The Amazing Spider-Man #229

The Story

 

      The story starts off with a dream from Madame Web. or M.W. as she is called. She has a dream about spider-man fighting a powerful monster. she wakes up in a cold sweat and calls the one person who only matters and that is peter parker while he is trying to sleep. pfffft like he needs sleep. 
 
     In New york harbor the boat belonging to Black Tom arrives and the Juggernaut is on board as well. I like how they use the excuse of the X-men and how Juggernaut and Black tom always get beaten by them. so Black tom figures he would get the psychic Madame Web working for him. but with little time he sends Cain to go get her. by of course just jumping off the boat and walking there on foot. 
 
     The story is not all that great in the first few pages as it is more of a build up to the encounter between the two characters. Peter heads off to the Daily Bugle to get any more information before his classes. We learn about how he has not been the same since the incident with black cat in issues #226-227. but this is one of my favorite things in these comics is how each issue ties together but is a seperate story unto itself. and its something that i do not see anymore in the new age comics. 
 
    Juggernaut shows up and Madame Web warns peter. he changes up to go an encounter the unstoppable force. using the old element of surprise he does good old fashioned drop kick behind the head. that fails, then web. that fails. one more strike and spidey is out for the day. well he did and was knocked out by holding onto the juggernaut while he was moving through a building. 
 

    Spider-man and Madame web try to enlist help before juggernaut tries to get to her. but no help is available. After trying to find Dr.Strange but no one there except wong, Spidey heads back to Madame Webs place to see if he can stop him one more time. as the two battle again, Madame web says how this is happening like in her dream. as juggernaut was the beast spider-man fought. she panics as Juggernaut takes her out of her seat and she goes into a convulsion. the issue ends as Spider-man prepares to go after the juggernaut and make him pay.
 
    Good issue, of spider-man. i was a fan of the juggernaut and i wanted to read an issue with him that did not involve the X-men heavily. so going back through my old stash i found this and i have to say the characters are great for continuity, as they remind us of the history of the character. but in the end we come back to the battles and how they make most of these spider-man issues. to me the action was the great part. But now getting older i start to enjoy those old stories more as i understand what is going on.
 

The Pretty Colours

 
     John Romita Jr, one of the legends in this field. going back over his old work. i would say its the 80's. and so the detail may not be amazing but it gives so much in the actions to get the point across on what is going on. Jim Mooney at the same time with the help of colours from Glynis Wein, put in quite a bit of colors to really make it stand out in many areas. 
 
      Speaking on colors, I find with a lot of these old issues there tends to be an overlay of one or two colors that make the background. like in these there is quite a bit of dark blue and purple. so any other colour that shows up in the panel can be like wow, and catch your attention. i know "like wow" one of my best descriptions ever. 
 
    Fight scenes with the juggernaut or should i say attempt at fighting with the juggernaut though little detail are not without its own charm. we see not only size difference but speed as well. when a character like spider-man fighting a muscle bound giant like juggernaut you really see the speed at which he tries all sorts of moves to try to stop the human tank. 
 

    Another thing i liked to see is the power of juggernaut which is never exploited enough in my taste, one being o f which a couple of panels, where juggernaut is being fired on by the police and armed forces that arrive with a TANK!. yes and yet nothing stops him. like come on people you do not get the title of unstoppable for just getting stopped by a few artillery fire. 
 
   Overall the art is good, not great by todays standards with the amount of detail. but for nostalgic value, id say there are tons. did the art carry the comic. hell yes. this issue was designed from the beginning to be an action issue. mind you i would like to see more from the two. but this was a build up for the next issue that would come.
 

Overall Thought

 
      The story and characters were good. though i found the story itself to be kind of lacking as we don't know fully well why black tom wants her or who else may want her. black tom is a sneaky irish and always has something up his sleeve. great back tales with old characters like the return of betty brant who shows up for a panel or two and reminds us how she is married. Madame Web is still as strange as ever. 
 
       Art and colors, Though not the greatest i find it does get you through the issue. I did find it really carried the issue. and when i was a kid the colors really jumped at you when it came to specific things they wanted you to see in the pages. so for that purpose it did its job in what it wanted the reader to see. since this was an action issue it helped out quite a bit. 
 
     Overall i give it a 3.5 / 5, not a super high rating but since i found this issue is nothing more for a setup for the power brawl that will happen in New York with the unstoppable menace himself. i think it would be worth trying to find and reading. its an iffy thing to weather to recommend this type of issue. some might find this story confusing if not well versed with spider-man. but for action junkies. id say this might be an issue you want to read. id say read it first from a friend before deciding if you want to go digging on ebay to find it.
 
     Well that was my review on Amazing Spider-man #229. do i feel better at the end of this? how the hell should i know. ill be back next week and check the e-mails on what you guys want me to review. if i care too. and to Jacob from Cleveland, yes those pants make you look fat.