Comic Vine Review

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The Amazing Spider-Man #668 - Spider-Island Part Two: Peter Parker The Unspectacular Spider-Man

4

Peter Parker and his girlfriend, Carlie Cooper, team up with Carlie's new-found super-powers to solve the mystery of why does everyone have spider-powers in this beautifully drawn and extremely fun issue.

Spider-Man isn't too much help in the super-powered fight against a whole bunch of spider-powered, and angry New Yorkers, so he and his girlfriend Carlie take to the streets and do a bit of detective work.

The Good

First thing is first, I love... LOVE... LOVE Humberto Ramos' art and style. I love the over-exaggeration of facial expressions in the issue. Want to know why everyone in this book is smiling so much? Because it's fun, and even the characters know it.

While the story is centered around Peter Parker, there's also a bit of integration of Venom and Anti-Venom, who both seem like they'll be big pieces of the "fixing the spider-people" problem. And while this is called "Amazing Spider-Man" we get to see Peter Parker in a leadership role, during the issue. I've always seen Peter as a lone-gunman (even though he's been on almost every super-team), but for the first time, in this issue, I could see what would make him a great team leader. Call me crazy, but he'd be the coolest lead for a Spidey-team.

I've had my doubts about this storyline, but Dan Slott made it a lot of fun and interesting. His dialogue is extremely solid. In fact, my favorite line of dialogue surprisingly describes how I felt about the couple of times I went to NYC:

"Everybody knows... ...New Yorkers are loud, rude, obnoxious jerks!"

The Bad

While I really liked the issue, especially Ramos' art, I didn't love it. I'm slowly coming around on Spider-Island, but I still think the idea is a tad silly... and frankly, isn't that same concept kind of going on in Fear Itself.... The idea that everyone gets a hammer?

The Verdict

Overall, I did really enjoy the issue. Humberto Ramos' combine with Dan Slott's writing really makes this a fun read. What makes this issue great is the fact that it's more than just Spidey/Peter. We get to see how Anti-Vemon and Venom will play into the larger story arc. The only real problem I have with the issue is that I feel the over-all idea of everyone getting Spider-powers is a bit silly.

16 Comments

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ShirEPanjshir

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Edited By ShirEPanjshir

I totally love Humberto Ramos' art. I get that his style isn't for everyone, but I think he's a perfect fit for this type of story. His visual style completely matches the feel that this all is one big adventure. If this were something like The Grim Hunt, I'd totally not like Humberto on art duties, but here it simply works. Dan Slott is quickly becoming my favorite Spider-Man writer with his dialogues and decent story-telling. I also enjoy the fact that he's showing Spider-Man and his team affiliations, rather than pretending that they do not exist.
 
Can't wait to read the next issue ( and the next Venom, because Remender is totally nailing it on his Venom run ).

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keith71_98

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Edited By keith71_98

HATE, HATE, HATE Ramos' art style especially on this book. It's a complete distraction. The out of proportion body parts, weird off-the-wall expressions, missing facial features, etc. kill this issue for me. Features one of the worst looking Hawkeye's and one panel where Aunt May looks like a corpse. I thought this book was a visual mess.
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Omertalvendetta

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Edited By Omertalvendetta

I swore I thought G-Man would reference the fact that the Spider-Mobile is in this issue...

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zombietag

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Edited By zombietag
@Fluffy6079 said:
Spider Island > Fear Itself
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MideonNViscera

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Edited By MideonNViscera

SEWARD TRAINER!!!!

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MideonNViscera

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Edited By MideonNViscera

I don't think Peter's reaction was quite as strong as it should have been when he found out The Jackal was behind it all. It was funny how he was like "Duh, no shit" though haha 
 
Since the idea came up of there being a secret scientist, I thought for certain it was Miles Warren. I believed it even more strongly when The Jackal actually came back. Then Reed goes and has a pow wow with him and now I'm not so sure. Then again, I'm not convinced it's Reilly either. It'd just make no sense for him and Reed to keep it from Peter. 
 
However, who the hell else is an expert on Parker DNA? haha

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Fluffy6079

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Edited By Fluffy6079

Spider Island > Fear Itself 
 
Oh, and I'm thinking the secret employee may be Ben Reilly.  

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hitechlolife

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Edited By hitechlolife

This is so much fun.

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The Mighty Monarch

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The difference between Fear Itself and this is.... well... this is actually GOOD. And not as pretentious.

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difficlus

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Edited By difficlus
@labarith said:
So #6 is an expert on Peter Parker's DNA.  It's Ben, right?  Which explains why Peter got hired.
i think its ben too...
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CombatSpoon86

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Edited By CombatSpoon86

Another great read for ASM. I'm really starting to warm up to Spider-Island. 
 
@longbowhunter: I would just follow this S.I. it ends in Oct. following a prologue in November.

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longbowhunter

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Edited By longbowhunter

Wish I had the money to be following this. Havent read a good Spider-Man story in awhile.
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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

I love this issue, pretty scared for Venom and Anti-Venom though 

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deactivated-5d6179a9df861

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Well from seeing what Anti-Venom did in this issue, I think we all know how this whole story is going to end atleast for all the spider-people.
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labarith

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Edited By labarith

So #6 is an expert on Peter Parker's DNA. 
 
It's Ben, right? 
 
Which explains why Peter got hired.