The Amazing Spider-Man #54 Review
Writer: Nick Spencer
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: John Dell
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
While I was relieved to see that I wasn’t alone in my frustration with the last issue of Amazing Spider-Man, that didn’t make it worth it to pay $4 for a filler issue that followed such a strong cliffhanger and two years of drawing out a mystery. Why couldn’t this issue have been the one we got last week? We still didn’t get the answers that we were all hoping for, but we at least got a confrontation between Kindred and Spider-Man. This is one of the darkest issues that I can recall from the main book, but it feels appropriate, given the themes of sins and demons and such. The beginning of the issue is a little shaky – there’s a moment where Peter refuses to believe that Kindred is Harry. It passes so fast, it’s almost less than a moment and left me wondering if it was just there as a formality. Aside from that, the fight between Kindred and Peter is great. They don’t have anything groundbreaking to say, but there’s enough substance there that references their history as well as the secrets behind their current situation. Finally, I’m glad to see the main title rewarding me for having read the .LR issues, while still getting those that didn’t up to speed quickly.
There’s not too much I can say about Bagley and Dell’s work that I haven’t said before. They’re great together. Very clean, articulate characters. The page layouts stuck out to me this time around. Bagley makes everything fit so neatly into their panels and the bigger picture, so when a punch or a kick does break outside of the borders, it’s more impactful. Delgado’s Spider-Man is a little too orange, but aside from that, I have only good things to say about the coloring. In addition to excellent ambient lighting, he plays a large part in making the characters look three dimensional.
Amazing Spider-Man #54 should have been last week’s issue. We still don’t get the answers we’re looking for (and I guess we should just accept that at this point), but it is still a satisfying and engaging confrontation that we’ve been waiting for for so long. Spencer deserves praises for taking the book to a darker place without making it obnoxiously edgy, and Bagley, Dell, & Delgado prove themselves yet again to be a consistently strong visual team.
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: John Dell
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
While I was relieved to see that I wasn’t alone in my frustration with the last issue of Amazing Spider-Man, that didn’t make it worth it to pay $4 for a filler issue that followed such a strong cliffhanger and two years of drawing out a mystery. Why couldn’t this issue have been the one we got last week? We still didn’t get the answers that we were all hoping for, but we at least got a confrontation between Kindred and Spider-Man. This is one of the darkest issues that I can recall from the main book, but it feels appropriate, given the themes of sins and demons and such. The beginning of the issue is a little shaky – there’s a moment where Peter refuses to believe that Kindred is Harry. It passes so fast, it’s almost less than a moment and left me wondering if it was just there as a formality. Aside from that, the fight between Kindred and Peter is great. They don’t have anything groundbreaking to say, but there’s enough substance there that references their history as well as the secrets behind their current situation. Finally, I’m glad to see the main title rewarding me for having read the .LR issues, while still getting those that didn’t up to speed quickly.
There’s not too much I can say about Bagley and Dell’s work that I haven’t said before. They’re great together. Very clean, articulate characters. The page layouts stuck out to me this time around. Bagley makes everything fit so neatly into their panels and the bigger picture, so when a punch or a kick does break outside of the borders, it’s more impactful. Delgado’s Spider-Man is a little too orange, but aside from that, I have only good things to say about the coloring. In addition to excellent ambient lighting, he plays a large part in making the characters look three dimensional.
Amazing Spider-Man #54 should have been last week’s issue. We still don’t get the answers we’re looking for (and I guess we should just accept that at this point), but it is still a satisfying and engaging confrontation that we’ve been waiting for for so long. Spencer deserves praises for taking the book to a darker place without making it obnoxiously edgy, and Bagley, Dell, & Delgado prove themselves yet again to be a consistently strong visual team.
A Look Inside
