Pull of the Week:

Amazing Spider-Man #600 – Marvel – $4.99

Score: 7.5

After reading the abysmal The Incredible Hulk #600, there was a little trepidation in jumping right in to Spider-Man’s 600th issue. There couldn’t possibly be two epic failures released in the same week could there? Thankfully for the little Spider-Man fan in us all, this issue did not suffer the same fat. Instead, Dan Slot continues the work that the Spider-Man brain trust has pieced together resulting in the marriage of Peter Parker’s beloved Aunt May to J. Jonah Jameson Sr. But much as the cover and the past months have hinted at, nothing is going to run smoothly for the Parker/Jameson clan.

The story opens with Dr. Otto Octavius recalling past traumas he has suffered at the hands of his super powered opponents like Spider-Man, Captain America and the Hulk to a doctor who gives him the grave news that he only has a year and a half to live at most. Otto, the self-righteous and megalomaniacal genius that he is, cannot accept this and vows to leave something great to the world, worthy of his genius. The little eight legged creeper droids that had showed up in the past few months of Amazing Spider-Man are revealed to be a part of Otto’s plan to leave a perfect world behind as he left as they are controlled by his brain patterns.

As much as Otto has tried to turn a new leaf, his subconscious forces it way to the surface and instead of helping the city, the droids end up carrying out attacks on Spider-Man and disruptions to the pending nuptials between May and J. Jonah Jameson Sr. including abducting the groom. Peter, always prepared to do the right thing goes off to find Otto and put the city back together with some help from his good buddy, the Human Torch. The story comes to a feel good conclusion like many other superhero wedding issues have with Peter’s friends, past and present, being there for the sentimental moment.

To take a look at yesterday’s Pull List Reviews, click here.

Captain Britain and MI13 #14 – Marvel – $2.99
Score: 8.5

This is one of the times where the vocal minority needs to help save a book. If Spider-Girl could be saved, this book most certainly deserves it. Unless something happens in the final issue #15 that prevents the characters from being able to appear in future issues like the entire nation of England being nuked off the map, there is no reason the series shouldn’t continue.

At the New York Comic Con this past February, Paul Cornell was praised for his work on the series. Now months later, it is being brought to an end far too soon. The past few months, the book has fallen just short of the top 100 comics in terms of sales which may be why Marvel is giving it the axe despite being the best Captain Britain series in recent memory, especially after the dismal storytelling of New Excalibur.

By the end of the previous issue, the war between Dracula and his vampire army and the nation of Britain had taken a huge toll. Captain Britain had been expelled from his country as Spitfire had turned on her own team, resulting in the deaths of Pete Wisdom, the Black Knight and Fauza. Blade also turned his back on the battle and walked away. The hardest part of this issue is to describe the events that happen within because of the sheer volume of spoilers it would contain. Most of the enjoyment of the issue comes from the surprises that come up that would only be ruined if I tried to describe the plot in detail here.

Usually comics lend themselves to the “holy crap” moments with a stunning final panel setting up for the next issue. This issue bucks that trend in its first few pages. What follows is a great example of Leonard Kirk’s fantastic pencils of action scenes combined with the dry British dialogue that Paul Cornell has mastered so well, probably since he hails from Britain it gives him an unfair advantage writing it. Kirk also does a great job with the way he draws blood in the issue. Often times, gory battles can come across as gratuitous.