- Written by: Zeb Wells
- Art by: Ed McGuiness, Mark Farmer
- Colors by: Marcio Menyz
- Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
- Cover art by: Ed McGuiness, Marcio Menyz
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: June 14, 2023
Amazing Spider-Man #27 finds Norman Osborn and Peter Parker wrestling with Kamala Khan’s death when two old threats re-emerge to start trouble.
Is It Good?
Now that ASM #26 and the disastrous “What did Peter do?” arc is fully in the rearview mirror, it’s time to deal with the aftermath of Kamala Khan’s, aka Ms. Marvel’s, death. Unfortunately, Zeb Wells deals with Kamala’s death in the most superficial way possible in Amazing Spider-Man #27 – by focusing on people who mattered the least to Kamala Khan.
When last we left Spider-Man and his amazing friends, the now-infamous “What did Peter do?” arc concluded with a standard battle and the death of Kamala Khan. Now, Peter and Norman grapple with upset feelings over Kamala’s death, despite neither one having any deep connection to her, when Queen Goblin and an upgraded Doc Ock re-emerge with scores to settle.
In fairness, some pieces of Zeb Wells’s script work. The idea of an upgraded Doc Ock has intriguing potential, Queen Goblin is proving exceptionally hard to kill, and the evolving relationship between Norman and Peter is worth tracking. If these pieces were strung together in a better arc with an appropriate tone (more on that in a second), this might be a banger of an issue.
Sadly, this issue suffers from its context. The finale to the “What did Peter do?” arc was so badly botched, this issue needed to dig out of a very deep hole to recover the series. Instead of at least making progress toward recovery, Wells makes several key mistakes that throw off the satisfaction levels.
First, Kamala’s death is felt but not dealt with. We don’t see any of her friends or family, there’s no mention of a funeral, and there are no repercussions to her death. Wells and Marvel built up a one-year-plus arc, intending to end with this devastating outcome, but here, Kamala’s death is treated as little more than a plot device to give Norman and Peter a reason to be upset. Worse, Black Cat tricks Shocker into shenanigans to force Spidey into his old-fashioned crime-fighting mode to cheer him up, and it comes off as a badly timed joke at a wake. Everything about the tone of this issue feels tacky and wrong.
Second, the new big bad of this issue appears to be Dock Ock, who decides his sentient harness (last seen in the abysmal issue #900) needs to be put down in favor of a new, upgraded harness. The idea has merit, but the off-putting jokiness of issue #900 creeps back into this issue, and again, sets a bizarrely offensive tone in light of Kamala’s death.
Finally, the cliffhanger doesn’t make any sense. Doc Ock “destroys” his wayward harness, only for it to show up later at J. Jonah’s apartment looking for help (?). How does that happen? How does a tech genius like Octavius fail to disassemble his own creation? Sure, the escape could be explained away in the next issue, but there’s a severe lack of confidence that the explanation will be satisfying or even make sense.
Do these criticisms sound like nitpicking? Maybe, but I don’t think so. After such high expectations for the previous issue failed to deliver, Wells needed to come out swinging in this issue to get the series back on track while making the most of a poorly conceived death. On both counts, Wells accomplished neither.
How’s the art? It’s fine, albeit slightly cartoonish compared to Romita Jr’s style. McGuiness’s penchant for rubbery anatomy is noticeable but not offputting, the linework is clean, and Menyz’s coloring is outstanding.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces
Amazing Spider-Man #27 is Zeb Wells’s opportunity to make the consequences of Ms. Marvel’s death meaningful and get the series back on track. Sadly, Wells falls short of both goals by making Kamala’s death a cheap plot device for Peter and Norman’s feelings, and the overall tone of the comic is a bizarre mix of seriousness and jokiness.
Weird Science Marvel Comics 