Amazing Spider-Man, #699.1

[Rosebunse]

Was there a story at some point that gave this impression, or is that a No-Prize answer for why the Monster Metropolis doesn't get mentioned in any of his recent Spider-Man appearances and why he would have come to Horizon instead? I mean, it's a good one, and he kind of failed them in that storyline where he realized too late the origin of the insanity plague they and Elsa Bloodstone were dealing with, but you'd think they'd have kicked him out right then if they were going to.

I mean, there was also all the crap he put them through in FrankenCastle, and he did dig up a child's dead body. It wouldn't be that bad for them to finally decide enough is enough.

[MorningMoon]

This was good but...but...did it really add much to the Morbius story? His sidekick is added, but it was kinda boring. I didn't hate it though.

I think that was the deal, though. Anyone who doesn't know about Morbius gets pulled into it because Spider-man and thus the origin story is spread to a larger audience. Not gonna reinvent, reboot or remake Morbius, just gonna give it to you as a taste.

As someone who never read a Morbius comic, this really really helped me.

[Rosebunse]

I think that was the deal, though. Anyone who doesn't know about Morbius gets pulled into it because Spider-man and thus the origin story is spread to a larger audience. Not gonna reinvent, reboot or remake Morbius, just gonna give it to you as a taste.

As someone who never read a Morbius comic, this really really helped me.

How so? I'm a huge Morbius fan, but how did it feel to a new-comer to the character?

[MorningMoon]

How so? I'm a huge Morbius fan, but how did it feel to a new-comer to the character?

Like a very smooth telling of his origin. Got the whole picture of how he began, with the disease, his family, his friend (which I never knew of since I only saw the cartoon and assumed Morbius did the experiment alone) his love interest and all, a good idea of what he's done past his origin story (that shot with all the more monster-oriented characters) and just a big, quick and nice telling of who he is and why I should like him.
It really helped that the writing was, well, good. It, well, felt nice reading it. I was sorta expecting a huge twist to happen and make it all dark and horror-y for the on-going, but rather than be mopey it was all-in-all a story of Morbius accepting who he was and giving the reader what dilemma he'll face on the title. He's a tragic character and I could sympathize with him without feeling like extreme emotions were forced in to achieve that.

[E. Wilson]

Well...this issue was kind of pointless.

[neverender]

Well...this issue was kind of pointless.

Welcome to .1s, we hope you enjoy your stay!

[David Walton]

Joe,

Just finished reading 699.1. Touching, beautiful, tragic. I loved it.

You succeeded with mining human horrors here, whether it's Morbius' mother's desire to keep her son safe, or his desire to go on living when he's at death's doorstep, and his fight to live even when he feels it would be better if he didn't.

Truly great stuff, man! I'm sold on Morbius #1.

Best,

David

[E. Wilson]

Welcome to .1s, we hope you enjoy your stay!

Well, not all the .1's have been like that. I mean, I expected a set-up issue for the new Morbius series. But I wanted a little more than "here's his origin again." In the course of this issue, Morbius walks the length of a city block and bickers with the Lizard. Thrilling action!

[Gladiator X]

"Yes, I'm specifically interested in this issue on its own merits"

I bought this because of Morbius. I don't buy and haven't bought an issue of ASM since OMD besides the Ghost Rider issues and this one.

I dug it and can't wait for Morbius series to start up.

[David Walton]

Another question for Joe when he pops back in.

This story about AIDs being used to treat leukemia got me to thinking about how Morbius' research has been applied in the Marvel Universe. I know attempts to re-create the super-soldier serum have had some far-reaching repercussions. So my question is, will you cover how Morbius feels about other people utilizing his work? Would he be like, "It's cursed! Don't do it!" or "Sucks that things didn't go so well for me but I hope some good comes out of it for someone else"?

[Venomous Mask]

Good issue; I'm actually excited about the upcoming Morbius series now.

[Rosebunse]

I think people expected too much out of this issue. I think some of us expected this to tie into #700, to set up the Morbius ongoing, and maybe do an over-review of his origin, just because.

On it's own merits, this was a pretty solid issue, even if it didn't do much for #700. The art was good, and we got to see some of what Keatinge can do.

A few reviews online did notice that Keatinge gave us a recon of Morbius's origins: Originally, he didn't seem to find out about his disease until after he won the Nobel prize, and originally, Martine didn't even know he was sick. What this always seemed to show was Morbius's weakness for going the easy route, for cutting corners.

However, as no one has really used Morbius's origin in over 30 years, Keatinge should probably get a pass on his recon. It was sensible, reasonable, and was free of melodrama. Also, while we do see Morbius letting Martine know about his illness, we also see him pretty much force his best friend to disregard his own ethics for Morbius's sake. Had Morbius maybe listened to Emil, well, we probably wouldn't have Morbius, the Living Vampire.

So, it all sorta balances out.

[Joe Keatinge]

Hey, everybody,

Thanks for reading 699.1, whether you enjoyed it or not.

Another question for Joe when he pops back in.

This story about AIDs being used to treat leukemia got me to thinking about how Morbius' research has been applied in the Marvel Universe. I know attempts to re-create the super-soldier serum have had some far-reaching repercussions. So my question is, will you cover how Morbius feels about other people utilizing his work? Would he be like, "It's cursed! Don't do it!" or "Sucks that things didn't go so well for me but I hope some good comes out of it for someone else"?

I do intend to get to this, yeah. His cure and its uses at Horizon is something I wanna get into.

[Aziz Abbasi]

It's a decent (though unneeded to those who know it) back story for Morbius