Zeb Wells once again refuses to treat his story with respect, killing most of the tension and intrigue as a result.
Writer | Zeb Wells |
Illustrator | Ed McGuinness |
Inkers | Mark Farmer, Mark Morales, Wade von Grawbadger, and Ed McGuinness |
Colorist | Marcio Menyz |
Publisher | Marvel | 07.31.24 |
Spoilers Ahead
At some point I’ll go into more depth about this, but the short of it is that Zeb Wells’ run on The Amazing Spider-Man has not been very good. The easiest bit to focus on is the abortive relationship between Mary Jane and sad sack “Paul,” who might be one of the most milquetoast, lame characters to have ever been introduced to the world of Spider-Man. After teasing fans with the prospect of MJ and Peter getting engaged towards the end of Nick Spencer’s run, the proverbial rug was pulled out from under everyone as Wells came aboard and promptly tore the couple apart once more. It’s just been downhill ever since.
Now, while I definitely hate that MJ and Peter aren’t together, one of the larger problems plaguing ASM is that it simply isn’t a well-written comic. It’s a nuts-and-bolts deficiency that has been a problem in mainstream comics for the past decade or so. I blame editorial, in this case Nick Lowe, for seemingly not imposing any quality control on the comics they publish. In regards to this Spider-Goblin arc, it isn’t that the idea is flawed, it’s that the execution of it is incredibly poor.
If you haven’t been reading for a while, here’s the lowdown: Norman Osborn is a good guy now. During Spencer's run, a reborn Sin Eater “cleansed” Norman of his sins, which is exactly the sort of metaphysical gobbledygook it sounds like. It’s never really explained how sins can be removed from a person, but worse, in ASM they can actually transfer from one person to another. During Wells' run of ASM, Norman’s sins eventually wound up inside of Peter before being removed. Now, in this new arc Norman’s sins have reemerged and are wreaking havoc once more.
So, naturally, the first problem most people will have is that the concept of Norman’s sins being a thing that can get tossed around like a football is just preposterous within the world of ASM, which is typically a more grounded comic book series. However, I’m going to actually go to bat for the idea—let’s keep it real, the metaphysical has appeared in the series before, and while it doesn’t always work (see One More Day for the worst example), there are times I find it enjoyable (like when J. Michael Straczynski introduced Ezekiel and Morlun). This ain’t no Morlun, but I can roll with the punches of Norman’s evil made manifest.
However, where the story falls apart is, again, the execution. The arc began with Norman making his long-anticipated return to evil as the Green Goblin. Over the course of the ensuing battle, Peter and Norman played a game of “I already knew your plan, so I made a counter-plan in advance!” Spider-Man winds up the loser, though, as it turns out that the character’s exposure to the Winkler Device (it’s like a mind control machine) in previous issues actually mapped Norman’s twisted Green Goblin persona onto Peter’s brain. The end result is a vicious, nasty version of Spider-Man, the so-called Spider-Goblin, who is running around causing chaos.
This issue brings us to the culmination of this madcap caper, and I call it that because that’s about the level of seriousness that Wells treats his own story. Everything is undercut with stupidity and goofy humor. Rek-Rap is part of the story, and if you don’t know who that is, imagine Spider-Man’s version of Superman’s Bizarro. While I can appreciate that McGuinness enjoys drawing Rek-Rap, the character is a total gag. It is impossible to take him seriously and his presence completely scuttles any sense of tension that the story might have.
The same can be said of Wells’ treatment of Ms. Marvel, J. Jonah Jameson, Curt Connors, a lab assistant named Doug, and the Living Brain (who can walk now, so he’s the… Walking Brain. Sigh…) as they try to fight through Kraven to intervene in Spider-Man and the Green Goblin’s fight. There could be legitimate tension and intrigue as Ms. Marvel tries to rescue everyone, including Peter, but Wells interjects stupid jokes at every turn and acts like he’s writing the Scooby Gang. Doug might be the worst as he’s the “quirky” character that’s funny because, gee, isn’t it weird how he’s here and part of the adventure?!
A running bit in ASM has been that JJJ has been housing/caring for Dr. Octopus’s original set of robotic arms, which are portrayed as having the sentience of a pet dog. No, I didn’t make that up, and yes, it’s more inanity that presents ASM as a gag as much as a serious superhero comic. Here, the arms are also part of the rescue squad and worn by Dr. Connors. Now, God forbid Connors be shown as competent in a fight considering his years as the Lizard, where at times he even has control of his functions as the creature. Instead, Wells treats him like a fish out of water who can’t manipulate the arms and contributes nothing to the battle.
Who can use the arms instantly, though? Kamala, of course. Don’t get me wrong—I like Ms. Marvel for the most part. I just think that she’s been assailed by some of the most bland, uninventive storylines Marvel could have ever made for the character. In this case, Ms. Marvel has all the presence and gravitas she needs. She’s clearly going to be the one to protect the others, but it’s like Wells and editorial were frightened to show her getting help from Connors during the fight. Remember what I said about stupidity hurting this story? This is an example of that dumbness. Kamala would have in no way been diminished by getting a helping tentacle from Connors. In fact, it would have been more interesting if that’s how it played out.
Another nuts-and-bolts issue I have with this arc is that the Green Goblin’s plan doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Essentially, the Goblin persona wants to reside inside of Spider-Man from now on, corrupting Peter from within and doing all sorts of nasty, evil things in its new vessel. To do this, Norman has been transferring over all of Oscorp to Peter. The problem is, who would ever buy this scenario? It makes no sense to anyone looking from the outside in, and worse still, we're to believe that no one is going to just assume that the guy who randomly replaced Norman Osborn isn’t the same person that caused his untimely death right after? What’s more, this is the culmination of decades of evolving the Goblin’s obsession with Peter. We’ve gone from the Green Goblin wanting to make Spider-Man his heir to now just wanting to be him. What’s next, Norman travels back in time to impregnate Mary Parker so he can be Peter’s father? Let’s find something new to do with the Green Goblin in the future, Marvel.
Although the Walking Brain has up until now been treated as a gag, he gets some solid dialogue in this issue, where he finally answers the question he’s been asking ad nauseam, which is, “who is Spider-Man?” The double-page splash that describes the heroic, tenacious spirit of Peter Parker is very well done. It is also further proof that if Wells could stop treating ASM like a Rick and Morty fan comic, he could likely produce a series that’s worth a damn. But since he refuses to do that, all fans are left with is mediocrity. The issue ends with the Goblin persona seemingly snuffed out (as if) and Peter and Norman apparently parting ways. And again, another potentially touching moment is snuffed out by more comedic antics, in this case JJJ and Doug acting high on whatever poison darts Kraven fired at them.
Welcome to ASM, folks, the comic book where we can’t have nice things. Except for the art, at least. As is the case in many Marvel comics these days, a pedestrian or even awful story is made tolerable by incredible art. McGuinness has been in the industry for years now, but he’s arguably at the peak of his prowess. I absolutely love his version of Spider-Man, Peter, Norman, and the rest of the cast, but his Green Goblin is something else. It breaks my heart that his run on ASM will not be remembered for the story. Hopefully whatever he gets to do with Joe Kelly in the upcoming reboot rectifies that.
We only have a little longer before Zeb Wells finally vacates ASM. While this should have been his Green Goblin epic, as many an ASM writer strives for, this will go down as a snoozer in the long history of the series. It wasn’t terrible, but it also lacked any of the pomp and circumstance that a comic alleging to be the “final” Green Goblin story should have. While fans can be cynical and think, “we know the Goblin will be back,” the writer should never have that attitude. Wells, it seems, didn't get the memo, and as such refused to treat his own story with the respect that it, and the readers, deserved.
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