• Written by: Zeb Wells
• Art by: Ted Nauck
• Colors by: Sonia Oback
• Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
• Cover art by: John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, Marcio Menyz
• Cover price: $4.99
• Release date: April 10, 2024

Amazing Spider-Man #47 sets Peter up on yet another date he didn’t know he had when receives a call to save Betty Brant from goons desperate to stop her from gathering the evidence to clear Ned’s name.

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Is Amazing Spider-Man #47 Good?

Previously, Peter Parker delivered the cure to the Orchis virus to Aunt Anna Watson in Ravencroft, leading to a weird succession of events that resulted in Sandman’s escape and reinstitution into the Sinister Six.

Amazing Spider-Man #47 starts with a brief prologue showing a masked psycho killer interrogating a man tied to a chair. The masked killer wants information to get to Mayor Luke Cage because the mayor has access to find Ben Reilly, aka Chasm. Just as the killer is about to deliver a killing strike, his hand is stayed by the sudden arrival of Chasm. The killer takes off his mask and changes form to Hallow’s Eve.

Now, we find Peter on the phone with MJ and Paul as he goes out on another surprise date with Aunt Anna’s nurse from Ravencroft (Aunt Ann set him up without TELLING him she was setting him up). After a date that goes surprisingly well, Peter receives a text for urgent help from Betty Brant. Ducking out on the date, Spidey finds Betty surrounded by armed thugs threatening her to keep her mouth shut about something.

After a quick “Thwip, thwip” to subdue the thugs, Betty tells Spidey she’s found the Winkler device, the brainwashing device that forced Ned to become Hobgoblin again. When Spidey and Betty discuss how to get help while keeping the device from disappearing again, Chasm, Hallow’s Eve and Queen Goblin show up.

Does Paul die in this issue? No. That’s 713 days ASM fans have had to suffer with Mr. Man Bun.

Do we get reforming Chasm or evil Chasm in this issue? TBD
How did Chasm escape Goblin Queens’ (not to be confused with Queen Goblin’s) jail inside the Limbo Consulate? Unknown. However, Queen Goblin may have something to do with it.

What did we like about Amazing Spider-Man #47? Peter’s date with Nurse Shay is surprisingly well done. Picking up the story from the brief and clunky Hobgoblin arc early in Wells’s run may bear better fruit. And, Queen Goblin allying with Chasm and Hallow’s Eve has potential.

What’s not so great about Amazing Spider-Man #47? Wells continually hints or suggests that either something is wrong with Peter’s memory or somebody is posing as Peter while interacting with side characters. As pointed out multiple times in the reviews for ASM, a mystery only works if you drop clues to fill in the puzzle. Simply reminding the reader about a mystery without providing substantial clues does not work and only leads to frustration. Wells made this drastic mistake with the “What did Peter do?” arc, and he appears to be repeating the same mistake.

Further, the sudden appearance of Queen Goblin and Chasm’s escape from the Limbo prison should set off multiple alarms for multiple characters. Here, it’s treated with an almost Scooby Doo-level of seriousness. If Queen Goblin’s appearance was meant to be a big, dramatic moment, it didn’t land.

How’s the Art? Ted Nauck steps in as a guest artist, and his style works great for this issue. In particular, the gestures and character acting during the date are spot-on. I’d love to say more about Nauck’s action art, but this is a relatively action-free issue.

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 #47 boasts a few intriguing developments, a sweet date, and a follow-up to the Hobgoblin debacle from earlier in Wells’s run. That said, the mostly action-free issue keeps hinting at a mystery without expanding on it, and the trio team-up of Queen Goblin, Chasm, and Hallow’s Eve lacks gravitas or drama.

6/10