Deron Generally
Deron Generally
The Amazing Spider-Man #800
Marvel Comics
Written by Dan Slott
Art by Nick Bradshaw, Humberto Ramos, Guiseppe Camuncoli, Stuart Immonen and Marcos Smith
Colors by Edgar Delgado, Java Tartaglia, Marte Garcia and Munsta Vicente
Inks by Victor Olazaba, Cam Smith and Wade von Grawbadger
Letters by Joe Caramanga
Spider-Man is at his most vulnerable at the beginning of the issue. All of his allies have been taken down by the Red Goblin and he seems to have no weaknesses. Flash has used his powers to heal Peter, but it might not be enough to take down two of his deadliest enemies combined in one.
After dealing with some family drama regarding Harry and his long lost mother, Peter comes up with the kernel of a plan to stop Osborn. It’s an interesting plan, but it might be complicated by the people in his life trying their best to “help”. The first one being Jameson, who’s desire to atone for revealing Peter’s secret to Osborn has him call Eddie Brock to try and help. The entire exchange seems ominous for Peter and interesting to the reader. There are some great call backs to Spider-Man’s history in this issue and the Horizon Labs plays a part that made me remember the Morbius stories.
In true Norman Osborn fashion, he’s a step ahead of Peter’s plan and decides that he’s going to go after both Mary Jane and Aunt May. Ramos has some beautiful art in these panels as MJ is protected from Norman by Venom and an unexpected ally defends May against an attack from a transformed Normie Osborn. When Peter arrives at Stark Tower he finds that MJ is more resourceful than he thought. I like this development in MJ. It gives her presence and power in this story and takes away the damsel in distress narrative that would usually be the case.
In order to save May and end the threat of Osborn and his symbiote, Peter is forced to do something he hates. This is when the issue starts to get really good. The descending action in this issue is a testament to the legacy of the character of Spider-Man and his supporting cast. So much of this issue works with both the action and story melding in a way that helps to make this storyline work on all levels.
There are some big things happening in this story from start to finish and all of them make for some interesting stories and ideas going forward. What I find myself most looking forward to is the relationships that Peter has made and how they will inform his story going forward. There are some great nods to classic Spidey stories and the beginnings of some pretty dramatic stories and character developments going forward. This book is definitely worthy of the legacy of the character and I had a lot of fun reading it.
