This week sees the release of “Amazing Spider-Man” #694, the last storyline before the big push towards issue #700 and all associated changes that come along with it.
I can’t think of a more clever way to start the review off, so let’s get to it.
Written by Dan Slott
Illustrated by Humberto Ramos* Spider-Man’s 50th Anniversary adventure ratchets up as an old foe returns! * And an ALL-NEW character joins the Marvel Universe! * WHO IS ALPHA?!
Spider-Man turned 50 this year, and that is absolutely incredible. As perhaps the greatest hero that Marvel Comics will ever have in their stables, this seems like more than a golden opportunity to take some time to really display that aspect to the masses in a way that perhaps hasn’t been done recently. Sure, there was a big Hollywood movie starring a total hunk, and yeah, Spider-Man’s role in associated Marvel comics has been upped to a major extent in the past few years (Avengers, FF, etc), but the current run of Spider-Man has seen it’s highs and lows while seemingly focusing on arc to arc storytelling once ‘Spider-Island’ hit. Now is the perfect time to take this wonderful character and point out exactly how awesome he is to everyone.
Thus, cue Alpha, the “modern day” Spider-Man who has the same experience and goes all wrong. It’s up to Peter to take him down, and remind everyone that with great power comes great responsibility. So at what point did the idea for this story take a major left turn in a right-turn only lane?
The biggest issue with the resolution is that what we’re given barely amounts to much. This issue isn’t really so much “Alpha vs Spider-Man in a battle that equates to a parable” as it is “Spider-Man doing some high-stakes Aunt May saving before throwing out a quick deus ex machine to wrap up the storyline.” The ‘Alpha’ story, if the various PR pushes can be believed, was supposed to showcase what makes Peter a hero worth reading about; given when he “grew up” (as much as anyone grows up in the shared universe of never-ending stories) Peter turned out alright, but the story asks the question of what if a Spider-Man-type situation happened in a modern day lens, taking into account the general selfishness of our society and the wayward behavior of our YOLO-based youths. That’s all very well and good and certainly makes for an interesting opportunity for a morality play, but when all is said and done the message we’re given is that having powers is really cool for hooking up and being famous — and the final result is basically the equivalent of “fun fun fun, until daddy takes the T-Bird away.” Alpha himself comes off as no more than an after-thought to the central focus, and that mentality makes the arc seem like a filler story more than a showcase done in time for Spider-Man’s birthday.
Of course, the other seemingly perplexing element of the story is Spider-Man himself. Slott has done a great deal of work to really portray the selfless nature of Spider-Man as a hero, made very apparent in the “no more death” story. While ‘Ends of the Earth’ threw a bit of a wrench into this ideal, Slott made it very clear in the previous arc that Spider-Man’s moral compass had not gone away. And yet, with this issue where so many people are in danger, Spider-Man falls into a selfish bout of heroism as he focuses all his attention on his aunt and her husband, basically leaving the Avengers to deal with Terminus, Alpha and the resulting fallout on their own. It seems to be a bit backwards, and while family is obviously an important aspect about Peter this aspect does further solidify the entire arc as out of place in the bigger story that Slott is telling about the kind of hero that Peter Parker grew up to be.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest detriments to the book is Humberto Ramos’ work within the issue. While art is obviously subjective and Ramos’ extended run on the book is certainly indicative of some form of popularity here, the art of the book does not help the flow nor the execution of the storyline. The biggest issue here is that Ramos’ character design work does not remain consistent throughout; most of the super-characters who find themselves in action related situations are unevenly drawn and placed in curious poses, with awkward body details and shifting facial features. This is, for lack of better terms, Ramos’ familiar and usual style, but a prolonged look at Spider-Man’s bodily twisting throughout the tale — especially in the airplane sequence — showcase the awkward nature of it all.
Continued belowThis isn’t to say it’s all bad. Ramos’ attention to detail in the opening sequences adds a sense of character to the type of person Alpha is, even if the actual character work doesn’t. In a medium that relies on the visual element of a character’s existence, however, Ramos’ uneven work throughout ultimately hinders the overall experience.
The Alpha storyline had potential, and while Slott’s ideas were seemingly grandiose and well-intended the play-out for everything falls short. Between the hand-wave wrap-up of the story, the seemingly out-of-place character work and the otherwise awkward artwork, ‘Alpha’ ends up as a miss and the character is thrown out like yesterday’s jam. But the silver lining is: it’s Dan Slott. Dan Slott, the man who loves Spider-Man more than perhaps any writer of recent memory. A relatively lackluster three-issue story in an otherwise great run is absolutely no reason to be turned off to the book as a whole. Here’s finger’s crossed for the next set of issues.
Final Verdict: 6.0 – Browse
