Comic Book Review: 'Amazing Spider-Man' #2
Posted May 25th, 2014 by Ben Silverio
The real Peter Parker isn't only back in his own body, but he's back in his own comic as well. After spending some time sidelined in his own head thanks to Doctor Octopus, the truly superior Spider-Man returned and is once again the star of 'Amazing Spider-Man.' In the first issue, Pete plays catch up as he goes through the plethora of changes that occurred while he was away. But he didn't have a lot of time to think about his doctorate, his company, or his girlfriend because he had to jump right back into the crime-fighting lifestyle. However, after the commotion that found him in a very awkward clothing situation, Parker came home to his Tribeca apartment to find that someone unexpectedly discovered his secret identity.
Now in the latest issue of the web-slinger's flagship book, Peter had a serious conversation with his "significant other", Anna Maria Marconi, about who she was actually dating all that time. After that confrontation, another one awaited Spidey at Avengers Tower as Captain America, Spider-Woman, and Iron Man had some questions of their own about our hero's erratic behavior as of late. Of course, a Marvel Comic wouldn't be complete without a supervillain confrontation, so one of those was tossed in too as we saw Spider-Man take on his recent big screen foe, Electro.
After a strong first issue that explored many corners of the Spidey-verse, writer Dan Slott follows up with an even stronger second issue. I absolutely loved the recurring theme of new beginnings as Spidey's super friends Captain America and the Human Torch shared with him the experiences of being dead and coming back to life. The writer took these "I know that feel, bro" moments and made them pretty deep. I liked them a lot and I'm glad that some time was taken to address how crazy that whole situation was amidst all the classic Spider-Man shenanigans.
I also really liked how the situation with Anna Maria was handled. I'm so glad that the relationship isn't going away like it never happened. She's a great character and it looks like she'll be an important part of Pete's life moving forward, especially at work since he has no clue what Doc Ock was up to with all his projects. In addition to the Black Cat situation and whatever 'Original Sin' will bring to Spider-Man's doorstep, our hero has some huge girl problems coming his way and I'm so excited to see how they all play out.
Besides nailing some great plot points in this issue, there was a ton of great comedy as well. I love that Spidey is a fan of 'Smash' and the whole scene with the Avengers was funny moment after funny moment. The gags with the cookies and the pants were particularly good, but later on when Anna Maria said she was pregnant had to be the best one in the entire issue. Sajani's reaction made that moment even better. But in vintage Spidey fashion, that comedy was well balanced with excellent storytelling, which happened to include Spider-Man punching Captain America in the face.
Basically, Spider-Man is back to his old tricks and he might be better than ever. However, this isn't exactly a rehash of the same old stuff. The creative team is taking the web-slinger to new and interesting places. So far, like Johnny Storm says in the issue, it's like 'Amazing Spider-Man': Take Two. Hopefully things continue moving along like this and we keep on being excited to pick up the ongoing adventures of Peter Parker.
Written by Dan Slott
Art by Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, & Edgar Delgado
Anna Maria Marconi
Felicia Hardy
Jessica Drew
Max Dillon
Otto Octavius
Ben Silverio
Ben F. Silverio received a degree from Drexel University in the Screenwriting and Playwriting Program with a minor in Television Production. While at Drexel, Ben co-founded and co-hosted a film review show called The Pretentious Film Majors, which has evolved into a multi-format form of entertainment including blogs, podcasts on iTunes, articles in the school paper, and a potential tv show. Now armed with an extremely expensive piece of paper, Ben can begin climbing the treacherous ladder of the entertainment industry, which he hopes to do while streaming WWE wrestling matches, reading Marvel comics, and blogging about the excessive amount of movies and tv shows that he watches, all on the iPhone that is permanently attached to his hand.
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