written by Dan Slott
drawn by Marcos Martin
colored by Muntsa Vicente
Following the tragic, brutal conclusion of the "Red Goblin" storyline, which left one of Peter's key supporting cast dead (at least for now), outgoing writer Dan Slott winds up his tenure with a considerably more upbeat, rather pleasant one-shot of a story focusing less on Spider-Man and more on one of the people he saved very early in his career, humble everyman Kenneth Kincaid.
The story opens the early days of Spidey's career; Uncle Ben has only just died, and Spider-Man is still a relatively unknown crime fighter. Kenneth Kincaid has somewhere very important to be, but stops at a convenience store to sate his smoking habit. The decision to buy cigarettes nearly proves disastrous as the store Kincaid enters is being robbed. Fortunately, Spider-Man comes on the scene and saves the day, stopping the robbery and enabling Kenneth to keep one of the most important appointments of his life, with the people that matter most to him: his family. Over the years, Kenneth makes it a point to always be there for his family when they need him, and as luck would have it, when Spider-Man is locked in combat with Mister Negative's goons, Kenneth actually gets the opportunity to return, in a fashion, a favor.
This is is one for the ages, to my mind. It's right up there with "The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man" by Roger Stern and Ron Frenz, and a perfect farewell from Slott, as a Spider-Man writer whose nearly decade-long tenure may have had its ups and and downs, but which, more often than not, showed the character the reverence it deserved. In these last pages of his soon-to-be fabled run, Slott encapsulates everything that makes Spider-Man an effective everyman hero, by viewing him through the lens of one of the people he's helped.
It helps quite a lot, I think, that Slott is joined in his swansong by the one modern comic book artist who channels Steve Ditko's aesthetic and energy better than anyone else around, the excellent Marcos Martin. I've been a fan of Marcos Martin for years, following not only his work on Spidey, but on Daredevil and even his brief Doctor Strange miniseries from years ago, and this is one of the best issues I've seen from him yet. I love the way he captures both the intensity of Spidey's action sequences (of which there are two) and the intimacy of Kincaid's life with his family. It's easy to see why Slott asked Martin to join him for this one last story.
Goodbye Slott. I may not have been around for all of the issues you wrote, but like Kenneth Kincaid, you were always there for Spidey. Best of luck sending Tony Stark on his new adventures!
10/10
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