CBR Live! Archive
Amazing Spider-Man #578 Review
- by Brian Cronin
- in Comic Reviews
Greg talking about Roger Stern and John Romita Jr.'s classic run on Amazing Spider-Man reminded me of this past week's Amazing Spider-Man, which was quite reminiscent of the great Stern/JRjr issues - not in any specific way besides a strong two-parter with great writing and amazing artwork.
First off, right off the bat, the issue is drawn by Marcos Martin, so you know it's going to at least LOOK amazing. Martin is possibly the best artist this book has seen in, well, a very very long time. I think he's actually a step UP from John Romita Jr.'s first run on Amazing Spider-Man, and Romita was excellent (and still is excellent)!
Martin is like a mixture of Ditko and Romita Sr., just with a European tint to it all, too.
So good.
Here are some sample pages of Martin depicting the basic set-up of the issue - Spider-Man finds a metrocard so he takes the subway and gets caught up in a bad situation.
I ESPECIALLY love the first page here....
Anyhow, a villain attacks the subway train Peter's on, as it is carrying the jury for a mafia trial and the bad guys want a mistrial.
So Spider-Man is stuck underground with a crushed subway tunnel with a bunch of civilians and a super-villain out to get them all, while the water from outside is starting to get in.
Just a classic set-up for a Spider-Man story, and Waid does a great job executing his strong idea.
The only drawback I had with the comic's story was the ending. At the end of the issue, we meet a character we never thought we'd ever meet, and it is a good idea for a character, but I dunno about introducing him in the middle of this story. It makes it seem like this story, which is a good one, needed something else to keep us occupied, and it really didn't. There was enough here already for a good, compelling story - I just worry that this new character will take up too much of the focus of next issue's finale to this two-parter.
Ah well, I guess it's an abundance of riches, so who am I to complain?
So in either event, if you were a fan of Stern/JRjr's Amazing Spider-Man, check this issue out - I bet you'll enjoy it!
Recommended.
- Posted on November 25, 2008 @ 03:31 AM
- Leave a Comment
- Share This!
15 Comments
Bat2supe
November 25, 2008 at 4:07 am
I enjoyed this issue & Amazing Spider-Man so far, it needed a reboot & it's way better that the pre-OMD stories ( doesn't mean that OMD was good, hell no !!!).
My only concern, & that's why I dig this issue, is the way Peter Parker/Spider-Man is depicted.
The writers tend to make him way too juvenile, sometimes even a newbie & that doesn't work for me, maybe they tried too hard to expose the "new" , post-OMD Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
Although they sometimes push too far the comedy aspect of the character & it's like the latest Eddy Murphy flick simply NOT FUNNY.
Coming back to the subject: nice issue Waid & Martin.
Martin
November 25, 2008 at 4:48 am
Marcos Martin is ok, but both JR Jr and the last issue's Paolo Rivera are better. Martin's easily better than Barry Kitson (ASM #574) and narrowly better than Chris Bachalo, though.
Matt D
November 25, 2008 at 6:10 am
A sort of interesting question there is whether stories can just exist as stories in 2008 or whether they need something more. I forget where I saw it, but I swear sometime in the last week I heard someone ask "Doesn't anyone ever just rob banks anymore?"
I. Glow
November 25, 2008 at 6:45 am
It's neat that Rivera and Martin were put back to back, there's kind of consistency that way. I prefer Rivera and #577 in general, but Waid and Martin have definitely proved themselves as "buy on sight" names for this title to me.
Rusty Priske
November 25, 2008 at 7:18 am
I REALLY don't like Marcos Martin's work... but this issue was a LOT better than his previous Spidey appearance.
Anonymous
November 25, 2008 at 8:22 am
Matt D - that's from Keith Giffen's most recent column on CBR.
Joe H
November 25, 2008 at 8:34 am
Ever since New Ways to Die there hasn't been a bad Spidey story and that was, what, two months ago? Not so long, but that's six great Spidey issues. Man, I love getting Amazing 3 times a month.
But so far my favorite artists on this title have been Bachalo, Rivera, Martin, JRJr, and McNiven.
tk.
November 25, 2008 at 9:59 am
Personally, I'm a huge fan of Bachalo, and although I don't collect ASM too much these days, I had to pick up the issues that he did and it was definitely worth it. I can't wait to see him back on something regularly, and I certainly wouldn't mind if he went back to UXM. I think JRJR is at his best doing Thor, though, his Asgardian costumes rock.
MarkAndrew
November 25, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Yeah. Man. That was really good! Alternately goofy and moody in 'bout equal measure. I'm quite glad you posted the Marcos Martin scans way-back-when. Now I'm buying all his issues.
Anthony Cheng
November 25, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I agree, this issue was par excellence for Spidey. And in general, the BND run has been pretty good.
I only wonder why OMD had to happen to get good Spidey books again. Nothing in Waid's story required a magically single Peter Parker to work.
Brian Cronin
November 25, 2008 at 12:57 pm
The model scene is in the issue because of Peter being single - if he were married, it wouldn't be there.
Anthony Cheng
November 25, 2008 at 1:56 pm
But this begs the question: was that little snippet critical to telling the story Waid set out to tell (especially considering its dropped immediately when the "real" action starts)? If I could step into his brain, I would guess the elements of this particular plot have been in his head well before OMD.
Going over the whole BND run, most "single Peter" moments are about this trivial. Even the new Betty & Veronica angle they cooked up early on fizzled out completely. The (largely nonsensical) Lilly Hollister subplot is the only outlier, and even THAT doesn't require a single Peter to work.
Glen Newman
November 25, 2008 at 3:22 pm
With this, New Ways To Die and Joe Kelly's recent two parter, BND seems to have finally hit it's stride. I still only seem to buy ASM depending on the creative teams though but now i coming back more regulary. Oh, and with this issue, Marcos Martin just became my favourite penciller at the moment.
Leocomix
November 26, 2008 at 3:42 am
OMD needed to happen because the writers need a single Parker in order to have the right feel for the character. Marcos Martin is currently the best Spider-Man artist. I understand that some people are puzzled by his style but I think they will change their mind.
Martin
November 26, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I'm not puzzled by his style. I just don't think it's very good wrt compositions and figure drawing. There are others who do similar styles better, like Rivera. I hope you'll realize that and change your mind.
I think JR Jr is still underrated. I suspect that people can't see past his simple, blocky surface to see the good-to-excellent compositions and practically unmatched dynamic poses beneath.