Marvel Comics is celebrating Spider-Man this week with the anthology Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man #1, featuring a treasure trove of creators. It’s a thick comic, and it’ll run you $7.99, but does it have enough bang for your buck? Put it this way: It’s explosive!
Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man #1 is a good mix of fun, adventure, and self-contained, satisfying stories. It comes out swinging with a story by Kevin Smith and artists Giuseppe Camuncoli and Daniel Orlandini with a super-fun splash page. Spider-Man is dodging attacks from the Sinister Six, and he’s quipping like crazy via captions. Smith has a great handle on the character, with the opening action devolving into a caper involving fixing a hole in Spider-Man’s pants. His butt is out, and he needs help!
From there, familiar faces like Doctor Strange and the Fantastic Four pop in, allowing Smith and the artists to have fun in the Marvel Universe. The art is dynamic and fun while making a serious case for why Spider-Man needs a costume that can hold up against any enemy.
The next tale is by Al Ewing and Mark Buckingham, which has a Steve Ditko vibe turned up to eleven. Ewing goes meta with the tale involving a caper revolving around the 616 universe. Wyn from Jonathan Hickman’s G.O.D.S. gives Spider-Man a helping magical hand, and soon the two are off into the multiverse, dodging cosmic squid arms.
Great page opener!
Credit: Marvel
What makes this story stand out, apart from the chaotic energy reminiscent of Marvel’s ’60s, is the art. Buckingham draws Spider-Man in a classic way with a rounder head and more natural muscles. This is a Spider-Man we often don’t see these days, which is kind of refreshing. It also suits the celebration of the 616 universe.
The next tale introduces a new hero named Rapid. Written by Chip Zdarsky, this story introduces a clever angle on a hero with powers that can slow down time. The angle that grounds it in the Marvel way is a sick family member. Spider-Man enters the tale, but it’s largely about Rapid, and by the end, you’ll want to see more of them.
Cafu brings his hyper-realistic style to this tale, making this hero feel more realized for the MCU than a comic, but in a good way. Spider-Man and other heroes and villains that pop in look great too, without straying from expectations.
Last but not least is a taste tester of sorts by Mitsuyasu Sakai and Gerardo Sandoval. It’s titled “Prelude to the New Dimension” and features the Spider-Society. Running three pages, Sandoval gets to draw a surprising amount of Spider-Man characters while the tale teases up something with Knull. It’s quick and to the point, making it effective.
Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man #1 is a fun, varied, and visually dazzling tribute to the character, offering a little something for everyone – whether you’re here for laughs, multiverse shenanigans, or fresh heroes. While the price is a hurdle, the creative talent and content density more than justify the splurge for Spidey fans.
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