With Amazing Spider-Man #670, Spider-Island started to fall apart for me. Dan Slott did a solid job building your interest with each issue of Spider-Island, keeping you wondering what was going to happen next. In my reviews of Spider-Island, every issue up till now had me enthralled with this story. Then the last page of #669 happened. First question I asked myself who was this Queen character? More than likely other fans were asking the same question I was. The Queen’s first appearance and story was in Spectacular Spider-Man #15-20. Throughout the issue I did my best to keep an open mind about this development, there’s one factor that’s I put in account, and some fans might be with me, I just don’t have an interest in the Queen. Dan Slott tries his best to make her menacing and interesting, I just can’t get into it. There’s more than a few fans in the same boat I was in and when you’re making the Queen the big bad of Spider-Island? That’s probably not something you want to build your event on.
The other subject to consider here is this, a lot of you out there are going to like this story despite the lackluster villain reveal. There’s a lot to like in this issue. There’s a sequence at the beginning I liked with Humberto Ramos showing the mutated Spider-citizens roaming around Manhattan, with Spider-Man looking absolutely defeated. Genuinely good stuff, and Dan Slott is doing a good job in showing Spider-Man’s reactions to the events around him. Then you get back to the Queen, and Dan Slott tries hard to make you fear her and be in awe of her mutated Spider-citizen army. When you have a villain that only a small segment is going to care about, that just doesn’t work when you have to try that hard to make a reader fear your villain. There are cool reveals here and there, yet after the Queen it all becomes fairly underwhelming. I did appreciate how Dan Slott used a fairly obscure Marvel Two-In-One story with Alicia Masters in which she became a giant spider herself. Honestly one of my favorite parts of the entire issue.
There’s moments with J. Jonah Jameson as one of the Spider-citizens that are fun to see, leading to some great banter with Spider-Man and J.Jonah Jameson. One aspect I want to note is the story becomes reliant on you having read issues of Venom and even some of the one shot stories. They’re explained well enough by Dan Slott to not hamper your enjoyment, yet at the same time there is a chance of you being taken out of the story. When I finally got to the ending of the issue, I could’t help but be disappointed in where this was heading.
If you couldn’t tell from the review, this was the issue that killed my interest in Spider-Island. There’s going to be a lot of you out there that disagree with me, that’s perfectly okay, what’s bothering me in this might not bother you. With me though, the fact that the issue read like everything was being thrown together. Yes I know DC did a similar thing with Nekron but you knew there was something bigger in store, the Queen on the other hand was to be the big reveal and it just left me cold. Spider-Island could have potential in the midst of some questionable storytelling choices. I’m just not sure if I’ll be along for the rest of the Spider-Island experience. Maybe I’ll go back and read that Marvel Two-In-One referenced, now that was a fun story.
Hiya, great review (even though I disagree, I am loving it so far). I think Slott is capable enough to make The Queen different…who knows. I think you should give it a chance to finish out.
Anyway, what Two-in-one are you referring to?
It was issues #29-32. I actually discovered those on my hunt for all the Marvel Team Up’s. I have a fondness for Marvel Two-In-One and Marvel Team Up’s.
I might give it another shot, definitely still 50/50 on that one. Thank you so much for commenting and I hope you’re having a good one! Take care.