Amazing Spider-Man #596 Review

Amazing has been a mixed bag. The last issues I reviewed were well done. This storyline “American Son” sounds promising so I thought it was time to check in on our favorite wall-crawler.

Creative Team
Writers: Joe Kelly
Pencils: Paulo Sigueira
Inks: Amilton Santos

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: Norman Osborn calls a press conference to announce that his son, Harry, is the newest member of the Avengers. Harry is watching the news with Peter Parker. Peter is upset that Harry would give in and join his father. What Peter does not know is that Harry’s former fiancee is pregnant. He is doing this to try and help her. Harry says that Peter is a good friend but he needs to trust him about this.

Peter is so worried about Harry that he almost swings past a burning building.

At Avengers Tower…Norman is showing Harry around. He does not have access to all of the floors at this time. Once he proves himself, he will get more clearance. He wants to know if Lilly is there. Norman says she is not. A new page named Norah is commenting to a security guard about the Osborns.

Peter is getting fitted for Aunt May’s wedding. She tells him to be Harry’s friend. Harry will ask for his help if he needs it. Peter’s future step-uncle, J. Jonah Jameson Sr., tells him a dark secret from his past. He deserted the military so he could be home when his son was born. His wife died after JJJ Jr. was born.

Back at Avengers Tower… Harry is upset that his father wants him to take an injection. This is because of his former time as a drug user. Norman explains that it will protect him from the various germs he might encounter. Harry is not happy but he allows the injection. Lilly is watching on her computer. She is glad that Harry has come for her.

Peter has a discussion with Norah the page. She is a co-worker of his at the newspaper. He is worried she will get hurt trying to get the scoop on Osborn. Norah thinks Peter is just jealous.

Later that night in a seedy part of town…Venom attacks a hooker. He says they can only keep him in line so long. Eventually, he needs to cut loose. “Hawkeye” is there but does not pay attention to Venom.

Spider-Man jumps Venom from behind. Using a brown noise machine, he disorients Venom. Venom tries to run but an invisible shield appears.Venom is captured and locked up.

We see that Spidey had called in the Invisible Woman for assistance. She has brought along a copy of Venom’s black Spider-Man costume. Her husband rigged it for Peter to be able to copy Venom’s abilities. He dons the costume and returns to Avengers Tower with Hawkeye.

Harry’s room in Avengers Tower…a camera is watching Harry as he sleeps. He hits a button and the camera shorts out. He opens his briefcase (filled with other electronic devices) and tells Lilly to hold on. He is on his way.

Norman summons the Avengers. He is ready to tell them about his next project. It involves Harry. It is called American Son.

The Good: A very well done issue. Let’s start with the writing.  Characterization: Kelly is right on track with the various personalities. One of the key themes of this issue was friendship of Harry and Peter. Peter was justifiably upset to find out that Harry was joining up with his father. This has never been good for Harry in the past. Between discussing this with Aunt May, JJJ Sr., and the grave of Gwen Stacy, Peter realizes he has to trust Harry in this situation.

I was happy to see that Harry is trying to trick his father into thinking he was joining his cause. Harry now has something to fight for with Lilly expecting his child.

I was not familiar with the art team of Siqueira and Santos. They seem to be following the style of Maguire. I don’t know if they were trained by Maguire but whatever they are doing works. The characters were drawn in very natural looking poses. Peter would mess with his hair. The background shots of Venom and the others in the Tower were very nice. Hopefully, Marvel will keep this team together for future arcs.

I also thought the fight between Venom and Spidey was very creative. I loved the combination of the brown noise machine and Invisible Woman’s shields to defeat Venom.

The Bad: The art on Invisible Woman was the only weak part of this issue.

Overall: So far, “American Son” shows a lot of potential. Until it is completed I will withhold my final verdict, but it is on track so far. The big question is how far will Harry make it before Norman finds out about his plan?

Jim