The Amazing Spider-Man‘s legacy shows why it’s one of the most complicated books in the history of comics, especially in recent years. It’s a comic that sells but hasn’t exactly been very good. The book feels like it is at the worst time in its history. Yes, worse than the Clone Saga and the Byrne reboot. Zeb Wells’s run damaged the book immensely, and while bringing fan-favorite writer Joe Kelly back was a step in the right direction, but it’s a step back taken after walking off a cliff. The Amazing Spider-Man #8 is one of those books that’s entertaining, but still has a load of problems keeping it from being more than just okay.
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Kelly is a student of comic book storytelling, and his reboot of The Amazing Spider-Man has been mostly good. A big reason for that is because Kelly is staying away from the whole Peter/MJ/Paul fiasco that sunk Wells’s run and just telling good, classic Spider-Man stories. The Amazing Spider-Man #1 was a breath of fresh air, but it didn’t fix the book. This most recent issue, The Amazing Spider-Man #8, is an example of why it’s still fun to read this book and yet kind of irritating at the same time. The entire issue is basically just a big fight scene, one that Kelly lays out very well and has just the right amount of tension, but if you’ve been reading Spider-Man stories for any length of time, you’ve read this exact type of story before. You’ve read it a lot. So, while this is an exciting fast paced issue, it’s also like nearly other Spider-Man comic where he’s getting trounced by a villain who is stronger than he is.
Kelly does a great job of putting us in Spider-Man’s head. The captions help sell the severity of the beating that Spider-Man is talking, and there’s a great flashback sequence starring Peter and Uncle Ben that informs Spider-Man’s tactics in the story. This is great Spider-Man storytelling, and it’s why despite this issue feeling like a rehash, it’s still a good read.
We also get a new villain with Hellgate but he isn’t anything particularly special. He’s an ultra-powerful villain with a mysterious purpose and background, and I don’t feel like Kelly is doing that great of a job getting readers to care about the character. However, he works for this issue. There’s also a sequence with Mary Jane, Paul, and Dylan Brock, but it doesn’t really fit. Leave them in All-New Venom, where Al Ewing can keep heaping disdain on Paul.
This issue’s art is by John Romita Jr., and that’s definitely going to be one of the things a lot of fans don’t like about it. Romita Jr. is one of those artists who you either like or hate, but Romita Jr. is a great action artist, and that’s on display here. There’s a fluidity to the action that makes the fight more exciting. Romita Jr. has gotten kind of sketchy in this stage of this career, and there’s a few examples of that in the art when his detail flags. Romita Jr.’s faces have been the weakest part of his modern art for a long time now, and luckily, there aren’t a lot of faces. Spider-Man wears his mask the whole time and Hellgate is a helmeted character with a black face, so there’s no detail to mess up. If you like Romita Jr.’s artwork, you’ll like this issue. If you don’t like Romita Jr.’s art, you won’t.
If you’re looking for a bold new Spider-Man story, then The Amazing Spider-Man #8 isn’t going to do it for you. It’s a common type of Spider-Man story, and while it has some cool parts to it, it’s still just Spider-Man 101. The art in this issue isn’t going to make fans like the issue either, but it won’t make you run away if you’re already a fan. Basically, this issue won’t make you suddenly love The Amazing Spider-Man, but it’s not going to make you hate it either. It’s just a thing that is.
Rating: 3 out of 5
The Amazing Spider-Man #8 is on sale now.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios.
