What I thought of...The Superior Spider-Man #14

The Superior Spider-Man #14: Spider-Man takes over New York!! And gets a new costume. And some new toys. A lot of new stuff going on in this issue. But, we do get to see a couple of familiar faces.
The Good: Doc Ock/Spider-Man has pretty much free reign over whatever he wants to do, thanks to a deal with Mayor J. Jonah Jameson. This issue, we're introduced to the Spider-Man ARMY. Yes, ARMY. There's Spider-Soldiers, Spider-Vehicles, Spider-Drones and much, much more. In this issue, Spider-Man sets his sights on Shadowland. And, The Kingpin. I have to admit, it's nice to see The Kingpin back in action, and Slott has the character down pat.There's a lot going on here, TONS of action and all drawn beautifully by Humberto Ramos. This is definitely a great jumping on point for new readers.
The Bad: Not really too much of the bad this issue. There's a couple of plot twists and turns that I saw coming a mile away, and at this point, the villain of the story isn't really clear. Is it Kingpin? Hobgoblin? The mystery villain that shows up on the last couple of pages? Or is it Spider-Man himself?
The Verdict: BUY IT! BUY IT! BUY IT!!! Again, GREAT jumping on point for new readers, and even if you're a regular reader, this is a bold, brand new chapter in Spider-Man history, and you're not going to want to miss it!!

What I thought of...The Superior Spider-Man #9

Superior Spider-Man #9: Oh boy. I think a lot of people are gonna go ape-shit over this issue. Last issue, Doc Ock discovered that there was still a little Peter Parker inside his head. This issue.........let's just say he "deals with it". Just about anything I say about this issue would be a spoiler, so, I won't. BUT, I do think that issue is gonna go down as one of the classic Spider-Man stories.
The Good: Besides being a AWESOME story, there's some really great character study in this issue. Like the issue of Amazing Spider-Man where Spidey's buried under the rubble and he has to will his way out. Yeah, I don't remember the issue number. Sorry. And Ryan Stegman's back! What a treat for the eyes. He REALLY poured his all into this issue. There's TONS of emotional stuff going on here, and he's able to make is show threw the characters faces like I've rarely seen before.
The Bad: OK, I know this is picky, but I think that's about the WORST cover I've ever seen in my life. Does it fit the story? Yeah, it does. But it is UGLY!!! As I said, this is going to go down as one of the essential Spider-Man reads in years to come, it's a shame that this cover will always be tied to it.
The Verdict: Really? OF COURSE you should buy this!!! NOW!!!!!

What I thought of....Superior Spider-Man #6

This issue is scary. And not the funny scary. The SCARY scary.
The Good: You know, I thought I would be tired of the Doc Ock in Spidey's body gimmick by now. But, surprisingly, I'm not. The one thing that keeps it interesting is Peter Parker's ghost(?) in Doc Ock's head. There's a LOT of room for some great stories there, and Slott hasn't even really scratched the surface on that one yet. One of the Spider-Man hallmarks is humor, and since Spider-Man himself isn't funny anymore, the humor has to come from other places, which is a nice change of pace. And hey! Humberto Ramos is back!!! I'm glad he is, because I don't think anyone else could've drawn this issue quite as well as he did. He even makes the uncomfortable violence look good!
The Bad: In this issue, things get a little brutal. OK, a LOT brutal. Not to spoil anything, but here Spidey turns out to be more Doc Ock than Spider-Man. I'm beginning to find myself missing Peter Parker: Spider-Man. I know it's just a matter of time before he'll be back, but hopefully we won't have to wait too long.
The Verdict: It's really good, certainly much better than the last issue. What I really liked about this comic is that there's a lot more time spent as Spider-Man than as Peter Parker. Slott is moving the story along at a great pace, and again, the art is fantastic!!! Snatch this one up, you're gonna like it!!

My Amazing Spider-Man #700 review

OK, I almost feel silly doing this, because by the end of the day tomorrow. there will be a MILLION Amazing Spider-Man #700 reviews. But, since I was able to sneak this one in today, I thought, why the hell not? And, Spidey's always been my favorite super-hero.

Now, I won't give away any spoilers(until Thursday)as not to get Dan Slott upset on twitter, BUT, I'll do my best to get the point of the issue across to you. So, leading up to this we had(MINOR spoiler warnings)Doc Ock and Peter Parker switching bodies. And Doc Ock's body is in BAD shape. And I mean BAD. So, this issue is a great race against the clock issue(typical of some of the greatest Spider-Man stories)to make things right before things go past the point of no return.
-Now, my biggest problem with issue is the villain. It's painfully obvious that Dan Slott's favorite Spider-Man bad guy is Doctor Octopus. And that's fine. But let's be honest. Spider-Man's great villain is Norman Osborn. The Green Goblin. Always has been, always will be. BUT, there's a problem with Norman Osborn right now. He's a good guy. Kinda. Let's just say he's busy. Busy being a Dark Avenger or Thunderbolt or something else. Anyway, I'm pretty sure Slott couldn't use him(I could be wrong), but he did do the next big thing. All I WILL tell you about this issue is that it would have been an out and out right instant classic if Norman would've been the villain in this issue. I mean TRULY world changing. As it is, this is a pretty fantastic issue. One that's a worthy ending to 50 years of story telling. It's bitter sweet, charming, heart warming, action-packed and has more cliffhangers than an Indiana Jones movie. If you only read one comic this week(and there's only like 9 coming out)make it THIS ONE!!!! Overall, this comic gets an A+, a 10 out of 10, 5 stars, ect. What I'm trying to say is that it's AWESOME!!!!!!!

THE LIST for December 5th!!!!!

It's a great week for comics!!....AGAIN!!!! Here's what I'm looking forward to this week(and you should be too)

Avengers #1: I can't tell you how excited I am for this book. A non Bendis Avengers A-List book? SIGN. ME. UP.

Amazing Spider-Man #699: SHIT IS ABOUT TO GET REAL!!!!!!!!! No spoilers from me, but this book is kicking SO much ass right now, it's not even funny.

All New X-Men #3: Never been an X-Men fan, but this book is BEYOND fun!!!

Detective Comics #15: A Death of the Family tie-in!!

The Lone Ranger #11: Tonto's in trouble and so is The Lone Ranger!!! One of the best books out there right now!!

GI Joe: A Real American Hero #185: ZARTAN!!!!!!!!!!

-Head out to your local comic book store, and if you're in Chicago, come down and see me at Challengers Comics + Conversation!!! See you on Wednesday!!