The Pull: November 2020 Edition, Part 1

 

So, I kinda fell off the wagon as far as The Pull was concerned. I am back. And dear God we have a lot to focus on. Due to some budgetary stuff we'll be going down to just Amazing Spider-man, Star Wars, and Darth Vader. Titles will be re-added as I can afford to add them. 

Obviously, SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT

Darth Vader #6

One of the most interesting things about ROTJ is the shift that Vader has had since ESB. Vader goes from begging Luke to help him overthrow Palpatine to a seeming timidity, insisting that Palpatine is to be obeyed above all. It's a very odd shift.

Which is what makes this comic so great, because dear God Palpatine is a SCARY SCARY BAD MAN.

Like, the utter simplicity of this comic is almost beyond reproach. Palpatine jumps Vader, who is trying to figure himself out, beats the snot out of him, cripples his apprentice, and then leaves him to rebuild on Mustafar.  Oh, and as if that was not enough, Palpatine sends an assassin after a very weakened Vader, and Vader is not allowed to use the Force but must work under his own crippled strength, because otherwise Palpatine will just kill Vader?

This is straight out of a heavy metal album.

And I mean that in the best way possible. This is fun.

Star Wars #8

I adore this cover. Just, straight up love it. If you needed to know who Zahara is this one cover just sums it up in the best way possible. Grieving and vicious, Zahara's got a personal stake in this, given her stance as the rejected foster daughter of Tarkin. I love her motivations and how she is inherently out to stop more Death Star incidents from happening. The Empire is a means to that end, for her. It's interesting to see someone so vicious be so vulnerable.

If there's anything this issues fails to do it's to give Leia a compelling arc. I get this is Zahara's story and whatnot, but we've barely seen Leia in the title and it would have been nice to give her something to do beyond show up and get made a fool of. I get that Luke's the combatant of the two, but it really felt hollow having him show up. Leia is a smart cookie, she can definitely handle Zahara by herself. Not by outfighting her, but by outthinking. Maybe they're saving that for a future issue? I don't know, but Leia seemed to be the weak link in this issue. Luke shouldn't be the dude who just gets Leia out of her scrapes once he's got his power figured out. That just makes them both plot devices, and these characters deserve better than that.

Amazing Spider-Man #50, 50.LR, 51, and 51.LR

Holy shit Kindred is Harry Osborn. I have thoughts on that. But I wanna wait until #52 until I say more.

I love how this issue begins to finalize the repudiation of One More Day. It was a bad decision, made by a man who belonged nowhere near the franchise. Reading JMS's take on it is nothing short of bone-chilling. And, as much as I enjoyed some of Slott's take on Peter, his refusal to show Peter as a functional adult really grated on me by the end of that run. And for years we've just watched Peter run around with this shadow over him. Slott didn't want to deal with it because he agreed with it.

I've no idea why that changed, or why they let Spencer have the title. But Last Remains is, so far, everything this bitter fan of JMS has ever wanted to happen after the travesty that is OMD. Peter is paying, in full, for the stupidity that he wrought with Mephisto. And it is playing out a hell of a lot better than I ever thought it would.

Norman Osborn is a joy to read. I love how guilt-ridden he is, how utterly repentant and desperate, but not despairing! He knows his part in this whole mess and is trying to fix it, working against Kindred because Kindred is the one who accidentally set it up. Or, at least I think it's an accident. This is an angle on Norman I think that may be actually unique. And it's a lot of fun. 

I love how Sin-Eater isn't down and out, even after being abandoned by Kindred. It's cool to see a character who is so focused on who he is that, even abandoned by his dark god, he continues on with his mission. There's just this really cool vibe of a fallen paladin coming off the dude. And I have no idea how the heck Morlun got back to the 616 universe but... um.... that's not what I expected. At all.

And there's a Black Cat and Dr. Strange team up going on? Be still my beating heart! This is great! Having these two characters bounce off each other is the ultimate Odd Couple. Black Cat's hedonistic but still noble tendencies really piss of Dr. Strange, and he really tries her patience with his lack of caring about "minutiae".

My wallet cried when I saw how much these folks have in mind for The Amazing Spider-Man title, but so far this is shaping up to be exactly what I wanted out of this run. I don't get to say that very often. And I'm going to relish it.

UNDO IT, SPENCER. I'M ROOTING FOR YA

Come and be a Patron! Either just show your appreciation for the blog or tell me what you want me to cover!

If you can't do that it's cool, but please do come to the Facebook page and say hello!