Horror comics have scared readers for years. Is there anyone brave enough to sit down with their creators? This is Discussions with Decapitated Dan.
Listen in this week as Dan is joined by creators Shawn French and Mortimer Glum to discuss their upcoming book Escape from Jesus Island and so much more.
You can find out more about Escape from Jesus Island at http://JesusIsland.com
You can find out more about musical guest Heaven Shall Burn at http://www.heavenshallburn.com/
The show is sponsored by CuriousGoodsandComics.com
The Clergyman is back this week the guys play another round of Super Hero Family Feud and take a look at Masks #1, All New X-Men #2 and Witch Doctor Malpractice #1.
Amazing Spider-Man #699
Writer: Dan Slott
Art: Humberto Ramos [Penciler], Victor Olazaba [Inker], Edgar Delgado [Color Art]
[HEY! LOOK! THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS, AND YOU MIGHT FEEL CHEATED IF YOU READ IT BEFORE YOU SEE THE ACTUAL BOOK!]
While I’ve calmed down about the big reveal last issue, it’s still a touchy subject. If you missed it, a dying Doc Ock swapped brains with Peter Parker, hinting that the “new” Spider-Man in the upcoming relaunch of the book as Superior Spider-Man is actually Doc Ock in Peter’s body.
It’s not that I didn’t like the way it was written–Dan Slott’s writing makes me really want to like the story. It’s just that there are two types of stories I hate–stories centered around mind swaps and time travel (we’ll get to that another time, maybe, because Slott has actually written a time travel story that I like). I already know the response to this assertion, too. It’s a comic book. Science fiction. Real world logic and plausibility don’t apply.
Fair enough, but the limits of everyone’s suspension of disbelief are different, and this is why we probably won’t ever see Fin Fang Foom in an Iron Man film.
That said, let’s completely suspend disbelief for the rest of this review even if the concept is a bit much to wrap our heads around. This issue, and the story as a whole, are very well-written. Amazing Spider-Man #699 opens with Doc Ock’s body being revived following its flat-lining at the end of the last issue. Upon being revived (and spat on by a prison nurse), Peter Parker–keep in mind, again, that his mind is in Doc Ock’s body now with all of Ock’s memories and vice versa–examines the situation he’s in and begins trying to figure out how, with only hours left to live, he’s going to get out of this predicament and back into his own body.
After searching Ock’s memories, and giving us the totally unnecessary reveal that Aunt May had sex with Otto back in the day, Peter realizes that every time he used Otto’s own Octobot control helmet tech to stop him, he made his mind vulnerable. Ock was then able to somehow put his brainwaves in the golden Octobot (seen occasionally since the end of “Ends of the Earth”), which then made its way to New York City and “hacked” Spider-Man’s mind when he was otherwise distracted by the spider signal jammers from the recent Hobgoblin story arc.
Pete then figures out that the golden Octobot had a mental link with Otto and takes control of it to put into action a plan that his life now depends on–forming his own Sinister Six–which includes Hydro-Man, Scorpion, and Paste-Pot Pete–to break him out of prison and capture Otto-Spidey.
As I said before, Slott’s writing on this story is still great despite my lack of enthusiasm over the premise. You can tell he put a lot of time into planning this out at least as far back as the beginning of his run on the book with “Big Time,” and maybe even as far back as 2009’s Amazing Spider-Man #600. Humberto Ramos’ art in this issue is some of his best so far, and I’m looking forward to seeing what I’ve read is the best art of his career later this month in#700.
Overall, not a bad issue. I really could have done without being presented the idea of Aunt May and Dr. Octopus having sex, though.
RATING: 7/10 (Because Aunt May having sex with anyone is just kind of gross.)
Decap and Speech get the show rolling as the Sensation comes in at the end. This week the guys play another round of Super Hero Family Feud and take a look at Indestructible Hulk #1, Red Hood and the Outlaws #14 and Amazing Spider-Man #698.
Horror comics have scared readers for years. Is there anyone brave enough to sit down with their creators? This is Discussions with Decapitated Dan.
Listen in this week as Dan is joined by Lonnie Nadler and Pedro Cabezuelo to discuss all things Hellblazer. From the beginning to the end, the guys cover it all.
You can find out more about Lonnie at http://bloody-disgusting.com/
You can find out more about Pedro at http://www.rue-morgue.com
You can find out more about musical guest Tool at www.toolband.com
The show is sponsored by CuriousGoodsandComics.com
It is party time this week and the guys welcome in Brant Fowler from Comic Related’s Zone 4 Podcast. Listen in as the play a round of Super Hero Family Feud and then take a look at this weeks picks Locke & Key Omega #1, Saga #7, Batman #14 and Fantastic Four #1.
Amazing Spider-Man #698
Writer: Dan Slott
Art: Richard Elson and Antonio Fabela [Color Art]
WARNING: THIS REVIEW HAS MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS FOR AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #698 AND BEYOND. DO NOT READ IT IF YOU PLAN ON READING THE ISSUE.
Dan Slott, you broke my heart.
Ever since your run on Amazing Spider-Man began last year, I’ve been one of its biggest supporters, going so far as to compare it to the Michelinie and Stern runs. And then you did it. You drove that spike in my heart that was like a thousand One More Days.
Actually, that’s a terrible analogy. I actually liked One More Day. Comparing that spike to 1,000 Clone Sagas or Ben-Reilly-replacing-Peter-Parker scenarios or JMS runs is far more accurate.
But the point is, you shook my faith in my favorite series. You weren’t the first, though.
When I was nine years old, I quit reading new issues for five years because of the ridiculousness of the aforementioned Clone Saga and (temporary/retconned) replacement of Peter by his clone, Ben Reilly. What you have done here, though, may be impossible for me to recover from.
Amazing Spider-Man #698 begins with a reminder that Doc Ock is on his death bed, with only hours left to live. He’s struggling to say something, and it turns out what he’s trying to say is, “Peter Parker.” For the rest of the issue, longtime readers will notice that the way Slott has written Peter’s dialogue and inner monologue is strange, and we eventually find out why when Spider-Man is summoned by the Avengers to the Raft (the ultra high security prison for supervillains) because Ock’s about to die and he keeps saying the name of Spidey’s secret identity.
And then, once the two are in the room, we get the big reveal. We now know why Peter’s words sound so strange in this issue.
It’s because one of the most ridiculous and asinine predictions for what would happen in the “Dying Wish”/Amazing Spider-Man #700 arc ended up being true–Doc Ock somehow switched his consciousness into Peter Parker’s body and vice versa, and Ock’s body dies with Peter’s mind trapped inside.
I’ll probably still buy #699 and #700 just to have a complete run up through the “final” issues of Amazing Spider-Man–and I’ll probably still buy Superior Spider-Man #1, because, well, eBay–but for the first time in about five years, I’m not all that excited about the next issue of Spider-Man.
On the bright side, I can’t imagine this being something that sticks in the long term. For the foreseeable future, however, it might be time to move on to something else.
RATING: It’s gonna harsh your mellow, man…but at least the art is good.
Decap is back from vacation and the gang is ready to roll. Listen in as the guys do some super hero trivia and take a look at Colder #1, Shadowman #1 and Perhapanauts Danger Down Under #1.
This weeks Kickstarter of the week can be found at:
This issue picks up right where last issue left off. No jumping into the future this time just further escalation of a Chris’s Anarchist belief. After our Punk Rock Jesus declared that “God Hates You” publicly Thomas is in pursuit of Chris trying to find him before J2 and The New American Christians do. If that sounds like a lot of plots it is but Scott Murphy manages to pull everything together very well.
His use of the media and how it relates to Chris aka Jesus Christ is smart and it progresses the plot by having Chris answer questions about where his loyalties lie. Using the media now as his protection he is building an army of Secularists. At the core of this issue is ultimately Thomas coming to grips with Chris’s further lack of belief in god and himself as the second coming of Christ. Since issue one I’ve seen these two characters come full circle and there’s some truly heart breaking dialogue shared between the two. You get a sense that things aren’t going to get any easier in the last issue for either of them.
Throw in a few well choreographed action sequences and back story about Thomas’s history that helps drive his convictions and decisions this issue and you have a very solid issue of an amazing book. All of this drawn with amazing detail and love by Sean Murphy. This issue ends on a quiet note hinting at an all out war and amazing finish to Punk Rock Jesus. Punk Rock Jesus continues to be one of the most refreshing and creative comics I’ve read in years. Seek this book out you will not be disappointed.
Amazing Spider-Man #697
Writers: Dan Slott and Christos Gage
Art: Giuseppe Camuncoli [Pencils], Dan Green [Inks], and Antonio Fabela [Colors]
Opening where the last issue left off, Amazing Spider-Man #697 has Peter Parker and Horizon Labs owner Max Modell on the run from both the original Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley) and his would-be replacement, Phil Urich–who are also fighting one another. If you recall, Max helped Peter escape from the Kingpin’s HQ in Hell’s Kitchen while stealing the “Goblin Key” in the process, and was even nice enough to bring him a couple of Spider-Man’s webshooters from his lab. (Remember, Max doesn’t know Pete is Spider-Man. He only knows that Pete develops Spider-Man’s gadgets and weaponry.)
While running, it’s revealed that Max is wearing a force field that he still has in development and that OG Hobgoblin has a back-up plan in case Philgoblin tries to attack him–a batdrone loaded with C-4 and following Daily Bugle reporter Norah Winters. The Goblin Key, which opens Norman Osborn’s main Green Goblin cache, begins to ping, alerting Peter and Max that they aren’t far from its location. Ending up there, they lock themselves inside and try to develop a plan to save themselves from the two Hobgoblins.
This was another expertly crafted issue from Dan Slott and Christos Gage. It had fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat action and gave the feeling that there was legitimate danger for characters like Max and Norah, who Dan Slott has really given readers a reason to care about during his run on the series. We also get to catch up with Harry Osborn, who hasn’t been seen in about 50 issues and is now laying low in Seattle with a totally different look, and Roderick Kingsley’s character is expanded upon in a way that totally makes sense. The two writers also continue to pave the way for December’s Amazing Spider-Man #700 (which I’m really unhappy is the last issue in the series just so a new series with a new #1 can be launched), planting more seeds with the rogue Octobot last seen at the end of this year’s “Ends of the Earth” storyline and the awakening from coma of… Well, you’ll have to read the issue for that, because it’s a big spoiler that’s bound to play into that monumental anniversary issue.
As for the art, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Co. remain on par with the first two parts of this story, delivering work that (and I’m not stretching the truth at all when I say this) reminds me at times of John Romita Sr.’s classic run on the book. I’m not saying it’s the same, but the influence is very much noticeable and definitely a good thing.
Amazing Spider-Man #697 and the two issues before it are undeniably must-reads.
