The hunt for Norman Obsorn begins in this giant-sized anniversary (?) issue.
For those of you who read my reviews regularly (HI MOM!), I’ll be shaking up the format a bit. Instead of snarky one-liners tracking through the issue followed by an overall impression, I’ll be giving a brief review of each story followed by an overall determination if Amazing Spider-Man #25 is worth its $9.99 (!) price tag.
Amazing Spider-Man #25 (Marvel Comics)
The Osborn Identity Part One: Bug Hunt
Dan Slott and Stuart Immonen on a Green Goblin story is normally a safe bet—especially when it features a couple of new Tarantulas. Add in Mockingbird, who has been a welcome addition to Spidey’s supporting cast, and you’ve got yourself a solid story…
…except that this one REALLY starts to drag after a while. It’s still good, but the narrative goes from a high octane opening to treading water for a while until its somewhat perplexing conclusion. After an entire even series based on dead characters coming back to life, it doesn’t feel like much of a shock to see another one. There’s also not a whole lot of substantial Norman Osborn involvement, although is presence is definitely felt.
That being said, this was still a fun read overall, particularly the dialogue between Spidey and Mockingbird.
Police and Thieves
I didn’t think I was going to like this story at first—mostly because I’m not a big fan of Clash. But thanks to great artwork by Todd Nauck along with a surprisingly poignant script by Christos Gage, this might be my favorite part of the entire issue.
I’m still not ready to call myself a Clash fan yet, but I do love puppies.
Spider-Man Tsum-Up
No.
Crowded Fund
That title is terrible, but I also made it up. Unless my review copy was missing something, the story by James Asmus (w) and Tana Ford (a) didn’t have one.
It also didn’t have much of a plot beyond a standard hostage situation made “modern” via the bad guys crowd sourcing their ransom demands—which seems like a really good way to leave a trail back to your bank account.
There’s also some stuff about Parker Industries putting people’s welfare above profits, a point that has been hammered home so many times that you might think they’re foreshadowing the company’s downfall or something…
Mutts Ado About Nothing
I love dogs. Add one into a story featuring Peter Parker in high school and Aunt May at her snarkiest and I can’t help but love the story, too.
Also, I’d really like to see Hannah Blumenreich on more Spider-Man stuff in the future—writing or drawing.
The A-May-Zing Spider-Aunt
HAHAHAHAHA! Well done, Scott Atkinson…
…and Spidey really should start carrying a vacuum for his encounters with Sandman and/or Venom.
The Superior Octopus
The thought of yet another Dr. Octopus redesign/reinvention initially made me roll my eyes, but there’s no denying that Giuseppe Camuncoli’s new look for the classic villain looks amazing. Let’s hope Dan Slott can make his new status quo work without getting too bogged down by the big upcoming event that it intertwines with.
The Verdict
Is it $10 good? Eh, maybe.
I’m a big Spider-Man fan, so I’ll definitely be keeping it on my pull list. Your mileage may vary. This book has it all: Good, bad, and everything in between. It also has some major developments in the Spidey mythos (along with some fantastic artwork), so get ready to plunk down a Hamilton if you want to be up to speed on what’s going on in the characters’ main title for the foreseeable future.
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