Review: ‘Spider-Man’ #5 Is Just A Waste
by Tony Thornley
Two issues ago Peter Parker died. In Spider-Man #5 we see that not only is not everything what it seems, but there’s a lot more to the story than that.
Dan Slott, Mark Bagley, John Dell, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Caramagna dive into a spectacular life.
Peter Parker once had a date with destiny. Thanks to Shathra, that all changed. Now learn about the life Peter lived instead.
I thought a long time about writing this review. I didn’t want to seem like I was piling on this series, but the issues here are so egregious, I feel like I need to call them out. After finally showing some promise last issue with a last page reveal, it’s all immediately squandered by spinning wheels and backtracking for an entire issue.
We’re in the middle of an event story, in which the Spider-heroes are fighting for their lives. Then the action grinds to a complete halt here, just so Slott can show that the dagger that unravels a person doesn’t actually kill them it just rewrites their history. It’s a step backwards after the story had a full issue of plot progression for it to jump back to the cliffhanger of the issue before the previous to catch up to the previous issue’s cliffhanger.
Not only that, the entire issue is dedicated to outlining this entire new timeline in detail. Taking 20 pages of the 22 page lead story to tell this alternate timeline just completely halted the momentum of the storyarc. It could have been accomplished in just a few pages, and prevented the story from coming to a screeching halt. Instead it’s an absolute waste of time.
The strong suit of the issue is the art. Bagley and Dell makes the emotional journey of Peter believable, and they knock the little action out of the park. Delgado’s colors evoke Ultimate Spider-Man, which does make the situation more believable.
This is all about the momentum though. We knew Peter Parker wouldn’t be gone forever, and this story could have been accomplished in a quarter or half the page count, allowing the event’s momentum to keep up. Instead, it ground to a halt, and I’m ready to drop the title.
Spider-Man #5 is available now from Marvel Comics.
Overview
This issue continues to make us ask the question why this series continues to exist. The story does nothing but waste time and cause the story to lose momentum. The art is great though.
