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. This week, we’re spotlighting “The Amazing Spider-Man”, Marvel’s hub for all things Peter Parker! Will Marvel’s newest Spidey series tap into the greatness of one of Marvel’s most important heroes? Find out in our Don’t Miss This for Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man by Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr.!
Who’s this by?
“The Amazing Spider-Man” is written by Zeb Wells. The first Marvel project from Wells is credited as “Spider-Man’s Tangled Web” (2001) #12 over at Marvel.com with artist Duncan Fegredo published all the way back in 2002! The next series that Wells worked on was “Peter Parker: Spider-Man” #53 with artist Michael O’Hare. In 2005 Wells worked with Skottie Young on “The New Warriors” series. Wells continued working in the Spider-Man office for the next couple of years at Marvel, writing important Spider-Man scripts for a number of years. Wells is well-known in the Spider-Man office for this work on the series with Chris Bachalo. Wells just returned to the Spider-Man world with the recent “Spider-Man Beyond” storyline for Spider-Man. Wells work on the web-head with the last series appeared to be the precursor to him taking over the main Spidey title “The Amazing Spider-Man” with Romita Jr.!
Wells has a long, multi-decade spanning career with Marvel but artist John Romita Jr.’s bibliography is somehow even longer than Wells. Romita Jr.’s father, also named John Romita left an incredibly important mark on Spider-Man in the some of the earliest days of the series. Romita Jr. has worked on the main Spider-Man title, contributing art to countless issues of the series. Romita Jr. has told seminal Daredevil stories with creators like Frank Miller. Romita Jr. was working at DC for an extended period of time as well, making a return to Spider-Man important title for Romita over at Marvel.
What’s it all about?
“The Amazing Spider-Man” covers the modern era of Peter Parker. Parker is down on his luck in the series due to some mysterious event that Wells has been teasing for nearly a year now. As a result, Parker is alienated from some of his closest friends. Peter is also out of touch with his Aunt May and Mary Jane when the series opens. Parker also has no idea what his numerous villains are up to. Plus, “The Amazing Spider-Man” has been teasing the introduction of Norman Osborn in the earliest issues of the series as well!
What makes it so great?
My favorite part about this “The Amazing Spider-Man” run of comics is how Wells carefully plots out this series. Wells chose to hold the reveal of what happened with Peter Parker to this day. On top of the Parker mystery, Wells has done a great job re-establishing the relationship between Parker and his supporting cast in new or different ways. Wells has also just begun teasing Peter’s new relationship with old foe Norman Osborn.
One of the most surprising elements of the current Spider-Man run is how Wells and company is planning to tie the series together with the “X-Men” and “Venom” series. The Free Comic Book Day Spider-Man issue tied both series together with a fascinating issue referencing the events of “Spider-Man Beyond” and recent X-Men comics. Instead of showing exactly how these series intersect, Wells and Marvel’s editorial team slowly begun to tease those elements of the series as well as other X-Men comics.
Artist John Romita Jr. paired down his style nicely on this most recent run of “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Romita Jr.’s quality has definitely increased with his most recent Marvel projects, but I feel like the art is not balanced with the scripts at times. Whenever Romita Jr. draws younger characters, he has an incredibly difficult time drawing out the proportions of the anatomy properly. You can even find some anatomy problems on the covers for the series as well. The first cover for “The Amazing Spider-Man” by Wells and Romita Jr. has really distorted legs that stick out immediately. Romita Jr. increased the quality of his art by fleshing out the characters in certain elements and panels of the series. Romita Jr. seems to have an affinity for drawing incredible Tombstone facial expressions. I wish some of the precision in anatomy during these scenes with Tombstone would influence the rest of the series as well.
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The first arc of “The Amazing Spider-Man” was largely focused on developing the relationship between Tombstone and Spider-Man. Wells takes this relationship in unconventional directions, leading to a sometimes hostile and sometimes causal relationship between the hero and villain. The unconventional friendship between these characters is almost influenced by Barry Allen’s friendships with Flash Rogues.
Wells advanced Parker’s love life in an endearing new direction in the landmark “The Amazing Spider-Man” #6/900! Wells has so many elements of Spider-Man established in the series now and it is time for the payoff for multiple character interactions. Some of the biggest fights to-date are in that anniversary issue that cleverly utilizes previous Spider-Man continuity. On top of Wells intense plotting on the series, it’s great to see how the previous issues still matter here! I can’t wait to see how Wells sets of all these chain reactions of characters that are just about to make big moves in upcoming issues.
How can you read it?
You can purchase “The Amazing Spider-Man” monthly from Marvel Comics. Marvel is collecting “The Amazing Spider-Man” by Wells and Romita in a collected volume titled “Amazing Spider-Man by Wells and Romita Jr. Vol. 1: World Without Love” which is slated for release on October 4th!
