Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Mary Jane

Silver Surfer 13-14

I remember reading this whole Dan Slott/Mike & Laura Allred collaboration at a Barnes & Noble.  I remember enjoying it, but only bought the last two issues of the run for my collection.

Reading them again, I’m strongly tempted to get the rest of the trades, but I’m going to trust past me’s judgment and avoid the trap.  If I thought it was good enough, I would have purchased it back then.

That said, this is a beautiful, lovely story.  A time-travelling romance that spans the lifetime of this universe and part of the one that came before.  Mike Allred doesn’t always do it for me, but when he’s matched with a story like this, he’s the absolutely perfect choice.  This is fun and poignant and trippy and wonderful.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Spider-Man 1-3

My initial assessment stands - This went from really promising to complete trainwreck in such a short span of time.  Cadaverous is a horrible villain who I’m sure will turn out to be someone we know in the act three twist.  Peter Parker’s the worst parent here, his emotional neglect of Ben is downright abominable, even if it’s driven by understandable fear and crushing tragedy.  

I rarely give up on a miniseries when I’m over halfway through (see Shang-Chi for a recent example), but this was just too unfun to continue.  (It’s Sara Pichelli’s sweet art that gives this such a relatively high rating.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Mary Jane 1-4

Mary Jane: Homecoming 1-4

Sean McKeever writes the Spider-Man movies that I want - High school drama where the stakes don’t rise above “does he like me?” and “will she go to the dance with me?”  Throw in just a smattering of superheroes and you’ve got the perfect MCU teenybopper film.  Put Tom Holland and Zendaya in it, and it’s a guaranteed hit.

He just blows in and out of her life.

Heh, "nice dress."

Anyway, this is as good as I remember, even if this is the first time I’m revisiting it.  Even more impressive is that McKeever’s accomplished this without Peter Parker, who only appears in a handful of pages over the first eight issues.  It’s Liz Allen, Flash Thompson, and Harry Osborn who pull the main supporting role duties.  

Looking forward to reading the rest of this.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good