Spider-Man #650
Now before you read this please realize I live in London, Ontario where we are currently experiencing the mother of all snowstorms. So the fact that I trekked all the way downtown to grab the latest issue, despite being a day late, speaks volumes
Picking off from the cliffhanger from the last issue we are introduced to the most creative way to battle a super villain in comic book history. One of the things the Big Time arc is that they've been consistent with their artists. If this were Brand New Day the artist would have been swapped about three times within the same issue. That be said I'm starting to grow on Humberto Ramos' work. I also initially considered his work to be angular and messy but the more I read the more I enjoy the characters exaggerated expression and contorted stances. He also draws a pretty fine Mary Jane and Black Cat (though that milk bath tub thing was pretty f*cked up, I don't ever wanna see where Ramos got that idea from 0_0;;).
I'm glad the writers are ensuring Mary Jane's presence in the comic. She's such a fun and delightful character, especially since she's privy to Peter's web slinging secret. And her verbal stumbling when trying to cover for Peter was mildly amusing. Slott`s conversation between the three kinda didn't do a whole lot of me otherwise but it did serve to provide the contrast between the nature of Carlie`s relationship with Peter as opposed to MJ's. Peter and Carlie have much more in common than he did with MJ. If you've read my earlier reviews (who am I kidding?) I've expressed my concerns about the lack of chemistry between these two. While it's great that Carlie and Peter like science there relationship still doesn't have the right punch to it and I feel having MJ around only makes this even more problematic.
MJ represents a former love interest that the fans would love to see back with Peter. The fact that she's aware of Peter's relationship and that the two have a natural chemistry towards one another (and the fact that she's a smoking hot redhead. Who doesn't want the nerd to end up with the hottie?) only makes readers feel that Peter's relationship with Carlie already has an expiration date.
Taking a step away from the drama and angst let's move onto some plain old fashioned bats*hit crazy. The new Hobgoblin is definitely something we're not used to in our usual goblin servings. This new Hobgoblin is just as cunning and ambitious as previous incarnations but comes off with a whole lot more spice. Macendale, Kingsley, and even the Osborns all definitely played up the crazy aspect of the goblin identity but it was always tempered by their ambitions. This Hobgoblin is crazy but he's more crazy because he's enjoying what he does in a sadistic sort of way, making him that much more enjoyable to read. Once again I applaud Slott's decision to screw the whole "mysterious identity" shtick. Since we know that the new Hobgoblin is Phil Urich. It makes his behavior out of costume, especially around Norah, that much more frikkin creepy. If we didn't know who he really was we'd probably not think twice at the scrawny wimp pining over the cute reporter. But since we know this scrawny wimp is actually a fire sword wielding nutjob we love watching him casually talk to others.
The fact that he was about to go toe to toe with a handful of super skilled and deadly ninjas was a bit much though. It begs the question as to how much of a big player Slott's trying to build up this goblin. My prediction is a glorious going down in flames (maybe even literally ^_^) collapse at the arc's climax but we'll see.
Spidey's new wardrobe has been a hot topic of conversation. I'll admit he's definitely looking pretty slick in his new threads (though the fact that he can make a suit that can go invisible makes me wonder exactly how smart Slott's going to make Peter?) and the idea of webs shooting out of mid air is going to make for some amusing panels but if Spidey's new suit makes him invisible, I wonder how far they're going to go with Spidey's other costumes (I'm hoping for a Hulkbuster spidey suit please!) and if he's got these sick costumes, why ever bother go back to his original red and blue?
Conclusion
The comic itself is great. My only problem with it is that it mainly just setting up the foundations for the next issue. While this issue didn't really do anything wrong per say, issue 650 could've thrown a lot more weight in. Still a great piece overall though!
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