Ryan Ottley's art is fantastic. There are some great panels showcasing the size and power of Gog, but also sequences that feature the creature in the comfort of those who care about him and that contrast is beautifully done. Read Full Review

The Amazing Spider-Man steps out with a new issue this week that will leave fans reeling with emotion. Read Full Review

Amazing Spider-Man #42 takes a break from the main stories going on in this series to spotlight the rarely seen Gog. To Nick Spencer's credit he does a solid job with getting the reader invested in Gog's backstory. With the direction Spencer took, it was really Ryan Ottley's incredible artwork that elevated Gog's backstory to be as successful as it was. The only thing that hurt the story in Amazing Spider-Man #42 is that it never escaped coming across as filler content. Read Full Review

Spider-Man takes a serious step away from the focus here to explore the obscure canon and untold history of one of the most underused faces in the Marvel Universe. Nick Spencer is no stranger to not only playing around with some fantastically under-utilized characters, but he's showing a knack for bringing them into stories that may pull at your emotions. Read Full Review

Spencer reintroduces us to old characters and gives them great backstories. Combined with Ottley's great art, another stellar issue from them.

Love exploration of obscure characters

There is nothing that I did not personally love about Amazing Spider-Man #42. Readers be warned, most of this issue is about Gog, as it serves as the Origin of Gog. Therefore, Spider-man does not appear that much in this book, although that did not take away from how good the story was, in my opinion. I really enjoyed this issue because it was heartfelt, fresh, and it provides background to a character that I did not know much about. The origin of Gog was interesting and I am definitely excited to see him in more books after this issue. I have not been the biggest fan of Spencer's Spidey run, but I think this was one of his strongest issues to date. Though I was not the biggest fan of the 'lifeline tablet' story line, I really liked how it connected to the origin of Gog, giving the overall arc a greater scope and purpose. The artwork by Ottley is solid, and feels true of a Spidey book. I am going to give this one a light 10/10, because I really enjoyed this issue. This one definitely has me excited for the next one, and for more Gog! more

I feel sorry for Gog. The art and writing here were really good, but the entire issue is about how Gog got where he is, and his role regarding the lifeline tablet. And that's nice and all, but this issue went by so fast and therefore this feels like one of those issues that suffer from the bi-weekly schedule. It's a pacing problem. That being said, this issue reminds me a lot of the Gibbon issue from Hunted. It really manages to hit those emotional beats. I'm hoping next issue, which may not be released for a while given the Coronavirus pandemic, makes up for the pacing problem this arc has.

This issue offered real insight to Gog. I'll never be able to look at him as a villain now, that's for sure. Another thing about this story I enjoy is that it's taking a break from the NEVER-ending mystery of Kindred. The longer that drags on, the less I care. I just wish they'd unmask him so we could get on with it.
But this issue itself has everything, from an easily-forgotten character, to his sad origin story.

Not to be dramatic but I would die for Gog.

Great story and beautiful art but it read way too quick and was not a Spidey story. Still very enjoyable and would read much better in a collected form.

A quick read that succeeds in its aim of making Gog deserving of sympathy.

Ottley's art remains strong and well-suited to ASM.

Gog's turn in the spotlight. This issue fleshes out both his origins and his connection to the Lifeline tablet. As a standalone sci-fi story about a giant monster that's actually a loyal, dog-ish pet trying to get home to his boy, it's pretty dang good. On a larger scale, though, this volume of ASM is already terribly digressive and this issue-long side-story doesn't do anything good to the long-term pace.

" Boy ? Boy wake up wake up boy no please no please gog need boy gog need boy "
- GOG

It was good for what it was which was more of a story about the monster. For that it gets a lower grade but it is entertaining.