Coverage of Brand New Day continues here! Though let’s not kid ourselves that the marketing slogan really needs to be used anymore because this book sells itself! This month sees Marc Guggenheim and Savador Larocca left holding the baton, and after the Slott/McNiven powerhouse, I have to admit I was slightly concerned to see whether the quality of these two would match up. Guggenheim turned in a mostly excellent Wolverine arc during Civil War, but followed it up with uneven arcs on Blade and Flash. Larocca’s artwork has been consciously evolving styles for several years now, making him something of an unsafe bet - at least as far as my personal taste goes.

However, despite some arguably shaky architects, this issue promises to continue the trend of high quality that’s been set. Perhaps that’s down to the “braintrust” steering the ship - it’ll be interesting to see who makes the first genuine screw up, if nothing else. For now, Guggenheim keeps the wisecracks flowing and the plots moving. He’s also unenviably saddled with introducing two fairly major, and largely derided  plot developments into the “Brand New Day” continuity. Dexter Bennet turns up at the Daily Bugle and begins to remake it in his own image, and far more importantly, Spider-Man meets Jackpot for the first time since the possibly-not-in-continuity-but-now-it-is FCBD special, Swing Shift.

Jackpot is a character I’m not sure about. While I really like the idea of turning the tables on Peter and MJ’s relationship somewhat, there’s not much of a relationship to speak of at the moment. The hints that Jackpot is MJ - right down to Peter almost recognising her even in-costume - are being laid on with a trowel, and I can’t decide if it’s supposed to be misdirection or just an attempt to make sure that the blow, when it comes, is appropriately softened. There has to be a twist, surely? That said, Spidey and Jackpot’s interaction is handled well. As if Guggenheim didn’t have enough to deal with, he also has to use the fact that Jackpot is a “registered” heroine (and thus more legitimate that Spidey) drawing on one of the less-loved parts of Civil War.

Larocca’s artwork is, for me, still the weakest link in the BND chain, though I admit that’s largely personal taste at work. He’s got the storytelling down, he’s experimenting well with the opportunities afforded to people lucky enough to Spidey - crazy camera angles, comedy timing, that sort of thing - and he’s pulling it off. I just wish he’d get an inker in - he’s either inking himself or doing some version of the weird, washed-out greytone, shot from pencils-styling that made his X-Men art look increasingly like it’d been through the washing machine.

Now, all-in-all, it’s a good issue and a worthy successor to the Slott/McNiven arc, though there’s little chance it’ll dethrone it. If nothing else, this issues worth it just because they actually used the “hit the jackpot” joke that everyone on the Internet has been making…