There are a lot of comics out there, but some stand out head and shoulders above the pack. With “Don’t Miss This,” we want to spotlight those series we think need to be on your pull list. At Marvel Comics, The House of Ideas has been introducing fascinating new stories to the core “Amazing Spider-Man” series. Recently, Peter Parker tried to assist his former roommate get married, fought off some familiar villains and teamed up with former villain Norman Osborn as a hero. Today we are going to explain why you can’t miss a single page of Marvel’s current “Amazing Spider-Man” comic book series.
Who’s this by?
Marvel’s “Amazing Spider-Man” comic book series is written by Zeb Wells. Wells first published work on Marvel is cited as “Spider-Man’s Tangled Web” #12 with art from Duncan Fegredo published in 2002. It’s incredible to see Wells craft narratives for Spider-Man that go back decades into Marvel’s history! Following the work on “Spider-Man’s Tangled Web,” Wells worked on “Peter Parker: Spider-Man” #43 with artist Jim Mahfood as well as “Peter Parker: Spider-Man” #51 by Francisco Herrera. Shortly after, Wells joined the ‘Brand New Day’ team on “Amazing Spider-Man” #546 with writers Dan Slott, Marc Guggenheim, Zeb Wells, Bob Gale and artists Greg Land, John Romita, Phil Winslade and Steve McNiven. If you haven’t checked out ‘One More Day,’ I highly recommend a re-read!
Comic book artist Patrick Gleason has been known as a DC creator until he switched to the Spider-Man comics at Marvel. Gleason was well known for art on titles like “Green Lantern Corps” as well as “Batman and Robin” alongside writer Peter Tomasi. Gleason headed over to Marvel around 2019 with “The Amazing Spider-Man” #25 written by Nick Spencer, Zeb Wells and Keaton Patti with art from Ryan Ottley, Todd Nauck, Daniel Hipp in addition to Patrick Gleason’s contributions.
What’s it all about?
Marvel’s “Amazing Spider-Man” comic book has taken on a ton of plot threads. Currently Norman Osborn’s former therapist Dr. Ashley Kafka has teamed up with villain Kraven the Hunter. Kraven recently stabbed Peter with a spear imbued with the sins of a goblin meant for the now heroic Norman Osborn. Norman recently has been working with Peter as a hero known as Gold Goblin. Ashley Kafka is now the villainous Queen Goblin. Can Norman and a Goblin Sin-influenced Peter take on Ashley Kafka, Queen Goblin and Kraven the Hunter working together?
What makes it so great?
One of the most interesting aspects of Marvel’s current Spider-Man run is how frequently the creative team examines traditional elements of Spider-Man stories arranged in new ways. In the most recent arc of “Spider-Man,” Wells and Gleason use the Goblin-influenced Peter Parker to invert traditional scenarios from the ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’ storyline. Wells and Gleason even homage the cover to that story in interior art seen within the issue. Witnessing Spider-Man aggressively pursue Kraven is a great way to invert the status quo of previous Spider-Man comics.
This year in “Amazing Spider-Man,” Marvel finally revealed what happened in the missing pocket of time that broke up the relationship between Mary Jane and Peter Parker. The way Wells, artist John Romita Jr. and Marvel’s editorial fleshed out this dark battle between Peter and Benjamin Rabin in an alternate reality was fascinating. The battle between Peter and The Emissary, Benjamin Rabin hit an emotional climax with a surprise death in issue #26. Following this controversial story expanding Peter’s world, Marvel treated readers to an arc featuring the return of Doc Ock!
Artist Patrick Gleason returned to “Amazing Spider-Man” in issue #32. The opening page of chapter #32 focuses in on the exaggerated expressions of Queen Goblin while teasing her relationship with Kraven the Hunter. Gleason’s depiction of Kraven’s spear imbued with Goblin Sins is a shockingly beautiful depiction of his arsenal. Gleason is also great at depicting the soap opera elements of “Amazing Spider-Man,” teasing the unresolved feelings from Felicia Hardy in a tense phone conversation with Peter. In issue #33 of “Amazing Spider-Man,” Gleason illustrates more beautiful and tense moments between Peter and Kraven. When Peter sneaks up behind Kraven in the beautiful shot homaging ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt,’ his pose on the head of an elephant is engrossing. Also the reaction shot with Peter stabbing Kraven is another bold way to realize Wells scripts in “Amazing Spider-Man.” Gleason always captures this tense expression of Kraven who is always lurking about with an interior monologue throughout the pages of this series. Artist John Romita Jr. delivered great work in issue #31 of the main series, depicting incredibly tense expressions for Tombstone and the rest of the villains in the issue. Readers have also been treated to great work this year from artist Ed McGuinness. McGuinness drew the story where Doc Ock and Kraven attempted to turn Norman Osborn evil. Watching Norman and Peter fight against Doc Ock with the exaggerated line from McGuinness was incredibly endearing. The amount of veins that McGuinness depicted for Norman Osborn brought out the humor in the scripts incredibly well.
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Another really intriguing aspect of Spider-Man is how closely plotted the series is from author Zeb Wells. Wells crafts a narrative in issue #31 with Randy Robertson and Janice Lincoln’s wedding that references some of the earliest issues of his modern “Amazing Spider-Man” run. Spidey villain Tombstone attempts to keep his daughter’s wedding safe alongside the rest of the villains in New York City. Chapter #31 established future plot threads of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man”s upcoming “Gang War” story. Note that ‘Gang War’ is yet another sequel to an old “Spider-Man” story that will likely be remixed in some creative ways. “The Amazing Spider-Man” #31 also setup the battle between Queen Goblin and Kraven the Hunter in some of the secondary stories. Issue #31 continued to explore elements of the long Spider-Man story earlier in the year about Benjamin Rabin in a tense back-up story.
How can you read it?
“The Amazing Spider-Man” is an ongoing series published monthly by Marvel Comics. The first collected volume of the series is on-sale now called “Amazing Spider-Man by Wells & Romita Jr. Vol. 1: World Without Love”. Whatever you do, don’t miss the unlikely friendship cultivated with Norman and Peter in the latest “Amazing Spider-Man” series.
