• Written by: Zeb Wells
• Art by: Ed McGuinness, Mark Farmer
• Colors by: Marcio Menyz, Erick Arciniega
• Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
• Cover art by: Ed McGuinness, Marcio Menyz
• Cover price: $9.99
• Release date: May 22, 2024

Amazing Spider-Man #50 does the inevitable by bringing the Green Goblin back to the fore. Much to Peter Parker’s dismay, the Goblin isn’t making the return trip alone.

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Is Amazing Spider-Man #50 Good?

Holy lack of setup, Batman! Zeb Wells continues the downward spiral of big swing developments without proper foreshadowing or momentum by unleashing the Green Goblin on the world once again. Fans of Marvel’s Joker analog will be pleased to have the villain back, but the Goblin’s return is mired by lazy contrivances to make the return possible.

When last we left Spider-Man, he was hip-deep in vampires for the still-occurring Blood Hunt event. How we transition from there to the current issue isn’t explained, so just pretend Blood Hunt isn’t happening.

In Amazing Spider-Man #50, Peter Parker is called to Oscorp to assist Dr. Curtis Connors in deciphering why the Living Brain, held in a special lab with no communication, managed to send a message to the outside world “Peter Parker Is Not Spider-Man.” Afterward, the Living Brain managed to send out a transmission containing three keywords neither Connors nor Parker could decipher.

Later, Peter visits Norman Osborn to relay what happened. Learning nothing from The Evil Dead, Hellraiser, or any umpteen number of horror films for guidance, Peter foolishly utters the three keywords out loud. The utterance automatically unlocks a hidden panel in Norman’s office, revealing the Gold Goblin suit first, and then, the Green Goblin suit, prompting the Goblin persona to fully emerge from Norman.

Goblin and Spider begin another fight, and during the chaos, Peter asks the real Norman if Goblin knows about “the lab.” Sensing an opportunity, Goblin grabs Spidey by the throat and crashes through the window to Peter’s apartment (maybe? it’s not clear) and into a locked room with tech equipment, including the spider glider from earlier issues. Spidey utters a different set of keywords, and the spider glider immediately douses the Green Goblin with a gas that robs him of his strength.

Weakened to mortal level, it looks like Spidey has Green Goblin licked, but Goblin utters yet another keyword phrase, prompting the Green Goblin persona to manifest in Peter Parker. It turns out the Zur-En-Arrh-like personality was implanted in Peter’s mind when he was temporarily infected with Norman’s sins, and Norman was saving him for a rainy day.

Now, old enemies are mental twinsies.

Elsewhere, the Living Brain’s message about Peter not being Spider-Man was meant to be a warning, and it sacrifices part of its flesh to spawn a metal suit to become *gasp* the Walking Brain.

Backup Story #1

Black Cat and Spidey spend an evening swinging over the cityscape of NYC playing cat and mouse when Black Cat intends to steal a priceless painting, and Spidey intends to stop her.

Written by Marv Wolfman, with art by the Dodsons, this is a mildly romantic one-and-done story that highlights the complex romance between Spidey and Black Cat. No connection to the main story.

Backup Story #2

Spider-Man spares a minute to deliver a food truck worker’s goods to the worker’s elderly mother. With the benefit of wisdom and a home-cooked meal, Spidey learns an important lesson about not trying to do everything yourself.

Nikesh Shukla’s one-and-done tale serves as a reminder to NYC’s hardest-working superhero to remember there’s more to life than punching out bad guys. No connection to the main story.

Backup Story #3

Spider-Man swings through his nightly rounds when he spots who he thinks is the Rhino making plans with his henchmen in an apartment. Unfortunately, Spidey ruins a surprise birthday party for the Watcher. What follows is a series of shenanigans involving repeated bouts of mistaken identity between The Thing and the Rhino.

This story by Lee Gatlin didn’t make a lick of sense.

Backup Story #4

Spider-Man arrives uninvited at the Sanctum Santorum to be rid of a pack of imps he picked up after an unfortunate night on the town with Thor. Spidey comes at a bad time as Dr. Strange is wrestling with a nasty dark magic infection. The two share a moment of mutual support before Spidey is freed from the imps, and Strange undertakes a drastic healing procedure for himself.

Honestly, I have no idea what was the point of Joe Kelly’s incomplete short. Learn better timing? No connection to the main story.

Backup Story #5

Doc Connors and his assistant try to stop the Walking Brain from accessing Oscorp, but the Walking Brain reveals he’s only trying to help. Security footage confirms the Green Goblin is back, and the Waling Brain is the only one with the knowledge to stop him.

Zeb Wells’s epilogue to the main story mixes the seriousness of Spidey’s new Goblin problem with a tinge of drama-deflating humor. That said, the Living Brain’s new status quo is intriguing. 

What’s great about Amazing Spider-Man #50? If you hadn’t caught the multiple Batman references, it feels good to have Green Goblin back because a Spider-Man without the Green Goblin is like Batman without the Joker. It can be done, but something always feels missing. Plus, Ed McGuinness’s art is fantastic.

What’s not so great about Amazing Spider-Man #50? Please! For the love of Stan Lee, can we get somebody to teach Zeb Wells how foreshadowing and buildup work? The Goblin reveal comes out of nowhere, the explanation as to how Goblin returned is replete with half-hearted explanations and truck-sized plot holes, and the Walking Brain evolution makes little to no sense. Further, the keyword gimmick to keyword gimmick to keyword gimmick feels lazy. Again, it’s good to get the Green Goblin back, but I wish it didn’t happen through such an amateurish effort.

What about the backup stories? As you can see, readers get five shorts to justify the unreasonable cover price. In terms of quality, they’re a mixed bag.

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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Final Thoughts

Amazing Spider-Man #50 is notable only in that the Green Goblin has returned, and Peter Parker’s ability to fight him is severely hindered. Sadly, Goblin’s return is marred by a lack of setup, hand-waving explanations, and copy/paste plot devices. Getting the Goblin back is a good thing, but his return deserved better writing than this.

5/10