man #572
It cannot be stressed enough how much better the "New Ways to Die" arc is than the garbage known as "Brand New Day" was. Not only is this new arc better, but it manages to clean up all the crap that "Brand New Day" created as well. Without giving too much away, the onslaught of new villains that have been created have been fit in to "New Ways to Die" and are finally made relevant.

With just one issue left now, issue #572 puts everything together to set the stage for what looks to be a great finale. The Spider-tracer plot appears to be coming to a close, as well as many other plot lines that have been lingering along.The final page also offers something that a lot of fans have most likely been wondering about in the back of their minds, but didn't know if it would come out.

If there is one gripe this issue offers, it is that Spider-man seems to have too easily gotten around being traced by Osborn after his camera was found with a frequency tracker on it. Still, The Amazing Spider-man series seems to be on the right track and with any luck, the next arc will hopefully move things along even further. There are still plenty of questions to answer, but "New Ways to Die" is at least attempting to fix all that is broken in the world of Spider-man.

Amazing Spider-man #571 Review

Amazing Spider-Man #571
It would appear the "New Ways to Die" arc will only get better as it goes on. Unfortunately, it's only carrying on for a couple more issues so savor it while it lasts.

Or could this be the turning point since this overhaul of the Spider-Man universe?

This book is the best of the four. It has everything the last book promised and a couple new little bits to create more mystery.

Norman Osborn and the goblin-wannabe have an all-out slug fest in some abandoned buildings (in the middle of the city...yeah right), while Spidey still fights off the creature Anti-Venom.

The Osborn/Menace fight did an awesome job of giving Menace some much needed characterization. He argues with Osborn about how he had everything, but gave it all up just so he could "get Spider-Man." Menace then says Osborn "isn't worth his time," which is kind of a dig towards Spider-Man's supposed arch-nemesis. Who couldn't have time for the Green Goblin?

This was the best part of the book but there were some other key parts as well.

Osborn discovers Peter's camera on a building and discovers there is a tracker which locates the frequency of Spidey. This allows for Osborn to locate Spider-Man at any time, which will ultimately lead him to Peter Parker...again (friggin' Brand New Day). At the end of the book we see Bullseye say some cheesy thing about how doesn't need weapons because he's there, which makes me think that's something Colin Farrell would say and that's never good.

The one question I have is...who the heck is that shimmering dude at the hospital? Are we supposed to recognize him or is he another new villain? I guess we'll soon find out.

All I have to say is I hope Slott and Romita Jr. finish this book as strong as it's been these last couple issues. It could be just what ASM needs to get the public back into the number one wall-crawler.

3.5/5 stars

Amazing Spider-man #570 Review

Amazing Spider-Man #570
After almost a year of hit and miss stories, ASM actually pumps out a somewhat decent story with the newest "New Ways to Die" arc. This is no doubt due to the excellent writing of Dan Slott and the always stellar work of John Romita Jr.

The story follows the epic fight between the two Venoms, as Spidey attempts to find a way to take care of both of them, all the while trying to save Aunt May at the homeless shelter.

Issue #570 is the third chapter in the arc and a blending together of various story elements. Aside from the Venom/Anti-Venom conflict, Dan Slott revisits the old character Menace who any real comic fan thinks is really dumb and a complete goblin rip-off.

Hopefully, as the last panel of this issue indicates, we'll see some sort of explanation as to why Menace looks a lot like a Goblin.

We also see Aunt May begin to suspect the dark motives of the apparent villain Mr. Li aka Mr. Negative, as he reveals to have a panic room inside, of all places, a homeless shelter.

Hopefully, we'll begin to see a fleshing-out of these villains, as the beginning of "Brand New Day" brought these baddies to light and since then they've done literally nothing with them. These characters have some interesting traits but lack much of what is necessary to create cool, mainstream villains.

I want to like ASM, but this method of writing Spidey is proving not to be the right way after nearly a year of production. This latest arc is the right step in where Marvel needs to take ASM though.

3/5 stars