Judgment Day: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #10

 written by Zeb Wells

drawn by Nick Dragotta

colored by Marcio Menyz

From teasing one crossover to actually taking part in another, The Amazing Spider-Man features a single issue story that ties into the ongoing crossover event featuring the Avengers vs X-Men vs Eternals. Unlike the "Dark Web" tease that Marvel gave readers last issue, though, which was pretty light on story, this issue, in just a few pages gives arguably one of the meatiest Peter Parker stories I've read in a long time, right up there with the likes of "The Conversation" by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr. 

In a nutshell, following the events of A v X v E, the Progenitor, the Celestial which used to serve as the Avengers' headquarters, has decided  to judge all of humanity, and that means appearing to each and every human everywhere and telling them if they're "worthy," whatever that means.  In many cases, apparently the Celestial appears to people as someone significant from their lives, and after observing them for a time, passes judgment on them.

In Peter Parker's case, the Celestial manifests to him as the late Gwen Stacy and as Peter goes about his day, with "Gwen" hovering around him with watchful eyes he finds himself wondering just how Gwen would judge the way he has lived his life.  This is what concerns him, even more than the imminent judgment of the Progenitor.

This is the kind of story that Nick Spencer, by undoing the abominable "Sins Past" made possible.  The stain that story left on Gwen Stacy as a character made it hard...if not impossible...to write stories about her without that getting brought up. Thank you again, Nick Spencer, 

And thank you, Zeb Wells.  It's interesting how it took a writer who's even younger than I am to tell a story that exemplifies just what Gwen Stacy means to Peter. By now, she has been dead far, far longer than she was ever alive in the comics, and yet her legacy of her character, and what she means to the Spider-Man mythos, is as strong as it has ever been. This is some of Wells' strongest work on a run in which he has gone from strength to strength.

The art by guest artist Nick Dragotta is charming and has a lovely Marcos Martin and even Tim Sale vibe to it.   I wouldn't mind seeing more from him down the line.

If the last issue felt disposable, this feels like essential reading, the kind of story that could show up in compilations of moments that really mattered in Peter's life. 

9.5/10

Chillin' in Krakoa: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #9

 written by Zeb Wells

drawn by Patrick Gleason

colored by Marcio Menyz

As a bit of a teaser to "Dark Web," an upcoming multi-issue crossover even between Spider-Man and the X-Men,  Marvel has Spidey show up in the X-Men's home country of Krakoa, where he kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. He and Wolverine take on the big bad person of the moment, Moira MacTaggert (whom I actually thought was a good guy, but that just goes to show I haven't been following the book), who's holding Peter's estranged flame Mary Jane Watson hostage.

Writer Zeb Wells reunites with his "Beyond" era collaborator Patrick Gleason, whose work here is still eye-candy but nowhere near the level he was at when he was illustrating the adventures of Ben Reilly. It's a somewhat disposable story and a bit of a blip in Wells' otherwise sterling track record on this series so far.  It's...very nice to look at but there's not much else to say about it, really. 

Oddly enough, I'm fond of one-shot issues; they seem increasingly rare nowadays, but the strength really relies on the story, and this one just falls short of the standard Wells has set recently. 

7/10

Old Enemies, New Friends: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #7 and #8

written by Zeb Wells

drawn John Romita, Jr. (p) Scott Hanna (i)

colored by Marcio Menyz

Peter Parker's latest series of misadventures continues as he meets up with Norman Osborn to discuss a potential job offer.  When Peter sees that Norman has made a ham-handed attempt to get him to talking to his estranged girlfriend Mary Jane, who has also paid Osborn's company a visit, he storms out, even though he and Norman have started work on a rather special project together, one that they had apparently started during the mysterious six months that preceded the current status quo. When an old enemy launches an unexpectedly brutal attack, though, Peter realizes he may need to get his hands on that special project after all, as his very life may depend on it.

This is a late review because things got in the way of my picking up these issues, and because, odd as this may sound, I was actually so satisfied with the mammoth issue #6 I wasn't quite ready to resume following Spidey's adventures. 

Anyway, Zeb Wells reunites with John Romita, Jr. for a brief but exciting  two-issue story pitting Peter against a particularly unhinged Vulture, and debuting the long-hyped new suit that Peter developed with no less than his old arch-enemy Norman Osborn.  After taking several months off following Nick Spencer's explosive conclusion to his run, Osborn is back, and, apparently has completely turned over a new leaf, courtesy of Spencer's "Sins Past" arc which had a resurrected Sin Eater quite literally erasing Norman's sins, something neither he nor Peter really understand.  I quite like how Wells' has taken Spencer's shift to the status quo and made it particularly interesting by posing a simple question: how long will Norman stay "good?" Rather than make it a foregone conclusion that his conversion is a temporary thing, Wells actually makes it a point of tension that could keep things interesting for quite a while. 

Then, there's Romita Jr.'s artwork, which, again, looks better than it has in years. I know I've said this already, but Wells really seems to grasp better than many, if not most of the writers who've worked with JR Jr just how extraordinary his storytelling prowess is. He's not just a guy drawing the writer's pictures; he's very much a co-narrator, and these issues reinforce that. 

I'm not a huge fan of the "new suit" which doesn't really look all that different from the old one, but I'm willing to wait and see what they have in store for this new outfit. The last one they tried to introduce last year didn't really go anywhere, so I don't really see this one sticking around very long either. Still, it is an interesting story point. 

9/10