Written by: Nick Spencer
Art by: Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Laura Martin, and VC’s Joe Carmagna
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 19, 2018

One of the big reasons I wanted to start reviewing and talking about Marvel Comics was to become a Spider-Man fan. You see, Branden and Eric are huge fans of the web slinger and I hate being left out in the cold…especially since I wear shorts year round! Up until now, however, I have been up and down with Spidey because…well, this book has been up and down. Nick Spencer is juggling a bunch of storylines and it seems that just when I really start enjoying it, it changes directions and I feel like I am starting all over again. The last issue was one of those moments as we suddenly catch up with J. Jonah Jameson in all his glorty seeking craziness. So, does Nick Spencer let us settle in on this story or are we off to something else entirely? Let’s find out…

The first thing I need to say about this issue is it looks absolutley georgous! Ryan Ottley kicks total ass, but so do Cliff Rathburn and Laura Martin. Seriously, this is one of the best looking books on the shelf. I just wish the story was as good.

Nick Specer gives us a This is Your Life issue starring Jonah and Spidey as they literally walk through Jonah’s past. If you don’t know any of his history you may like this a little more than I did, but even as a Spider-Man newb, there wasn’t much here I didn’t already know. It’s all a wrap around to remind Jonah of his past and see that Scorpion and his crew are pretty ticked off that Jonah is now defending Spidey to the masses.

Spencer gives readers a very extended fight scene that looked great, but hinged on things kind of just happening “because” and by the end of the issue, we see that this is just part one of an ongoing thing. Yep, the issue full of recap and fighting is just the beginning and I can’t say that the cliffhanger had me excited at all.

This was a down issue of this run for sure. I love J. Jonah, but this might have been too much of him to end up doing nothing. The idea of him and Spidey going to the Century Club for Kingpin seemed like a lot of fun, so I am wondering why we took this not-so-fun detour. Oh well, the issue looked “amazing” and maybe this will all pay off next issue.

Final Thoughts:

This was a down issue of Amazing Spider-Man full of J. Jonah Jameson recap and an extended fight. Nick Spencer seems to know these characters well, but sometimes it feels like he doesn’t know what to do with them. This is one of those issues.

6.0/10