Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Legacy #965): “Brander New Day/Bigger Time” or “Oh, I Thought They Were Giving Us Titles Again”

It’s yet another #1 issue of the Amazing Spider-Man!  Why?  Because we have a new writer … oh wait, no, it’s the same writer as the past 10 issues.  Well, the reason it’s a new number one is … um … (don’t say “money”, don’t say “money”) … well, because “why not?”

Peter can’t find a job because of his horrible resume.  The Rhino goes on a rampage and almost dies.  Roderick Kingsley is up to no good with a mysterious unknown accomplice.  Randy still doesn’t remember that he almost got married and makes terrible dating choices.  Spidey has … a drug-induced vision of a bunch of his foes?  Norman has a press conference that goes about as well as can be expected.  All this plus … a brand new threat emerges from the most dangerous state in the country … Arizona!⁽¹⁾

(Besides Spider-Man, only two of these people appear in this issue.)

CREDITS

Writer:  Joe Kelly

Artist:  Pepe Larraz

Color Artist:  Marte Gracia

Letterer:  VC’s Joe Caramagna

 

PREVIOUSLY IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …

The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man happened.  You don’t need to know anything about it because this issue doesn’t care about that story.  Nothing about it is mentioned at all.  You could go right from the last Zells issue to this one, skipping that entire 8DOSM story, and it wouldn’t make any difference.

But I’m a professional⁽²⁾ so here’s what happened.  Spidey saved the day, apologized to everyone about his emo behavior, and vowed to have anything to do with magic ever again.

 

SUMMARY

Peter goes on several unsuccessful job interviews, where he realizes his Parker Industries past, his unreliable work attendance, and the doctorate plagiarism thing makes him a poor candidate.

(Because of the terrible writing of Peter in the past decades, this should be happening on every job interview he will ever go on.)

Later in Queens, while visiting Aunt May, Peter hears from Brian Nehring, an old friend from middle school (whom we have never heard of before) that gets him an interview at Rand Industries.

(We don’t get enough icy word balloons in comics nowadays)

Peter goes to Rand and reminisces with Brian about all of the pranks they used to do in school, but on the way to the interview he has to leave because Rhino is on a rampage outside.

(Hey, see that Queen’s Cola ad in the background?  Make a note of that.)

Spidey can tell something is wrong because Rhino is not saying anything and is just causing destruction for no reason.  Suddenly, during the battle, Rhino collapses, his heart stopping.  Spidey starts pounding Rhino’s chest, trying to save him.

(“Ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive”)

Later, at Kingsley Tower, Simon – one of Roderick Kingsley’s subordinates – is reporting to Roddy that Spidey saved Rhino, who is in Ravencroft now, and that his blood tests show some “compounds” that Roddy is apparently distributing in certain districts of the city.  When Simon leaves, a mysterious figure in the shadows appears, conferring with Roddy about how the Rhino’s heart attack may be attracting Spider-Man’s suspicion.  The mysterious figure agrees to give Spidey “the treatment he deserves”.

(Kaine, is that you in the shadows?)

Meanwhile, Peter and Randy are double-dating with Shay and Brie, a girl Randy met on a dating app.  Peter mentions how Brian covered for him and he has another interview at Rand tomorrow.  Randy says that his social work clients in East Harlem are not acting like themselves – Peter remembers that Rhino lives in East Harlem and wonders if this may be related.

(It’s like Marvel saw the public’s reaction to Madisynn in the She-Hulk series and learned the wrong lesson.)

Later that night, Spidey searches Rhino’s apartment in East Harlem for clues.  Suddenly he doesn’t feel very good, his spider-sense goes crazy, and he is faced with a vision of some of his greatest foes.

(“How are them Duke Boys going to get out of this one?”)

TO BE CONTINUED! (I assume, although that page doesn’t say this at all – it has the spider-logo, which usually implies the story is over)

Oh right, there’s two backup stories in this issue!

Death to the Tyrant
Writer:  Joe Kelly
Artist:  John Romita Jr.
Inker:  Scott Hanna
Color Artist:  Marcio Menyz
Letterer:  VC’s Joe Caramagna
Synopsis:  Norman Osborn is holding a press conference about his relationship to Oscorp when he is interrupted by a man who says that Norman – as the Green Goblin – murdered his wife, Sandra Peterson.  He transforms into some sort of cyborg, yells “Sic Semper Monstrum”⁽³⁾, and shoots a laser cannon at Norman, who manages to rip the cannon/arm off and starts beating him with it.  But then Norman remembers Spider-Man telling him that earlier that people can change and asking if quitting Oscorp is the best thing he can do?  Norman turns the man (who is never named) over to security and tells the press that he was planning to quit but that now Oscorp’s only mission is to atone for his past sins (oh, “monstrum” is latin for “monster”).
Review:  This feels like Zells ended his run with Norman quitting Oscorp, and Kelly decided “Nope!”  We all know that Norman is eventually going to become evil again, and this may be Kelly’s first step, as we see Norman really lash out at this guy at first.  Plus, Norman should be accosted by family members of his victims all the time, since he’s killed so many people.
Grade:  B-

(“Whose House?”)

Elsewhere, Arizona (not the actual title, but you work with what you can)
Writer:  ?
Artist:  ?
Inker:  ?
Color Artist:  ?
Letterer:  ?
Synopsis:  Archaeologists are investigating magnetic patterning and cosmic radiation around some rock formations in the desert.  But a man named Hermes shows up and says that the rock formations are actually petrified tree trunks, and that the radiation is coming from the tree.  Suddenly one of the rock formations explodes, apparently killing everyone but one person, who sees a large armored figured appearing from the formation, saying that “the Hellgate is open”.  TO BE CONTINUED!
Review:  It’s kind of hard to review this since it’s not really a story, with no one that we know – it’s just here to introduce the Hellgate – whoever that is.  At first I thought this was some extra in every comic this month promoting some upcoming book/event – if I hadn’t Googled “Marvel the Hellgate” I wouldn’t have known this was ASM related.
Grade:  C- (again, hard to grade this non-story)

(It’s hard to tell from this panel if this guy is a giant or just average human sized.)

INITIAL RESPONSE

Well, after 10 issues of magic gobbledygook, at least this feels like a Spider-Man story.  You could literally skip the entire 8 Deaths story and this would make more sense as a number one.

It does introduce a new status quo, some new characters, a new mystery, a returning villain …

Hey, wait a minute, this sounds very familiar:

(If you’re going to copy the style/format of a previous ASM #1, why pick this one?)

WHAT I LIKED

Like I mentioned above, whether this is a good story or a bad story, at least it feels like a Spider-Man story.  Normally that would not be worth mentioning in this category, but we just had 10 issues of ASM that did not feel like a Spider-Man story at all.  It’s a low bar.

Some actual mention of the Parker Industries debacle, the plagiarism debacle, Peter’s terrible work attendance, and how Peter should not be able to get any tech job ever again with all of that on his resume.  At this point, Peter should only be able to get a job if someone he knows goes out on a limb for him.

(Are the last 2 panels at the interview from the first panel?  Is that the interviewer speaking in the third panel?  Did Peter shoot webbing at him?)

This issue has setup an intriguing mystery.  Kingsley is selling some compound in East Harlem (or maybe dosing people there without their knowledge).  He has a mysterious figure helping him.  Rhino is tied up in this.  Will this mystery go anywhere or be satisfying at all?  Who knows?  But for right now, I’m interested.

I really liked Spidey going all out to save the Rhino when he collapses from a heart attack.  Minutes ago he was throwing trucks at him, but suddenly his greatest fear is that Rhino’s heart won’t start again.

(Spidey would totally switch from “beating up a bad guy” mode to “he’s about to die?  I have to save him” mode.)

With Norman no longer the Green Goblin, this is a great time to bring back the Hobgoblin – that’s literally why he was created in the first place.  I am all in for a smart, confident, and methodical Roderick Kingsley.  One of the best parts of the original Hobgoblin mystery was how he always reminded us that Norman was insane but he was not, and he would not make careless mistakes.

(I am also all in on Roddy being the real threat and not the Hobgoblin.)

I liked Spidey going to investigate Rhino’s apartment after Randy’s mention of East Harlem residents acting strange.  Kind of reminded me of Spidey searching apartments in The Death of Jean DeWolff.

Norman trying to make a joke at his press conference, and deliberately waiting for laughter that does not come, reminds me of Jeb Bush’s “Please clap” moment, which always makes me laugh.

(“Oof, tough room.  Did someone die?”  “Yeah, my wife!”)

The name Hermes⁽⁵⁾ will always make me laugh (thank you, Futurama).  Hopefully he didn’t die here, and, like Kenneth in 8DOSM, he will return in future issues and turn out to be very important to the plot.

Finally, this mention of my province almost made me give this issue an A+ on its own:

(I always cheer in movie theaters when an American movie mentions Nova Scotia (or Canada), like in the original Ghostbusters, or World War Z.)

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

The art.  I did not like this art.  At all.  Art *is* subjective, but I did not like this.

(What is up with Peter being drawn with this type of mouth?)

(Is this Aunt May?  Because it does not look like her at all?  Maybe her with “bed head”, or “after being in a car with her head out the window for 10 minutes”.)

(Characters in comicbooks are supposed to have faces, right?)

This feels very much like the Mackie/Byrne reboot.  And the Big Time number one.  And the first issue of Brand New Day.  A new job for Peter, some new supporting characters, a new mystery, a new villain.  We’ve been here before.

(Never forget that this is how Marvel decided to start BND.  This better be in the next Tom Holland movie.)

While I liked the inclusion of Peter’s employment history in his interviews, it just underlines how poorly he’s been written these past few decades.  He was literally a global businessman whose company imploded, ruining many lives.⁽⁴⁾  He should not be able to get any tech job ever again.

Hey, a brand new villain whose identity is unknown is appearing, and in the same issue we also have the first appearance of a childhood friend of the hero whom we have never heard of before.  Hey, where I have seen this before?  Isn’t there a sequel to a famous story happening right now where this exact thing happened, and to the surprise of virtually no one, the brand new childhood friend turned out to be the brand new villain?

(I have never read Hush and only know about it from pop culture osmosis, so I may have the plot wrong. Illuminate me in the comments.)

I hate the trope of introducing a character that the hero was friends with when they were kids, but we’ve never heard of this person before.  Go back and read Amazing Fantasy #15 – Peter didn’t have *any* friends in school before he got his powers and gained some confidence.

Also, we’re meant to believe that not only did Peter have a friend in middle school but they were pulling pranks together?  Reread AF #15 and tell me if that is the type of character (“professional wallflower”) that sounds like they would be pulling pranks at school.

I understand it’s a new artist, but Randy looks completely different from last issue.

(Seriously, since Janice left, Marvel has no idea what to do with Randy.  Or have any understanding of his character.)

Also, I guess Randy is completely over Janice, forgetting that he almost married her just weeks (?) ago.  And now he’s dating party girls on dating apps now?  Janice who?

Peter and Shay’s “we’re on probation” conversation feels like Kelly realized “Oh yeah, they were a couple and Peter went and hooked up with Black Cat, I better have them explain this so it’s completely ok that he cheated on her so this relationship that the readers are completely invested in can continue and have a future.”

Finally, this is Crawlspace specific, but how can you have Kingsley reappear with no ascot?  NOTE:  This picture is not Roddy – it’s Raymond Belmonde, a “friend” of Northstar’s whom John Byrne drew at the time in a nearly identical light blue suit and red ascot that Mike Zeck designed for Roderick Kingsley years earlier.  Stern couldn’t come out (no pun intended) and have Roddy be gay but it was certainly implied.

(I could not find an image of Roddy with an ascot.  You let me down, Google search results!)

WEIRD PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Hey, remember that “Queen’s Cola” ad in the background of the Rhino fight?  Here’s another ad on the way to Rhino’s apartment.

Two times in one issue.  This must mean something.  Well, according to Google, Queen’s Cola is an actual cola but only distributed in Switzerland.  And the logo doesn’t match what’s in the comic.  So it may not be a reference to this product.  Anyone know anything about Queen’s Cola, share it in the comments.

 

LETTERS PAGE SHENANIGANS

It’s pretty funny that the letters page was 3 pages but it was mostly letters from the new creative team, and a single letter from a reader that had nothing to do with the 8 Deaths story.  Why didn’t they print some of the many letters they must have received saying how great the 8DOSM story was?

 

WHAT THIS ISSUE MEANT OVERALL

Well, it’s a new volume, a new number one.  I don’t know if this is going to be a good run or a bad run, but at least, for this one issue, this feels like a Spider-Man story.  No crazy magic in sight.

Well, except for the Hellgate.  That may not be magic, but it feels like it should be in a Thor book.  Don’t mess this up and make this a universal threat from beyond the stars/dimensions, Kelly!

 

GRADE

C

This is better than 8DOSM, but again, that’s a low bar.  It feels like Spider-Man, but it also feels like previous #1 reboots (and Brand New Day).  It’s a new mystery, but there’s nothing new here.  That’s not a good thing.

 

NEXT TIME, IN AN ALL-NEW ISSUE OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …

(I’m pretty sure that when the webbing comes out it comes out straight, not in a spiral.)

What’s happening next issue?  No idea.  Is Spidey having a vision?  Did Kingsley’s mysterious friend slip him some drugs – the same thing that made Rhino run amok?  Or does he have powers that make you see things?  All I know is that I have another ASM issue to look forward to and (hopefully) no magic.  It’s been awhile.

 

FOOTNOTES

(1)  According to Yahoo!creators it’s actually the 6th most dangerous state to live in:

“Did you know Arizona is great for people with chronic health issues due to its clean air?  But the summer heat can be brutal, often reaching 112 degrees.  This extreme heat makes outdoor activities harder and increases the risk of heat-related illnesses.  The state also experiences dust storms, which reduce visibility, cause power outages, and carry fungal spores that can trigger allergies.

You also need to watch out for venomous creatures like scorpions, black widows, and rattlesnakes.  It’s not just nature – the Grand Canyon State has a high violent crime rate, with 432 violent crimes per 100,000 people, higher than the national average.”

 

(2)  A pretty accurate depiction:

(3)  Thanks to Seinfeld, I know that John Wilkes Booth yelled “Sic Semper Tyranus” when he leapt off of the stage to shoot Abraham Lincoln, which is Latin for “Death To Tyrants”.  Crazy Joe Davola also yelled it when he tries to kill Jerry on Seinfeld.

 

(4)  In fact, Peter should be accosted more often like Norman was in the first backup.  There are probably many people whose lives were ruined because of Parker Industries.

(5)