Behold ye, the final issue of ASM Extra. 3 issues across 8 months. Who knows? Noted tracer Tommy Lee Edwards brings us a version of a promo image from one of the Spider-Man movies to close out. As the cover indicates, we begin with an epilogue to Character Assassination rather inexplicably brought to you by Marc Guggenheim, Fabrizio Fiorentino, Pat Olliffe, and 4 inkers and 2 colorists all credited last name only. Why did a short story need such a long list of artists to complete?
Wow, that is one not-great take on Spider-Man.
And here’s a visibly rushed Pat Olliffe drawing a non-Spider-Man page. I bet I can guess a pattern here, and it involves someone not making a deadline. So, Harry’s putting Flash up in a nice place because he got his legs blown off for oil in Iraq, I guess? I kinda think Peter has a point. I don’t know. If I was rich, I like to think I would quickly become not-rich helping people, especially the people I love, as opposed ot hoarding money and proving to the world how selfish I am. Anyway.
Harry blames all that happened in character assassination and, indeed, all the problems he’s ever had on the existence of Spider-Man, and is furious at Peter for suggesting that’s a bit much, but they smooth it over. Back in the present, and, as expected, back with Fiorentino drawing, Night Nurse is telling Spider-Man not to beat himself up when some generic jobber busts in, saying “they” said she has the motherlode of drugs in here. Oh, it’s not just any generic jobber, it’s the one from ASM 583. but before he gets his inevitable beatdown, we flashback to the Olliffe-drawn recent past, and…
I mean, it seems obvious either Fioreno only drew the Spider-Man pages and then blew his deadline, forcing them to get someone dependable like Olliffe to rush out the other pages, ooooor, they did this on purpose for some reason, and Olliffe’s inker is butchering him. Neither situation terribly good for your comic book. So, Vin was a relatively recent convert to this gaggle of yutzes. Trying to make him more sympathetic? Not working.
Oh noooooo, you’d have to allow people who abuseed their position, broke the law and framed someone for multiple murders? Can you imagine someone in any other profession being treated like that’s a tough call, and also like it’s reasonable for that to be a tough call? “Can you hold the people who are supposed to uphold the law accountable to it when they don’t?” “I… just… don’t… know!” Vin will also have to stop being a cop. He agrees to the terms. Then we go back to the present.
I mean, Pat Olliffe is the better artist here. Maybe not as flashy, but he can tell the story and he’d get the job done on time. Love that we’re closing this big finale of the Braintrust era on a doubel whammy of the rote ol’ “Spider-Man blames himself for everything” trope and the “hero is angry and taking it out on hapless villain” trope. “It’s even my fault when it rains, and I’m gonna almost kill you for it!” We flash back to Peter at the airport, waiting for Flash to arrive, and then seeing him.
In the present, Spider-Man’s about to kill the jobber, Night Nurse is screaming at him to stop, yadda yadda, we’ve all seen this before. And then he doesn’t.
What an essential part of the Character Assassination saga! People buying this issue sure did get their money’s worth! I am really in a mood tonight, aren’t I? But that’s not all, of course, we got other things to look at here. Next up is Joe Kelly, Dale Eaglesham and Rain Beredo, whose frequent work with Mike Deodato, Jr. has the effect of making Eaglesham’s art kind of read like Deodato.
Are the Osborns from Queens? Seems like that would have come up before.
Well, that kid stole Harry’s bike, and Harry didn’t know what to do, so he ran home, telling his dad his stomach hurt. But Norman saw through that, and soon had the truth, and they got in the car to go looking for the bike.
Hate it. The retconned notion that Norman was always a deranged monster sucks. JM DeMatteis and his burning desire to give everyone a bad childhood casts a long shadow. I mean, whatever, Norman could be mean, impossible to please, verbally abuse, even, whatever, but this is insane behavior. Green Goblin behavior. Giving it to him too early sucks.
Sure, man, whatever. How does Harry know Lily is now in league with his dad? I don’t care, as it turns out. Finally, we have Phil Jimenez both writing and drawing a followup to the story he drew introducing Previously Unmentioned Kraven Child 3, last seen in ASM 567, with colors by Chris Chuckery.
Man, this issue has new epilogues to multiple stories, what a weird choice.
Ok. Lucky her, she’s the first retconned Kraven child to acknowledge the existence of a mother. For no obvious reason, she has Vermin chained up on the floor of this penthouse, and he’s rambling such that he lets her know the Daredevil she fought was Spider-Man. She didn’t catch on? I have already forgotten.
Did someone tell Jimenez to cool with the absolutely terrible Spider-Man eyes and big pill-shaped heads, or did he arrive at that conclusion himself? Or is this page a fluke?
Not a fluke. Good for you, Phil. Well, in a frankly rather confusing sequence, Spider-Man notices a bomb on the wall, then Baby Kraven 3 walks in, unaware that he’s in there, but then she happens to have the detonator for the bomb in her hand, ready to go, anyway. He says he’s not there to fight, just to ask if she’s Kraven’s daughter, and her response is to blow the place up.
Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why not just bring Kraven back if you can’t come up with something more original than “He had yet another secret kid who’s following in his footsteps?” It’s the same story, why not just use the original character? Ah, well. We’ll be seeing her again one of these days, I don’t know. “Sinister 666” sounds very dopey. Next post, we’re back to regular ASMs.