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Samantha Reads Comics: Digressions on David #189

The Untold Tales of Black Suit Spidey continue!

man, "Kraven vs. The Phantom" would kinda rule.

accepting this as canon even outside of the dream reality.

Spidey and Hobo Strange vs. Hobgoblin Supreme is a very enjoyably bizonkers setup.

"If you meet Dracula on the road, kill him."

get his ass, Steve

the reveal that it's been the symbiote steering the whole time is very clever, here.

PAD is extremely back on his very specific bullshit here and I absolutely love it.

oh my fucking god, they ended this dream-reality storyline on a fucking North joke.

#samantha reads comics #comics #liveblogging #comics liveblogging #marvel comics #marvel #peter david #peter parker #spider man #venom #venom symbiote #greg land

Samantha Reads Comics: They Did the MSH, They Did the Monster MSH #2

SPIDER-MAN: THIS WAY HOME

Hate when this happens to me

oh, now I get it!

what the FUCK is going on with this art

now THAT is an exciting credit combination to read.

important advice here.

These guys have so much fun.

Yeah, the Sue Flaxman Thor story in this one is a real winner. Flaxman's contributions to these anthology issues have all been great so far; I wanna look up more of what she did.

Love this stone-cold (pun intended) deadpan from Benji.

strong Kirby homage stuff going on here--I think of both his Jimmy Olsen run and the 70s Captain America stuff. Very enjoyable.

look, Rob, you chose to be named "Speedball"

Comic books are so damn good.

Jen what the fuck did you just call Wyatt

Logan you are being so rude for NO reason

maybe my new favorite stinger of all time?

Alex had been turned into a Kymellian at this point in Power Pack? I don't remember that beat at ALL. I really need to reread that series.

extremely good faces, all around, here.

Fantastic segue. No notes.

Really fun page layout here.

Speaking of very good faces.

Samantha Reads Comics: Digressions on David #188

More untold tales of the black suit! This one at least isn't drawn by my archnemesis Greg Land, cover aside.

this is wisdom.

oh, is she supposed to be White Rabbit or something?

called it!

Ah, I was wondering if this was actually gonna have any relevance to the event whatsoever. Forgot about the whole codex collecting thing.

Yeah, that oneshot kinda ruled. It had basically nothing to do with Black Suit Spidey, despite the title and cover. Just a self-contained little character piece jammed into a weird corner of Marvel lore.

#samantha reads comics #comics #liveblogging #comics liveblogging #marvel comics #marvel #peter david #spider man #peter parker #venom #venom symbiote #francesco mobili

Samantha Reads Comics: Digressions on David #187

An adaptation of a fan-submitted story that predicted the black suit before Secret Wars, hm? This could be interesting.

owned.

I get it! I get jokes!

Yeah, really nothing to say about that story. It's a neat-ish curiosity for what it is.

#samantha reads comics #comics #liveblogging #comics liveblogging #marvel comics #marvel #peter david #rick leonardi #spider man #peter parker #venom #venom symbiote

Samantha Reads Comics: Digressions on David #186

David and Keown reunite for a Hulk oneshot!

Interesting story hook. I'm on bored, I'm not bored

Gotta love dramatic irony.

Calvin Zabo as an incel rings pretty true, yeah.

The last-page Deadpool reveal got me. Good stuff.

#samantha reads comics #comics #liveblogging #comics liveblogging #marvel comics #marvel #peter david #dale keown #hulk #bruce banner

Samantha Reads Comics: They Did the MSH, They Did the Monster MSH #1

In between Digressions on David posts, gonna be checking out some of these 90s Marvel anthology specials.

fun little farce going on in this Moon Knight story. great art, too.

this is, uh... not the LEAST contrived conflict.

THE GIFT

very good Hellcat panel drawn by Dennis Jensen here.

very into this guy's design.

I guess that's a thing you technically could say, sure.

unbothered. moisturized. happy. in her lane. focused. flourishing.

this layout completely rules.

some excellent T'Challa action in this feature.

Tony Stark perm era!!!

LOT going on with this one-off(?) bad guy. Weird stuff.

Love this very silly look for Rogue

oh wow, I wonder if this story is about drugs

I guess this is a good message? This is an extremely weird story to have bothered to write, and to have put Daredevil in.

THE EVILIZER

what a weird guy, that Steve Ditko.

Not to feel too bad for mob hitmen(?), but that is some remarkably bad luck.

she simply can't be stopped!

god, why do we have to have a Red Wolf story in this

what marvels science has wrought!

this is the kind of conversation I'm always having with my friends

oh yeah, Dominic Fortune is a character.

I always love getting to see pre-Serum Steve Rogers do hero stuff against the odds.

That Captain America/Dominic Fortune story was a real winner, loved it a lot.

early Amanda Conner art!

I love Janet a whole lot.

Samantha Reads Comics: Digressions on David #185

Interested to see what David and Manna do with this trilogy of space-bound oneshots!

I forgot Franklin was a brunette by this point. And also that the Richardslings had codenames, "Powerhouse" and "Brainstorm," that don't really come up anymore.

is Valeria supposed to be like 6 or like 14? I feel like her age fluctuates a lot.

has Norrin ever been depicted surfing on water before this?

wait, is the Oedipus-complex space prince named "Luke"? booo.

ah, Marvel space civilizations, you're always gonna be a certain way, huh.

sounds like a reasonable compromise!

jeez, Heather.

Weird little story! Not sure what to make of it or what the ultimate point was. But it was engaging and well put together.

Samantha Reads Comics: Digressions on David #184

This miniseries, with its sequels in the following years, sort of kicks off the last extended "run" Peter David wrote for Marvel, even if it's not continuous numbering. Here's hoping it's a good one! (Shame that Land is involved, but we'll see where this ends up rating among his more/less obnoxious work.)

I get it! I get jokes!

Some very solid Spider-banter in this mini already.

...in what universe is "lover" NOT the elderly thing to say

new reaction panels?

I enjoy that this is still written to be the mid-80s even when Marvel is supposed to be operating on a sliding timescale.

Pretty fun miniseries, yeah, even if the art is... what it is.

#samantha reads comics #comics #liveblogging #comics liveblogging #marvel comics #marvel #peter david #peter parker #spider man #venom #venom symbiote #greg land

Samantha Reads Comics: Digressions on David #183

We're now beginning the eleventh, and unfortunately final, season of Digressions on David! Thank you for coming along for the ride, everyone who's been reading my posts!

Very fun moment of pettiness from Loki here.

...I didn't think that was "mere rope," because it's clearly drawn as chains. Artist/writer miscommunication, gotta think. (Apparently this was some sort of weird Comixology exclusive promo, so it would kinda make sense if it was a rush job.)

very fun crate-digging with the costume gags here.

hey, unexpected followup to the Ewing Contest of Champions series! kinda, I guess.

don't love the faces on this cover, gotta say.

THIS cover is a lot better.

decently fun little miniseries! not a ton to say about it, feels like it was sorta churned out for the promotion.

Samantha Reads Comics: Shots in the Dark #8

This series has been a great and engaging read, very much worth filling this blind spot from the Bendis era.

Oh, I don't think I realized this part of the lore was canon, I assumed it was an MCU original twist.

Yeah, issue #13 on its own is a knockout, easily one of the best things Bendis ever wrote.

Oof, that's chilling stuff. Very well-conceived drama by Bendis here.

I really wasn't expecting the character arc Victoria gets in this series, it's some pretty impactful and subtle writing.

Yeah, that was a great read. The Siege issues especially are some masterful, portentous writing. Bendis was at the zenith of his bravura here.

Samantha Reads Comics: Shots in the Dark #7

Great cover on this one.

now THAT is how you deploy a reveal.

Chris Bachalo! Drawing a Noh-Varr annual!

god, the dynamism on this whole spread--the layout, the effects, the lettering. it's poster-worthy. (also, Sentry, why are you being such a bitch)

Samantha Reads Comics: Shots in the Dark #6

Thank you, Ares.

Really evocative, grim moment here. Lot falling into place in a dark way.

fuckin DENIED

Hela this is NOT the time to be trying to fuck

Samantha Reads Comics: Shots in the Dark #5

This has also been on my to-read list forever, and it's also a Marvel title with "Dark" in the title, so I'm gonna go ahead and do it now. I'm wildly mixed on Bendis, but I always love Deodato, so let's dig in!

cook his ass, Maria.

Venom being fed captive Skrulls but demanding they turn into Spider-Man first is pretty delightful.

what a wholesome guy, that Norman Osborn!

lots of really fun character interactions so far, especially around Norman himself (it's very true that Bendis is fascinated by the character), but the big group action scenes are messy and incoherent, and I think that's Bendis being kind of disinterested in writing them. (I also think Rain Beredo's colors are a bad match for Deodato, though--the dramatic shading and high saturation get to be a bit much when the lineart is already kind of loud and maximalist.)

Lester understands conflict resolution.

Lester is pretty delightful in this book, yeah.

Really great, understated ending page here. Puts tons of weight on Norman and Sentry's relationship, which I can tell is gonna end up being the fulcrum of the book.