I need to start this review by saying I am nowhere near Marvel’s #1 Spider-Man fan. I love Peter as a character, and thoroughly enjoy reading stories focused on Spider-Man, Venom, Miles Morales, and even Ghost Spider… but I am not one of the more, ahem, impassioned Spidey fans that take Peter’s treatment at Marvel incredibly seriously. That being said, while I understand some of the complaints lodged at The Amazing Spider-Man: 8 Deaths of Spider-Man (yes, it was filler-heavy and featured unnecessary adultery!), I found the story to be a fun romp with a powerful message about maintaining hope in dark times and practicing resiliency when all seems lost.
Written by Joe Kelly and Justina Ireland, with one-shots by Derek Landy and Christos Gage, 8 Deaths of Spider-Man is beautifully illustrated by an exciting group of talented artists: Ed McGuinness, Andrea Broccardo, Mark Buckingham, Gleb Melnikov, Kev Walker, and CAFU. Featuring an epic new magical costume for Peter, “gifted” to him by the manipulative Doctor Doom, 8 Deaths of Spider-Man sees Peter Parker forced to take up the reigns of a brutal battle for the fate of Earth. Replacing Doctor Strange in this dangerous “covenant,” Peter is cajoled into fighting each of Cyttorak’s children, dying horrifically each time only to be revived through magical means. It is seriously messed up, and forces Spider-Man to confront his own mortality, as well as that of his friends and family.
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The trade paperback itself is nice, as expected. With a shocking 34 variant covers offered at the back of the trade, 8 Deaths of Spider-Man is certainly in the running for the most amount of variants in a Marvel paperback. While some fans might wince at the $35 price tag, I checked with other trades on my comic shelf, and this price for the 300+ pages of content is seemingly reasonable. It costs less than Epic Collections, some of which are only a bit longer, and costs $15 less than the Sins of Sinister trade, even though they have roughly the same number of pages. Overall, if you’re into collecting longer trades and are a fan of Spidey, this paperback is well worth your money.
Before talking about what I didn’t love about this arc, I do just want to highlight how much I absolutely loved the art in the first issue, Amazing Spider-Man #61. I was gagged! Ed McGuinness’s art was wonderful, particularly in Peter’s first battle with Cyntros and his horrible resurrection after his first death. The “X-Ray” vision of his death was freaky and unique, a very cool visual to show how brutal his deaths would be. But, what I really want to highlight is the four pages of watercolor art from Niko Henrichon that introduced readers to the covenant Doctor Strange set with Cyttorak. Haunting and beautiful, this sequence really set this issue apart and got me invested in the overall Cyttorak plot.
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Ok, so, this arc of The Amazing Spider-Man features a lot of filler. That is undeniable. However, I think it is important to realize that this arc was literally filler, wrapping up Volume 6 of Amazing before Joe Kelly took on the permanent writer’s role in the rebooted The Amazing Spider-Man #0. That being said, I do think the high amount of filler-like content lessened the impact of the first and final issue of 8 Deaths of Spider-Man, which, in my opinion, were excellent. I also totally understand why fans of Spider-Man were left confused and a bit upset about Peter casually cheating on Shay with Felicia. I don’t know, maybe Peter and Shay weren’t exclusive or anything, but it certainly seemed like they were dating, and that is not very heroic of Spidey!
Maybe I liked this arc of Amazing Spider-Man because I am not a dedicated Spidey superfan, so I don’t care deeply about Marvel’s treatment of Peter Parker, as long as the story is fun and not wildly out of character. Sorry, not sorry! I get it, I care a lot about the X-Men, and feel big feelings when my favorite mutants are written out of character or in a way that weakens their lore and history, but I just don’t have the same concerns about Peter! This was fun, had some great crossovers with heroes like Dr. Strange and the X-Men, and gave Spider-Man an opportunity to confront the brutal realities of his life as a superhero, eventually overcoming the apathy and fear that plagued him.
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Also, ugh, I really do just love the X-Men. SORRY! I think literally any Marvel story is better when the X-Men are in it. That is my cross to bear, but I felt like Cain’s addition to the story, as the most iconic connection to Cyttorak at Marvel, was incredibly fun. I wish that the X-Men got to fight more Scions of Cyttorak, instead of Callix murdering all his siblings before they got a chance to battle! I think Spidernaut was a fun addition to the story, especially his team-up with Juggernaut, and it was intense seeing Magik attack Cain, now one of her best friends in comics.
At the end of the day, was I super invested in the story between Cyra, Cellix, and Cyttorak? No, not really, and I thought Cyttorak finally feeling a single iota of emotion after millennia was a silly (but kind of in a campy way) ending to the tale. Buuuut, I really enjoyed most of the art throughout, and actually thought “emo” Peter dealing with the nihilism of his loved ones eventual death was an interesting point of reflection for Spider-Man. Peter eventually moving past this hopelessness was powerful and important to witness, and I think overall the ending of this arc set up Joe Kelly nicely to reboot the series with The Amazing Spider-Man #1. I liked, but didn’t love, this trade paperback, and think any casual Spidey fan would certainly enjoy this collection!
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