Now, to understand where I’m coming from, you have to know that I haven’t read Amazing Spider-Man consistently since maybe ten years ago, and the whole “Brand New Day” thing, at least until issue #606, cemented that status. I’m perfectly happy reading Peter Parker stories from the days of old, without having to worry about being completely annoyed by the massive retconning of the character’s life.
However, seeing Black Cat laying a big smooch on Spidey on this cover’s issue really got me excited. The Felicia Hardy/Spider-Man relationship was always a particular favorite for me, and I couldn’t resist checking it out, even if it was only for an issue. As much as I would love to proclaim the rekindling of my Spider-Man flame, I can’t lie to you. Amazing was a playful romp through the stressful personal life of Peter Parker, but it’s one we’ve seen already, beginning in the 1960’s.
What Marvel did when erasing the marriage of Mary Jane and Peter was essentially erase 20 years of character progression. This is detrimental to the issue because, as we witness Peter try and juggle his different female prospects along with the reappearance of Black Cat, one can’t help but feel like they read this back in 1985.
Though the situation is familiar, the dialog is at least clever enough as writer Joe Kelly shows a firm handle on the Spidey and Black Cat dichotomy as they wittily insult each other back and forth whilst in the middle of their acrobatic stunts. The tone of the book is absolutely a jovial one, and does add a bit of the expected Spidey-charm to an otherwise familiar retread of a twenty year old story. Though the humor is there, Kelly fails in setting up any sort of interesting through-line to keep me spending $3 on this title three times a month.
The only consistent, high quality aspect to this issue is Mike McKone’s pencil work, who is able to keep up with the hectic pace of a Spidey story, keeping his panels full of energy and his character work, particularly of Black Cat, spot on. McKone also briefly takes a page out of JH Williams’ book, using a couple pages of dynamic layouts, featuring panels shaped like spiders and gutters made of webs. It’s an exciting, if not terribly original, change of pace that is scattered between a few dialog-heavy pages.
In the end, my excitement for Amazing Spider-Man #606 wasn’t completely unwarranted in that the issue delivered in what I was most looking forward to, the fun flirtatious nature of Spider-Man and Black Cat. Unfortunately, it also reminded me of the huge mistake Marvel made by turning on the retcon machine, and single handedly encouraged me to stick to my long boxes when I want some time with Peter Parker.
Check out CraveOnline’s preview of Amazing Spider-Man #606.
