Writers: Nick Spencer & Matthew Rosenberg
Artist: Federico Vicentini
Colors: Marcio Menyz
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher

Release date November 4 2020
Review by D. Brown (WolfCypher)

On our previous installment of Last Remains, Spider-Man and Kindred finally come face-to-face. Their confrontation is left on a cliffhanger — “To Be Continued”. How do you follow up the last entry in this increasingly high-stakes arc? By checking in on all the secondary and tertiary characters, of course!

Here we have an issue where there isn’t a single appearance of Spider-Man (outside of maybe a single panel flashback) or any forward momentum of the focal villain Kindred…but really, let it sink in more than anything that here is a Spider-Man comic without Spider-Man in it…But you’re be happy to hear that I don’t take this as a negative. This book is carried on my its strengths in the story and its art.

I’m still loving Federico Vicentini’s work on this story. Nick Spencer’s run has never been short of great artist, and Vicentini continues to prove this truth. This ASM run should consider itself lucky to be spoiled by all the fantastic artist that have graced its pages. I’ve said in my last review how Vicentini can really sell this sort of speed and impact in his action shots, and that still holds weight here. The panic that takes place closer to the end of the book looks marvelous under his hand. Honestly, the entire book is a marvel (none of these are intended puns) as there’s so much good art crammed into every panel. There’s just so much going on in this issue…even without Spider-Man or Kindred in sight. And on the writings end, Spencer and Rosenberg deliver a great script, one with some good banter between Doctor Strange and the Black Cat. Seriously, the back-and-forth between these two is worth picking up this issue. For me, I was taken by surprise twice in this book, once at the very beginning, where the Sin-Eater is revealed to still be among us in this book (I was sure his role had come to its abrupt end) and again as of the appearance waiting on the final pages…what is going on?! Who else is going to factor in on this arc?!

These LR issues are in an interesting position. So far, they have proven very entertaining on their own, and its safe to reason these issues are moving parts that will prove more essential later in the non-LR chapters of our Kindred arc. It was a very ballsy move to do an entire issue where the biggest characters readers need to keep up with are completely absent from the entire book. In there places is an ever growing ensemble, and not just the obvious inclusions of Mary Jane Watson (back in New York just in time for the biggest threat to Spider-Man yet) and Norman Osborn. The Spidey-Family are still running amok, the Sin-Eater surprisingly hasn’t been totally removed from play, and even more players enter the fray before the book’s end, this issue is more of a doozy than a filer.

Final Thoughts

The writing continues to stay strong and the art is pure icing. Spencer seems to be pulling out his best material for the arc we’ve all been waiting for.