AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #999 Drags the Title Towards a Historic Milestone
With the release of Amazing Spider-Man #35, there have technically been 999 issues of Amazing Spider-Man (with a little bit of fudging). With a milestone issue in sight that has only been reached by Action Comics and Detective Comics, the excitement is… lukewarm at best. It’s understandable to anyone that has been paying attention to Amazing Spider-Man in the last 20 years, which has been in a state of arrested development thanks to the manchildren that run editorial. But despite those unfortunate limitations, a good writer can squeeze blood from a stone. And Joe Kelly is a good writer.
Marvel Comics | (w) Joe Kelly (a) Francesco Manna (c) David Curiel
To date, Joe Kelly’s run on Amazing Spider-Man can be best described as “classically Spider-Man.” Given Marvel’s stance of “fuck the current readership, we want new readers”, Kelly has done a remarkable job of cleaning up the mess left by the previous run and telling solid Spider-Man stories where the characters feel like themselves. This is especially true for his voice for Peter Parker, who has generally regressed over much of the past 20 years (with some exceptions) insteading embodying “great power, great responsibility.” Under Kelly, Peter Parker has his struggles, but is not a complete buffoon. Most importantly, Kelly has been focusing on Peter’s emotional struggles, which is the core conflict of this issue.
Since the introduction of Aunt May’s biological son, Peter has been experiencing an identity crisis. He’s struggled with the question “Where does he fit into her life?” for several issues now, retreating into himself and his web-spinning alter ego. Kelly brings this to a head in this issue, as May has had enough of Peter’s bullshit. There is a conversation with Peter and Aunt May that features a level of depth and emotional maturity not seen in a long time – probably since J. Michael Straczynski was writing the book. For many longtime fans like myself, this was a breath of fresh air that amped up excitement for the big celebration that the next issue promises. And then the cliffhanger happened.
Look, I understand Marvel’s editorial – especially the Spidey Office – is sick of fans whining about “One More Day.” It’s been close to 20 years at this point, and they have no intention of undoing it so why keep bringing it up? Well, besides the fact that those manchildren couldn’t let it go for the 20+ years that the Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson marriage existed and we fans can be just as stubborn as them, it’s also because the bill of goods sold by editorial both at the time and now was a lie. Throughout this era, we were told that “One More Day” was necessary to allow creators to tell new stories, but it always seems that old ones keep getting rehashed. And that looks to be the case with the big #1000, where a tired Spider-Man plot device gets dusted off for cheap drama. Hopefully, this is all just a big misdirect, but Spider-Man readers know that disappointment is often right around the corner.
The art by Francesco Manna and David Curiel is rock solid. Just as Joe Kelly has done a solid job stepping into the book and delivering a steady hand, Manna continues the title’s visual consistency among a now rotating cast of artists. Marvel doesn’t ask their Spider-Man artists to be exceptional, but rather adhere to a similar house style (JRJR being the exception). This is not intended to be a slight – the visual consistency between artists means that Manna gives this issue the “classic Spidey” look that is perfect as the prelude to #1000.
Amazing Spider-Man #999 is a very good comic that is undercut by an eye-roll inducing cliffhanger. For much of the issue’s pages, Joe Kelly proves that this series can still be one of depth and emotional maturity. But the final page is a reminder that at the end of the day, we are reading Amazing Spider-Man, and disappointment will inevitably rear its head as the readers’ own version of the Parker Luck.
