We are back to Ms. Marvel, where the Amazing Spider-Man is apparently gonna strike. I’ve read this. I think I mentioned reading most or all of this run in trades off a friend (Who would become my bother’s wife, even). This run was written by Brian Reed, who hasn’t exactly knocked us out on that Ms. Marvel Annual or the Spider-Man Secret Invasion Tie-Ins or the ASM Annual, but I don’t recall this series being bad. Well, writing-wise. Artwise, my memory is the art rotated mostly between this issue’s Adriana Melo and Sana Takeda, neither of whom were exactly ready for prime time. Takeda would go on to transform her art completely for the long running, multiple-award-winning Image series Monstress. I’m not sure what became of Adriana Melo. Here, tho, Melo gets second billing to Paulo Siqueira. They are inked by Amilton Santos and Mariah Benes, and colored by Chris Sotomayor. Let’s see what’s goin’ on behind this noir-y cover by David Yardin.
Is that Rick Jones? Perhaps unsurprisingly, I don’t remember much about this. I remember one very big thing we’re totally gonna get into, and that thing has overshadowed the whole issue for me.
The various characters that got used in the wacky Nextwave comic getting saddled with their Nextwave costumes for years and years after is really unfortunate. Hey, that’s the head of the guy from the Ms. Marvel Annual! Oh, the recap page says that was Rick Mason, whoever that is. After having started today, then jumped to 36 hours ago, we now jump to “that night,” where we find Carol at the docks, running around, taunting various guards. She also isn’t flying or using her powers, and even tells someone she can’t fly right now. No idea why. Anyway, she finds herself in a stand off with some CIA guys, everyone holding guns on each other, when someone off-panel starts wisecracking.
Paulo Siqueira is, obviously, one of those people with a slavish devotion to Todd McFarlane. But I believe the next page is where he hands off to Melo, and uh…
It is a downgrade.
Look at all the spaghetti legs in just 2 pages of Spider-Man action. Spidey stops Carol from shooting that guy, and she tells him to get out of here. But then his Spider Sense goes off, and we get to the thing I remember about this issue…
The blatant, shameless swiping. That, of course, is from the double-page splash to Spider-Man #1.
But it’s not the last McFarlane swipe we’ll see in this issue.
I think we’ve seen the man dodge a point blank gun shot, and he proceeds to knock her over so fast she can’t shoot him. Then helicopters start shooting at Carol, and Spidey agrees to take her to her container, while being super annoying in a pretty accurately Bugs Bunny way. Then…
Why, it’s another splash page from Spider-Man #1.
Dramatically worse both times.
Panel 3 Spidey there has a real Joe Mad vibe, but I can’t say for sure. Carol confronts “the Essential,” which turns out to be “an immortal little girl who feeds on information” that Uncle Sam has had locked up since 1953? Uh… ok? And Carols wants all she’s got on Norman Osborn. Outside, Spider-Man is really trying not to get in a fight with the various government stooges, but then they’re ordered to kill him and Carol, so it’s a fight, anyway.
So, we know Spider-Man left her the bag back on page one, The End, as far as we’re concerned. But what about that date? It will actually happen, but not for some time. With this cameo taken care of, we can jump back into a long run of ASMs.