REVIEW: Amazing Spider-Man, #1

[DV1Band]

Are we ever going to get a resolution to the whole Avengers face off? I thought the "resolution" in Superior 31 was a cop out, and this issue seemed to kind of bury it even more. Cap goes from wanting to bring in Spidey to dropping it because he loses his clothes?

They're monitoring him on tv, and they can tell that he's undergone another major change mentally. His actions are different again. Plus, whenever Steve gets his boxers in a bunch over something, everybody goes along with it. You know: because he's Cap and all.

[Bertone]

I have mixed feelings about the Felicia story...

I feel like the narrative is trying to say "Look what Ock did" but Felicia was a criminal...Peter SHOULD HAVE arrested her as well. And the story seemed to imply that her identity was secret prior to this which is incorrect.

Her revenge lust is in line with her previous pettiness (orchestrating the murder of the second Blaze to teach Spider-Man a lesson about asking for help and dating Flash Thompson).

Some people have noted that she may have been responsible for a death this issue (I didn't see it that way) noting that she's never killed before. I want to point out she helped orchestrate the death of the second Blaze in the 80's (which was never brought up again).


We need to stop doing homages to Mary Jane's "doorway pose" every few issues. We just had one in the last issue of Superior. I know we also did it in 698.

[DV1Band]

I didn't like the Felicia story. The Electro story was pretty welcome. The Kaine story was really awesome. I can't wait for the Parker Bros. reunion to take place...

[Kasper Cole]

Add me to the list of people who don't like the Felicia story. Given her history with Peter she should have known something was up and followed up on it rather than just leaping to seeking revenge.

Loved everything else though. I'm most interested in seeing how things pan out with Anna Maria. Part of me hopes her and Peter might start up a genuine relationship. IMO she was the best thing to come out of the Superior book.

[Chimeratengun]

I notice when Anna looked at his note it said Explain. So was Ock gonna tell Anna the whole truth that he's not Peter Parker?

[Sprite]

Overall, I liked this issue. The main story was simple and basic enough that I had fun with it. The back-ups flowed pretty well, too.

[t-spider]

Great first issue. Enjoyed the main story, as well as the back-ups... Especially the Learning To Crawl one. I get the feeling Clash may become one of my favorite new villains of the last decade or two. Good stuff all-round.

[Kirby Crackle]

A bright, fun issue. I tend to prefer a less cartoony vibe, but have no complaints as I appreciate and respect everything Slott's done over the past few years to revitalise Spider-Man comics. Back-up stories were great, as they set up new ideas. Looking forward to seeing them develop in later issues.

Here's hoping Anna becomes an important, regular fixture in Peter's world.

[Cmbmool]

I notice when Anna looked at his note it said Explain. So was Ock gonna tell Anna the whole truth that he's not Peter Parker?

I would be surprised if Mr. Slott threw a curve ball like that.

[Doc Ock]

That's how I read it - that Otto would have explained everything to Anna. Of course, he didn't get the chance.

[SpideyClone]

For a first issue that sold over 500K copies, I thought it was lackluster. Aaside from Spidey's costume mishap, the fight against essentially a bunch of D-listers went on longer than it should have. I expected a number 1 issue should have had a better villain to kick things off. And while I get he was being humorous with Sajani while discussing the situation that 'Arker Industries was in, I can't help but think he'll screw it up somehow and it will be chalked up to "Parker luck". So we got classic Peter Parker back, but where's this "new second lease on life not taking anything for granted" attitude? That said, I did enjoy the issue and got a few chuckles out of it, but maybe my expectations were just too high?

[Vworp Vworp]

Didn't buy it so can't judge the main story, but I did have a curiosity-satiating flick through to see what was what. Main things I noticed were MJ's 2 panels seemed designed to make her unlikeable and Felicia's an outright villain now?

Curiosity satiated I guess.

[Tendrin]

I would be surprised if Mr. Slott threw a curve ball like that.

That would be quite a twist. I don't think so, though.

[The4orTy67]

I gave the first issue a shot to see if I'm going to like it. The main story was decent, but what I really really like were the Spider-Man 2099 and Learning to Crawl previews. Those two I will most likely end up getting.

[MarvelMaster616]

I read this issue and really liked the bonus features. But the main story just fell flat for me. Reading through Peter's bad mishandling of the press conference and his insistence on using his old uniform just gave me a bad feeling that this story is going down a predictable path. I hope I'm wrong, but right now it looks like Slott and the powers that be in the editorial office are intent on doing what they did with Brand New Day. That is to say they basically want to regress Peter Parker back to the hard-luck, often broke, socially inept guy he has always been. I get why they want to do that, but that has the effect of making the story predictable. Not only that, it gives the impression that Peter Parker isn't superior as Doc Ock claimed. He isn't just inept either. He's downright irresponsible, which basically flies in the face of who he is.

This was best shown when Peter picked out his old costume over all the fancy new costumes that Doc Ock had made. And in doing so, the Menagerie basically owned him and humiliated him. It feels like a sign that Peter is just going to revert back to old habits and in doing so, he's going to lose everything Doc Ock built. His company will go under. His relationships will fall apart. He'll go flat broke again. He's basically going back to square one. And it won't be because of this "Parker luck" concept. It'll be because of his own choices. If you do what you've always done. You'll get what you've always got. Other characters like Miss Marvel, Iron Man, Captain America, and the X-men go through their share of growth. They often have to change their approach along the way, but they stay true to their core. I don't get the sense that this happens with Peter. Unless staying true to his core means he remains perpetually inept, I see no appeal in this.

Now I could be wrong. I really hope I am. I would like to see Peter actually put the resources of Parker Industries to use. I would like to see him keep his doctorate. I would like to see him go through the struggles of being an upstart businessman, trying to attract investors and trying to get business. Because when you look at it, this is something that helps make him relatable. Ordinary people start businesses all the time and they struggle to make it work. I would love it if Peter went through that struggle because that's one he has never had to do before. But if Slott and Marvel really are determined to regress Peter, he'll lose it all and be back at square one. That doesn't make him the everyman that everyone can relate to. That just makes him incompetent. This is one of the main reasons why I haven't been all that excited about anything Spider-Man related in a long time. I'm not too optimistic after reading this issue. But again, I hope I'm wrong.