(artist) Ramon Perez
(colorist) Ian Herring
Last week Spider-Man writer Dan Slott kind of took me by surprise with his rather underwhelming story for the "Amazing Spider-Man" relaunch, which marked the return of Peter Parker to his body and life as Spider-Man after a year of one of his worst nemeses, Doctor Octopus, running around in his body. I understood the choice to go low-key, but I expected a much splashier first issue.
Fortunately, this week Slott, this time joined by artist Ramon Perez, more than makes up for that disappointing first issue with the first issue of his much-hyped flashback miniseries "Learning to Crawl" which is actually numbered as The Amazing Spider-Man #1.1 to 1.5. As far as I understand it, as far as Marvel chronology goes, this story takes place between the events of Amazing Fantasy #15 and The Amazing Spider-Man #1, or something like that.
In this story, Uncle Ben has just died, and Peter Parker has learned more than one important lesson about power and responsibility, as he has officially become the man of the house, having become the family breadwinner, a role he fulfills by continuing to appear on television, an occupation which, he comes to realize, become progressively difficult. What Peter doesn't know is that he has an admirer in the home-schooled prodigy/loner Clayton Cole, an admiration he takes very seriously, as revealed in the very last panel.
Marvel's done quite a few of these retcon/flashback miniseries before, but apart from, and arguably because of the first issue of John Byrne's Spider-Man: Chapter One back in 1998, which was supposed to do for Spider-Man what Byrne's Man of Steel miniseries did for Superman back in 1986 I haven't picked up any of them, because to be honest I am no fan of the whole concept of retroactive continuity, even though I will admit it has been done well from time to time. What hooked me here was Ramon Perez's art, which recalls not only Steve Ditko but Tim Sale, and the snippets of Slott's script which, really are vintage Peter Parker. For all of his shortcomings, Slott well and truly gets the character. Those two aspects of this issue alone make it a highly satisfying read.
I have to be honest, though; I wasn't quite sold on the rather anachronistic tone Slott set by choosing to transplant Spider-Man's 1962 origin story to the present day. For one thing, Peter and his supporting cast look pretty much as they did back then, with the hairdos and clothes to match, even though theirs are obviously not "hip, happening threads." Perhaps more glaring is the thought that, with live streaming and every other kid owning a hand-held media device, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for Liz Allen to invite Peter over to her house to watch Spider-Man's live performance her her gang on television, even if it is a flat screen. While Pete and his gang still feel very much like 1960s kids, Clayton Cowl, with his smartphone and hipster-cool aloofness, is very much a child of the 21st century, and while I get the impression that the contrast between old and new was intentional, and a little trippy at that, it's still a little jarring at some points. Still this is a minor quibble; this is a very enjoyable story, and considering the disappointment I felt after reading Peter's comeback in The Amazing Spider-Man #1, one I welcomed enthusiastically into my collection.
8.5/10
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