Peter Parker is back! No, “Amazing Spider-Man” #1 didn’t leak (though, give the track record of #700 and “Superior Spider-Man” #1, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did), this is the new Original Graphic Novel from Marvel, “Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business”. Let’s swing into it, shall we?
Written by Mark Waid & James Robinson
Illustrated by Gabrielle Dell’Otto & Werther Dell’Edera
Someone has Spider-Man in their crosshairs, and the only person in the Marvel Universe who can save him is…Peter Parker’s sister?! As the web-slinger meets family he never knew, will she end up becoming his greatest ally, or the one who damns him? And what does the Kingpin of Crime have to do with it? This all-new, original graphic novel – written by Eisner Award winner Mark Waid (DAREDEVIL) and acclaimed author James Robinson (Superman), and fully painted by the legendary Gabriele Dell’Otto (SECRET WAR) – comes to you in a high-end, oversized format. It’s the web-slinger’s darkest hour – and greatest triumph!
You might remember that Marvel’s first real foray into this new line of Original Graphic Novels was with “Avengers: Endless Wartime from Warren Ellis and Mike McKone. I still have yet to read that one so I can’t actually comment on it’s quality in relation to this one, but if it’s any indication “Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business” is so good that it made me want to go back and read “Endless Wartime” to see what I missed.
“Family Business”, as I will be calling it to same me typing out the full title every time, comes to us from the co-writer team of Mark Waid and James Robinson and the co-artist team of Gabrielle Dell’Otto and Werther Dell’Edera. This is interesting because normally a book that has four different creative voices could spell a recipe for disaster, but not here. Each creator ably bounces off the others and the final product it creates is a book that just shows how much fun Spider-Man can be when the creators are having so much fun with the material.
By now, you’ve probably heard the pitch of this book: Peter Parker’s long-lost sister shows up out of the blue and turns his whole world upside down. Now, I was as sceptical as anyone that this might descend into soap-opera-ness, but it’s entirely down to Waid and Robinson to mine pure gold out of that concept. What makes the writing of this book really work is that Waid and Robinson are two writers who clearly get Peter Parker (not Spider-Man, mind you, but Peter Parker) and seem to really love writing him.
That kind of loves shows in the writing which creates some great moments for Peter both in terms of wise-cracking and butt-kicking as Spider-Man, but also emotional moments as Peter that really show a depth to the character. This is actually largely because of how sparingly Peter actually puts on the costume in this book. Most of the story is about Peter and the character of Teresa, his sister, connecting and then promptly falling into a conspiracy surrounding them. This allows Waid and Robinson to create moments where Peter putting on the Spider-Man suit feels important to the story instead having it simply be a given. Hell, they even give an old favourite come back in the mean time.
Though, for as great as the writing is, this book wouldn’t be half of what it is without the art team. With Werther Dell’Edera providing pencils and Gabrielle Dell’Otto painting over them, this might be the best looking Spider-Man story since… well, really. Dell’Edera and Dell’Otto are completely in sync on this book with pitch perfect layouts that tell an amazing story while showcasing Dell’Otto’s spectacular paints. Seriously, this is simply a gorgeous book and Dell’Otto’s painted panels are unlike anything we’ve seen since Alex Ross on “Kingdom Come”. The sense of detailed realism Dell’Otto gives to Dell’Edera’s pencils while still feeling loose and free and simply fun when all hell breaks loose and Spider-Man swings through is unparalleled.
One of the most sensational things about the artwork of this book, though, is how, later in the book, Dell’Otto is able to shift styles on a whim to showcases flashbacks while still keeping a unified feel to book. It really makes those pages stand out as the incredibly detailed modern day panels line up with the sparse, sepia-toned and almost nostalgia-toned flashbacks. While it may be the awesome splash pages of hero shots of Spider-Man that really set the pulse racing, but Dell’Otto and Dell’Edera show that they can put just as much love and care into the smaller, more emotional moments of the story.
Continued belowFinally, I should mention that there’s a reason why this review is even less plot-specific than what I usually do: because I enjoyed this book so much I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone. That’s the highest praise I could give a story and this? This is pretty high on the list of quality stories that Marvel has put out recently. If they can keep this level of quality up then the Marvel OGN line will have some life in it yet.
So, in conclusion, while it may be Dan Slott and Giueseppe Camuncoli who are bringing Peter back in “Superior Spider-Man”, I would say that Waid, Robinson, Dell’Otto and Dell’Edera already did that. This is simply an amazing Spider-Man story that really benefitted from the graphic novel format not only because it got to display the artwork in one go without breaks or delays, but allows the story to play out naturally over the course of the book with trying to split it into chapters. This is a Spider-Man story from people who love Spider-Man for people who love Spider-Man.
Final Verdict: 9.1 – It would be a disservice not to pick this up.
