Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #535 Review

Amazing Spider-Man #535
Title: The War at Home Part 4 of 6
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Ron Garney
Inker: Bill Reinhold

Plot: Watching the news report from his Stark Tower Suite, an insomniac Peter Parker learns Stark Enterprises and Fantastic Four Incorporated have secured a $200 billion no-bid contract from the government to build a holding facility for unregistered superhumans. Tony is confronted by Peter and reluctantly agrees to show our hero the detention center. Reed Richards opens a portal to the Negative Zone where, to Peter’s dismay, the prison is located. Peter’s shock grows when he sees the facility itself: a chilling technological fortress surrounded by futuristic guards and robots. It really does look scary. Tony takes Peter for a tour. The place seems relatively humane and the prisoners are well kept, but they are confused and begging for help. We even see some whose entire bodies are restrained. Peter starts to say it is acceptable for an interim solution, but Stark interjects by asserting it is permanent. Unless these people register, they are there for life. They don’t
get trials or lawyers and the courts are powerless to interfere. The two heroes exchange bitter stares before returning to the third dimension. Peter asks Reed why he supports this, and he explains his uncle lost everything by telling the House Un-American Affairs Committee in the era of
McCarthyism to “go to hell”. Peter commends the uncle’s bravery, but Reed tells him he’s missing the point. His uncle was wrong and we must obey the law no matter what because without it we are savages. Iron Man asks Peter to fly to California for something called the 50- State Initiative and, with a sinister glint in his metal eyes, promises Aunt May and Mary Jane will safe with him. Stark soars off, and Spider-Man takes the opportunity to attempt sneaking his family out of Stark Tower. He tells them that he realizes he’s been on the wrong side and that it isn’t safe for them there, but before they can ask too many questions Iron Man crashes through the wall and tackles the webslinger.

Likes:

– It’s ON, baby! After months of tension, Spider-Man has finally seen the injustice of the Superhuman Registration Act and now it’s time to show Iron Man who the real boss is. It isn’t hard to consider Iron Man a full- fledged villain at this point, and some of his fans may be upset to see their hero cast in this role, but it is written very believably. I still think he is trying his best to do what is right, and I can’t imagine he’d ever really threaten Mary Jane and Aunt May as was implied. But enough is enough. He’s gone too far and I hope with every ounce of my being that he gets the beating he has coming to him. Considering Iron Man used to be one of my favorite characters, that’s saying a lot.

– The political commentary is being laid on thicker than ever, and I dig every bit of it. This installment touches on war profiteering, McCarthyism and especially the detainment of enemy combatants. It is rare for a comic book to make a meaningful statement on just one such issue, but here we get
them all seamlessly woven into one powerful story.

– Ron Garney still isn’t my personal favorite artist to work on Spider- Man, but I like his pencils more with each issue. Most improved are the facial expressions, which really make the issue this time around. Especially impressive is the way he manages to make Iron Man’s expressionless metallic
face look alternately angry and sinister.

Dislikes:

– As well written as it is, Reed Richards’ speech doesn’t seem very true to his character. His argument is reminiscent of Thomas Hobbes’ theory that life in a state of nature is nasty, brutish and short, so we give unlimited authority to the law. I’d expect a man who’s spent so much of his time
fighting Doctor Doom, the embodiment of authoritarian government, would have a different attitude regarding unjust laws and attacks on human liberty.

– I have no problem with another character development issue when it is done this well, but I really hope the next episode can deliver some serious action.

Favorite Quote: Iron Man: “But I agree with you on one thing, Peter. It would be a terrible thing. To be here. For the rest of one’s life. Wouldn’t it?”
Peter: Yeah . A real terrible thing.

Rating: 4.5 webs out of 5. The wait for this issue was very long, and so will be the wait for the next one. It is well this story is so good, because otherwise I’d feel like my patience was being tested. However, I’d gladly suffer delays twice as long for quality this high.

Reviewed by: CrazyChris