With Secret Wars coming to an end, Peter Parker is back at the helm of Parker Industries, making amends for the actions of Doctor Octopus when he was in control of Peter’s body as well as relationships with friends and family during this time. But just when Peter seems to think all is going right with his world, on old enemy reveals himself…

   Some fans may not realize that Marvel has changed the way they present their stories. Similar to television shows, they’ve now gone the route of having seasons which build up to their one big event for the year that brings in the full roster of characters. This allows the average reader to feel a little less intimidated to jump into the story, giving them a chance to start at a point where they can get comfortable with the character while still rewarding longtime fans by continuing the story with the characters they love.

    The Amazing Spider-Man #1 from Dan Slott picks up where Secret Wars left off. The first thing that stuck me with this issue is how well Mr. Slott went to make sure your enjoyment of the story had nothing really to do with your knowledge of past stories. The biggest issue I have with comics comes from the fact that the writers don’t make as much effort as they can to make the stories as self-contained as they should be. Yes, the story in question may be part 4 of a 7 part story but it is still possible to write a self-contained story that leaves the reader enough of a hook to want to pick up the next issue. The writing in this issue connected you with the characters, established the relationship each character had with each other all without spending forty pages explaining how these characters know each other. That my friends is great writing.

     The artwork from Guiseppe Camuncoli was all right. When Spider-Man was in action, the character explodes from the page beautifully, reminding me of the classic work of Jack Kirby. Other times, when characters are just being themselves, the work is too reminiscent of manga which I am just not a fan of. That is purely a subjective opinion here folks so don’t take that as a knock on Mr. Comuncoli. While I don’t feel artists have to draw just like the artists from the Silver Age, falling too far outside of the established design of the characters can lead to mixed results. The manga influence can bring some unrealistic character reactions which takes me out of the story.

  Overall, this is not a bad first issue. The main story leaves you with a great tease for issue two and also has some bonus content which introduce you to other characters in the Spider-Verse that have their own titles. This is the perfect issue for the casual reader who may want to dive into the adventures of Spider-Man thanks to his inclusion in the new movie Captain America: Civil War. You’re able to dive into the latest adventures of the character without having to have an advanced degree on Peter Parker’s back story to understand just what is going on.

 

Writer- Dan Slott

Artist- Guisseppe Comuncoli

Penciller- Alex Ross