Comic Book Review: Amazing Spider-Man #547

The Revolution enjoyed Slott’s debut issue on Amazing Spider-Man. Yeah, Joey Q’s retcon left a bad taste in my mouth. And no I’m not thrilled with the entire direction that Joey Q has set this title on. But, I’m not going to hold that against Slott who is simply doing the best he can with the cards Joey Q dealt him. And Slott impressed me with his debut issue that had the most “fun factor” of any Spider-Man issue for a very long time. I remain confident that Slott will continue to provide the reader with some quality entertainment with Amazing Spider-Man #547. Let’s go ahead and hit this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Dan Slott
Pencils: Steve McNiven
Inks: Dexter Vines

Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Peter giving mouth-to-mouth to J. Jonah Jameson. The paramedics arrive on the scene and attend to J.J. Robbie immediately assumes control of the Bugle and starts barking out orders to everyone. Robbie pulls Peter aside and tells him that the J.J. is going to lose the paper unless they can get a miracle on film. Robbie says that they need pictures of Spider-Man on the front page.

Peter goes to a janitor closet and slips into his Spider-Man costume. Peter notices that he still only has one of his web-shooters. Spider-Man starts web-slinging across Manhattan looking for the mugger wearing a Spider-Man mask.

We cut to a sleazy bar where the Spider-Man mugger is trying to sell the stolen jewelry to some guy. The guy says the stuff is crap and isn’t worth much. The mugger points out that the web-shooter is some type of exotic jewelry and must be worth something. The guy says it is also crap. The mugger puts on the web-shooter and accidently shoots a spider-tracer from it onto some guy getting ready to leave the bar. Then he accidently shoots some webbing. The mugger finally realizes what he has stolen. The mugger keeps the web-shooter and leaves the bar.

We see Spider-Man swinging by the sleazy bar when his spider-sense suddenly kicks in picking up the two spider-tracers. We see the guy that the mugger placed a spider-tracer on getting abducted by some men and pulled into a van. The mugger then goes in a different direction. Spider-Man doesn’t know which spider-tracer to follow and he chooses the guy that the mugger accidently shot with the tracer.

Spider-Man pursues the speeding van. The van hits a large street sign. Spider-Man catches the sign from falling on some innocent bystanders. The bystanders accuse Spider-Man of almost crushing them with the street sign and claim that J. Jonah Jameson was right about Spider-Man.

We cut to the hospital where J.J’s wife is upset and is watching him in the intensive care unit. J.J.’s wife bitterly complains that she always knew that the Bugle was going to kill J.J. one day. J.J.’s wife calls up her attorney and instructs him that since she has power of attorney for J.J. that she wants the attorney to call Dexter Bennett and tell him that she will sell all of J.J.’s stock in the Bugle to Bennett.

We slip over to Chinatown where we see the man who was shot with a spider-tracer by the mugger. The man’s name is Bruno Kanelli. He is the son of some big time mafia bosses. Negative Man has Kanelli strapped to a table and has several needles extracting blood from Kanelli. Kanelli is pissed because Negative Man was supposed to help Kanelli become the head of the Maggia. Negative Man says that if Kanelli survives the procedure then he will become the head of the Maggia.

Suddenly, Spider-Man busts onto the scene. Spider-Man recognizes that Negative Man has the clay tablet and is trying to use it for some nefarious purposes. Spider-Man kicks butt on Negative Man’s thugs. Spider-Man then smashes the tablet into little pieces. Mr. Negative is unfazed since he took the precaution of writing down everything that was on the tablet.

We cut to the Spider-Man mugger using his web-shooter to rob a couple in an alley. The victims think the mugger is actually Spider-Man. The mugger then realizes that the guy he mugged (Peter) that had the web-shooter must be the real Spider-Man. That the mugger has Peter’s wallet and can discover his identity and his address.

We zip over to Aunt May’s house where she is complaining about Peter being immature, irresponsible and basically a loser.

We slide back to Spider-Man having defeated the rest of the thugs and having freed Kanelli from the machine he was hooked into. Negative Man had already used the distraction to exit the scene. Kanelli tells Spider-Man that there is a meeting between all the Maggia leaders and that Negative Man must be going there to wipe them all out.

We cut to the meeting between all the Maggia leaders. The Negative Man is already then readying his plan. Spider-Man busts into the meeting and tells the Maggia leaders that they are in danger. The Maggia leaders look stunned and immediately start shooting at Spider-Man. Suddenly, a red gas fills the room. All the Maggia leaders collapse to the ground.

Spider-Man then collapses to the ground as well. Before Spider-Man passes out, he thinks how he forgot to set up his camera and that Robbie is going to kill him if he isn’t almost already dead right now. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Amazing Spider-Man #547 was a steady read. Slott crafted a nicely plotted issue. There is a clear progression of the story as we see the Negative Man plotline and the Spider-Man mugger plotline briefly intersecting. The pacing to this issue was pleasant. The story moves along quickly, but it is done in a smooth fashion. Slott also makes sure to give the reader a solid balance of action and drama.

Once again, I am impressed with Slott’s dialogue. Slott creates such an enjoyable casual and realistic flow to his dialogue. And Slott’s humor is well done and is certainly a perfect match for a character like Spider-Man. Even though there are serious aspects to the story, the overall feel to Slott’s issue is positive and upbeat. Fun is simply the best way to describe zipping through Slott’s story.

Slott uses the scene with Spider-Man saving the bystanders from the falling street sign to impress upon the reader that Spider-Man is once again hated and mistrusted by the public at large. And I’m totally all right with this move. Being hated by the general public is a part of Spider-Man tradition. Spidey has always been the one hero who constantly gets a bad rap and receives plenty of verbal abuse instead of adulation like the other heroes in the 616 universe.

Negative Man continues to serve as a solid villain. I am completely unfamiliar with the tablet in this issue, but I’m certainly curious to learn more about the Negative Man’s plans. The Spider-Mugger didn’t interest me at all until the mugger finally realized that Peter is Spider-Man and that the wallet will have Spider-Man’s secret identity and address in it. This spices up this plotline a bit more. I’m sure since Joey Q went to such great lengths to restore Peter’s secret identity that they won’t have it exposed so soon. But, it still adds some tension to a plotline that wasn’t all that compelling to begin with.

Slott delivers a quality hook ending with Spider-Man seemingly on the brink of death. This is a nice job getting the reader anxious to pick up the next issue.

McNiven and Vines combine to crank out plenty of good looking artwork. I am a huge fan of McNiven’s style of art. I find that McNiven and Vines are able to give Amazing Spider-Man the best look that it has had in years.

The Bad: Amazing Spider-Man #547 simply lacked that something special. That “it” factor. This issue was a serviceable read and that is about it. The entire plotline involving the Mafia families and the Negative Man had such a generic feel to it. It comes across as nothing more than a standard issue comic book plotline. Hopefully, Slott has something interesting in store for us with this plotline, because at the moment I am quickly losing any and all interest in it.

The drama with J.J. and the Bugle is mildly interesting. I guess I just don’t really believe that J.J. is going to die or that he will really lose control of the Bugle. Hopefully, Slott has a huge surprise in store for us with this plotline.

I’m also beginning to already tire of the loser slacker Peter Parker after just two issues. I don’t mind Peter having some of his traditional tough luck. But, I don’t want to read about a Peter in his mid-twenties who is about as successful and as mature as a sixteen-year old.

Look, Slott is a talented writer. And Slott certainly delivers technically sound and well constructed issues. So, my main complaint about Amazing Spider-Man #547 has nothing to do with Slott and his abilities or handling of this title. My prime issue with this issue is that it read like an issue of Ultimate Spider-Man. And that isn’t Slott’s fault. That is Joey Q’s fault.

Yes, there is the obvious age difference with Peter being in high school and the 616 Peter being in what appears to be his mid-twenties. However, other than that, there are no real differences between the two titles. Both versions of Peter are down on their luck. Both versions live at home with Aunt May. Both versions are single. The Ultimate Peter has broken up with and then gotten back together with Mary. The 616 Peter is currently broken up with Mary though I’m sure they will get back together. The Ultimate MJ has some form of metahuman abilities. The 616 MJ now appears to have some form of metahuman abilities. Harry Osborn is alive in both titles.

The point is that I used to really enjoy the completely different and distinctive feel I got when I read an Ultimate Spider-Man issue as compared to when I read an issue of Amazing Spider-Man. That is no longer the case. For the most part, these two titles read just about the same. It is unfortunate that Joey Q pulled off a retcon that was largely unnecessary and only served to make Ultimate Spider-Man less of a unique title.

Now, while I strongly disliked JMS’ plodding, dreary and dull run on this title. And I disliked all the retconning that JMS pulled off to give Spider-Man a cheesy mystical origin. However, after reading a couple of issues by Slott, I think he could have done a fantastic job handling Peter and MJ’s marriage as well as re-establishing the strong stable of supporting characters that JMS largely ignored. And at the same time this would have insured that Ultimate Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man remained different and distinctive.

If you had the hankering to read about the down on his luck teenage Peter Parker who is living the single life then you could pick up an issue of Ultimate Spider-Man. If you were in the mood to read about the married adult Peter with a more stable grasp on his life then you could snag an issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Now, your choice is a loser single Peter in his twenties or loser single Peter in his teen years.

Overall: Amazing Spider-Man #547 is a technically sound issue that serves up a solid, but certainly not spectacular, read. I would recommend getting this title if you are a big Slott fan or if you really were turned off by JMS’ run on Amazing Spider-Man. However, other than that, I will reserve recommending this title to anyone else at the moment.