After more than a year-long absence from the Marvel Comics universe, Peter Parker is back, and his return was highly anticipated by Spider-Man readers everywhere. Now five issues into The Amazing Spider-Man rebooted series, writer Dan Slott and artist Humberto Ramos provide a solid, if slightly unremarkable take on the iconic character.
This series is a continuation of The Superior Spider-Man story arc, which Slott also helmed. In that series, longtime Spidey nemesis Doc Ock occupies Peter’s body after killing him and sets out to prove himself superior to his adversary by creating a smarter, more advanced Spider-Man.
Now with the new Amazing Spider-Man, Peter returns to deal with all the changes that took place while Octavius posed as him. Changes in Parker’s life include having his own company, acquiring a Ph. D. in a field that he knows nothing about, and falling in love with a woman from his lab.
Yet beyond his lack of knowledge about everything that has happened during his absence, Peter must also face old foes such as Electro and Black Cat who Octavius managed to infuriate.
The strength in this series lies in Slott’s work. Having written other landmark Spider-Man stories such as Big Time and Dying Wish, he manages to maintain the integrity of the character while placing him in a new environment.
Rather than continue as the nerdy high school student swinging across the streets of New York fighting crime, Peter must first attend to his duties as CEO of Parker Industries.
Slott’s dialogue and tone make the book somewhere in between comical and gritty. Now that Peter is officially back from the dead, it’s difficult to raise the stakes any higher for the character than they’ve been in the past. After all, his girlfriend Gwen Stacy was killed by the Green Goblin back in the 1970s.
What the writer accomplishes so skillfully is bringing a breath of fresh air while treading along familiar territory. Throughout the entire history of Spider-Man comics, a key component has always been placing the character in overwhelming situations. Slott’s saga is no different, as his emphasis on this formula makes for a major highlight.
On the other hand, Ramos’ art is too exaggerated for my taste, and for many other readers. The characters’ faces pop out and appear overtly cartoonish. Particularly irritating is the design for Anna Maria, Octavius’ love interest in Superior. It’s hard to take her seriously when she looks like a little girl in a lab coat, with virtually no distinguishable facial features.
Though there’s enough cleverness in the coloring and inking to help the art’s overall quality, Ramos’ work is less a compliment to Slott’s writing than it is a weaker component of the book.
As the series progresses, an alliance between Electro and Black Cat presents itself as a dominant subplot. The latter character’s presence is more prevalent, given that she and Peter have had an on/off relationship for a number of years. Seeing her bent on total vengeance toward her ex-lover adds a nice layer of intrigue to the main storyline.
There are no doubt certain elements of predictability here and there, which is difficult to avoid entirely. Anything is better than the pathetic Spider-Man movie that was just released this summer. Overall, this latest installment in Slott’s ongoing Spidey saga makes for a good read with its humorous dialogue and clever plotting.
