Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #532 Review

Amazing Spider-Man #532
Title: The War at Home Part One of Six
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Ron Garney
Inker: Bill Reinhold

Plot: The new arc begins with Peter Parker in his Stark Tower suite explaining to Aunt May and Mary Jane that he needs their help in making a big decision. Depending on what they do, he says, there might not be a Spider-Man any more.
We flash back to earlier that day, when Peter is jetting to Stamford, Connecticut with Tony Stark. Tony explains that the details are still fuzzy, but a fight between two groups of super humans has caused an explosion that destroyed a city block, including a school full of children. They assist the rescue effort as Spider-Man and Iron Man, and parallels are drawn with 9/11.
They head over to the White House, where the president tells Tony two things. First, the Super Human Registration Act, which requires all super heroes to register with the government or be thrown in prison and have their property seized, will be pushed through congress and signed very quickly thanks to what went down in Stamford. Second, the president flat out asks Tony if he is Iron Man. Tony tells the truth.
Tony tells Peter he will stand behind the Registration Act as its figurehead, and to do that he needs everything to be on the up-and-up. That means he can’t be associated with Spider-Man unless the webhead publicly unmasks.
In New York, Peter discusses the decision with his family. They weigh the pros and cons of ditching the secret identity, and ultimately Mary Jane and Aunt May both agree that their loved one not constantly hiding his face from the world is worth whatever risk the choice might bring.
Our hero meets Tony in Washington DC, and tells him he’s been like a father and he’ll back him up all the way. Finally, at a press conference, Spider-Man tells the world he has an announcement to make.

Likes:

– This issue has one purpose: to make the case for Spider-Man’s unmasking, and it does that as well as possibly can be done. At this point in the story, the Super Human Registration act seems very reasonable. Why should somebody be above the law just because he or she has special powers? Why shouldn’t there be some accountability for people who can level cities?

– Straczynski writes the character Iron Man better than anyone I know of. Stark comes across as manipulative and condescending, and he is clearly taking advantage of Spider-Man’s loyalty, but we can see where he’s coming from. He argues his position too well, so even though I know he is a slime ball I can’t help but nod my head at what he’s saying.

– The conversation between Peter and his family was executed flawlessly. The points they made about responsibility and how prosecutors and judges don’t wear masks even though their work puts loved ones at risk made it look like Peter would be a coward not to unmask. This scene hit me on an emotional level as well as an intellectual one.

– This is, of course, a tie-in to Marvel’s Civil War event, but one needn’t read the Civil War miniseries to understand and fully enjoy this issue.

– In many ways, I’d say Straczynski presents the story even better than Millar does. In Civil War, the Stamford incident is merely described as the straw that broke the camels back, but in Amazing Spider-Man we are told that it was a national turning point on the scale of 9/11. That is more meaningful to me, and it makes the drastic political changes going on the Marvel Universe more believable because I see the same things happening in the United States right now.

Dislikes:

– If I had to think of one thing to complain about, it’d be that the artist didn’t always make the characters’ facial expressions convey the proper emotion. Ron Garney is a pretty good penciler and this isn’t a problem throughout the whole issue, but a few key panels look a tad awkward.

– I’m writing this review three months after the issue came out, so we all know what happens next, but at the time this cliffhanger was downright sadistic.

Favorite Quote: Aunt May: “Ben, and then you, always said ’with great power comes great responsibility’ and responsibility means you don’t run away when someone asks, ‘who did that.’”

Rating: 5 webs out of 5. I’m a new reviewer, so you guys don’t know this about me yet, but perfect scores are something I take very seriously. A 5 web comic should be a benchmark to which all other comics are measured, and I can’t think of a recent issue which fits that description any more than this one. You should also notice that this title has gotten four consecutive perfect scores spanning two different reviewers. I am absolutely convinced that these are historic times for Spider-Man, and if you aren’t on for the ride now you’ll regret it later.

Reviewed by: Crazy Chris