Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #555 Review

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #555
TITLE: “Sometimes It Snows In April”
WRITER: Zeb Wells
PENCILS: Chris Bachalo
INKS: Tim Townsend
COLORS: Antonio Fabela & Chris Bachalo

PLOT:

Spidey’s hanging out at Doctor Strange’s house, munching on Fruit Loot, when the Sorcerer Supreme goes comatose after reciting a rhyme related to the freak blizzard sweeping New York . Spider-Man and Wolverine investigate, eventually finding a mathematician running from masked goons who he believes are “Mayan extremists” trying to stop his team from decoding their sacred algorithms. Spidey and Wolvie beat up the bad guys and drag them to the police station before our hero ventures alone into the snow, hoping to find the rest of the math team before they freeze to death.

THOUGHTS:

The snow looks very pretty. That’s the most striking thing about this comic, and the pervasive effect almost becomes a character all to itself. Chris Bachalo has a unique art style, which some say doesn’t fit the genre, but it works a lot better here than in his recent X-Men projects. He draws a few off-model characters, and his Peter Parker looks like a little kid, but the in-costume action scenes are stunning.

Zeb Wells writes well, presenting a pitch-perfect Spider-Man and eschewing the zaniness of his Peter Parker run from years ago. We get witty dialogue that isn’t corny (I’m looking at you, Marc Guggenheim!), a competent, non-jerk of a protagonist (I’m looking at you, Dan Slott and Bob Gale!) and a satisfying fight sequence (I’m looking at you, every creative team from the past year!).

Wells focuses on the main story without advancing or introducing any subplots. Sadly, the aforementioned main story barely advances, so the issue feels decompressed compared to the previous nine.

The contrast between Spider-Man and Wolverine has been explored before, but Wells does it in a relatively clever way. On the other hand, he ignores the uncomfortable questions raised by the Canuck Mutant’s appearance. How has Logan ’s relationship with Spidey changed now that he doesn’t know who the webhead is? Does he remember that he once knew?

The writers can address these types of questions either by providing logical answers or by admitting Brand New Day pushes the reset button harder than they’ve led us to believe. Frankly, I don’t care which they choose, but it won’t be long before their refusal to do either becomes frustrating.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

“That’s a deep personal insight from a man having a beer for breakfast. You’re not exactly shattering Canadian stereotypes by the way.”

RATING:

3.5 webheads out of 5. I have a good feeling about this arc, but Wells needs to ramp up the pace!

REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris