Amazing Spider-Man #599 – Review

By Joe Kelly (writer), Stephen Segovia, Marco Checcheto, Paulo Siqeira and Amilton Santos (pencils, inks) Cris Chuckry and Jeremy Cox (colors)

The Story: Joe Kelly’s American Son arc concludes with the final showdown between Norman and Harry Osborn, as Spidey tries to recover from injuries sustained while he was tortured by the Dark Avengers.

What’s Good: Truthfully, there isn’t a whole lot that happens in this issue, since it is basically one long fight scene. With that said, the first five pages were awesome. The art was killer and the flashback scene between Peter and Harry was masterful. It showed the depth of their relationship and a lot of the motivations of each character. I also really like the whole Norman/Menace relationship. It had a lot of potential and the whole family dynamic seemed set to make a big impact on Spidey’s world.

Kelly told a complete story. All the dynamics were in play that he began with, i.e. Peter’s man-love for Harry, Aunt May’s wedding, and Wolverine’s advice. Perhaps, it came off as overly formulaic and almost text-book like, but it was still satisfying that all the pieces of the story were there.

What’s Not So Good: For some reason, there were three different art teams on this issue and it mostly didn’t look consistent. Also, the last art team seemed to have forgotten that Menace was pregnant. So why the hell did she have six-pack abs and a lean figure in some scenes. Also, remember when she looked like a devil who was so intensely ugly and monstrous that the reader couldn’t even tell her gender (hence the suprise that she was a girl! and Lilly! and pregnant!)? Well, not anymore. In this issue she was a Goblin-Babe with green skin and red-lipstick.

And another thing, I was really getting tired of Spider-Man always fighting past the point of exhaustion and physical durability, where at any moment he was going to pass out or die. Every major ASM arc has featured him in this state and it is getting really, really old. Also, his non-stop trips to the emergency room at the end of stories are getting way too formulaic.

Conclusion: As far as this arc goes, it was a bit of a downer to see everything, minus Menace bearing Norman’s child. I was hoping Harry would evolve into something other than a thirty-something still dealing with his Daddy issues. It would’ve have made this story infinitely better if it was clear that he knew that Spidey was Peter. Don’t get me wrong: this is the best written and plotted ASM arc of ’09. But, this finale was a little lack luster, consisting largely of two pseudo Iron-Mans duking it out during a dysfunctional family therapy session.

Grade: B

-Rob G.