Scout Attacks! Amazing Spider-Man #543 and Sensational Spider-Man #40

I'm finally getting around to some reviews that I found really difficult to write. There's this one, and, hopefully, an Astonishing X-Men #22 one coming up soon. We'll see.

To be honest, I could not even finish reading Amazing Spider-Man #543. It just becomes increasingly obvious that the people at Marvel have not even been trying to tell good Spider-Man stories in years. They have been intentionally driving the character into the ground so that when the inevitable reboot happens, we will cheer and thank them for getting rid of this crap.

So, the blood transfusion that Peter gave Aunt May didn't work and a reverend is coming around asking MJ if any thought has been given to what arrangements May would want made if she died. This is the first thing that pissed me off, because Peter's reactions to all this were completely selfish. For starters, I find it hard to believe that, as practical, not to mention old, as May is, she would not have let Peter know what she wanted when she died. What would Aunt May want done if she died, Peter? Well, what about whatever you did the last time she died? (As an aside, I wonder if they ever did anything about the fact that they buried an actress as Aunt May.) Also, considering the fact that Aunt May has been shown to be a Church-goer within the pages of JMS scripted comics, the whole conversation about what May believed in was just really bad.

Then we get to the part where the detective is investigating May's shooting. This is where Peter's actions went from selfish to nonsensical. It was just a lot of overreaction. For starters, I don't understand how knocking the police officer out so that he and Mary Jane could get away didn't still fall firmly into the category of breaking the law but knowing that he was right. It was tying the cop up that really crossed the line. Also, why the hell did he take May? If he had left her there, the hospital would have had to continue to give her medical attention. She might have been transfered to a cheaper hospital, but since he's transferring her anyway, it doesn't really make a difference. Anyway, it was when he started counting off his felonies that I had to stop reading. I tried going back to it later, but the best I could do was skim through the last few pages. When I first read this issue, or part of it, I was really upset. How could they do this to Spidey? Thinking about it now though, I realize that really, all these lines that he's supposedly crossing is just a huge overstatement of what is actually happening. This storyline just grows increasingly idiotic with each issue.

I enjoyed Sensational Spider-Man #40 a lot more. It's really just another story just another story where Peter realizes that for all the bad things that have happened, being Spider-Man was ultimately worth it because of all the good he has done helping others, this time by having a little chat with God in the guise of a homeless man who looks like an uglier Iggy Pop. I liked when Peter asked if he had really saved thousands upon thousands of people and God answered "Well, I'm counting team-ups, but...yeah. At least." (If God's counting team-ups, then Peter's helped save the entire world as recently as the Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four miniseries "The Silver Age.") This issue also began with a nice little recap of Spider-Man's history. Bonus points for remembering Liz Allen's existence and having Peter count Harry among all the people that he has lost. I could have done without the "His first, and some say truest love, Gwen Stacy" line though, and not just because of my personal feelings about Gwen Stacy. The story is being narrated by God. If Gwen Stacy was Peter's truest love, he would know. He wouldn't need to comment on what "some say," and since it is narrated by God, and not just an anonymous narrator, it makes it sound like people within the world of the comic book, as opposed to the readers, are sitting around debating the point. What do I know though. Maybe that's how Betty and Flash spend their dates. (I now realize that I just devoted several lines to a very minor quibble, but it's like they can't mention Gwen Stacy in a comic book without saying "his first, and some say truest love" like it's her full name. It's irritating, and especially so when it doesn't belong.) This issue also gets points for the fact that Clayton Crain made Peter Parker look like Billy Crudup. Looking like Billy Crudup is never a bad thing.

Peter and MJ make for a ridiculously hot older couple.

What I liked most though was that this issue left us off with some hope for Peter's future. That's not something we get a lot of in Spider-Man comics anymore, and it was certainly something I needed after Amazing Spider-Man #543. All in all, this was a nice wrap up for what has been a pretty uneven series.