At this point in the run, the typical reader knows where they stand on Zeb Wells’ Amazing Spider-Man. Maybe it lost them when MJ and Peter weren’t together in the first issue. Maybe they jumped when Ms. Marvel got killed. Maybe they stopped because Gang War was so boring. Or maybe they have bad art opinions and never hopped on because of John Romita, Jr.. If you’re like me, you’ve stuck along with this Amazing Spider-Man run because it’s stayed just entertaining enough to stick with, always just on the cusp of being ignored, but holding quality in a way that maybe FOMO will kick in if I skip it, and then what am I gonna do, catch up on a book I barely want to read?
And you know what? This book is pretty good, especially here, where it’s been building to for a while. Haters will call it repetitive, but each step along the way put another brick in place for this pretty sick finale. Norman being just pitiful enough that I want him to have a real chance, Peter wrestling with being good enough and with being corrupted. The Sinister Six just generally being nuisances in a pretty unserious way. The arcs leading to this have been competent in being Spider-Man comics, at least from a story perspective. Nothing that’s gonna pull anyone back to reading the book, but enough morsels to keep us with refined taste sticking around.
The art side is a different story, and that story is MCGUINESS!!
Look at that green weirdo.
Marvel Comics
His work has been undeniably great in this run, and this arc is no different. His Green Goblin is immediately so fun, his JJJ is one of the best of all time, and it’s delightful to get to see him on Rekrap again (maybe for one last time). This whole run has been incredible where artists are concerned, and McGuiness has been one of the defining voices in that vein. This arc gave him the space to go really wild, with one of those definitive double page spreads that deserves the kind of popularity that will make me call it overrated one day. Really a masterclass on how to live up to what’s come before while also showing why your style deserves to represent one of the most iconic superheroes in existence.
This deserves to be posted so much that I hate it.
Marvel
Really, this book is just as solid as it’s been since the beginning. It’s so steady that it’s hard to really praise or chide it either way. It’s so steady that it’s hard not to start thinking things like “why does Marvel even publish Amazing Spider-Man comics? Is it just because people will always show up for them?”
And in a lot of ways, that’s a fair assessment. This doesn’t feel like the kind of statement run that was expected from Wells, who is a good writer, and has written very good Spider-Man comics in the past. Maybe it’s cope, but I think there’s more to this book. This book where, right out the gate the rug is pulled out from under both the reader and Spider-Man, with the happy ending that was promised just out of his grasp. Dating is hard, a mixture of old flames and new friends. People who used to be in your life look different to you, you’re giving second chances to people that you used to hate. Your whole world changed, your whole friend group and support system, and it feels like you’re moving backward but you know you have to move forward. A depression-laden story about a guy trying to find his new normal after a tragic heartbreak.
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Is Zeb Wells’ Amazing Spider-Man about divorce?
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