Things are moving along quite quickly in Amazing Spider-Man, with Peter Parker now stuck in Limbo and a demon version of himself running about. It’s a bonafide wacky time, but with Chasm at the helm of a dastardly plan to steal his memories, it’s no fun for Spider-Man. In Amazing Spider-Man #18, things dramatically switch gears as the Dark Web event nears its finish.
If you enjoyed Rek-Rap, you’re going to have a lot of fun with this issue. Ed McGuinness continues to delight with a highly pleasing visual style that’s enhanced by the colorful and weird Insidious Six attacking Peter and Rek-Rap throughout the issue. Writer Zeb Wells makes Rek-Rap the highlight of most of the humor, be it his strange twist on standard Spidey terminology or his need to shout sound effects. He’s super silly and has a huge flapping tongue. Kiddos will love him.
The issue starts with a major plot development involving the Goblin Queen, who has changed her mind about going through with her plan with Chasm. It’s honestly pretty crummy for Chasm since they were a duo, but it’s nice that Madalyne Pryor sees the error of her ways. This opening ends up serving as an impactful start to what can only be called a game-changing moment for the event. It’s such a huge reveal it’s surprising it’s not in the Dark Web: Finale out in February.
That reveal is tough to talk about without spoiling, but let’s just say if you adore Ben Reilly as a person, you might be a tad frustrated. With any story arc, though, there are high and low points, and this will likely culminate in some resolution for the character. That said, if you thought Ben turning into supervillain Chasm was a bold choice, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Honestly, Chasm isn’t wrong.
Credit: Marvel
As an event tie-in, this issue does suffer a bit from the requirements of playing out story details from other books or, in another case with this issue, setting up a future one. Hallow’s Eve, for instance, hasn’t been in this book much, but she has a major scene here that will spill over into the finale and likely her solo book coming out in a few weeks. There’s just enough in this issue to at least make the Goblin Queen’s turn to good understandable, but the impact of her revelation is in another book entirely. This series isn’t meant to be read without the others, but it’s still frustrating.
Props must again go to the art team with inker Cliff Rathburn bringing McGuinness’ lines into beautiful dynamic range, Marcio Menyz and Erick Arciniega’s colors making everything pop, and Joe Caramagna’s letters showing he’s having the of his life. The book looks fabulous, and while this issue seems to have very few backgrounds rendered, this is more about the characters coming into focus in each fight scene.
If it wasn’t evident yet, Amazing Spider-Man #18 solidifies that this is bonkers, fun adventure times for Spidey and his amazing friends. That goes for demon-turned-Spider-Man Rek-Rap, the ridiculous Insidious Six, and even Chasm going Super Saiyan. Sure, Spider-Man is typically a more serious series, and it has been under Wells at times, but if you see what Dark Web has been from the start, you’ll have the most fun.
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