- Written by: Zeb Wells
- Art by: Ed McGuinness, Todd Nauck
- Colors by: Marcio Menyz
- Cover art by: Ed McGuinness
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: June 19, 2024
Amazing Spider-Man #52 pits Spider-Goblin against Chasm in a fight to the death. Meanwhile, Kamala Khan and the Walking Brain team up for a Green Goblin contingency plan.
Is Amazing Spider-Man #52 Good?
When last we left the world’s greatest Wall Crawler in Amazing Spider-Man #51, Norman Osborn sent Spider-Goblin to eliminate the Sinister Six. Only Kraven appeared to take the threat seriously, but the supervillain team soon learned they were no match for the Amazing Spider-Goblin. Before all hope is lost for the Sinister Six, Chasm arrives to help… or not. Meanwhile, the Walking Brain approached JJJ for help.
In Amazing Spider-Man #52, Chasm and Spider-Goblin duke it out. in the secret lair of the Sinister Six. Chasm is fighting to save Peter from what the Green Goblin did to him while Spider-Goblin taunts Chasm endlessly.
Meanwhile, Norman Osborn calls his lawyer to sign over the totality of Oscorp assets to Peter Parker, presumably to make Peter wholly responsible for whatever disaster is on the horizon. During the call, Norman notices Kamala Khan waiting in the Oscorp lobby. Somehow, Kamala knew Norman Osborn wasn’t himself by looking at the security camera before leaving the lobby.
Later, Kamala approaches the warehouse where Peter was zapped away to an alternate dimension at the beginning of the “What Did Peter Do?” arc. She’s dressed in her mutant uniform. Through Kamala’s inner dialog, we learn that Kamala was somehow pulled into Norman Osborn’s life by the warehouse explosion, and Kamala somehow made a secret deal with Spider-Man to meet at the warehouse if the Green Goblin ever returned.
Coincidentally, the Walking Brain, Curt Connors, Connors’s lab assistant, and J. Jonah arrive at the warehouse at the same time. Somehow, Spider-Man worked with the Living Brain to develop a contingency plan if the Green Goblin ever returned, including the secret agreement with Ms. Marvel to meet at the warehouse.
There’s one problem. The plan needs a Spider-Man, so the Walking Brain enlists the next best person to help out – Rek-Rap.
Back at the Secret Six layer, the fight continues, but it ends with a twist. When Spider-Goblin gets Chasm’s head in a tight grip, psycho-reactive goo issues forth from Chasm’s body and onto Spider-Goblin. The magically undefined substance temporarily frees Peter from the Goblin programming, giving Spider-Man the break he needs to pick up Kraven’s soul spear and find Norman Osborn.
What’s great about Amazing Spider-Man #52? It’s not often you see two top-tier artists, Todd Nauck and Ed McGuinness, backing each other up on a single issue, but their team-up looks amazing (pun intended). The art is bold, dynamic, energetic, and fun. Let’s have more of this, please.
What’s not so great about Amazing Spider-Man #52? Almost the entire issue is an off-panel retconning nightmare of an attempt to rectify past mistakes in Zeb Wells’s run by making them worse.
When did Spider-Man develop a plan with the Living Brain? We never saw it or even saw a hint/suggestion that something was going on.
How did Khamala Khan come into Norman Osborn’s sphere due to the interdimensional portal device explosion? We never saw it, and the first time Kamala shows up in Wells’s run for any significant scenes is during the Dark Web event, which transpired much later.
When did Kamala Khan develop all these subtle signals to know that Norman Osborn wasn’t himself? We never saw it. Those interactions were never hinted at or suggested by any appearance, few that there were, of Kamala Khan in this series.
In short, most of this issue is… pardon my language… utter gaslighting bullshit.
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 #52 looks fantastic, but it’s a mess of a story that tries to convince the reader that a rehash of the Spider-Goblin concept is still interesting and that Kamala Khan was a pivotal character in Spider-Man’s life for the last two years… you just didn’t know it. Zeb Wells manages to write a comic that combines all the worst bits of his tenure on the title in a single issue. The score reflects the amazing art quality alone.
4.5/10
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