Spider-Man and Boomerang have to save adorable miniature kaiju Gog from the Kingpin before the alien wrecks things. Naturally things go wrong, from Nick Spencer, Patrick Gleason, Edgar Delgado and Joe Caramagna.
This issue truly reveals the difficult duality of Amazing Spider-Man.
On one hand, it’s an extremely frustrating soap opera that’s insistent on telling a long, and drawn out story about the worst experiences Spider-Man has ever lived through. It’s nostalgia driven more than it’s determined to tell a new story. At times it has taken joy in those lows, and written them in a way that drags them back to the surface in a way that readers don’t want to be reminded of.
On the other, it’s an odd couple/buddy comedy comic book sitcom. It shows readers what happens when a superhero finds himself living with one of his more annoying supervillains. They go through highs and lows, adopt an alien kaiju for a pet, and have to deal with a mob boss who has somehow gotten himself elected mayor. It’s the comic book equivalent of a candy bar- it doesn’t offer anything lasting or meaningful but you didn’t hate it while it lasted.
The former is why I’m so frustrated with this series. The latter is what I wish the series had more of.
Look, the buddy comedy isn’t good. But it’s at least enjoyable and kind of fun. Frankly, the only time this series has been worth picking up has been these Spidey and Boomerang adventures. Here in Amazing Spider-Man #62, Kingpin’s goons attack Peter and Fred’s pet alien- Gog. It leads to the duo trying to save their little buddy while fending off the city’s goons.
It’s silly, it’s dumb and in this particular issue it’s a lot of fun, even if it doesn’t have any lasting effect. Gleason and Delgado even put in some great art, with a lot of energy behind every panel. However, since it has all the other stuff hanging over it, particularly with Kindred still lingering in the edges, it gets dragged down with that. It creates a metaphorical tar pit for the story, that even the “okay” parts are bad by association.
Spencer needed to decide what kind of Spider-Man story he wanted to tell much earlier the game. The tonal whiplash actively makes the series worse, because it creates a lingering dread that after a fun issue like this, we might be headed back to the horror of the larger meta arc.
At least I get to sit back after reading this and remember a time when I didn’t totally hate Amazing Spider-Man. But how long could that really last?
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.
