Lark has recently been seen pencilling Daredevil with Ed Brubaker, so it’s little suprise, given that title’s noir-ish and gritty tone, that this story is about Spidey and Felicia stealing something from Mr. Negative. What is surprising is that Lark’s pencils are considerably more polished, perhaps representing a more mainstream approach. Despite the textual connection to the previous issues, there’s absolutely no attempt to emulate Marcos Martin’s style (nor would you expect one) but as a version of itself, Lark’s work looks fantastic.

Writing-wise, Slott has never quite lived up to the boundless energy and humour he displayed in his first few arcs on the title, but it’s still well-plotted, well-paced and well-structured. Under Slott’s direction, Spidey is startlingly competent as a super-hero, and yet retains as put-upon by the world as ever. Sadly, the one area where the issue falters is in Aunt May’s “negatived” subplot, which has already stretched beyond believability after only a few weeks. If it doesn’t get wrapped up soon, it could get tedious fast – so far all we’ve seen is the same scene over and over, in which May chews out a member of the cast, who stand by the wayside looking stunned.

On the plus side, Carlie Cooper finally gets to do something other than hang around looking a bit glum. It’s good to see a prominent new member of the cast come into her own, and her scenes with Peter finally suggest some chemistry between them that’s actually interested to read about. If this trend rapidly develops, she might actually start to stand alongside the former favourites – probably not Gwen or MJ, but it’s possible she could be at least a Brant. Let’s just hope no-one’s out there thinking “right, the readers are finally interested, let’s kill her off entirely.”

All in all, Amazing Spider-Man remains consistently good. If every issue was this brilliant, the series would be considered unmissable – as it is, it’s merely a reliably decent diversion from week to week.

Basically, the Spider-team need to have more faith in the quality of their current set of stories without feeling the need to attract attention by constantly branding them under an “event” header. Because at the moment, those stories are generally very good – and this one, in particular, has been excellent. The plotting has perhaps proven a little unnecessarily convoluted – as it often tends to, in just about any story or medium, whenever opposing gangsters are involved – but that’s actually kind of appropriate here, considering the primary villain is the wilfully-obfuscating Mysterio. Regular readers of this site will know already of my affection for Ol’ Fish-Bowl Head, and he’s absolutely the perfect villain for Slott to write – relying as he does on that mixture of humour and seriousness, of gravitas of ambition (his plans do involve murderous mobsters and faking of deaths, after all) and inherent lameness.

The whole thing is helped, too, by the presence of Marcos Martin. I didn’t go wild for Martin the first time he showed up on this book, but he’s gradually worked his way up my important opinion rankings (which are, of course, all important) and gives us a truly stellar turn, here. I think it’s partly that, like Slott, he just works so well with Mysterio – because he mixes that beautifully retro and often slightly simplistic style of his with a quite cool and understated “modernising” design of the classic outfit. And does the bowl-head haircut and nose properly when we see Beck out of costume later, too. While he may not be a bravura storyteller of the same level, he’s still one of a few artists who’ve ever enabled you to squint at the page and think that Ditko might be drawing Spidey again – and that’s no mean feat.

It all adds up to a book that (three) week(s) in, week out, is on the whole pretty consistently delivering a strong mixture of the old-school Spider-Man tone and aesthetic, with pleasingly modern twists here and there. It’d be nice if some of the stories themselves were truly gripping, “Can’t wait for next issue” masterpieces, but that aside, it’s basically giving me a Spidey book that’s almost exactly how I’d want it. The current writers are (generally) people who just get the character – and how he should interact with his surrounding cast, and vice versa – and long may they continue to do so.

Well, evidently they do have sense. Here, Kubert teams up with Dan Slott, the man who was born to write Spider-Man, and the results are nothing short of fantastically entertaining. The thing that pleases me most is that for the first time since the Avengers “List” special, the plot actually deals, directly, with the Dark Reign meta-arc rather than the ongoing plot of the star’s book. We know Osborn can’t stay where he is forever – and this issue actually sows a fairly convincing seed towards his downfall.

Better yet, editorial seem to have remembered that despite the suit Osborn is wearing, he’s not actually Iron Man’s arch-enemy- he’s Spider-Man’s. Here, the two square off physically and mentally, offering the most satisfying Spider-Man/Osborn meeting in months after the overwrought, Bond-villain theatrics of American Son. As ever, Slott’s dialogue is immediately at home with Spider-Man’s wisecracks, but the rest of the issue is cleverly constructed too, from the brilliantly executed twist as to who actually scores the point against Osborn at the end, to the perfectly constructed plot mechanics, all of which prove that just because a comic is about superheroes, it doesn’t have to be dumb as well.

To round the issue out, there’s a reprint The Pulse #5, where comic where Osborn was finally outed as the Green Goblin and arrested. With Bendis writing and Bagley pencilling, it’s a fun issue in its own right, though its presentation here undoubtedly suffers from being part 5 of a multi-part arc without the previous 4 issues included. Yet another annoying side-effect of trade-focussed decompression. Even so, it’s nigh-impossible not to enjoy a Bendis & Bagley comic, and the Osborn-focussed story makes an enjoyable companion piece to the lead tale. It’s just a pity that I come away from it thinking not about how good that issue was, but about how much potential was wasted when The Pulse got canned 14 issues in, before the concepts had truly taken root. Still – its inclusion makes this a remarkably high-quality comic that’s astonishing value for the cover price – and it’s increasingly rare you can say that about a comic these days.

Whether it works as a story in its own right, however, is something I’m still not sure about.

Cramming something like 4 issue’s worth of story into one book makes it a long read – but it’s not a story that makes particular use of that space. The lead story feels rather plodding at times, and although peripheral characters make the odd appearance, so much of the pagecount is given to conventional superheroics that their presence seems almost token. Even Romita’s artwork feels a bit rushed. And, let’s be honest, this isn’t the first time most of us have read about a dying villain enacting his final, greatest scheme, and it’s not even the first time we’ve read such a story about Doc Ock. And, call me a curmudgeon if you will, but if we’re going to do a Doc Ock story at all, why take the character so far from his roots such that he’s basically someone else entirely?

There are a few moments of brilliance – the opening sequence featuring Octavius speaking to a physician highlights an oft-ignored but intriguing part of the character – namely, that he’s not really a superhuman – and the final page can’t fail to elicit a smile – but on the whole, it’s not very eventful, which is a problem for what is ostensibly an event book.

The backup stories are a great idea, but in practise most of them feel a bit flat – with the notable exception of Marcos Martin and Stan Lee’s, featuring fantastic art and some classic “his mind is no longer in mint condition” moments from Lee. The bonus “Spider-Man Covers You’ll Never See” pin-ups are mostly poor, again, with the notable exception of the last one, which is a joke so laugh-out-loud funny that I won’t spoil it.

Overall, it’s hard to know what to make of Amazing #600. I want to like it. At times, I actually do. But more often than not, I feel like the reality has fallen short of the promise. Perhaps that’s a failure of my expectation more than the book itself, but as a regular reader of the series, I was hoping for something a bit more exciting than usual – and this, if anything, went in the other direction.

In tackling the whole mindwipe fiasco properly for the first time, Slott sets himself up for something of a fall, but at least manages to come up with some form of logic for the whole thing – even if it still leaves as many questions as answers, particularly concerning how Peter knows how it all works in the first place. Nevertheless, it’s about time the issue came up, and considering Spidey’s own history, it makes sense that the Fantastic Four should be involved somehow. We don’t necessarily want him unmasking to all and sundry a la Ultimate, of course, but dealing with the story elements that could be hampered by the mindwipe one by one (see also recent issues of New Avengers) feels like a step in the right direction, and the eventual resolution is a pleasantly-played scene.

What really makes this issue stand out, however, is its – quite literal – advancement of the continuity in other areas. I’m sure there will be those who will quibble over the fact that the “Brain Trust” have seemingly come up with new positions they’d like to place various characters in and decided to simply fast-forward rather than build up to them organically – but to be honest, with the franchise having felt a little stale in recent months, and overly rooted in the aftermath of the Spider-Tracer-Killer/Menace storylines, it’s a nice way of freshening things up; and what can’t be denied is the cleverness of the way Slott rattles through the changing events of the “real world” in parallel with Spidey and the FF’s adventures in the Macroverse. He even finds time for some decent character progression (and introduction, even), and gets some decent humour (including one laugh-out-loud moment) out of J. Jonah Jameson. I can’t say it’s a storytelling device I’d like to see used all the time, but here, it’s entertaining enough to be effective in achieving its goal – although again, I can’t help but quibble with a bit of the issue’s internal logic (if time moves faster in the regular world than in the Macroverse, then why has “a lifetime” passed there since they visited two years ago? I’ve a sneaking feeling Slott completely misused the word “exponential” in his attempt to explain the contradiction).

Rarely for a present-day comic, it feels like there’s a heck of a lot of story in the pages of this – and in these financial times, it’s always nice to have a sense of value for money. It’s true that the Macroverse stuff isn’t the most compelling adventure the character’s ever had, but nevertheless, there’s essentially two issues’ worth of content in here, and that’s no bad thing – helped by the style of Barry Kitson, who’s not exactly George Perez or anything, but still has a relatively “old school” feel that allows for a decent amount of imagery, panels and dialogue to be packed onto a single page.

And it all leads up to a twist that, while guessable from advance publicity, is nevertheless an intriguing new situation for the Spider-verse (well… Spider-city, I guess) to find itself in. While the realism around it happening at this point in time is possibly dubious, it’s such an obvious idea that I’m surprised it hasn’t been done before – and it’s rich in story potential. So long as Slott is telling as many of those stories as possible, the Spidey books feel like a genuinely interesting place to spend some time.

Dan Slott has been – at least if you ask Comics Daily writers – the most consistent Spider-Man writer since the move to thrice-monthly shipping was completed, and having previously written a Spider-Man/Human Torch miniseries, it’s fitting that he handles this 2-issue story focusing on the characters. Having proven he can write a good Spidey, Slott now auditions himself for Fantastic Four, opting to pen a classic F4 tale of adventure and exploration that simply happens to have Spider-Man in.

While the character interplay and dialogue are Slott’s strong points (never more evident than in his Torch/Spidey banter) he also shows he’s not above some old-school Stan Lee-style plotting as the 5 heroes hop in Reed’s latest experimental craft and visit the “Macroverse”. Complementing Slott’s writing, Kitson’s art has a clean, classic look well-suited to both the F4 and Spider-Man, and that itself makes the flashback portions of the story (which reference a previously unseen team-up) fit just that extra little bit better.

If there’s any problem with the issue, it’s in the structure, which ends on not one, but two cliffhangers – both of which are immediately predictable. Now, in fairness, it’s difficult to end every issue on something that’ll excite jaded, grown-up fans, but it’s a brave writer indeed who ends on two cliffhangers that anyone over the age of 12 could predict the resolution for. There’s the chance Slott will throw a curveball and bring something unexpected to the next issue, but more likely he’s just going to pick up the story seamlessly, so that it reads fine without a break when it gets collected. That, at least, is forgivable, and thankfully the issue isn’t too marred overall.

Shockingly, this issue manages to turn that around and provide both.

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The opening piece is an Anti-Venom solo story by Dan Slott and Chris Bachalo. Although it doesn’t feature Spider-Man at all, it maintains a strong focus on a recently-developed corner of the spider-verse: the FEAST shelter, and new villain Mr. Negative. While the material attempts to concentrate mostly on Brock’s new status quo as a kind of homeless-rescuing Venom-like hero/monster, it’s not half as interesting as the few scenes we get that show what Martin “Mr. Negative” Li might actually be up to, and his plans for all those refugees that Oscorp was experimenting on. It’s a nice trick, delivering this valuable (if non-essential) information to readers in a side-story, and whether or not you particularly enjoy the way Brock’s lot has been recast, it’s hard to argue that this isn’t a well-constructed short with something to offer both regular and infrequent readers.

By contrast, the second feature, showing Wolverine and Spider-Man heading out to a bar, is utterly throwaway in terms of continuity, instead offering a fantastic character piece that neatly defines the relationship between the two heroes. Surprisingly, Wells even manages to out-perform Slott in the humour department, offering some decent comedy of the kind that Wolverine and Spider-Man together can’t help but generate. Even better, Wells also contrasts that with some genuine emotion that manages to cast Wolverine in a sympathetic light. It’s better than any of the multitudinous Wolverine one-shots that Marvel has flooded the shelves with over the last year, and it’s one of the best things I’ve read from Wells in ages to boot. Paulo Rivera’s artwork certainly doesn’t hurt either.

It’s unexpected, but Amazing Spider-Man Extra #2 actually convinces me that the series might be worth sticking with after all. Neither story would work in the main title – the former because it doesn’t feature Peter at all, and the latter because it’s not a 22-page story, however you stretch it. Strangely, by jamming the two together in this special, Marvel have ensured that they both complement Peter’s world perfectly. If future issues stick to the formula set down by this one, well, I’ll be glad to buy it.

Whether Mephisto was actually involved in Harry’s return is kept wisely quiet. No part of his resurrection requires a break from continuity as established, and mirrors his father’s return almost exactly – the goblin formula kept him alive, and he hid (though not voluntarily) in Europe until returning to the US and having his status re-established. Upon reading this, it’s hard not to think that the solution offered displays a lack of imagination. Even the telling of it is relegated to a quick, recap-style flashback, and the feeling readers are left with is one of begrudging placation rather than the year-long payoff that they were rightly expecting. The intention seems to be that Marvel want readers to understand that this is the status quo, and that they’re not going to waste too much effort connecting it with the past.

Of course, whatever you think of the manner in which the continuity plugging has been done, the issue is still one of Slott’s weakest. While there are some good scenes between Peter, Harry, Carlie and Lily early in the issue, the latter half of the issue is largely built around Harry’s under-established former family, neither of whom have been members of the supporting cast any major capacity for some time. The ingredients for this issue all seem correct – a heavy focus on Peter’s personal relationship with his cast, a look at events that occurred during the Brand New Day “missing time”, and the return of a classic villain – but somehow Slott doesn’t quite manage to pull it all together.

Slott’s dialogue, at least, is on fine form (particularly Aunt May, recalling an villainous encounter from the past: “I don’t want you taking this lightly, Peter, Molten men are dangerous!”). McKone’s artwork is as reliable as ever, though Cox’s colours give the issue a slightly muted feel that makes even the scenes featuring Mysterio and Molten Man feel a bit more subdued than you’d expect from such larger-than-life villains. It’s not a bad issue by normal standards, but judged against Slott’s previous work, well, it’s hard not to be just a little disappointed.

This week: the usual selection of capsule reviews, including Amazing Spider-Man #573, Captain Britain and MI:13 #6, DC Universe Decisions #3, Titans #6, Ghost Rider #28 and Uncanny X-Men #503. Enjoy!

Review: Amazing Spider-Man #573
The wait for the final part of “New ways to die” has seemed almost excruciatingly long, but the urgency of that wait only highlights how good this story is. While last issue’s “Venom-Scorpion” cliffhanger seemed incredibly stupid, the title does at least try to make a good show of it, but it’s the interaction between Harry and Norman Osborn that really grips the reader, and seemingly kicks off the second act of subplots that’ll roll throughout the series. The best the series has been since its Brand New Day relaunch, even if it does make you just wish Slott and Romita were the permanent creative team. [JHu]

Review: Captain Britain and MI13 #6
Paul Cornell divides his forces here, juggling a large number of plots as the team assault a Birmingham tower block. Forcing each figure to struggle in order to unravel the mystery certainly keeps the momentum going, and the pairings of figures allow for some nice character moments. The only slight quibble is that the Captain himself is still a little under defined, but this issue’s cliffhanger suggests that he’ll be taking a more central role in the next issue. [JHa]

Review: DC Universe Decisions #3 and Titans #6
I’ve already reviewed both of these titles at some point in their run, and there’s not a huge amount of ground worth retreading – suffice to say that they’re still both pretty poor. Decisions manages to become even more pointless by spending quite a few pages on the non-American Wonder Woman’s “endorsement” before continuing to show a staggering misunderstanding of the personalities of most of the DCU’s main characters. Titans, meanwhile, shows a slight improvement on the visual front now that Joe Benitez is gone, but is still pretty rotten. Actually, that’s unfair – it’s not as appalling as some of the earlier issues, it’s just pretty dumb and inconsequential, particularly with its incredibly blunt shoehorning of the Seven Deadly Sins into character form (so ill-thought-out that Winick can’t even think how to differentiate Greed from Gluttony, so doesn’t actually have the former do anything). But the reason I really wanted to spotlight these two books was because of – and I’ll be spoiling the end of these, so if God forbid you were going to read ‘em, stop now – an incredible, breathtakingly stupid oversight. Two books have come out in the same week, written by the same person, and they each feature an ending in which a character shows up having taken possession of someone’s body. In one, it’s an old team-mate pleading for help, and in the other, it’s the reveal of the storyline’s main villain. The problem? They’re the same person. Showing up as a hero in one book and a villain in another. Seriously. Don’t you have to take lessons to be that stupid? [SP]

Review: Ghost Rider #28
The most recent take on Ghost Rider has been a real break from the grim urban-supernatural settings the character has inhabited for the past decade, placing the character in the far more appropriate setting of a western. Aaron never plays things too straight, giving an over-the-top ride full of action and black comedy, but keeping readers hooked by expanding the mythos at every turn. The recent featuring of Dan Ketch can only bring older fans (like me) back to the property, and those checking the title out will be rewarded, as long as the fast read doesn’t turn them off. [JHu]

Review: Uncanny X-Men #503
Uncanny’s running hot and cold at the moment, and this is easily the weakest issue since the addition of Matt Fraction to the writing team. Pixie saving the day feels forced and unconvincing, with no explanation offered for how she managed to resist Empath’s powers. Greg Land’s art seriously damages the story, with a vast number of panels completely lacking backgrounds. There’s a surprising villain reveal at the end of the book, but given how tangled the character in question’s history is, hopefully the team will tread carefully. [JHa]

This week marks the start of the new Sunday Pages format, incorporating capsule reviews alongside news tidbits. Since Julian’s now joining us, you can identify his contributions by the initials [JHa] and mine by [JHu], while Seb , obviously, gets to keep the more concise [SP]. We’re still feeling out the specifics, so be sure to let us know how you’re finding it, and whether or not you think it could be improved! Look inside for mini-reviews of Action Comics #869, Amazing Spider-Man #572, Greatest Hits #1 and X-Factor #35, as well as some discussion of Neil Gaiman’s reaction to the new Hitchiker’s Guide book.

Review: Action Comics #869
Renewing focus on the bottle city of Kandor (presumably in readiness for an upcoming storyline that will see thousands of Kryptonians unleashed upon Earth – yeah, that doesn’t dilute the impact of Superman’s existence at all), Geoff Johns plays a quite startling continuity twist on a major character, leaving you wondering exactly where he plans to take it (and how he’ll maintain said character’s relevance). Other than that, the same type of Brainiac story we’ve seen countless times before rolls on in the least interesting issue of the arc so far. Gary Frank’s art is still solid, and his Reeve-esque Superman excellent – but he doesn’t get Supergirl right at all. Oh, and despite the fact that an obviously-imminent event is majorly foreshadowed by the issue’s cover, nothing of the sort actually happens within its pages. Sloppy. [SP]

Review: Amazing Spider-Man #572
In the fifth part of “New Ways to Die” Slott and Romita Jr. give us a rare Spider-Man/Bullseye fight, perfectly executed by all involved, which alone makes the issue worth the price. Both creators aren’t entirely at their best, though, and in a rare slip-up, Romita Jr. spectacularly fails to get a grip on the character design of Freak (whose depiction would be unrecognisable, were he not explicitly named on the page) while Slott ends the book on a cliffhanger only a mother could love. A symbiote-wearing Mac Gargan back in the Scorpion costume? It sounds only half as ridiculous as it ends up looking. It’s unusual to see two usually-dependable creators tripping up in this issue, but even taking that into account, the scale and pace of action should mean that the storyline comes out a winner overall. [JHu]

Review: Greatest Hits #1
Promising start to this Vertigo miniseries about a team of British celebrity superheroes in the ’60s, its narrative jumping between “then” and “now”. Writer David Tischman’s conceit is hardly the most original thing in the world – it’s a bit X-Statix, a bit Authority, a bit MI:13and a bit various other things as well – but it’s entertaining enough. Glenn Fabry, meanwhile, is really starting to come into his own on internal art (having spent years as one of the industry’s foremost cover painters), and here he’s arguably the best he’s ever been. Hard to see exactly where it’s going just yet, but seems worth finding out. [SP]

Review: X-Factor #35
Another reasonable issue, with a welcome return of Madrox’s “rogue duplicate” plotline. However, the book continues to be let down by Larry Stoman providing some of the worst art in an X-title since Igor Kordey was having to draw an issue a week of New X-Men. I’m having to rely on the colouring not just to differentiate between characters, but to tell what gender they are…   [JHa]

News: Gaiman’s reaction to 6th Hitchiker’s novel
As a big fan of the Hitchiker’s Guide books, I was fairly upset at the idea of someone who isn’t Douglas Adams writing a new one – especially since there are a few other choices who I think would’ve been far more legitimate than the guy who wrote Artemis Fowl. One of those people would’ve been Neil Gaiman, who acted as both friend and biographer to Douglas Adams. Gaiman has responded directly to the idea of a new Guide book on his journal, stating:

Douglas asked me if I’d like to adapt Life, The Universe and Everythingfor radio I said no, and that was with Douglas alive and asking. (Dirk Maggs did it, and did an excellent job.) It seemed a thankless task.

Which clears up that idea. “Thankless” is right, though. We can’t know how Adams would’ve felt about having someone else write another Hitchiker’s book, but as the target audience, I know I feel pretty damn despondant about it. Without Adams’ involvement, you have to wonder what, exactly, the point of it is. Hitchiker’s guide was never about the characters – always about Adams. [JHu]

News : Quitely, Grant x 2 and Haward at Forbidden Planet London
Those of you who are around London this coming Saturday, 27th September could do a lot worse than making your way over to Forbidden Planet, Shaftesbury Avenue for 1pm. Uber-artist Frank Quitely rarely seems to make public appearances, so this is a fantastic opportunity to meet and greet the man described by this very site as “the singular greatest artistic talent currently working in the industry”. He’s there with Alan Grant, Jamie Grant and Jon Haward, signing copies of Wasted, their new Scottish drug-themed adult humour anthology comic. And although I don’t know what FP’s policy on signed items will be, even if they don’t let you get your All Star Supermans and We3s signed, Wasted itself is only £3.25, so it’s no great hardship. And hey, if you pop along, you may even find yourself bumping into one or all of the Comics Daily team, which is even more exciting! [SP]

Shameless Plugging : NTS, Den of Geek…
Since we haven’t done a “proper” Sunday Pages for a few weeks, I’ve missed the chance to give a hearty old plug to my new monthly comics column on the relaunched Noise to Signal. If there are any longer-term readers of my reviews out there, they may remember that “Panel Beating” was the name I originally used for my first comics review column. Well, much as with James over at Den of Geek, I liked the pun so much I’ve decided to keep it for a new generation of monthly columns in which I’ll spout forth on whatever comics-related subjects – topical or otherwise – take my fancy. The first column after the relaunch is, appropriately enough, about the history of “relaunch issues”. Meanwhile, speaking of James, following a brief holiday he’s returned triumphantly to Alternate Cover, with columns on digital comics and the rubbishness of Absolute Black Dossier… [SP]