The Amazing Spider-Man #50 Review

by Harlan Ivester on October 14, 2020

Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics

            Oh boy.

            Here’s the spoiler free review: it’s a good issue, but some are definitely going to be annoyed.  Now let’s get into spoilers:

            Perhaps the most common complaint that I heard for last week’s Amazing Spider-Man #49 was that Kindred’s identity had still not been revealed. Well, here we have it. It’s Harry Osborn. Spencer starts the issue with Kindred almost literally addressing the audience frustration with the two years they had to wait to find that out, and promises that it will be worth it. I don’t know, though. He dropped really strong hints that Kindred was Harry Osborn 20 issues ago. I thought for sure that it was a red herring. Why make us think that it’s Harry Osborn… just to have it be Harry Osborn? Now, I’m sure there’s more to it than that. My theory is that this is the Harry that died pre-OMD, and this is all definitely still leading to that being undone. And frankly, I’m fine with Kindred being Harry. It’s just the two year wait and the apparent absence of a red herring that makes this frustrating. This is definitely going in the list of… controversial Spider-Man villain reveals. As for the rest of the issue, Spider-Man himself doesn’t really do much, but it’s forgivable since there’s so much development elsewhere. I’m surprised that Spencer actually went through with cleansing Norman, even if we know that will only be temporary, and I’m actually really looking forward to how that plays out.

            I am very excited to see Patrick Gleason taking on this story. His characters are, of course, fantastic, and his Kindred is a standout. Every page is interesting in its own way, and I would love to have original art of those depicting relatively mundane moments. His acting, paneling, dynamics, etc. Gleason is stellar. As is tradition, though, I have to mention a gripe. It’s so weird that the Stacey corpses still have all their hair. I mean, I get why; it would be hard to tell who they are if they were just skeletons. And it’s not like this actually effected my enjoyment of the scene. Anyway, Delgado’s colors are also a very welcome effort. There’s a lot going on in each page, but his work is consistently mindful of shadows and lighting. It makes the story easier to be invested in.

            I think it’s safe to say that this is perhaps the most important issue of Nick Spencer’s Amazing Spider-Man yet. The issues that I did have while reading weren’t necessarily with the single chapter by itself. This story continues raising the tension built by the previous arc, while finally giving us some long awaited answers and plot development. Gleason and Delgado nail the tone throughout, with awesome character work and excellent framing. Don’t miss this.
 

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside