Spider-Island is an event that’s been quietly building into one of the best stories Spider-Man has had in recent history. In Amazing Spider-Man #668 we pick up from last issue’s Spider-Men vs. The Avengers battle royal. Spider-Man got lost in this battle. In turn got put into the line of fire and beaten up by his fellow heroes. The word, “Ow” doesn’t even begin to explain how Spidey feels at this point. I was even feeling for him as a reader, for this is only the beginning of what Spider-Man is going to go through in Spider-Island. Dan Slott has managed to create a unique experience mixing fun yet with more sinister overtones, while Humberto Ramos is doing some amazing work in bringing Spider-Island to life. What further mysteries does Spider-Island hold?
After the events of last issue, he gets pushed to the side by his fellow heroes, as they handle the onslaught of Spider-Men. Between Humberto Ramos showing Peter’s absolute sadness over being benched, with Dan Slott’s conveying how this makes him feel, this packs a one two punch of emotion. The nicest thing is, Slott doesn’t let him stay down on himself for long as Peter figures out a way to shake it off, and get himself back in action. The way he rallies the troops is inspiring, and takes this story in an exciting direction.
I love Peter Parker’s super squad, showing the normal citizens with Spider-Man powers defending their city. Humberto Ramos makes this scene exciting with just one splash page, with all the different citizens just having fun with their new powers. Carlie gets some nice moments in this issue, which to all the hate of Carlie online, I have to admit she’s growing on me. The couple that fights together, stays together I say. Seeing Peter and Carlie working with each other is heartwarming, they do make a great team.
When you get to the appearances of two characters in particular, I’m not going to lie you might be confused by the latter. Anti-Venom and Venom make their appearances into the series. At the end of this Peter learns about The Jackal, who’s behind this Spider-Man flu, making him wonder if this could truly be his fault. As Carlie and Peter are on their way to Empire State University, we end up on our last page, quietly menacing us until next month.
Spider-Island has held on to a strong momentum into the second month, this is the quiet crossover in the midst of the X-Men Schism and Fear Itself. There’s an odd glitch in the Venom and Spider-King segments, popping up before Venom #6. Hopefully when they collect this into trade, they can put Venom #6 in it’s proper place after this issue. Outside of that, this was a great second part to Spider-Island. I’ve been constantly surprised by how this event, seems to be the first one in a long time, that could actually have long term effects on Spider-Man. Spider-Island has caught my attention, and anyone who isn’t following Spider-Island, give it a shot. Could this all truly be Spider-Man’s fault? Only one way to find out, by checking out Spider-Island.
