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View Full Version : THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #515 REVIEW


Mike D'Alfonso
January 3rd 2005, 08:59 PM
Reviewer: Mike D'Alfonso Spike_149@Hotmail.Com
Quick Rating: Excellent!
Title: Skin Deep

Another unknown aspect of Peter Parker’s past stands revealed, which may inadvertently create a new addition to Spidey’s rogue line-up!

<a href="http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/images/content/ASM515COV.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/images/content/ASM515COVT.jpg" align="left" border="0"> </a>Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Mike Deodato Jr. & Mark Brooks
Inks: Joe Pimentel & Jaime Mendoza
Colors: Matt Milla
Letters: Virtual Calligraphy's Cory Petit
Editor: Axel Alonso
Cover Art: Mike Deodato Jr.
Publisher: Marvel

Review: Many people who are diehard fans of the Spider-Man mythos knows that Peter Parker was the center of all the ridicule and abuse that could ever be administered by his tormentors at Midtown High when he was a teenager. This issue dispels any notion that Peter was the only one that was victimized by Flash Thompson and his cronies; Peter Parker was also a part time participant in scorning another poor unfortunate that was more of a pariah than he was.

JMS continues to chronicle another chapter of Peter’s past that may have shaped the kind of person that he is today. Though he vowed to advocate the values of his deceased Uncle Ben to uphold personal responsibility for his actions, this issue shows that even Peter had bowed down to teen peer pressure in order to get some heat off him away from further psychological and physical torture, and turned his attention to another student to get a semblance of acceptance no matter how shallow it is.

Peter’s past and present life intertwines to show just how the boy that he had shunned reflects the quiet low self esteem that he lives with to the present tense and shows that he wants to make a name for himself to show that he can achieve fame at great lengths for his scientific discoveries. With a series of events that transpire in the latter half of the book, it shows Peter making yet another mistake that may change the life of this man yet again, which may make things worse rather than better when he tries to makes amends for past transgressions. Even though the chain of events may very well create yet another villain in the long line of Spider-Foes, but this time it seems that it will be a little more personal. The only thing that this story lacked was the appearance of Peter in his costumed identity, which we only see in just one page in this issue, but the way that the main story was drawn out, it was wholly unnecessary.

The artwork of Mike Deodato Jr. and Mark Brooks made a flawless transition from one particular timeline of Peter’s life to another. The pictorial realism is fast becoming a familiar new signature piece that is becoming synonymous with Deodato’s rendering of each character, which caries very meticulous detail to what is featured with the guiding inks of Joe Pimentel. Mark Brooks work is focused on Peter’s past in his day as a student at Midtown High. There are definite contrasts that are made very obvious in his body of Brooks’ work and has a kind of a nostalgic sort of feel that can be reminiscent of how comics were handled art wise back in the sixties.

With yet another story that tries to marry both aspects of Peter’s past and present, I can only hope that this story can have a stronger conclusion than its predecessor.


<b>ART:</b> <img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"


<b>STORY: <img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/none.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"


<b>OVERALL:</b> <img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/half.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="35" height="35">




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Adam Chapman
January 4th 2005, 11:59 AM
Personally I was let down a bit by this issue. The end was fairly telegraphed, and what Andrea mentioned in her advance review about footnoting upcoming stories bothered me as well. It was just blatant commercialism. The story wasn't that bad, but it wasn't really anything spectacular either. I liked the small inclusion of Tony Stark, and found it interesting, until the footnote kind of ruined the fun for me. :p

The art- Deodato Jr. is great, and I'm usually warm to Brooks' work, but it felt out of place here. The Peter he depicted was more the Ultimate version of the character, than the classic looking bookworm Peter has always been depicted as since the 60s. Something just didn't feel right about the art in the flashback panels to me, taking away from my over all enjoyment.

We'll have to see where this goes eventually, and I applaud JMS for at least trying to come up with new villains for the rogues gallery, but this issue just didn't impress me that much. :p

Downfall
January 4th 2005, 12:40 PM
They kinda already have a villain like this. The Molten Man ring a bell?

Actually, there are tons of Spidey villains who had simliar origins, besides the part of him knowing Peter in high school.

But besides this, and the manga-esque flashback art by Mark Brooks (maybe it's me, but I don't buy into the whole Ramos-Paco Medina artwork -- of which this is very evocative -- it just looks wrong), I liked this issue.