Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Zé Carlos, Carlos Gómez & Marcelo Ferreira
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Cover Artists: Mark Bailey, John Dell & Brian Reber
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
The Sinister War is nearing its end as the final battle draws near: Spider-Man vs. Kindred. But before the true battle can commence, the macabre mastermind has a few more tricks up his sleeve to show. Amazing Spider-Man #73 shows that not all is at it seems when it comes to Kindred and his revenge.
Review:
Whew! Readers and longtime Spider-Man fans alike are all in for a surprise with the major “revelations” in this comic book. That synopsis about not spoiling anything is right for once. Now that Sinister War is drawing to a close, Nick Spencer is going to be dropping some major retcon bombs in this comic book. For once, retcons that might actually benefit the Spider-Man franchise and undo some major, incalculably huge storytelling errors from past stories.
As far as the confrontation between Spidey and Kindred, there’s not much there yet. Like previous issues, the comic merely sets up the final battle while shifting the focus onto the other supporting characters who were roped into the plot by Kindred. There’s so much that deals with spoilers, so I’ll explain much more in the Spoilers Section.
Overall, this comic’s main theme and focus is on retribution for past sins, specifically those committed against Harry Osborn. And now the young man’s revenge is finally catching up with those closest to him, whether they like it or not. This comic provides readers with a twisted and almost sick tale of how far he will go for revenge. Now, onto the spoilers.
Spoilers:
So, this comic reveals that Harry Osborn has quite the convoluted revenge plot for his former loved ones. The best example of that is with the “kids” Norman Osborn had with Gwen Stacy, Sarah and Gabriel Osborn. Apparently, Harry had this scheme years ago in the making, as his uploaded mind reveals to Norman that his “kids” were really flawed artificial clones the whole time. Like the person MJ sees dressed as Kindred is Sarah, supposedly Gwen’s “daughter.” And this is where the major retcon comes in.
You see, Norman never really had kids with Gwen, heck, they were never in a relationship to begin with. Harry hatched this revenge plot years ago with the help of Chameleon, Mysterio, and Mendel Stromm. Chameleon helped him bring Peter to his lowest point with fake android parents, while Mysterio hypnotized Norman and Gwen to believe they were together. Then Mendel Stromm provided the facilities to make Sarah and Gabriel. All of this so Nick Spencer could retcon the maligned Sins Past storyline and everything that came from it.
It was all lie concocted by Harry Osborn, even the memories of Gwen telling MJ about the kids were fakes planted by Mysterio in therapy. Granted, this doesn’t completely wash away the stain Sins Past left, but it feels good to finally have it written out of continuity. But at the end of the day, even with all of Harry’s scheming, it all comes back to Mephisto, just like in Amazing Spider-Man #72. Hopefully Nick Spencer goes two for two and retcons One More Day too.
Final Thoughts:
Amazing Spider-Man #73 prepares Spidey fans for the big fight between Spider-Man and Kindred and drops another big revelation for readers. Like past issues in Sinister War, the comic focuses on exploring the length of Kindred’s machinations. However, there is another huge retcon in this comic that longtime Spider-Man fans will undoubtedly notice, and it’s a good retcon for a change. It’s not One More Day, but it’s still a much needed retcon for Spider-Man.