Sticking the Landing, but Only Just: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #5 (mild spoilers)

written by Nick Spencer
penciled by Ryan Ottley
inked by Cliff Rathburn and Ottley
colored by Laura Martin

The one comic book I have enjoyed more than any other of the last several months finally concludes its first story arc, as Peter Parker finally confronts his now separate Spider-Man persona with a vaguely-conceived plan to reunite the two of them, a plan which may prove somewhat difficult to implement. Meanwhile, shadowy forces moving against Spider-Man continue to push their own sinister agendas forward.

While this story may not necessarily have been the profound treatise on the human condition that a story about power without responsibility may have initially promised, the book does deliver what I think Spencer and Ottley set out to do, which is to give readers some old school Spidey fun with a bit of heart and a few hints at what's to come. I do have to say that, given the build-up, the manner in which Spencer wrapped up this little dilemma was a bit too neat, but I understand that the story basically had to end where and how it did. I also feel that the subplot running through the series, in which the somewhat predictable mystery villain finally stands revealed, didn't really have the intended impact, at least, not for anyone familiar with the character. I suppose it might have made a deeper impression on newer readers.

So, as tempting as it is to grade this new team on their entire run, which I have consistently enjoyed from the get-go, I have to say that the Spencer/Ottley team slightly disappoints with this issue, though not too much. I really like the lighthearted tone that Spencer employs, which he manages to maintain even when Peter is lying in a bloody mess after a bomb explosion. I confess, though, that this scene kind of had me worry that Spencer may spend too many issues in the future either exploiting Ottley's talent for drawing bloodied characters or pandering to his apparent penchant for doing so (I have no idea which it would be). With a few exceptions over the years, Spider-Man isn't really a character whose stories are best told through extreme violence, and certainly not the stomach-churning gorefests that Ottley got used to drawing over on Invincible. If they want to depict Spidey in a bloody mess like he was in Coming Home, I hope they are at least judicious about it. Ottley's work, as these last five issues have shown, is about so much more than ultra-violent punch-ups, and I really look forward to more from him in these pages.

That little concern aside, though, it's clear that these guys picked a tone and stuck to it, and while they didn't exactly reinvent the wheel with their storytelling, they've definitely established themselves as a team that can take this book to new heights. I'm definitely sold on Spencer's writing and could see myself picking up his acclaimed work on Superior Foes of Spider-Man sometime in the future.


7.5/10