Review: Amazing Spider-Man #1000 (Marvel)
Is this anniversary issue a must or a bust?
The Amazing Spider-Man #1000
Writers | Joe Kelly Noah Hawley J.M. DeMatteis Frank Miller Triple H w/Rob Fee Brian Michael Bendis Larry Lieber Dan Slott |
Illustrators | Pepe Larraz Patrick Gleason Humberto Ramos Peach Momoko Ed McGuinness Stuart Immonen Giuseppe Camuncoli Marcos Martin |
Colorists | Frederico Blee Marcio Menyz w/Erick Arciniega Edgar Delgado Matthew Wilson Marte Gracia Rachelle Rosenberg Muntsa Vicente |
Content Rating | Teen |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Spoilers Ahead
Part 1: The Main Story
The Amazing Spider-Man hasn't been a must-read since the events of One More Day back in 2007. That's a long time and might sound bombastic, but ask yourself, how many Spider-Man stories published in the nearly 20 years since that storyline was published have been memorable? How many characters and concepts introduced in that time have had an indelible impact on the series? The answer, as far as I'm concerned, is not many. Superior Spider-Man is arguably the lone standout, with random storylines like New Ways to Die sprinkled in here and there that spark some temporary interest before the book goes back into the same, old holding pattern it's been in for eons now.
Joe Kelly's turn as the solo writer on ASM hasn't done much to improve things after the disastrous Zeb Wells run. The bright spots, like Kelly's take on the Peter/Norman friendship, as well as the examination of Peter's rebellious middle school days, are regularly undermined by nauseating material like Peter and Shay's degenerate open relationship (Peter would never) and the underwhelming intergalactic escapades that took up so much time at the start of the reboot. Things started to become a bit more interesting, however, with the introduction of the mysterious Cormac "Mac" Crane.
It turned out that Cormac was in actuality Richard Benjamin Parker, the son of May and Ben Parker. May had what was believed to be another miscarriage, but it turns out that her son was mistakenly declared dead, taken away, and given over to a wealthy family by accident. Raised as Cormac Crane, he eventually discovered during Spider-Man's battle with Torment (another snooze-fest storyline) that he was actually the cousin of the web slinger. Cormac began to make contact with May and Peter, eventually revealing the truth that he was May's son.
It isn't the first time that we've seen heretofore unknown Parkers pop up out of the woodwork (who could forget Teresa Parker?), and the explanation for Cormac's total absence in May and Peter's lives makes sense. However, it's a Spider-Man comic, so I think everyone was waiting for some terrible twist to rear come into play, and sure enough, with issue #1000 of ASM it's revealed that Cormac is, in fact, a threat. May, who suffered a stroke in the last issue, suddenly can't remember Peter. Cormac reveals to Peter that he has actually stolen May's memories of Peter and is twisting them so that he is replaced by his cousin in her mind, effectively erasing Peter from May's life.
Now dubbed Ravage (no relation to the 2099 character, it seems), Cormac and Peter duke it out across New York. The battle itself serves as a means for Kelly to do the customary anniversary comic bit of highlighting some of the key moments in Peter/Spider-Man's life. It's actually a really effective, unique way of doing something that has been done (forgive the pun) a thousand times before in these milestone issues. Due to the nature of Cormac's powers, the memories are being relayed from a first-person perspective, and thus have an especially intimate, personal touch to them. A lesser writer would ham up these moments, but Kelly has always had a deft touch with dialogue and sells all of these memories well.
The main drawback here is that Cormac's transformation into a bad guy feels abrupt and predictable. I guess Teresa Parker sort of broke the cycle, but these family reunions tend to skew negative for Peter, so there wasn't much question in my mind that Cormac would eventually wind up a problem. The bigger issue, though, is that Ravage just feels bland and forgettable. There's no real hook to his design that makes him memorable and his powers come across as contrived. At one point he's wielding May Parker's "essence" or "spirit" as a weapon to attack Peter with. It's a moment that was meant to have impact but instead felt outlandish more than anything else.
By the end of the issue, Spider-Man fends off Ravage who... disappears, basically, with no real explanation. Spidey pops his dislocated arm back into its socket and gets ready for round two with his new foe and the issue ends. Overall, I thought the action was fine, mainly because Pepe Larraz is such an immensely talented artist. The scenes had a great flow with kinetic panel layouts that gave the action a fine sense of speed and weight. The primary failing comes from Cormac not being all that interesting nor threatening and an ending that was way too abrupt. I'd have taken one or two less backup stories if it meant getting more of the main adventure. As-is, the story does a good job of reflecting on what makes Spider-Man special in this, his thousandth issue, but continues the overall middling nature of Kelly's run up to now.
Part 2: The Backup Stories
I've been reading Amazing Spider-Man since I was a kid in the early '90s, so I feel like I have enough familiarity with the character to wonder why more of Spider-Man's classic writers weren't involved in this major anniversary issue. Larry Lieber (Stan Lee's brother for the uninitiated), J.M. DeMatteis, Brian Michael Bendis, and (begrudgingly) Dan Slott are all fine inclusions, but what does Triple H have to do with the legacy of ASM? Noah Hawley? Where are the likes of Roger Stern, David Michelinie, or Tom DeFalco? It was a head-scratcher to me, especially considering a couple of those names contributed to the letters page in the back! The same can be said of the artists, as well; how do you not have Mark Bagley draw something for the interior of the thousandth issue of ASM for crying out loud?
Who knows, maybe they all got offers and just turned them down or had something else to do. Regardless, who we did get, I'm happy to say, did a mostly amazing (another pun!) job with their contributions. First up is Noah Hawley's story, Still Standing, which introduces readers to an aging Peter Parker being attacked by an old enemy in a rest home. It's a shame that ever since Patrick Gleason became a Marvel-exclusive artist his interior work is so sporadic, as his illustrations here are sublime and I wish we could see more of them. I'd argue he's the first artist I've ever seen properly nail what Peter would look like as an old man. The interaction between Peter and his old foe is a great reminder of how inspiring Peter can be to everyone around him, good guy or bad guy, regardless.
Next up to the plate is J.M. DeMatteis, who launches into a snippet of time right after the death of Harry Osborn in Spectacular Spider-Man #200 in the story Requiem For a Goblin. Peter ponders the legitimacy of his friendship with Harry, with the dilemma playing out as the spirits of his friend and Norman Osborn arguing inside of an old Green Goblin hideout. It's solid writing from DeMatteis who, with the exception of the recent, disappointing Spider-Man '94 miniseries, has had a revival with Spider-Man of late that makes me wish he could be given a monthly to work on. The mastermind behind Kraven's Last Hunt still gets the character and can still produce compelling psychological drama with Spider-Man that not many writers have the chops for.
Humberto Ramos handles art here and, as usual, knocks it out of the park with his exaggerated style. It's not an action-oriented story by any stretch, but Ramos is so skilled that a bunch of scenes of characters talking remains nonetheless compelling. Ramos's facial expressions have only gotten better with age, and the pairing of him along with usual inker Victor Olazaba and colorist Edgar Delgado is always a winning combination.
Our third story, Tears of the Spider, comes from Frank Miller and Peach Momoko. Now, Miller is a legend and, frankly, can do whatever the hell he wants as a comic book creator—he's beyond earned that right at this point his career. That said, the story we're given is... odd. It centers around a girl who seems to be some sort of... deity? Spider creature? That has run afoul of the Hand (because it's a Frank Miller story, naturally!). Spider-Man goes to rescue her, the girl kills the Hand ninja herself, then collapses from exhaustion. Peter takes her home and, well, that's about it. Momoko's art is fine, the usual dreamy, painterly style she's known for on full display, but I haven't a clue what this story contributes to what is theoretically a celebration of Spider-Man as a character.
The fourth story is provided by Paul "Triple H" Levesque (with an assist by Rob Fee) and Ed McGuinness, dubbed The Big Night. This set of creators offers a very short story about Peter and his uncle Ben heading to watch a wrestling match. Ben gets emotional listening to his nephew talk in the car before they head into the arena, and it ends with Spidey in the present day slipping into that same facility to watch a wrestling match on his own. It's a vignette more than a real story and, hey, it was worth it for the two splash p[ages from McGuinness.
Fifth comes Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen with The Gesture. The former has been persona non grata in comics ever since the catastrophe that was his Supeman/DC run, and the latter has been out of comics as a personal choice since 2018. Bendis's fall from grace has always been a tough pill to swallow, as his work on Daredevil, Ultimate Spider-Man, and New Avengers, to name a few, were really impactful on me as a reader. Ultimate Spidey, in particular, remains my favorite version of the character ever published. So, it was bittersweet having him back for this short story because it was a reminder of the good things Bendis could do as a writer, but also left me thinking that even here, in this brief adventure, he remains diminished.
Peter's voice is fine, quipping and over analyzing the way Bendis does so well, but the enemies are the usual generic, interchangeable personalities that represent the worst of his writing habits. There's nothing about any of the villains that makes them unique, and worse, they're treated like a joke. When the villains are only a punchline, it's impossible to buy into the sense that there are any stakes, which in turn kills the impact of the fight or story. And by the end, when Peter gets to his destination and starts talking to Captain America, we get the yet another variation of Peter talking to Steve about Uncle Ben. The only problem is that I'm almost positive that Peter and Steve have talked about Ben in the past, so it was awkward seeing it presented as something new. In short, it was an okay story, but also a reminder of why Bendis is perhaps best as a pinch hitter and not the leadoff man when it comes to comic books these days.
Immonen is a different story, delivering some solid line work that reminded me how depressing it was when he decided to step back from comic books. Even now he remains one of the most talented draftsmen in the business, with confident, bold compositions, fluid action, and excellent emoting on the faces of his characters. The industry is a lesser place without Immonen in it, but it was a thrill to have him back for this story.
Our second-to-last tale is Of Webs and Six-Guns by Larry Lieber and Giuseppe Camuncoli. Lieber is in his '90s, so it was really fun seeing him step in to do another story with the character at his age. Lieber helped co-create a whole host of Marvel characters, but he spent many years working on both Rawhide Kid and The Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip. Thus, it's only natural to have Lieber's story pair the two characters he spent so much time with. While the story is simply a fantasy sequence, where Peter falls asleep in the park while sitting on a bench with Mary Jane and adventures with Rawhide Kid in the past, it's told with immense heart. Reading Lieber's writing felt, ironically, like a trip back in time to comic books from decades ago where adventure and heart pushed the plot forward.
Camuncoli has never been one of my favorite artists, primarily because of how he draws Spider-Man, but he does draw a great Peter Parker, and his looser pencils work well here for this Wild West yarn. Camuncoli does justice to the period, really cementing the idea that this is happening in the past. And I think his take on Spider-Man in this issue looks better than what I've seen him do previously. Again, there isn't a lot of meat on the bones of this story, but it's the perfect setup for fun and adventure; the forte of the Lieber brothers, certainly.
That leaves us with Now I Can Rest by Dan Slott and Marco Martin. Without spoiling too much, this story examines a character from the very earliest days of Spider-Man and adds a new dimension to the murder of Uncle Ben. It's nothing intrusive, and instead is used to remind both Peter and the reader how much Spider-Man can impact the people around him. Interestingly, Martin, one of the best to ever pick up a pencil, never frames Spider-Man to be in full view within the story. This decision places the focus instead on the character being analyzed, further cementing how the story is about Spider-Man's impact versus Spider-Man himself.
Slott isn't among my favorite Spider-Man writers, and outside of a few stories here and there I think his run on the character is largely middling; neither good nor bad, just sort of there. However, when Slott does deliver a good story, they stand out, and Now I Can Rest does exactly that. Slott's Peter is always portrayed as the humble, friendly everyman, and it's because of that I always think of Slott's version of the character as being in the classic mold from back in the day. It's a somber piece that is the perfect capper to this anniversary issue.
In Conclusion...
Amazing Spider-Man #1000 isn't a perfect anniversary issue, but it comes close to greatness at times. The main story cleverly weaves in the sort of introspection one expects from a milestone like this while still managing to move the main story forward without skipping a bit. At the same time, Ravage comes across as generic with vague powers and a predictable fall from grace. The backups are where the better stories can be found. DeMatteis, Lieber, and Slott deliver the standout tales, but they're all worth a read and help to round out the issue. Well... maybe not Miller's so much... but everyone else!
