I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed issue number 600 of The Amazing Spider-Man, it had a lot going on and Dan Slott handled the merry mayhem effortlessly. Right off the bat it’s important to point out that Dan Slott could have gone in so many directions with the material at his disposal. He could have made some colossal errors when it came to the pacing and ancillary players that weren’t directly involved with the story, and he could have pulled a total JMS at the end, but he didn’t. Instead what he did do was tell an excellent story that was a blend of the old and the new.

One thing that always bugged me was finally addressed by Slott, and that is how could Doctor Octopus stand up to guys like Spider-Man without anything to protect him besides those arms? One punch and he should be done; it was the only thing about the movie that bugged me. Well Slott finally addresses the issue by pointing out that Otto Octavius has been suffering from incredible brain trauma for years. This makes the character a bit more tragic than before, and also serves to just make sense.

Slott and company also kept up with the current status quo of the Spider-Man universe which is nice, all the players get a moment in the spotlight even if you don’t actually see them, with the wedding of Aunt May and JJJ Sr. used as the back drop. It was cool to see the New Avengers and the Fantastic Four play roles in the story as well; it was like reading a comic book, what a novel idea!

The future of the Spider-Man universe is looking pretty bright these days and the book has really been a lot of fun these past few months. Marvel really has something here with the way they are handling the wall crawler.

It’s moments like these that I really appreciate comics and what they do for the spirit and the imagination; this issue reminded me just how much fun comics can be and why I like to read them in the first place. Issue 600 is darn near perfect with cool back up stories (one written by Stan Lee himself) and all for just a dollar more. Plus the cover is iconic, and drawn by my all time favorite artist John Romita Jr. who also does the honors on the interior as well.

JR JR is likely the greatest Spider-Man artist of all time and it was only fitting that he be on hand to draw issue 600, it really made the occasion special. I could go on and on about how good this issue was, and how cool the ending was as well.

It’s been a rocky time for Spider-Man ever since Brand New Day and it’s safe to say that things are definitely looking up. Do yourself a favor and become part of history by picking up this fantastic landmark issue.