You ever feel like you’re having a really bad day? Like everything is out to get you? Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet, as Peter Parker has the embodiment of bad luck out for revenge. He just got back and already everything is falling apart; typical Parker luck.
Written by Dan Slott
Illustrated by Humberto Ramos• Because of her last encounter with Spider-Man, Felicia Hardy lost everything. Now the Black Cat is back, and she doesn’t want any apologies or excuses… just REVENGE.
• Plus: Spidey teams up with a real hero, fireman Pedro Olivera… who just happens to be the current boyfriend to one Mary Jane Watson.
• And… more on you-know-who from the opening scene back in ASM #1. You know who we’re talking about. Yeah, that’s right. You better not miss this one!
I have a confession to make: I didn’t read “Superior Spider-Man”. I know, I know, I’m a bad Spider-fan and everyone came around at the end to root for Otto as Spidey, but no matter how hard I tried that just wasn’t my Spider-Man. That wasn’t the Spider-Man who saved my life and is the reason I’m still here to this day. You know who is that Spider-Man? Peter Parker. And, thankfully, Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos have deigned to let ol’ Parker return to the Marvel Universe — a return that was solid, make no mistake, but lacked momentum out of the gate as much of the story focused on tying up loose ends from “Superior Spider-Man”.
Even three issues in, that is unfortunately still a problem, but not one that Slott and Ramos aren’t trying to fix.
Sometimes it seems like that for every major change to a comic book universe, there’s always something that moves back to the status quo. The more things change, the more they stay the same, as it were. With “Amazing Spider-Man”, for everything that changed during Otto’s reign as Superior, it almost still feels just like it did before. Peter is still juggling his life as a superhero and scientist (though, this time at the head of his own labs as opposed to Horizon), is still unlucky in love as he watches Mary Jane with another man and still struggles to deal with the same supervillains that have been plaguing him for decades now. It’s an unfortunate casualty of Slott’s plan to re-establish the status quo now that Octavius has been exorcised from Peter’s body that the start of this series feels like it’s playing things a little too safe.
It almost feels that, while it should be a breath of fresh air that Peter is back, the world around him should have changed and the challenges he faces should be different and more difficult than ever. Yet this issue, Spider-Man’s great threat is a tenement fire. Yes, it’s true that Black Cat shows up to reiterate her need for revenge on the Superior Spider-Man, but it’s a challenge that disappears as soon as it shows up. It almost leaves the book feeling stagnant as we’re three issues in and there doesn’t seem to be a real challenge or difficulty in Peter Parker resuming his life. One can only hope that between the continued openings checking in on the girl in the windowless room or the feud with Black Cat or even the ongoing situation with Electro pays off in a way that propels this book back to what it once was.
While the writing feels like it’s spinning its wheels trying to get going, the art is the exact opposite. Humberto Ramos has become one of the go-to artists when it comes to picturing Spider-Man thanks to his exaggerated, kinetic movement and poses that bring the character to life. It should be difficult to make swinging on a web look good on the page (same with any movement-based power, when you think about it), but Ramos pulls it off. Even though a fire isn’t exactly the big challenge I thought Spidey would be facing three issues into his big return, Ramos pulls no punches in making it the set piece of the issue. Without that feeling of kinetic grace that comes from his artwork, that feeling that tricks you into thinking you’re watching the comic play out, it’s a set piece that would have fallen flat, taking the whole issue with it.
Ultimately, this series still seems to have a way to go to reach the heights it was at prior to, and even during, “Superior Spider-Man”. While there is a lot of focus in addressing what came before, in tying up loose ends, it seems to have sacrificed in telling a story that’s exciting in the now. Hopefully, one of the many threads being built up in this issue will payoff and propel the writing forward in that manic, threat-after-threat, challenge-after-challenge gauntlet that Dan Slott pulls off so well. Until then, it’s just a case of pushing through the slow start, enjoying the artwork, and hoping that a return to form comes sooner rather than later.
Final Verdict: 6.8 – Everything is there to make this the grand Spider-Man book it could, but it’s not quite there yet. Browse.
