Finally after being 60 issues Amazing Spider-Man is free again with an exciting new storyline to begin this new era. While it is not promoted this way, this new timeperiod for series appears to be a stop gap creative run before the next big thing for the series. Which is 100% fine because Marvel has tapped Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness for this new storyline titled “The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man.” That is a very dark title for a story. Though given everything Peter Parker has been through the last two years this may be a fresh start he needs to clean up. Let’s find out how “The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man” begins with Amazing Spider-Man #61.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joe Kelly
Artists: Ed McGuinness and Niko Henrichon
Inker: Mark Farmer
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #61 SOLICITATION
“THE 8 DEATHS OF SPIDER-MAN BEGIN! The world has changed, Doctor Doom is Sorcerer Supreme, but he has no plans to spend his time like his predecessor… Each year, Doctor Strange would use every ounce of his power and experience to save the world from an evil god and his scions. This year, Doom is delegating this task to… SPIDER-MAN?! The leader of Latveria has given Spider-Man a new, magic-powered suit and EIGHT EXTRA LIVES with which to save the world?! True Believer, they won’t be enough…” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
Amazing Spider-Man #61 falls into the same trapping of a lot of new creative runs. There is a feeling that the reader needs to be reintroduced to the main character before fully committing to the bigger story plans. This is even more just groan inducing for Spider-Man, who is one of the most well-known characters in the world. It made it so when we got to the real meat of the story your left wondering why it took so long even if it wasn’t for very long.
The biggest problem with the approach taken was that it doesn’t present Peter Parker as someone you want to follow their adventure. Maybe the point is to just show Peter is still the loser guy forever suffering from his “Parker Luck.” But given the creative run this series just went through that Peter isn’t one to feel any sort of connection to. Especially in light of titles like Ultimate Spider-Man and Spectacular Spider-Men going with the “old reliable” gives the vibe of taking more steps back with Peter Parker.
This ends up derail the momentum that the first half of Amazing Spider-Man #61 tries to create. It’s too bad because there are some genuine good elements there with Peter opening his own photo gallery and new relationship with Shay. But the way it is presented through the “Parker Luck” lens it is hard to want to see these things explored. You just know how these things in Peter’s life will go because he is in one bad cycle after another with these things. Which goes back if the presentation was done in a different way I wouldn’t have felt to be the same old Spider-Man content.
It isn’t until the second half of Amazing Spider-Man #61 where the story really begins. Spider-Man being easily repelled by the villain Cyntros created a question of how our hero could defeat him. This provided a more natural entry point for Doctor Doom to really explain what is going on. If there is one thing this issue did well was the dynamic between Doctor Doom and Spider-Man. They are such opposites that they make the perfect odd couple.
Creating this new threat made the giant four-page exposition by Doctor Doom about the trial involving the Eight Scions of Cyttorak that Doctor Strange committed to work. Specifically, this further drove home the difference between Doctor Strange and Doom as the Sorcerer Supreme. Doctor Strange was driven by his heroic nature to take on being the Marvel Universe’s Champion every year no matter the toll the Eight Scions of Cyttorak battles took out of him. Doctor Doom is not like that at all. As he says, he doesn’t have time to do something he views as time wasting as going through some unnecessary trials he didn’t agree to.
This made the choice of Spider-Man to fill the role to have some context. Of all the heroes Doctor Doom views Spider-Man to have the same type of heroic nature as Stephen Strange. At the same time, since Spider-Man is his choice Doctor Doom too proud let his appointed champion to go into a losing fight. Which gave way to a cool new Spider-Man mystical armor costume.
Though with this being a story titled “The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man” this first issue needed to establish the stakes beyond the villains. Kelly did a good job making Spider-Man’s first death be something that took as much, if no more, a metal toll on Peter Parker as it did physically. The deaths should be a traumatic experience in order to set the danger level for Spider-Man’s mission high. It puts into question if Spider-Man will be mentally strong enough to go through his type of experience and what it’ll mean for him by the end.
FINAL THOUGHTS
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.
Story Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 5.5 Night Girls out of 10
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