Review: ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #1000 Honors The Past While Pointing To The Future

Only three comics series have ever reached a thousand issues, as of today. It’s impossible not to consider that as we read Amazing Spider-Man #1000.

The regular Amazing creative team of Joe Kelly, Pepe Larraz, Federico Blee, Joe Caramagna, and Jay Bowen are joined by (buckle up) Noah Hawley, Patrick Gleason, Marcio Menyz, Erick Arciniega, J.M. DeMatteis, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado, Frank Miller, Peach Momoko, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Rob Fee, Ed McGuinness, Mark Farmer, Matthew Wilson, Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, Marte Gracia, Larry Lieber, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Klaus Janson, Rachelle Rosenberg, Phil Noto, Dan Slott, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente.

May Parker has suffered a stroke. Peter Parker wasn’t there, missing dinner to stop a supervillain attack. But Peter is about to learn that the long-lost cousin who’s found his way into their life to treat May and Peter as family is so much more than he ever dreamed.

Plus, a massive roster of Spider-Man talent past and present pays homage to the legacy of the world’s greatest superhero.

Kelly continues to tell a story that should not be working, but somehow is. The idea of Aunt May having a secret son — Cormac Crane — should have jumped the shark, but several issues ago, Kelly showed that it could be done in an interesting and poignant way. But now, that secret son has turned out to not just be evil (I mean, he is a billionaire) but also a supervillain.

The reveal might be a step too far, but the fight that comes out of it, with Peter battling Cormac over May’s soul, actually works. It’s a superhero dust-up with a weird magic villain, but somehow, it’s executed in a way that makes the conflict about the love between May and Peter — which is explicitly framed here as mother and son — and how Cormac magically stealing that from May is worth fighting for.

Meanwhile Larraz and Blee makes it absolutely stunning visually. Larraz balances the superhero action with the subtle character moments. He’s able to show the weight of Peter’s grief, but also his anger at Cormac’s betrayal. Blee balances the power effects and the standard events really well, and makes it all look great.

As for the back-ups, impressively they’re all at least good and a couple of them are great. Hawley and Gleason’s story is a sweet retrospective on Peter’s relationships, while Bendis and Immonen do a wonderful story about Peter and his sense of responsibility (and humor). The best was probably Slott and Martin’s, though, which turns the night Ben Parker died on its head in an incredibly sweet (and logical) way.

Amazing Spider-Man #1000 is available now from Marvel Comics.