Writer Zeb Wells ends his nearly three-year run on Amazing Spider-Man with a quiet issue #60 alongside artists John Romita Jr., Ed McGuinness, Paolo Rivera, Todd Nauck and Patrick Gleason; inkers Scott Hanna and Mark Farmer; colorists Marcio Menyz, Rachelle Rosenberg and Edgar Delgado; and letterer Joe Caramagna, while Joe Kelly, Mark Buckingham, Delgado and Caramagna tease the future.
Tony Thornley: Scott, thanks for joining me! I’ve covered this series off and on for CXF since it started, so it seems to be only fitting to wrap up the volume.
Scott Redmond: As always, happy to be here!
Not with a Bang but a Whimper
Tony: I did not expect this denouement one bit. This volume of Amazing Spider-Man was at its best when it was focusing on the cold war between Peter Parker and Tombstone. Legitimately, that plotline was so good that I suspect it (and the Osborn storyline) was what Wells pitched the series on, and the weaker points were more of an editorial dictation or request.
So after four issues of Peter and Tombstone absolutely beating the shit out of each other, and the last issue with the duo broken and bloody in a heap next to each other, this issue picks up a few days (maybe up to two weeks) later, in a courtroom.
I literally had to go back and see if I missed something.
Scott: As someone who has dabbled with this run, popping in and out randomly, this was a very interesting and strange place to pick up. On the one hand, it felt very much like the sort of thing that would have happened with this sort of situation (all the law stuff) in any of the classic Marvel eras. On the other hand, it felt exactly like something ripped right out of the classic era.
From Spider-Man being angry and shocked that the system can be bought (and that vigilantes’ words mean little) to all of the Aunt May “Spider-Man, stop putting my poor Peter in danger!” stuff. Tear off the title page and modern elements and put this next to any old school Spider-Man story and have someone guess when each took place. Bet most would not guess October 2024.
Also, I have to ask, what excuse did Peter use to address his clear massive injuries that didn’t tip off Tombstone at least that he was the beat-to-a-crap Spider-Man?
Tony: A couple issues ago, Tombstone did try to murder Peter (not Spider-Man) out of costume. So this time he actually did have a legit excuse for the issue-spanning Spidey fight from this arc. But man, I did not expect that we would end with a time jump, and then an issue that was 80% epilogue and 20% prologue.
What we did get was mostly pretty good, though. I just feel like there were pages missing in between the collapse at the end of last issue and the tense courtroom showdown in this issue. But I did like this. Having a judge dismiss the whole thing seemingly on a technicality — having a state witness disappear would probably do that, though I’m not a criminal law expert — was disheartening, but I REALLY liked that Tombstone twisted the knife on Peter afterward. Was the judge actually crooked? Or was Lincoln just taunting Peter and Jen? We may never know.
I did like that the Spidey stuff in the main story was a Sandman fight. I think Sandman is one of the most unappreciated Spidey villains out there. I’m still not sure about the idea of giving him dissociative identity disorder, but he’s great.
Loose Threads
Tony: After the main story in the issue ends, Wells teams with his other major artists to wrap up some loose plots. I think the thing that might have surprised me the most is that there’s nothing with Norman Osborn in these epilogue-epilogues. I would think even a single-page tease of Norman’s internal monologue would have fit. Nothing committing to a direction or story, just Norman thinking about what happened with an ominous final panel.
Scott: That really is a strange omission, especially with the two pillars of this run being Tombstone and Osborn, as you mentioned. In a way, it definitely speaks to the unevenness of the run as a whole. This seems to be more of a feature when it comes to runs of this book in the modern era, rather than a bug — where the writers throw a ton of stuff at the wall and run and run, till suddenly the end comes and not everything really plays out or is touched again.
Which is funny since this is a series where it feels like a writer is guaranteed a pretty solid number of issues. For sure beyond the 25 mark, because the title will sell no matter who or what is going on. One would think that would mean things might gel more and have a better plan, but like you said at the start, there is clearly a thing that was the pitch and then other stuff to fill in the gaps.
Tony: Otherwise, I liked these and was glad to have the closure they provided. Wells and McGuinness establish Rek-Rap is still out there if anyone wants to do something with him. Wells and Nauck basically say that Peter and MJ are still the OTP but they can’t be together right now for the story’s sake. And Wells and Gleason provide closure to Peter’s relationship with Ben Reilly … by not providing closure.
Nice to make sure to touch on each of those things on the way out. But all three were just kind of shrugs.
Scott: I would agree. Even with my gaps in reading, these wrap-ups were mostly well done if not shruggable.
I haven’t read a thing with Rek-Rap, so I have no clue what that was all about, but hey, it was at least fun. Not the biggest fan of the continued “will they, won’t they” of Peter and MJ in the modern era. At least, as noted, there is kind of/sort of a reason given that fits, at least somewhat. Seeing them sort of at peace with their lives and both doing the hero thing, with (the internet’s most hated man) Paul as their guy to run interference is kind of fun.
Tony: With Wells basically saying, “I wanted them together too, you guys” without directly saying it.
Scott: The Ben stuff just kind of irked me a bit.
I feel like the Ben/Chasm stuff is truly a mishandled and misplaced story idea. We got to see Ben as the hero again at last, after what the “Clone Conspiracy” saga did to turn him into a cackling villain, and now it’s just a muddled mess. Very high-cliche villain vibes running through it, while over in his own book he was robbing people and running afoul of some stupid Eternals stuff.
Tony: I still look back at the first Timeless special, and the tease of Ben as the Spider-Man of Los Angeles, then compare that tease to what we’ve gotten. It makes the entire Chasm story even more of the wet fart it already is. Ben out on his own, without the shadow of Peter, or needing redemption or anything along those lines, is just a superior pitch.
Scott: Too bad Marvel seems allergic to actually doing forward things with (most of) the Spider-centric side of their universe.
The Future
Tony: I know the final story in this issue is just a huge teaser for the upcoming “8 Deaths of Spider-Man” mini-event by Joe Kelly, Justina Ireland, Ed McGuinness and Gleb Melkinov. I was skeptical about the announcement though, because Kelly’s done two Spider-Man stories recently — the miserable Non-Stop Spider-Man and the fun Black Cat fill-in from the first year of this volume — and Ireland has done one — the uneven Spider-Man Blood Hunt tie-in.
I liked this teaser though because it was pretty strong. It put emphasis on Peter as a problem solver and engineer/scientist. The challenge was great for an eight-page story. Doctor Doom’s dialogue was perfectly in character. It was fun.
But my favorite thing about it, by far, was seeing Mark Buckingham back on Spider-Man. I LOVED the run Buckingham did with Paul Jenkins. In my mind, that run saved Spider-Man after the atrocious Howard Mackie/John Byrne reboot in 1999.
Scott: I will say that I do like that it pointed to the fact that Peter is in fact smart and can solve things, he just tends not to get the credit (for a lot of reasons, some of his own doing).
Overall though, I’m still skeptical about the whole thing, mainly because it very much has all the nostalgia-heavy vibes that Marvel seems to really be pumping out under C.B. Cebulski’s tenure as editor-in-chief. It’s the future of the book by way of the past, which isn’t a bad thing per se but sure isn’t helping with the feelings about Spider-Man as a character being very “stuck” these days. I’ll reserve full judgment for what is on the page though, because sometimes things can and do surprise.
At least Peter can rest knowing that the monarch of a subjugated country who stole sorcerer powers to take over the world truly sees his value (as a smart sacrificial lamb)!
Tony: There’s no better way to go.
I’m definitely on the more cautious side of cautiously optimistic. We’ll see how it goes.
Tangled Web
- Ultimately, I think this run boils down to flawed but entertaining with some very high highs and deeply low lows.
- A Kamala Khan/Peter short would have been another welcome epilogue that was lacking here.
- Interesting how this volume ends like the previous — a long run by a single writer followed by a jam session “event” story.
- And just like that previous volume and jam session, a shiny new Amazing Spider-Man #1 isn’t far away! (Marvel loves them #1s.)
Buy Amazing Spider-Man #60 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Scott Redmond
Scott Redmond is a freelance writer and educator fueled by coffee, sarcasm, his love for comic books and more "geeky" things than you can shake a lightsaber at. Probably seen around social media and remembered as "Oh yeah, that guy." An avid gamer, reader, photographer, amateur cook and solid human being.
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.
