Review: ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #7 Is An Unexpected Delight
by Tony Thornley
Outside of a rough first issue, I’ve enjoyed the latest volume of Amazing Spider-Man. There have been some rough spots, including an interminable mystery with no hint of resolution, but the latest issue is a significant step forward for the web slinger.
Zeb Wells, John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, Marcio Menyz and Joe Caramagna take a big step forward in Spider-Man’s new life.
Norman Osborn has an offer Peter Parker can’t refuse. But has the former Green Goblin really changed, or is he playing Peter, getting revenge again? If the Vulture has anything to do with it, Spider-Man won’t live long enough to find out.
I’m not going to say I’m not at least a little frustrated that we’re not getting any hints of answers (I mean I’ve mentioned it in most of my reviews to date). Even without that, the series is growing on me more and more. Wells’ reformed Norman is charming, and he weaves his supposed reformation into the plot in some really interesting ways. There isn’t a ton of plot here, but it’s good to mostly get a character piece most of the time. I also love Peter and Miles finally getting confused for one another, and having that drive the plot is a welcome bit of continuity that’s well executed.
On top of an interesting plot and story, Romita and Hanna turn in their best linework on the volume so far. This is an emotionally charged story, with Starling confronting her grandfather, Peter running into MJ, and the yelling match between Peter and Norman. They execute it really well, but they also do some great action scenes. It makes the story feel like classic Spidey, even with a plot that’s distinctly modern. Menyz adds depth to Romita’s pencils, and I really like how much he sets the scene with just his colors, whether it’s in Norman’s office, Vulture’s apartment, or the skies above New York.
This issue is a just plain fun soap opera of a comic and I hope we get more of this across the rest of this volume.
Amazing Spider-Man #7 is available now from Marvel Comics.
Overview
This is exactly the sort of issue this volume needed. It’s a fun soap opera and the art looks great. It’s just the Spider-Man story we need.
