Racing Against Time: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #4

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by John Romita Jr

inked by Scott Hanna

colored by Marcio Menyz

Having learned of Tombstone's shocking plan to frame Rose for a killing spree, Spider-Man frantically sets out to stop the bloodbath from taking place. He gets help from an unexpected source, and pulls out all the stops to prevent something truly terrible from taking place. Meanwhile, Peter's turn for the worse has gotten an old ally to check in on him, and Tombstone, the architect of Spider-Man's current misery, finally reveals his plans for Joe Robertson.

Though there's one issue left to go in this five-issue story marking the auspicious return of John Romita, Jr.'s art to the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, it's honestly hard to imagine an issue stronger than this one turned out to be. In terms of pacing, dialogue and just overall storytelling it really is an extraordinary read, especially with JR Jr dialing the action up to 11. This may sound like hyperbole, but I can honestly say that I haven't seen this kind of kinetic power from his art since his Daredevil: The Man Without Fear miniseries with Frank Miller, the one that inspired the bone-crunching fight scenes from the Daredevil Netflix series.  I also give full credit to Wells for helping JR Jr. bring his A-game to this book.  

Thanks to writer and artist working in perfect sync, I really got into the urgency of the issue. This is really classic Spider-Man; pushing himself to the very limit to help people who need him. I also love how Wells pays off something that happened all the way back in the first issue which seemed, at the time at least, like a throwaway moment. This is the beauty of serialized storytelling, and long may it continue.

Though there's only one issue left in this inaugural arc, it's clear that Wells has got some pretty big plans for Tombstone moving forward, and I'm pretty sure I'll stick around for those, but for the meantime I really just want to take the time to applaud Wells and Romita Jr. for this exemplary story, which should really make a solid argument for a single creative team handling storytelling duties moving forward.

9.5/10 

Tombstone's Revenge: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #2 and #3

 written by Zeb Wells

drawn by John Romita Jr. (p) and Scott Hanna (i)

colored by Marcio Menyz

Spider-Man's effort to stop the gang war between Tombstone and the returning Rose kicks into high gear as Spidey chases after Tombstone, only to find that Tombstone is ready and waiting for him with a plan that is truly sinister. Meanwhile, the reasons behind Peter's separation from Mary Jane remain shrouded in mystery, but it looks pretty darn serious, with MJ's new beau even attempting to pay Peter a visit to tell him to get lost. In stark contrast, Randy Robertson and Janice Lincoln decide to take their own relationship to the next level as Janice asks Randy to marry her.  

As I said when I reviewed the first issue of this latest reboot of Marvel's flagship title, this is the kind of story I've missed for years, one written by a single writer and drawn by a single artist for a full five or six issues, and the team of Zeb Wells and John Romita, Jr. truly deliver the goods. It's kind of hard to believe that this actually their first-ever collaboration considering how long each of these guys has worked for Marvel, but hey, better late than never. 

I'm reviewing these issues together because I bought them together and read them in rapid succession, but also because they actually feel like a "mini" two-parter within Wells and JR, Jr.'s story arc focused entirely on Tombstone. The narrative is tight and quite rewarding, even as it ends on the inevitable cliffhanger given that there are two issues left in the five-part story to go. 

It's gratifying to see Wells picking up on threads started by other writers, continuing the return of the Rose storyline started by Nick Spencer a couple of years back and bringing back Digger, the gamma-powered mobster that J. Michael Stracynzki and Romita Jr. created over a decade ago.  Not everything has to be a status-quo shattering extravaganza. 

The strongest part about these two issues is how they put the spotlight on Tombstone, who has actually been pretty prominent in the last few years thanks to Nick Spencer's story. More than Spencer did, though, Wells really explores Tombstone as a character, providing a brief retelling of his origin while at the same time giving a bit of insight into just how wily he is, and what direction his character might be heading into, especially with his daughter about to take a big step into the unknown.  It's gratifying to see a longtime character get the respect he's been due for a while.   

Romita Jr. continues to deliver here, with some great money shots here; he always was such a consummate storyteller, and Wells brings out the best in him.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how these two wrap up their first arc.

8.5/10