Amazing Spider-Man #5

Writer – Dan Slott
Artist – Humerto Ramos
Inker – Victor Olazaba
Colours Edgar Delgado

Black Cat is out to get her slice of New York pie, the underground criminal type that is.  She believes her way in is through the Eel, and she and her new friend Electro are ready to do that and more.  Meanwhile, Peter and Cindy cannot seem to control themselves around each other as the attraction is overwhelming, most likely due to their sort-of shared spider-genes.  At least that is the explanation they give Anna Maria when she walks in on them.  Things get a little more complicated when Peter has to go on television, bumping J. Jonah Jameson to a later time slot, and Black Cat and Electro show up looking for Spider-Man.  This book just keeps getting better and better as time goes on with the now added element of a love triangle being added in by our super-scribe, Dan Slott.  Funny enough, it really is not a love triangle in the classic sense as Peter has no designs on Anna Maria, and she being quite logical, has similarly given up on Peter, but it looks like there is tension there so it could become quite interesting given time.  The Black Cat storyline is progressing nicely with Felicia now joining the ranks of New York’s crime syndicate.  It is great to see Jonah back on the spider-hating track as well as he was never more fun than when he was up in arms over whatever Spider-Man had done recently.  Silk is a great addition to the cast and already she is shaking things up with Peter and his world.  She provides a nice dynamic to the title that usually shows up when Peter is dating a girl, but this time it comes with the added threat of death by Morlun which is a bit of a downer.  Great art, great writing, great book!

4.5 out of 5

Captain America #23

Writer – Rick Remender
Artist – Carlos Pacheco
Inker – Mariano Taibo
Colours – Dean White

In the previous issue Zola and his forces have come to New York while Falcon and Jet have started seeing each other.  Now, someone is intent on breaking into the mansion and it looks like one of Zola’s men.  He makes it past Iron Man and Thor and all the way to Steve where he stops dumbfounded noticing that Steve has aged, and then gets past the Hulk where Steve stops him cold.  After revealing himself to be Ian, Cap’s son from Dimension Z he tells them what he knows of Zola’s plan which leads to the Avengers attacking on two fronts and leaving the book on a large, yet expected, cliff-hanger.  Remender’s latest epic continues on its way; though a person could argue it is still the very same one he began way back in issue one.  Lots of action this issue compared to the last which helped move the book along as well as a touching moment between father and son.  It is good to see some of Remender’s long planted seeds starting to bear fruit and it will be quite the show when Jet confronts her father.  Pacheco’s artwork has transformed once again into a merger of what looks like his old and most recent style and it really pops off the page, especially in the fight scenes.  Hopefully the Marvel Universe in general catches up to this title soon, as it gets a little hard to place events when Cap is young in one book and old in another.  Next issue is sure to be a doozy!

4 out of 5