The Amazing Spider-Man #1
The Amazing Spider-Man #1
Written by Dan Slott
Pencilled by Humberto Ramos
Marvel
I’ve read pretty much every issue of Amazing Spider-Man published since 1998. It’s not something I’m proud of. I’ve seen the character find his way, lose his way, grow and get retconned again and again. I wasn’t sure how ready I was for another relaunch after little less than a year of Superior Spider-Man.
I shouldn’t have worried. Dan Slott rarely blows me away with his one-issue-at-at-a-time writing style, but I must admit, I’m usually pleasantly surprised. It’s a status quo book, but little time is wasted on the really boring stuff. Spider-Man’s origin comes up in one of the short stories at the end, but it initially only gets two pages, and one of them is there to set up a shocking retcon for future issues!* This shouldn’t be too much of a spoiler, since it happens on the second page, but after Peter Parker go bit by a radioactive Spider, that spider went on to bite someone else. Not as crazy a development as Aunt May being a cyborg**, but not exactly creative either. We’ve tread this ground before.
The main action of this issue concerns the White Rabbit pulling a Faberge egg heist. She’s a joke villain, and this time she’s brought a joke gang with her. Slott and Ramos return to their fight throughout the issue while weaving all of the other threads together. Enough time is spent on each topic for readers to pick up on the action, but like I said, it’s a status quo book, and not enough time is devoted to anything to really make it stick out as the central thread. The White Rabbit thing is there to the different elements together, but it only functions as that. It’s completely pointless storywise.
The new status quo is a decent enough one. It’s not the same ol Peter Parker action we know and love (or loathe.) This comic retains it’s sense of familiarity, but there’s enough new ground being tread that it feels different. Exactly how different, we have yet to see, but it’s off to a good start.
Written by Dan Slott
Pencilled by Humberto Ramos
Marvel
I’ve read pretty much every issue of Amazing Spider-Man published since 1998. It’s not something I’m proud of. I’ve seen the character find his way, lose his way, grow and get retconned again and again. I wasn’t sure how ready I was for another relaunch after little less than a year of Superior Spider-Man.
I shouldn’t have worried. Dan Slott rarely blows me away with his one-issue-at-at-a-time writing style, but I must admit, I’m usually pleasantly surprised. It’s a status quo book, but little time is wasted on the really boring stuff. Spider-Man’s origin comes up in one of the short stories at the end, but it initially only gets two pages, and one of them is there to set up a shocking retcon for future issues!* This shouldn’t be too much of a spoiler, since it happens on the second page, but after Peter Parker go bit by a radioactive Spider, that spider went on to bite someone else. Not as crazy a development as Aunt May being a cyborg**, but not exactly creative either. We’ve tread this ground before.
The main action of this issue concerns the White Rabbit pulling a Faberge egg heist. She’s a joke villain, and this time she’s brought a joke gang with her. Slott and Ramos return to their fight throughout the issue while weaving all of the other threads together. Enough time is spent on each topic for readers to pick up on the action, but like I said, it’s a status quo book, and not enough time is devoted to anything to really make it stick out as the central thread. The White Rabbit thing is there to the different elements together, but it only functions as that. It’s completely pointless storywise.
The new status quo is a decent enough one. It’s not the same ol Peter Parker action we know and love (or loathe.) This comic retains it’s sense of familiarity, but there’s enough new ground being tread that it feels different. Exactly how different, we have yet to see, but it’s off to a good start.
- * Fellow site writer Spicytoilet has written a rant about this topic in the blog section. I wonder if he’s read The Thousand by Garth Ennis and John McCrea? Found in the first three issues of Spider-Man’s Tangled Web. Similar to above, but in this one, a guy follows Peter Parker home, spies on him and eats the spider. Someone should keep track of all these retcons. There’s already been at least two series of considerable size that tried to add some prehistory to Spider-Man, and neither seemed to stick.
- ** See Superior Spider-Man. Aunt May has cyborg parts now, and will never, ever die.
A Look Inside
