Ultimate Spider-Man 114 (November 2007)

357541 As usual, Bendis redeems himself an issue later. He sticks to Peter–Norman doesn’t even get a live appearance; the villain turns out to be Electro (who seems real powerful in his Ultimate version). Sticking to Peter works wonders, as he gets to interact with both Mary Jane and May.

Immonen is a slick artist, but I really do like how he handles Mary Jane’s panic attack. He lets himself get loose to show her utter terror. Then there’s the suburban scene with her mom, which works quite well too.

The stuff with Aunt May’s good, but her man is way too suspicious. He’s Norman’s shrink maybe? Doesn’t matter.

The fight’s good, the cliffhanger’s good. It’s just a good, solid issue, which Bendis has way too much trouble writing. It even manages to overcome being the stalest plot (Norman convincing people he’s the good guy) in Bendis’s bag of tricks.

CREDITS

Death of a Goblin, Part Three; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Stuart Immonen; inker, Wade von Grawbadger; colorist, Justin Ponsor; letterer, Cory Petit; editors, Lauren Sankovitch, Bill Rosemann and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Ultimate Spider-Man 113 (November 2007)

357540 Finally, the Norman Osborn narrated issue no one’s been waiting for….

Someone really should have told Bendis Ultimate Norman is not one of his finest creations, much less an interesting narrator. Especially not with Immonen on the art.

Bagley always drew his stuff in some kind of a vacuum, like there wasn’t other modern comic making going on at the same time. Bagley did what he did. Immonen, intentionally or not, has turned Norman into Dark Knight Returns Joker. And Bendis’s narration fits it too.

It doesn’t work, especially not since lengthy periods go without action. The action Immonen does draw is in little panels, even though they’re big events. He and Bendis are making it as personal and quiet as possible and who wants to read that comic starring Norman.

The arc’s premise–Norman versus Fury–would be far more compelling if Bendis hadn’t just done it with Otto.

CREDITS

Death of a Goblin, Part Two; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Stuart Immonen; inker, Wade von Grawbadger; colorist, Justin Ponsor; letterer, Cory Petit; editors, John Barber, Bill Rosemann and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Ultimate Spider-Man 112 (October 2007)

354699 Immonen takes over the full issue and, wow, it’s definitely pretty. Wade von Grawbadger’s inks undoubtedly have something to do with it, but Immonen’s style pretty clearly separates the high school life of Peter Parker and the superhero life of Spider-Man.

The superhero stuff is more grand, the high school stuff more manic. There’s crossover, of course, with Kitty getting herself a new superhero costume.

The new status quo–Kitty a superhero, going to Peter and Mary Jane’s high school–actually gives Bendis something to do here. There’s some great tension between Mary Jane and Kitty, not to mention Kong finally turning into that nice guy Bendis has been hinting at forever. It’s a little trite, but it’s high school after all.

Norman Osborn is tiring. Hopefully, given the title of the arc, he’ll just go away and Bendis can stop dragging him out for guest appearances.

Probably not.

CREDITS

Death of a Goblin, Part One; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Stuart Immonen; inker, Wade von Grawbadger; colorist, Justin Ponsor; letterer, Cory Petit; editors, John Barber, Bill Rosemann and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Startling Stories: The Thing – Night Falls On Yancy Street (2003) #4

Dorkin continues to get better this issue and Haspiel nicely evens out. It’d be hard to get much worse than last issue, so at least he arrested the art decline.

It doesn’t become clear what Dorkin’s really doing with Yancy Street until the last few pages and, once it is clear, well… It’s unfortunate.

For all his repetitive Ben Grimm standards the first couple issues, Dorkin actually tries to do something significant (it’s irrelevant because, based on the time period, it’s clear the story was never in continuity) with the character.

And Haspiel is the wrong match.

I mean, Dorkin needs a strong editor on the series to reign in some of the nonsense and to sharpen the narration and to pace out the last two issues… but the series could have been something amazing.

Instead, Yancy Street’s a mildly interesting effort, one with the wrong art for the script.

Startling Stories: The Thing – Night Falls On Yancy Street (2003) #3

It’s really too bad, but as Dorkin’s writing gets better, Haspiel’s art continues to get worse. This issue is frequently hideous, what with the Sandman having an all new costume. It looks like a cross between a jester’s outfit and something from the sixties “Batman” TV show.

Dorkin’s trying—finally—to bring some authentic New York flavor to the comic, which doesn’t work particularly well, but at least he’s trying. He also foreshadows (or maybe not, maybe it’s just predictable) the death of Ben’s squeeze. Dorkin also takes another crack at dealing with Ben and Alicia’s relationship like it’s important. He does better, but not well.

I assume the final issue will have more troubled art (Haspiel and the superhero outfits is complete failure) and all questions will be answered. Well, the questions raised this issue. Dorkin either didn’t bother before or just executed those scenes incompetently.

It’s nearly mediocre.