Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #21 Review


Venom attacked his home, and put his father in the hospital. As Miles goes over in his mind what happened, the only question he has left to answer is…what now?

Here is the summary from Marvel:

VENOM WAR CONTINUES As his father lies in critical condition, Miles is desperate to solve the mystery of the new VENOM!!How does the villain know so much about Miles?Miles turns to the one person who can help him… Gwen Stacy!

After narrowly defeating the new Venom, Miles sits on his porch contemplating what to do next. His father has been admitted to the hospital, his mother following swiftly behind him. However, just as he he is about to give up; he gets a kick in the pants from his friend Ganke…and the timely arrival of both Gwen Stacy & Mary Jane Watson.

Brian Michael Bendis continues to tell Miles’ story effectively as the comic rolls into it’s 3rd year. What better way to kick that off that year by re-re-introducing one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies? There isn’t any real action, but that isn’t a bad thing as it is a perfect oppurtunity to re-introduce Gwen & Mary Jane (who has donned a new hipster, geek look) who help Miles figure out what he is dealing with. It is nice to see Bendis integrating Peter’s supporting cast into Miles life even after his death. Seeing as how this is the 3rd (or 4th is you count Spider-Men) time he has seen Gwen (1st time at Peter’s funeral, 2nd when he was given Peter’s web shooters) & the 2nd  time he has seen MJ (1st time was again the web shooters), the characters already mix well together; with them giving him a crash course on Venom while also some small dialogue between themselves before they meet up with Miles. Maria Hill (who is just a police detective in this universe) shows up and tries to help (although she falls flat).

Sara Pichelli’s pencils are good, but I have seen better work from her in this book. While her close up shots are detailed very well, the art seems to cut corners in places; such as leaving out details in spits that need it. She does however, draw the dramatic atmosphere well. As there is no action it is up to her to convey the drama and talking points; which she handles quite well.

Venom War continues to be another good helping of what is perhaps an underrated Spider-Comic. It will be interesting to see who the new Venom is (if it’s even human) and what connection it has to Peter (and to further extension Miles) as the story rolls on.

4/5

 

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