Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #45 Review: The Bogenrieder Perspective

“Am I dreaming now? Why can’t I tell the difference anymore?”

How fast can you outrun your sins? Also in which Mark Bagley returns to Spider-Man for the Nth time in his career.

Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #45

“Sins Rising, Pt 1”

Writer: Nick Spencer

Pencils: Mark Bagley

Inks: John Dell with Andy Owens

Colors: David Curiel

Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Editors: Nick Lowe and Kathleen Wisneski

Editor-in-Chief: CB Cebulski

Story:

As our story begins, Carlie Cooper narrates her backstory, before beginning her investigation on her newest corpse.

Flashback time! Peter is alone at Shakespeare in the Park, where he was planning to propose to MJ when she came home, but her absence is a little more than noticeable. On his way out, his Spider-Sense goes off and he saves some random civilians from Overdrive, who is panicking from the events of issue #44. Peter suits up and tries to convince him to stop, but Sin-Eater shows up and convinces Overdrive harder with his gun. In the middle of the fight, Sin-Eater reveals to Peter that he has Jean DeWolffe’s badge, which enrages our man Spidey and makes him go on the offensive. Sin-Eater uses Peter’s anger to get the best of him, and then shoots Overdrive through Peter as he tries to escape. As Overdrive reflects on who he wanted to be, he dies in Peter’s arms.

Back in the present, Carlie is about to begin her autopsy notes when all of a sudden… Overdrive wakes up, as if nothing had happened!

Thoughts:

I think it’s safe to safe that this is the closest thing since the run began to a “classic” Spider-Man issue. That is, one that feels like we’ve been to reliving the pre-Mackie/Byrne era directly through the book’s contents rather than in simply the feeling and tone of what we’re reading. Whether that’s for better or worse is up to you, but to go right out of the gate, I think that’s something that needs to be noted.

Something that should be credited for that return is the other return: that of long-time Spider-Man alumni Mark Bagley to the ASM creative team. There’s some genuinely great panels, particularly the kinetic action scenes, which are assisted by John Dell and Andy Owen’s ink work. Additionally, there was a significant contribution in the form of David Curiel, who allows for a lot of colors to be either pastel or dull in their application but doesn’t go overboard like colorists such as Marte Gracia (Who you’ve heard me discuss in my reviews of the Parker Industry among Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stuart Immonen’s work.) and in fact feels like a much more muted and toned-down version of Gracia in retrospect, which is a definite compliment. That said, there’s a few panels that look almost like Greg Land did some pitch-in work, but I chalk that up more to Bagley being brought in last-minute and having little time to refine his pencils. (And that criticism also extends to the inkers to not being able to carry through on making it better when it was under their control.)

I should also point out really quickly that I appreciate the use of Carlie Cooper and that they have her doing her actual job of forensic scientist, which sets up a strong framing device for how the issue operates. I know that the mere presence of her brings the letter grade down for some, but if a character is utilized effectively, I’m not going to complain. That said, I was somewhat surprised that they went out of their way to recap Carlie’s backstory, but in a story that directly invokes Jean DeWolffe, I suppose that a story opening with a method that parallels the Death of Jean DeWolffe story would have something very similar to the original. (Much in the same way as Hunted drew many direct parallels to Kraven’s Last Hunt.)

Moving onto the writing, I think in spite of the ties to Kindred as established in ASM #37 and the Sins Rising Prelude, Sin-Eater maintains enough autonomy to be his own threat while remaining connected to the overarching plotline. His plot-sponsored upgrade of a magic shotgun makes him a competent threat, as well as a two-prong antagonistic force; on one hand, he serves a direct threat for Peter to face head-on, but also serves as a psychological proxy for Kindred. This makes him incredibly dangerous, including his new mystical abilities to track sin as an abstract concept. (And making it his own, which apparently exponentially increases his own power.) This, combined with his willingness to use tactics that deliberately enrage his foes, is fun to see pan out. That said, his powers tend to revolve plot more than they do in consistency of application, but I chalk that more up to Devil Magic (Trademark pending) than outright ignorance of in-universe rules. (I’m still not totally versed in Marvel magic, so that might just be an ignorance on my part that I have yet to overlook.) In addition, his ability to appear wherever the person he’s stalking works on a metaphorical level with the idea that they can’t outrun their sins. And because of the added strain of Peter being alone and directionless, the type of psychological warfare that Kindred warfare is waging with Sin-Eater becomes much more effective and the effects are felt not just by Peter, but by us as an audience. It’s a way of upping the stakes that very rarely works in fiction, but I think Spencer pulls it off effectively here.

And, on a more personal note, this doesn’t feel like the writer going out of his way to dump on Peter. While he’s certainly down on his luck after riding several highs during Spencer’s run, the despair and isolation he feels is not within his control, nor does it feel out of character specifically because we know it’s not because he’s acting foolishly. (If anything, he’s acting very mature in the circumstances given.) It’s a thing that I feel hasn’t been addressed, but it’s something I do appreciate rather than just blaming Peter for all his mistakes.

Like I said at the beginning, it’s the closest thing that we’ve had to a classic issue of Amazing Spider-Man in a while; and I’m aware that I said that it was for better or worse depending on who’s in the chair, but as the man writing this review? I’d say that’s definitely for the better. Not sure if it needed to be an extra dollar for a few extra pages, but I can take it or leave it on that, given the quality of material we’re getting right now.

Final Grade: B+