Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
C'mon Straczynski, what were you thinking?, December 10, 2004
Until the Sins Past storyline hit, Babylon 5 creator and Supreme Power scribe J. Michael Straczynski's run on Amazing Spider-Man has been nothing short of, well...amazing. However, Sins Past finds him trying to unravel a part of the super hero's past, a very prolific and impacting part, that spells doom for the rest of the read. One of the most powerful and heartbreaking moments in the history of Spider-Man was the tragic death of Gwen Stacy at the hands of the Green Goblin, and here Straczynski attempts to play off the classic, and never before treaded upon, storyline by placing the idea that Gwen and Norman Osborn had a secret affair in which Gwen secretly gave birth to twins. Twins who aged at an accelerated rate. Twins who are also trained ninjas. Twins who are trying to kill Spidey, who they know is Peter Parker. C'mon Straczynski, what were you thinking? To say that this idea sounds contrived is saying it lightly. Now don't get me wrong, up until this point Straczynski's run on AMS has been superb, and his efforts on the MAX series Supreme Power and Rising Stars are even better, but this is by far the worst and most ridiculous he has done. On the plus side, the art by Hulk artist Mike Deodato is excellent, but it's too bad you'll be distracted by how ridiculous the story is. Hopefully JMS will realize the error in his ways, and this storyline will be written out of the Spidey mythos in the near future. Hopefully.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
It's time for another Good Idea/Bad Idea..., August 19, 2005
###THIS REVIEW INCLUDES SPOILERS###
Oh deary me.
Working out a way to get Osbourne vs Parker back onto the agenda?
Good idea.
Doing it by fundamentally altering Spider-Man history and through a completly unbelievable revelation concerning an iconic character??
Bad idea. Very, very bad idea.
Introduction a new goblin villain?
Good idea.
Using them for only a handful of panels and having them defeated in such a lame way?
Bad idea.
Still I had to give it two stars cos it remains a fairly thrilling read. I miss the fun art of J.R. jr - the new realistic style does nothing for me.
And while I admire the balls of JMS for throwing us such a curveball i have to say this - if you're going to fundamentally alter Spidey's history with a major revelation, you'd better make sure that reveleation fits. And it just doesn't.
This could have worked if handled with more care and more time. I'm thinking maybe the original thought was to have had Gwen assaulted by Norman and keeping her dark secret through shame and through fear of Peter's reactions. That would have worked for me (just about) but I bet it must be hard to convince Marvel bosses to include rape in their biggest title. Not that it stopped DC.
With just one small character inconsistancy JMS ruined the whole story. The way it was introduced... the flipant "there was something so powerful about him" explanation. Come on folks, this is Gwen we're talking about here!
JMS even destroyed any chances of reversing this decision by having Mary Jane confirm it all. And while I buy her "I keep secrets" excuse for not revealing it before, it really sullies everything for me now.
Folks, I'm picking up "I'm with Stupid" by Dan Slott and forgetting any of this ever happened!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I think JMS wrote himself into a corner with this..., May 2, 2006
You know, the first installment of this story is just amazing. Yes, it's a jaw-dropper (if you go into this story unspoiled) and the drama is great. The only main problem with this entire story are the kids, Sarah and Gabriel. Yes, we're given a good reason for them to be adults instead of five-year olds but imagine if this were a story set in the future instead - would have made much more sense (and JMS could have used that future costume featured in Vol. 6, "Happy Birthday"). That's just an idea though. Otherwise the idea of Green Goblin having a reason to kill Stacy beyond revenge on Spider-Man is pretty damn cool... I think it would have been better if Gwen had gotten an abortion instead and Osborn killed her because she ruined his legacy... but anyway, here's my overview of the story, pro & con style.
PROS:
1. Excellent drama - all the characters were very fleshed out and consistent for the most part.. although Mary Jane hiding the truth all along did sting. I wished Peter could have found out another way.
2. Despite the dark story there were some pretty hillarious moments, especially the news footage of Spidey vs. Galactus ("hey!hey!hey!" LOL)
CONS:
1. Mike Deodato's art. I just don't like it. I've seen his work at DC on Batman (check out some of the "No Man's Land" installments) and I see what he's doing now: he's simply adding more shadow to his art, Roger Robinson style, in order to make it look better. That's just my opinion though. The art just doesn't fit a Spider-Man comic book. Just imagine if Gary Frank had illustrated this arc... I might have even forgiven the crappy ending. Speaking of which..
2. The crappy ending. Bridge scene revisited. Spidey gets to catch Sarah and take her to the hospital. His blood.. his IRRADIATED SPIDER BLOOD, is somehow a perfect match and he's able to save her. Also, the Grey Goblin sucks too. There, I said it.
MARVEL! PUT GARY FRANK ON AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ASAP!
Thanks for reading.
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