After nearly a year, Amazing Spider-Man readers finally get to learn what happened to Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. The problem is that there was no way for the answer to be satisfactory.
Zeb Wells, Kaare Andrews, John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, Marco Menyz, Joe Caramagna give us answers, with a back-up by Rainbow Rowell, Alvaro Lopez, Andrew Crossley and Caramagna.
MJ and Paul find themselves trapped for four years together. They build tech to defend themselves. They find two abandoned children. They build a life together. And then in just the nick of time, Peter Parker returns to save the day. But does Spider-Man’s return truly save them or does it just delay the inevitable?
The deck was stacked against this story from the beginning. There was no real way to explain what happened between Peter and MJ that could be satisfying. It’s the same problem that was faced when Marvel made Cyclops out to be a war criminal for a year, when all he did was defend himself. While the execution is fine, multiple individual elements prevents it from really being good.
The MJ and Paul plotline is fine, but as soon as the kids show up, the story just jumps the shark. How did these kids end up in this alternate universe? The timeline of how long they’re stranded doesn’t add up. Then to see that the conflict with the Fantastic Four is entirely based on the fact that they can’t show him any empathy for his impossible situation… It’s just too many leaps of logic to fully suspend disbelief.
The art is an absolute mixed bag. The Andrews pages are generally good with strong layouts and a good sense of kinetic energy. There is more than one moment that’s excessively cheesecake, with shots that serve no purpose but to show off sexy MJ. Romita’s pages are better, with a strong emotional core. He’s able to show Peter’s broken heart and MJ’s reluctance to do the breaking easily in just a few panels.
Menyz’s colors are good for most of the issue. Where it gets great is in the last few pages, where Peter completely breaks down. He fills the pages with shadow, so the light sources that are on the page are like a spotlight highlighting Peter’s sorrow. Caramagna is also able to using his skill to do the same, just using the spacing of the captions and balloons to put emphasis on the right moments.
The back-up is fun. It’s mostly an insubstantial lark, but it’s enjoyable, especially after the main story. It does answer the question of how well Spider-Man can operate in a city that’s not as big as New York, and has a couple nice moments between Peter and Felicia Hardy.
Amazing Spider-Man #25 is available now from Marvel Comics.
After nearly a year, Amazing Spider-Man readers finally get to learn what happened to Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.COMICONRead More