Writer: Geoffrey Thorne
Artist: Jan Bazaldua & Jim Towe
Colorist: Jim Campbell
Cover Artists: Nick Bradshow & Rachelle Rosenberg
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Peter Parker is out of commission, but Ben Reilly has taken over as Spider-Man with the backing of the Beyond Corporation. However, the Beyond Corporation has its hand in many things aside from Superheroes, as Hobie Brown, aka The Prowler now The Hornet, finds out in Amazing Spider-Man #88.BEY!
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Review:
Here we have another tie-in to the main Beyond storyline going on in Amazing Spider-Man right now, and it’s sadly a disappointment. Now, there’s nothing wrong with the issue in its writing or art, only that it has little to do with the main story. It doesn’t really contribute to what’s going on in Amazing Spider-Man and is more of a misadventure with The Hornet, which just so happens to involve the Beyond Corporation.
The story itself is pretty fine, if not serviceable for what it is. The comic starts off showing a flashback of Hobie Brown as The Hornet in action during the King In Black event, which is ironic because he did have a tie-in to that series too. From there it quickly shifts to the present-day where Hobie is talking to Mindy, his wife/girlfriend (I’m not sure which), about his company Fairgray and how it’s going to help people reeling from the aftermath of such huge events. Sounds nice, until they find out that it was bought by Beyond for some reason, and Hobie and Mindy get to work trying to find out what that reason is.
Quick spoiler: they never really find out why Beyond bought his company. At the halfway point, the comic shifts into another story involving the two young heroes on the cover. Ultimately, this comic is more of a fun continuation of Hobie Brown’s life to become more of a hero than it has anything to do with the wider Beyond story. For all intents and purposes, Beyond could’ve been switched out with any other big evil corporation like Roxxon, and it wouldn’t change too much except for the ending maybe.
However, the good thing is that Geoffrey Thorne does a solid job making Hobie Brown a fun and compelling character as the new Hornet. Here, he’s a fun and ambitious go-getter trying move his life forward and do the biggest thing he can to help people, while the other characters in the book have solid characterization and bounce well off of him. The artwork by Jan Bazaldua and Jim Towe with Jim Campbell’s colors make the characters and the action very dynamic, with the only weakness being how some of the faces are drawn here and there.
But other than that it’s a fun read for fans of Hobie Brown, but it’s pretty skippable if you want something that actually ties into Amazing Spider-Man right now.
Final Thoughts:
Amazing Spider-Man #88.BEY is a fun book if you’re a fan of Hobie Brown, formerly The Prowler now The Hornet. However, if you want a story that directly ties into the main series, than you might have to look elsewhere. The dialogue and pacing are good, the artwork is solid and energetic at times, and the story is a fun ride for fans of Hobie Brown.