Spider-Island has both been an unoriginal, and original story. Humans turning into man-spiders? Something you'll see in a 50's science fiction film. But there's been a lot of interesting stuff going on, the villains have been "different" and it's pretty fast-paced. Overall, the event has it's cool moments, but has been nothing amazing. (No pun intended.) Usually, the final issue of any big contained event is a big battle with the title hero figuring out the solution. It's the same here, but it's fun.
THE QUEEN IS HERE! And she is not happy, which means bad news for all non-spiders of New York. Mary Jane steps in to help, but the Queen is now a god, so says Madame Web. With that in mind, can Spidey come even a little close to stopping this monster?
A very fast-paced issue, it was a fun one. Was it a good one? Sure, but it still suffers from everything I've been saying in my past reviews.
Just read this piece of dialogue between Spidey and MJ.
Spidey: "I've got spider powers. You've got 'em. Everyone's got 'em. I know when I'm out of my league. Right here, right now, there's nothing special about me. I can't--"
MJ: "Hey, idiot. Spider-Man never made you special. Being Peter Parker makes you special! So nerd up! Be clever. Build something! Get us out of this!"
Oh. My. Gosh. That little scene practically ruined the whole issue for me. Spider-Man, after all these years, saying those cheesy lines. "There's nothing special about me." Are you kidding me? The Spidey I know would keep on going, not say these ridiculous lines. Spidey's prime, the late 80's to the mid 2000's, is all washed away. He use to be THE hero, now he's an amateur. I haven't liked his portrayal ever since Brand New Day. He isn't Marvel's premiere hero in comics anymore, it's degrading. It's like Spidey himself took a step back and every growth in his character is washed away.
Besides that horrific scene, the rest of the issue is pretty good. It's nice to see Steve in non-Spider King form giving orders on the battlefield. The Queen's giant spider form is a sight to behold, though underused and is beaten rather too quickly. Madame Web comes along saying they can't win, that the Queen has achieved being a god. If that were true, then she should have looked a heck lot more tough. During this whole event, Madame Web ended up being useless and annoying.
WHAT HAPPENED TO ANTI-VENOM?! I hope the epilogue explains, I have a sad feeling that that's the end of that character. MJ is portrayed pretty much the same since her arrival way back in #600. She never had a place in the series since her arrival, but now I can see her having one. I mean, Carlie wasn't seen or mentioned in this issue! Let's face it, MJ and Spidey make sense, and this issue proves that.
If the art were better, I probably would have liked Spider-Island a lot more. Way too cartoony, and some characters, (MJ) are lacking sufficient detail. The cover is nothing special, in fact, besides the prologue, these covers haven't been that great.
Overall, Spider-Island was a disappointing event. If Spidey was Spidey, and the art was good, it would have been better. This issue was a good closure to the event. The Queen will most likely be forgotten (like the Serpent) since her story is done.
7/10.
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