Post by chap22 on Aug 28, 2019 19:53:06 GMT
So the final issue is out today...this post is gonna be more about the series as a whole than this particular issue, but both discussions are essentially the same. I don't know if there's anything groundbreaking or game-changing about this series...the "real-time" timeline is a neat central hook, but it's been done before with other heroes and books (Generations for one as Amoebas mentioned earlier in this thread), and then beyond that it's basically just a rehash of the character's history, as done by a reliable classic Spidey artist who's pencilled literally almost 200 issues of Spider-Man (or Spidey-adjacent) comics...but despite that it is hands-down my favorite Spidey project in many, MANY years, and that all boils down to the little details and flourishes put forth by Zdarsky's writing.
It is little short of astonishing that he was able to hit really every major milestone and era from nearly 60 years of continuous publishing (we got the origin, the Goblin, Gwen's death and both clone sagas, Secret War and the symbiote, the marriage AND kids, Kraven's Last Hunt, Venom, Civil War, Morlun, and ultimately in this last issue Miles and Superior Spidey) in just 6 issues and not have it be a purely bare-bones, rote recitation of "this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened", but he did by wrapping it around the true heart of Peter Parker and his life story, all while still having room to add in Easter eggs and nods to lesser moments (i.e. stuff like Flash joining the army, Harry's drug stuff, and towards the end of this last issue, a moment that I am not sure was even intentional but immediately brought to my mind a callback to the end of Web of Spider-Man #1). It is CLEAR that Zdarsky loves and, more importantly, gets Spidey and all his strengths and weaknesses and what is so special about the character, and while much of the end here was telegraphed and/or predictable, it was still emotional and moving and served as a love letter in all the right ways (there is a very short, quick little speech by Aunt May late in this issue about what he has vs. what he wants that I think is just the perfect encapsulation of Peter Parker; it got me pretty good in the feels). You could tell Bagley brought his A-game again for the back half of this issue too, as it was much clearer and more defined than the first half of the issue and honestly much of the last 2 or 3 issues. Between his PPTSSM run and this, I don't know if Zdarsky has much else to say about Spidey, but I'd still damn sure read any Spidey book he was writing even if he didn't. I loved this that much.
It is little short of astonishing that he was able to hit really every major milestone and era from nearly 60 years of continuous publishing (we got the origin, the Goblin, Gwen's death and both clone sagas, Secret War and the symbiote, the marriage AND kids, Kraven's Last Hunt, Venom, Civil War, Morlun, and ultimately in this last issue Miles and Superior Spidey) in just 6 issues and not have it be a purely bare-bones, rote recitation of "this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened", but he did by wrapping it around the true heart of Peter Parker and his life story, all while still having room to add in Easter eggs and nods to lesser moments (i.e. stuff like Flash joining the army, Harry's drug stuff, and towards the end of this last issue, a moment that I am not sure was even intentional but immediately brought to my mind a callback to the end of Web of Spider-Man #1). It is CLEAR that Zdarsky loves and, more importantly, gets Spidey and all his strengths and weaknesses and what is so special about the character, and while much of the end here was telegraphed and/or predictable, it was still emotional and moving and served as a love letter in all the right ways (there is a very short, quick little speech by Aunt May late in this issue about what he has vs. what he wants that I think is just the perfect encapsulation of Peter Parker; it got me pretty good in the feels). You could tell Bagley brought his A-game again for the back half of this issue too, as it was much clearer and more defined than the first half of the issue and honestly much of the last 2 or 3 issues. Between his PPTSSM run and this, I don't know if Zdarsky has much else to say about Spidey, but I'd still damn sure read any Spidey book he was writing even if he didn't. I loved this that much.
