A bit of a drop off from the first two issues of this arc. While Bendis delivered some fun and fancy free slow-down episodes in issues 118 and 119, this is where you feel the loss of momentum. The problem is in the exposition.
Liz Allen is a mutant. She doesn't want to be. Magneto has come to claim her for his side in this big war of the Ultimate universe mutants. We sort of got that idea in the cliffhanger from last issue. And all we're really getting this month is a bit of tug-o-war between Magneto and those pesky X-Men for the soul of Liz Allen. It's all very civil without the war. And we're only mildly interested in who her evil mutant dad might be. We do find out in the end that it's The Blob (uncle Frank), but the reveal is pretty lackluster. I got the vague notion that Bendis might have been stretching the thing out to fill the page count? Not sure.
What IS exciting about this whole arc is Peter's expanding base of support. A lot of people know who he is (including Liz now). So I'm looking forward to seeing how this affects his civilian life.
All in all, not bad, not great. But Immonen's pencils make this a heck of a lot of fun to read month after month. I hope he stays with the title for the long haul.
Story: 3 - Good
Art: 4 - Very Good
Immonen is amazing - never thought anyone was going to measure up to bagley. i thought it was an interesting twist to have the gang "talk it out" as i was expecting the typical x-men vs magneto battle. easily the best, most consistent spidey book out there.
Posted by chrischurch522 on 03/28/08 at 03:55 PM