Amazing Spider-Man #799- Peter and Norman’s Excellent Adventure, Pt 3

“Screw this, I’m outta here!”

The Spider-Family assembles to take the fight to the Red Goblin!… or they could all job to him. That works too.

Amazing Spider-Man #799

“Go Down Swinging, Pt 3: The Ties That Bind”

Writer: Dan Slott

Pencils: Stuart Immonen

Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger

Colors: Marte Gracia

Editors: Nick Lowe and Devin Lewis

Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski

Plot:

With Peter’s leg out of commission and Stormin’ Norman on the warpath, Spider-Man calls upon the Spider-Family (aka the Burger King Kid’s Club) to protect his loved ones; Miles Morales keeps an eye on Aunt May in her apartment, Human Torch oversees Mary Jane in Stark Tower (Well, #$%@, she’s totally gonna get BRIDGED by Norman now, isn’t she?) and Silk keeps tabs for the Daily Bugle staff. Elsewhere, Peter deputizes Agent Anti-Venom and Clash, and gets angry at Jonah for revealing his secret identity to Red Goblin. Finally, we cut back to Harry, Liz and Mark Raxton (Y’know, Discount Human Torch? Wait.) track down Emma to Port Authority.

Turns out the Red Goblin is there, too, and he takes out all of Liz’s armed security while revealing that Emma is, in fact, Emily Lyman, Norman’s wife! (… uh… Surprise?) Johnny and Clayton try to take him out with sonics and fire, but because power creep is a thing, the Red Goblin shrugs it off and takes them out. Cindy and Miles try to blitz him, with similar results. Finally, Agent Anti-Venom has a go at it, but instead of taking out Red Goblin, he turns his back to a man with a metaphorical sword so he can heal people. (Because that’s a brilliant move.)

Peter arrives on the scene and Agent Anti-Venom heals his dead leg. Elsewhere, the Osborns are making a run for it, but Norman captures Normie, turning him into a hideously-drawn mini-Goblin.

Summary:

After the high point we had to ride through ASM 798, there was a certain… disappointment in reading this issue. It’s certainly not as bad as Power Play, but it’s underwhelming, especially in the hindsight of how great the previous issue was.

There’s a sort of guilt that comes with having been delayed in reviewing for over two weeks because of personal stuff like that college thing that Dark Mark keeps telling me is pointless (He’s kind of like my own personal Ron Swanson that way) and being sick for a couple of days, but it also gives me perspective. It allows me to sit back and take a moment before the big milestone issue to look at where we are right now and assess the situation after having time for the dust to settle.

Starting things off, the art by Stuart Immonen is welcome and well-choreographed and really sets the tone for how the rest of the arc will do; in a blaze of bright colors and a sort of bravado that hasn’t really been seen in a while. Most of the comic is straight-up action and dynamic poses, so Immonen really pushes out of his comfort zone with this one. That being said, his close-ups are still top-tier material; when Peter gives Jonah that look of contempt, it really sold me how peeved he was.

Granted, there is the fatal flaw of his lack of gore in the comic. Given that one of the gimmicks about Carnage is his bloodthirsty and messy nature, you wouldn’t be remiss to expect a lot of blood splattered across the page. But the issue is very blood-free, which is odd considering how often Giuseppe Camuncoli drew copious amounts of blood (Not to mention an autopsy) during his tenure, so this out-of-nowhere squeamishness is a little odd for a book as high-profile as Amazing Spider-Man.

Writing-wise, it was good seeing the Spider-Family assembling for the first time in a while since Spider-Verse. While I recognize that people don’t really like the Spider-Family, which does, in fact, feel like a cheap rip-off of the Bat-family, the acknowledgment that they exist is something not lost on me. Johnny is a fundamental friend of Spider-Man and kind of has to be there as a fire person, Silk hasn’t been seen outside of small guest appearances since her solo title ended over a year ago, and Miles’ solo series ending just a few days ago, it’s a reminder that he exists in a state of limbo.

Clash, however, feels hollow and while I’ve enjoyed his character development thus far since Learning to Crawl, he feels out of place among the rest of the Spider-Family and feels like he’s there out of obligation because he has sonics rather than having a genuine connection to the others. Flash was there to provide a certain amount of damage before performing the most idiotic tactical maneuver, but there was some semblance of usefulness for him at the very least, as opposed to simply jobbing to the Red Goblin.

Peter spends most of the issue being the Man in the Chair, which doesn’t afford him a lot of action time, but I do feel like his leg being healed at the last minute was a bit pointless and lowers the stakes for his crippling disadvantage against Red Goblin at the end. And to be honest, I really don’t care about the Emily Lyman plot twist, because it feels Shamalyanian in its execution. That’s all I really have to say about it until we get some kind of conclusion to it.

For now, ASM 799 doesn’t live up to the previous issue’s hype but holds its own, and hopefully, Slott’s run will conclude in some kind of satisfying manner.

Final Grade: B