Spider-Woman #11-12Issue(s): Spider-Woman #11, Spider-Woman #12 Review/plot: This is an interesting, if clumsily executed, end to the Brothers Grimm saga. We know that Mrs. Dolly has a collection of creepy dolls, left to her by her late husband. It turns out that she is in fact the wife of Mr. Doll, an obscure old Iron Man villain. Her two "sons" are actually giant dolls that are imbued with the split-in-half spirit of her dead husband. Mrs. Dolly attempts to bring her husband's spirit back to life by letting it posses Jerry Hunt's body, but Spider-Woman and Magnus prevent that from happening, exorcising the spirit and therefore ending the threat of the Brothers Grimm. Once again, it's more Magnus than Spider-Woman who knows how to handle this threat, which isn't appropriate for a book entitled "Spider-Woman", not "Magnus and his sidekick". In a cute-yet-creepy little scene, Magnus is alerted by a bunch of little dolls to the fact that Spider-Woman is in trouble. Django Maximoff, the old man who's been showing up in the Avengers carrying little dolls shaped like Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, appears here in flashback scenes. He's the one who provided Mr. Doll with the magic wood he used to make his new bodies. Jerry Hunt is the worst SHIELD agent ever. Observing Brother Grimm suffocating a civilian, he sits calmly at his table and thinks "I can't use my revolver in here. Too many people are in my line of fire!". He's also obsessed with the fact that Spider-Woman has to keep rescuing his ass, having nightmares of Werewolf By Night, the Needle, and Brother Grimm. Quality Rating: C+ Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (3): showCharacters Appearing: Brothers Grimm, Jerry Hunt, Madame Doll, Magnus, Mr. Doll, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) CommentsGruenwald had some right ideas here. He knew the Wolfman set up wasn't working, and this is a nice send off to those elements. Gruenwald can now establish a new status quo. However, getting rid of the Brothers Grimm was a mistake. They were good villains. Granted, the magic angle meant the dolls could always be brought back (although they never were). However, the villains just don't work as Gruenwald describes. Bringing back Mr Doll is unnecessary, and doesn't really explain the difference in personalities. Plus it gives them a very limited criminal motivation. The art these issues are very good for some reason. Posted by: Chris | December 6, 2015 12:26 PM "Bringing back Mr Doll is unnecessary, and doesn't really explain the difference in personalities. Plus it gives them a very limited criminal motivation." I think the idea is that one of them is Dolly's rational side, and the other is his irrational side, sort of like the recently discredited "left brain-right brain" hypothesis. It seems rather likely that their successors in Denny O'Neil's Iron Man run are more Gru's doing that Denny's. Posted by: Omar Karindu | December 6, 2015 2:55 PM Any idea what the unspecified “technical assistance by Paty” on #12 might have been? Posted by: Matthew Bradley | September 22, 2016 12:39 PM They're probably talking about Paty Cockrum (Marvel production staffer and wife of Dave Cockrum). She did inking and coloring so her contributions to issue #12 were probably related to one of those areas. Posted by: Red Comet | September 22, 2016 12:57 PM Sorry I wasn't clearer: I know WHO Paty is, but since the artists and colorist for that issue were already credited, I wasn't sure what her contribution was. Posted by: Matthew Bradley | September 22, 2016 1:48 PM I started to post this comment under Spider-Woman #10 but I didn't want to spoil any surprises so I'm posting it here instead. Issue #10 shows Mrs. Priscilla Dolly but it doesn't list either her or Mr. Doll under the Characters Appearing. I checked the references for Mr. Doll and they all seem to contain Priscilla Dolly-- wasn't sure if she should be listed as a Character Appearing too, but it would seem consistent to at least have Mr. Doll as a Character Appearing for issue #10. Haven't read these issues so I'm unsure, since Mr. Doll is dead, and because I'm not really sure if Mrs. Dolly is who she appears to be. Posted by: Holt | March 25, 2018 9:16 PM Thanks Holt. I agree that "Madame Doll" needed a tag; i've added one. Mr. Doll should be considered behind-the-scenes for any appearances of the original Brothers Grimm (Which doesn't include issue #10). Posted by: fnord12 | March 26, 2018 2:40 PM Comments are now closed. |
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