Final Days of Dark Reign - Spider-Man

[jackolover]

Here is the first installment

http://au.comics.ign.com/articles/104/1040899p1.html

I really liked how Spidey had to interact with Mr. Negative, and in American Son, with Norman and Harry, during Dark Reign. Peter has had to keep his cool during the whole arc, as the underworld began to take over the city, and a former underworld figure was in charge of the world. Surely Peter knew that Hood and Norman were working together, and even if Mr Negative resisted amalgamation with Hood, there was still the rivalry there, especially when Menace began to play a part in the election process, as she got arrested and then disappeard into the Osborn enclave.

All in all, with his interaction with the Hoods gang, Mr Negative and Norman Osborns Stark Towers headquarters, Spider-Mans Dark Reign has been pretty full on. I've been impressed with the way Peter dissociates himself from the bad situation of having his former enemy being in charge of law and order, without freaking out completely and either giving up the game or going on TV like Clint did.

[DetectiveDupin]

I'll probably pick this up. Spider-man is defintitely one character Bendis can write.

[XPac]

Originally Posted by jackolover

Here is the first installment

http://au.comics.ign.com/articles/104/1040899p1.html

I really liked how Spidey had to interact with Mr. Negative, and in American Son, with Norman and Harry, during Dark Reign. Peter has had to keep his cool during the whole arc, as the underworld began to take over the city, and a former underworld figure was in charge of the world. Surely Peter knew that Hood and Norman were working together, and even if Mr Negative resisted amalgamation with Hood, there was still the rivalry there, especially when Menace began to play a part in the election process, as she got arrested and then disappeard into the Osborn enclave.

All in all, with his interaction with the Hoods gang, Mr Negative and Norman Osborns Stark Towers headquarters, Spider-Mans Dark Reign has been pretty full on. I've been impressed with the way Peter dissociates himself from the bad situation of having his former enemy being in charge of law and order, without freaking out completely and either giving up the game or going on TV like Clint did.

Yeah, Spidey has actually had a few really nice moments in Dark Reign, which I like.

He proved himself to be the moral compass of the Avengers (something that potentially would have been lacking without Steve around, but Peter made up for the slack), which was cool.

And on the suprisingly few occasions where Norman and Peter had to go head to headl, as far as Peter was concerned it was just like old times. Regardless of how powerful Osborn got, Peter still was able to get the best of him anytime he needed to. Osborn can be king of the world, but he's still just another thug for Peter to kick into a nearby water tower.

[Mundungus]

I'm definitely picking this List issue up, if only for the stellar Kubert art.

But I'm also a big Spidey fan at heart so I would like to see how he affects the outcome of Dark Reign.

[jackolover]

Originally Posted by Mundungus

I'm definitely picking this List issue up, if only for the stellar Kubert art.

But I'm also a big Spidey fan at heart so I would like to see how he affects the outcome of Dark Reign.

Same here. Norman has had his ass handed to him by the Spider in American Son, and there is no getting away from the fact Norman has a fixation on him. Maybe that's why Norman generally fails to overcome Spidey, because he can't see the chickens for the trees, and by that I mean Norman gets too worked up about catching Spidey that he isn't cool enough to set traps, and just lobs pumpkins.

What I would like to see is a concerted plan by Osborn to trap Spider-Man so it makes it hard for Spidey to win, and more likely that Norman does. So far, the best technology Norman has used against Spider-Man has been the detection of his Spider tracers, but is Peter dumb enough to keep them on his person now that he knows Norman has a way to detect them?

[jackolover]

Originally Posted by XPac

Yeah, Spidey has actually had a few really nice moments in Dark Reign, which I like.

He proved himself to be the moral compass of the Avengers (something that potentially would have been lacking without Steve around, but Peter made up for the slack), which was cool.

And on the suprisingly few occasions where Norman and Peter had to go head to headl, as far as Peter was concerned it was just like old times. Regardless of how powerful Osborn got, Peter still was able to get the best of him anytime he needed to. Osborn can be king of the world, but he's still just another thug for Peter to kick into a nearby water tower.

I think Spideys condemnation of stealing a Quinjet was a bit of a shock to me when I first read it. And Peter revulsion at the thought of using guns as suggested by James Barnes, made us remember how the heroes practice using their own whiles instead of instruments, Hawkeye excepted.

What I had to realise about the the New Avengers story, was that it was just after the Secret Invasion win in Central park, and the heroes were fresh from a victory, and just made aware that Norman Osborn is in charge of security in America. I think they were in denial for a long time, and Spidey thought they were still in victory mode and they were heroes. Stealing stuff was like admitting that life had ended, where heroes were still on the run again. The writers at Marvel had to make that mental adjustment, too, from mild euphoria, to guarded defence, because it was a palpable switch to see heroes turn from being free again, to hunted again.

The Spider-Man books didn't even acknowledge that there was a bad guy in charge, except that one time Norman was invited by JJJ to the engagement of JJJ's father, and JJJ cowered in front of Norman. That was the only indication that Norman was terrorising the establishment, until Spider-Man walked into Stark Towers and tried to pull Harry out of there.

I will say the cover of Dark Reign Amazing Spider-Man #599, is not a cover I expected to see on this book. Norman and Harry Osborn, dressed in Iron Man armor, taking over the book. Not that this actually happened here, but the cover was wholly unexpected, on a Spider book.

[jackolover]

..... That, all through the DR, was following all the twists and turns going on in Osborns machinations?

I don't think so.

No FBI or CIA person took it upon himself to watch the 'Directors' moves on the International stage, because of what he (Osborn) was. Gyrich should have done this, but the ideal man should have been Parker, leading a squad of covert operatives, just to track what Osborn was doing. I think, at the least, this should have been attempted, and as Ben Urich wasn't tried, Parker should have been the frontman. He would have made a good spy, if he didn't have to expose or confront any of it.

The Cabal, DA, Hood, The TV crew who disappeared on Bullseye, Rhodeys clone, the Cube, Atlas, Olympus, the Hulks, Electra. I mean there was an endless trail leading from HYDRA and Strucker, to the TBolts and the Initiative. If all this could have been correlated, then a setup plan to take Osborn down, once he made his move, would have already been there.

[jackolover]

I like that in both American Son and NA Depowered, that Spider-Man tells Harry and Clint respectively, why they can't kill people like Norman Osborn. Because that makes the NA just like Osborn. He told Harry this, so Harry could be his own man and have his own identity, instead of the identity his father forces onto him.

But Clint? Peter told him that he was losing it, and it was because he doesn't have the luxury of Starks Mansion and amenities, and "welcome to my life, Clint". Just because the badguy has it better than you, isn't a good enough reason to throw away the Avengers rule of no-kill. Peter was telling the NA not to panic and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Definately Carol wants to kill and Clint wants to kill. Wolvy is a no brainer, and even Jess Drew would kill. Luke would go along with it if everyone did. Spidey keeps the team on level ground. James Barnes is a dilema. He comes straight out of a shooter culture, but Cap set him on the road to redemption. I just don't know about Cap. If I was inclined to get someone to take down Norman permanently, I would call Blade. He knows how to terminate creatures that don't die. Cut off their heads!!

[Tremnar]

Originally Posted by jackolover

..... That, all through the DR, was following all the twists and turns going on in Osborns machinations?

I don't think so.

No FBI or CIA person took it upon himself to watch the 'Directors' moves on the International stage, because of what he (Osborn) was. Gyrich should have done this, but the ideal man should have been Parker, leading a squad of covert operatives, just to track what Osborn was doing. I think, at the least, this should have been attempted, and as Ben Urich wasn't tried, Parker should have been the frontman. He would have made a good spy, if he didn't have to expose or confront any of it.

The Cabal, DA, Hood, The TV crew who disappeared on Bullseye, Rhodeys clone, the Cube, Atlas, Olympus, the Hulks, Electra. I mean there was an endless trail leading from HYDRA and Strucker, to the TBolts and the Initiative. If all this could have been correlated, then a setup plan to take Osborn down, once he made his move, would have already been there.

I think we are going to see something big happen in this List issue, I think a media attack on Peter's part. And I certainly can't see Spider-man not being integral in bringing Osborn down when Siege hits the stands in January.

[Mulbard]

Originally Posted by Tremnar

I think we are going to see something big happen in this List issue, I think a media attack on Peter's part. And I certainly can't see Spider-man not being integral in bringing Osborn down when Siege hits the stands in January.

Anyone think Osborn will rediscover Spider-Man's identity? (I'm currently catcing up on trades so to my knowledge this may have already happened)

[RDMacQ]

Originally Posted by Mulbard

Anyone think Osborn will rediscover Spider-Man's identity? (I'm currently catcing up on trades so to my knowledge this may have already happened)

I can certainly see that happening. However, due to the psychic mindblock, it doesn't matter who Norman would tell since they wouldn't believe him anyway. It might be a nice way for Peter to screw with Norman, and could potentially mess Norman up enough to affect his position of power and prominence in the Marvel U.