Peter Parker’s life…changes forever? It’s a brand new Amazing Spider-Man #1, this time from writer Zeb Wells, penciler John Romita Jr., inker Scott Hanna, colorist Marcio Menyz, and letterer Joe Caramagna.
The most remarkable thing about Amazing Spider-Man #1, really, is how unremarkable it is.
Peter and MJ’s final moments at the conclusion of the previous volume of the series showed the star-crossed duo finally decide to reunite, a decision long overdue since their ill-conceived satanic split years ago. Then a mysterious light and silhouette invaded their moment and we’re left with…this.
Peter Parker sitting in a crater, screaming in pain. Then a fade to black with a title card that says six months later.
I didn’t hate this issue. John Romita Jr.’s return to Spider-Man was welcome, and though it doesn’t hit the heights of his X-Men work or his earlier Amazing Spider-Man run with J. Michael Stracynski, it was solid. He does some really good character acting and his action is probably the best I’ve seen in his work in years.
Scott Hanna softened his bulky lines quite a bit, which helps him avoid his worst tics by removing some of Romita’s natural blockiness. Marcio Menyz continues to do very interesting work on colors, making him a color artist to watch for. He plays with lighting the characters in ways that add depth to the page, making each light source a point of interest.
On the story side though, we see more of a mixed bag. I enjoyed the plotlines involving Peter’s supporting cast: friend and foe. The brewing gang war is using different faces than normal, which makes that old plotline seem much fresher. Randy Robertson is still navigating his relationship with Tombstone’s daughter, which feels genuine and refreshing. Best of all, there’s a twist with MJ’s status that significantly changes where this volume could go.
The costumed plotlines were fun too. Most of that part of the story is directly related to the gang war, and it was just fun. The team brought back a JMS/JRJr era villain, they made Tombstone much more interesting than he usually is, and the White Rabbit is actually somewhat engaging for the first time ever.But those parts of the story are maybe only 30-40% of the issue.
The rest of the issue is basically Peter Parker being a sad sack all over New York City. Not even the mystery of “what did Peter do?” is enough to breathe fresh life into this tired Spider-Man plotline. If you’ve read one of these stories, you’ve read them all. Peter is poor, he’s made his friends angry, he’s at the absolute nadir, etc. Zeb Wells is a good writer, probably the best who’s written Spider-Man in the better part of a decade. But he doesn’t do much in this issue to make us care about what’s happening in it.
If the mystery had been more engaging — if we had been given more reasons to sit up and notice – then maybe this issue would have been very different. As it stands, it’s just the same old Spider-Man story with a slightly changed circumstance. I’m still going to give Wells a few issues to hook me. But that opportunity is based on the strength of his earliest Spidey work, and his more recent Marvel stories – Hellions and his portions of “Spider-Man Beyond” in particular – and not this issue. Maybe it’ll turn around.
Unfortunately though, Amazing Spider-Man #1 is just a big misstep. That’s something that Spider-Man just doesn’t need in today’s world.
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble.
