- Written by: Zeb Wells
- Art by: Ed McGuiness, Todd Nauck, Mark Farmer, Cliff Rathburn, Wade Von Grawbadger
- Colors by: Marcio Menyz, Erick Arciniega, Bryan Valenza
- Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
- Cover art by: Ed McGuiness, Marcio Menyz
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: June 5, 2024
Amazing Spider-Man #51 begins the reign of the Spider-Goblin (again) when Norman Osborn sends his new partner to put down the Sinister Six. Meanwhile, Kamala Khan is on the case to set everything right, and the Walking Brain enlists curmudgeonly help.
Is Amazing Spider-Man #51 Good?
Oh, no. Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no. Are we really bringing Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, back to be the hero of the story? Oy! Zeb Wells just can’t learn from his own mistakes.
When last we left the Amazing Spider-Man in issue #50, Peter Parker received an odd message, accompanied by a passphrase, generated by the Living Brain. When Peter uttered the phrase in Norman Osborn’s office, it triggered a response in Norman that brought the Green Goblin back to the fore.
During the ensuing battle, Goblin dragged Peter back to Peter’s secret lab to learn what he’d been hiding. There, Peter uttered a second passphrase that unleashed a gas to render Green Goblin powerless. Green Goblin turned the tables on Peter by uttering his own passphrase that unleashed a Goblin consciousness inside Peter’s mind, turning him into Spider Goblin… again. In the middle of all the back and forth, the Living Brain sacrificed a large chunk of its mass to turn itself into the Walking Brain in a gambit to save Spider-Man.
In Amazing Spider-Man #51, we catch up with the Sinister Six scheming to break into Oscorp and take revenge on the Living Brain for past wrongs. During the meeting, they receive an unexpected call from Norman Osborn. After a mild amount of posturing, Norman informs the group that he’s sent someone to kill them – Spider-Goblin.
The Six don’t take the threat with much concern, except for Kraven. As promised, Spider-Goblin arrives and attacks with glee, incapacitating the Sinister Six in a matter of minutes. Before Spider-Goblin can stop the final member of the Six, Kraven, by crushing his skull, Chasm arrives to intervene… maybe. He’s not sure why he’s there. (Way to kill the dramatic moment, Wells.)
Elsewhere, Osborn inspects the damage from the Living Brain (no, the Walking Brain) escape when he receives a personal call from… Kamala Khan. Kamala engages in playful banter before getting to the point by asking if Osborn knows Peter Parker’s whereabouts. Osborn is rightly annoyed by the call but claims he doesn’t know where Peter went. When the call ends, Kamala somehow knows Peter is missing and that the man she just spoke with isn’t the real Norman Osborn, a strong indication that Ms. Marvel is about to embark on a Scooby adventure to save the day.
The issue ends with Walking Brain, Curt Connors, and his intern paying an unscheduled visit to J. Jonah Jameson for help.
What’s great about Amazing Spider-Man #51? Although it’s under less-than-ideal circumstances, it’s nice to see Spider-Man cut loose and show that he could take out the Sinister Six quickly if chooses to get rough. Wells incorporates cool fighting tactics and gadgetry to put the Six down in a matter of minutes, which causes you to question why Spider-Man doesn’t do this more often.
What’s not so great about Amazing Spider-Man #51? Despite the fact that we already had a Spider-Goblin story a few months ago, this should have been a hard-hitting, dramatic comic. Instead, Wells peppers in a strangely disorganized Chasm to help or not (even he isn’t sure), an annoyingly bouncy Kamala Khan who comes out of nowhere (even though she has no strong personal connection to any character in this comic), and a farcical epilogue involving the Walking Brain.
If Wells wants to write a comic that’s memorable and creates a lasting, dramatic impact, he needs to go back to what worked in the Tombstone arc and leave his Robot Chicken roots behind.
How’s the Art? There’s a concerning something or other happening with this title regarding the art. Nick Lowe (editor) can’t keep a consistent artist on the title for more than a few issues, and the number of artists (see credits above) it took to pull this issue off is mind-boggling.
Does the art look good? In aggregate, yes. There are no obvious flaws or jarring shifts in styles, and the action scenes are well done. That said, it shouldn’t take nine people to pull off the visuals in a 26-page comic. Something’s amiss.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Final Thoughts
Amazing Spider-Man #51 is a mixed bag of visually appealing art and cool fight scenes, offset by tonally inconsistent writing and a rehashed plot concept that’s less than a year old. Die-hard fans of ASM are already hanging on to this title by their fingernails, and this issue does nothing to give them a helping hand.
5.5/10
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