The decimal issues are back in Amazing Spider-Man #78.BEY, written by Jed MacKay, artwork by Eleonora Carlini, colors by Federico Blee, and letters by Joe Caramagna.
Spider-Man has the best supporting cast in comics. That’s probably one of the least controversial things I could say about Spider-Man. I mean sure, there are individual supporting characters that might have an edge, but as an overall cast, Spidey is the top of the stack.
That means in the Beyond era, with Ben Reilly in the webs, he has a steep hill to climb. Ben’s supporting cast is basically Peter’s supporting cast, but they have to keep him away from Aunt May, and lie about his identity and… well… It just gets messy. That means the Beyond era did have to expand its horizons a bit, which is exactly why Amazing Spider-Man #78.BEY exists.
Thankfully, Jed MacKay, Eleonora Carlini, Federico Blee, and Joe Caramagna knew exactly how to do that.
Misty Knight and Colleen Wing are two of Marvel’s best supporting characters. They’re frankly nearly near the top of the list of Marvel characters who perpetually deserve a series (probably only behind Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm). Zeb Wells was smart to bring them in as Ben’s trainers and the Beyond Corporation’s support staff. Nick Lowe bringing in MacKay to flesh their roles out more, and follow-up on last issue’s big reveal was even smarter.
Yeah, former Avenger and Nextwaver Monica Rambeau is paying Misty and Colleen to spy on Beyond. Frankly, I can’t blame her considering what the Beyond Corporation put her through in Nextwave.
As Ben cools down from a training session full of horror movie-inspired twists on the Avengers, Beyond exec Maxine sends Misty and Colleen on a mission that should be pretty simple. Naturally, it goes gloriously wrong. That means monster Avengers and a fight that’s way more fun than it deserves to be.
MacKay inserts the characters as exactly what they need to be, and that’s a hell of a lot of fun. Writing them as essentially an old married couple, the two bicker, fight, and kick ass through a virtual reality horror scenario. Carlini just knocks the action out of the park, by the way, opting more for kinetic action rather than scares. Blee adds colors that give the story a hyperkinetic cartoony feel, and Caramagna’s letters blend into that same tone from MacKay’s script.
It’s fun, it’s full of action, has some great visuals, it’s really all you could ask for in a single-issue comic. Really the only thing it could have used is a bit stronger tie to Spider-Man- maybe making the training simulation a horror twist on the Sinister Six, rather than the Avengers? To its benefit though, it fleshes out a pair of supporting cast members in a way that gives them not just a good reason for being in the book but makes it a hell of a lot of fun. We’re sure to get more of these two running these types of missions while working closely and covertly with Monica.
With the Daughters of the Dragon firmly established in Spidey’s supporting cast after this issue, I think things have only gotten better. Let’s hope to stick around after the Beyond saga ends.
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble.
