Amazing Spider-Man #568 – Review

By Dan Slott (Writer), John Romita Jr. (Pencils), Klaus Johnson (Inks), and Dean White (Colors)
Backup story by Mark Waid (Writer) and Adi Granov (Artist)

For months they’ve been trying to do it: revert back to the old-school 70s and 80s style classic Spider-Man tale. They’ve come close several times, attaining a classic “flavor,” but New Ways to Die Part 1 at last marks the success of their goal! We get appearances from several Spidey supporting characters, both old and new. We get great action and even a little bit of drama. Heck, we even get a retelling of Spider-Man’s origin just for good measure. And, of course, ASM #568 sees the return of John Romita Jr.’s unique art style to the pages of Spider-Man. This here is the real deal.

What sets this apart from everything else we’ve gotten in Brand New Day is perhaps the wide flowing scope. Sure, earlier issues jumped from scene to scene and introduced little plot points that you knew were going to be significant sometime in the future, but the scene changes here flowing smoothly from one point to another. Also, any little plot points introduced don’t seem to be set up for some future storyline – everything is built up for later in this story, and it’s going to be great seeing it all come to fruition.

Getting to specifics, Dan Slott handled the story effortlessly. Despite my huge love for his Avengers: The Initiative series, I haven’t enjoyed too much of his Spider-Man work. Here, he finally proves himself with flawless writing. As Menace makes his appearance he actually seems, well, menacing. This is probably the first time I’ve been interested in this character. Likewise, Spidey’s quips aren’t groan-worthy (Slott seems to have a habit of making them so). We also get great appearances from the Thunderbolts and Eddie Brock. Peter stumbles upon a huge news story and finally lands a new job. And, of course, we get more political drama as the mayoral election moves ever nearer, not to mention the rather shocking finale. It is hard to believe that everything was packed into one issue (given, it was larger than normal).

As for the backup story, it was probably the best I’ve read in a long while. Not only does it catch us up on the life of Eddie Brock, it also looks to be extremely relevant in the upcoming issues. Let’s just say that long-time Spider-Man fans may find themselves very pleased with the direction this looks to take. Oh, and Granov’s art? Phenomenal. Any chance we could get him to do an issue or three of Spider-Man?

Overall, this looks to be the set up for the best Spider-Man tale in a long time. Even if you don’t want to read this series as an ongoing, you should definitely pick up this story arc. Next week can’t come fast enough. (Grade: A-)

-M. Staples

Editor’s Note

Mr. Staples, I hate you. I’m dying to read this issue!

– J. Montes