Doctor Doom tricked Doctor Strange into giving up the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. In Amazing Spider-Man #61, Doom manipulates Spider-Man into defending Earth in a cosmic contest. If he survives, perhaps Peter Parker will learn why Doom picked him over all of Earths mightiest heroes. But first, a man who cant safely deliver a Rick Jones record to his girlfriend must defeat eight demigods. Read Full Review

This issue is easily the best issue of Spider-Man in recent memory and is an incredible first step forward for the series overall. It's a bold story that's hit the ground running from the start and it's an issue that's a MUST READ for not only Spider-Man fans but all comic book fans. Considering where this story could be going, it's going to have massive ramifications for the entire Marvel universe. Read Full Review

This is a winning opening issue to the story arc, as the art is fun and matches the fun vibe of the dialogue and pace. Amazing Spider-Man #61 is a refreshing, action-packed ride that embraces both the humor and high-stakes drama that fans love about Spider-Man. With Joe Kelly's witty, fast-paced dialogue, Spider-Man's personality shines through, offering levity even as he faces off against a new wave of supernatural threats. Read Full Review

Mild plot hole aside in Doom's choice of champion to go up against these mega-powerful demons,Amazing Spider-Man #61 is that rare comic that lives up to the hype by putting our hero in less-than-familiar circumstances, threading the needle in such a way that it still feels like one of their token stories throughout. If this issue is any indication, "The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man" is going to be a real treat from start to finish. Read Full Review

I absolutely love McGuinness art in this issue. Not only are the character designs fantastic, but the action is visually stunning and impressive. Read Full Review

There are fantastic art and narrative choices made in this issue, but it is not quite enough to stop me from worrying about the future of this arc. Read Full Review

Amazing Spider-Man #61 begins a new arc with a new creative team by naming Spider-Man as Dr. Doom's champion to fight and die to protect the Earth, over and over again. Joe Kelly does his level best to turn a predictable concept into a meaningful story, but the entire issue barely rises above mediocre. If nothing else, Ed McGuinness and Mike Farmer's art looks great. Read Full Review

Amazing Spider-Man #61 got "The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man story off to a rough start. Going back into the well of the typical Peter Parker presentation kept this story parked for much longer than it should have. It wasn't until the second half of the issue that the story finally started to get going. Now that we got all the set-up out of the way hopefully it is all up from here for the "The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man story arc. Read Full Review

I am soooo not kidding that years ago, I said to myself that Marvel needs to put Spidey in an isekai...and wow, I guess this is pretty darn close

It's average...nothing more to add.
Why though do 'critics' give it marks of 9.5 or laughably 10? The 'Death of Gwen Stacy' is a 9.5, how can a critic give this the same? Please, explain and let me understand the logic.

Wow, this really didn't work for me. Ed's art is great as always, but first half felt like a chore. This whole "Peter Parker is down on his luck, with little money and poor management of his relationships" is definitely not what I expected to read after Wells' run started the exact same way and ended with Peter moving on and having something stable in his life. It doesn't feel at all like a continuation to what Zeb did in his run. And Spider-Man dumping his problems on a 10-year old just feels so irresponsible and childish.

Peter's dialogue just feels off here. I don't know, maybe I was used to Zeb's dialogue, but here he is so wordy while also saying a lot of nothing with a lot of misses in humor

The second part was better. Peter handling the trauma of dying was interesting, but otherwise this whole gimmick feels random. And just screams of Spidey office having no idea what to do next.

And why is May scolding Peter for not getting his life together? Wasn't the whole point of last run just that? Like am I crazy, or did Kelly just ignore the entire point of last run?

I'm not even kidding when I say that this might be one of the worst first issues of any ASM run I've read in a while. more

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daspidaboy - Nov 13, 2024

I think in general, the main problem with modern amazing spider-man isn't how Peter Parker is never going to grow and mature because of cyclical story-telling. It's that there's no good story, there's no good writing. I don't mind if Peter is going to stay the same, but at least have solid writing or make Peter likable. Modern Amazing Spider-Man isn't bad, but it's just forgettable and mid. and that's worse imo.

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Most of the dialogue here is just bad. Unfunny jokes, Peter feels like a teenager still, people talking at Peter and everything sailing over his head. Marveling at the fact that he stood up to Doctor Doom despite the fact that he's done it countless times. Whether or not he was the Sorcerer Supreme. Everyone here just felt a bit lifeless. Aside from Kevin. And what was even the point of introducing Burnout? Could he come up later? Sure but as of right now he's nothing and it had zero impact on the story. Just a device to remind readers of Doom's power which isn't necessary because he's DOOM! Kelly seems to be trying a bit too hard to be meta-relevant. We know all of the annoying problems in the world. AI on our phones, corporate ads invading our daily lives aren't really commentary I need from Spider-Man unless it actually matters to the plot. Which in this case feels incredibly contrived. Doom not wanting to do the work of fighting the Scions of Cyttorak is very in line with how Doom operates. But To have Spider-Man do it? I'm sorry but even Doom's monologuing didn't agree with that one. Now all of a sudden, because of a suit change, he just knows the "cool secret names of things"... Show. Don't tell. First rule. Already breaking it. I really want the ramifications of Peter dying and being reborn to have meaning in the future but I'm hard pressed to believe that the significance of that will carry over. Something this important to a character's perception of the world should carry weight and while it does here, it's only in service to a McGuffin plot.
This may be the least I have ever cared for McGuinness' work. That might have something to do with the colorist changing from his previous arcs on ASM but this felt way flatter in terms of vibrancy and pop that was apparent in his older issues. Things here felt a lot more cartoony at the wrong times and traditional when it could have used more expressive features from Spider-Man. It also had this issue when there were multiple characters on a page that everyone looked way less detailed and on model.
I'm just going to assume this entire arc was rushed to get the Wells transition kicked off as quickly as possible. This whole storyline didn't feel like the natural progression it would have taken in preparation for a new writer. Even May is sick and tired of Peter spinning in circles. I really wanted to read every issue of ASM but if this is all I have to expect from this arc, I might jump off next issue. more