I went into this issue with optimism, and a chip on my shoulder. Not for the creators on this book, or even the editor. Rather, I had a chip on my shoulder for the fans. That chip is still there, after reading this book. All that screaming and whining about how this would be the worst run ever, and what have we gotten with this issue? A solidly written piece of a story that sets things up. It is no different than literally any other Spider-Man #1 I've ever read, in terms of its function. And yet, people got so fucking mad about literally two pages in it.
I love the pairing of Peter and MJ. I want them to be together. I am too old to get bent out of shape over a pair of pages purposefully designed to cause outrage and thus, bring in money. If you have been reading comics for any serious length of time, you should understand what those pages are and you should be able to get past your reactionary, boring outrage.
The other complaint, which has more validity in my mind, is that we've seen this before. And we have, kind of. This story is like a remix of so many classic stories that'd it be difficult to go through them all. But it feels comfortable to me.
I saw a review on here that says that Peter is acting like Doc Ock took over his body again. I disagree. Peter has always had an edge to him, that's what makes him relatable. He's imperfect. I'm wasting my time with explaining this though, because it seems like whenever Peter does anything or says anything contrary to being a perfect hero, people forget the 60 years where he wasn't that. I have had my issues with Peter's characterization in the past, especially in the latter half of Slott's run, but this does not read nearly as immature as the outrage mob would have you believe. This reads like a Peter Parker who has been beaten down and made guilty. It does not read like a man-child fighting other heroes because he's jealous over girl trouble. Or like someone invading a sovereign country on a bloodlust mission. This reminds me, in a lot of ways, of mid-to-late 80s Peter Parker. The same Peter that got married. Peter at his most mature, I'd argue. Perhaps only beaten out by early JMS Peter. I like it.
The actual content of this issue is actually interesting to me. I like when Spider-Man is street level and his villains have a good old fashioned crime war. Also, I find it ironic that so many people were acting as though this story throws everything that came before away, only to have this issue tie Spidey more into the Marvel universe than he has been in a while, on top of the main thrust of the story being plotlines that originated from Spencer's run.
I guess the biggest issue here for me is the art. John Romita Jr. isn't killing it these days. This is, believe it or not, an improvement over JRJR's DC work. I honestly didn't look at the credits too heavily, but whoever is doing the inking and coloring have really made JRJR shine here. His art isn't amazing but it isn't... a trash fire, like say, his Action Comics stint. I don't feel shame for paying for this artwork. That seems like a backhanded compliment, but it really is an improvement. All in all, I'm excited to see where this new era of ASM goes, and I hope people can get over their reactionary disdain they've been told is good to have for some reason, and at least give this book half a chance before deeming it the worst thing ever (for this month). more
By: Zeb Wells, John Romita Jr.
Released: Apr 27, 2022
Peter's on the outs with the FF. He's on the outs with the Avengers. He's on the outs with Aunt May! No one wants to see Spider-Man - except for Doctor Octopus. Ock's on Spider-Man's tail and the Master Planner has something truly terrible planned for when he gets his tentacles on Spidey. All that, and what does Tombstone have planned? Just in time...