There’s a palpable sense of dread permeating this entire issue, the penultimate chapter in a story-arc that I have not been keeping up with, “The Origin of the Species.” Since “every comic is someone’s first issue,” as the pros used to say, I decided to pop in randomly and see if the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man could please me the way New Ways to Die didn’t quite.

Spider-Man is an impressive force of nature in this issue, silently tracking down dozens of C-List bad guys in a rampage spurred by his apparent failure to save the life of an infant parented by Norman Osborn (as old-school a Spidey character as there is) and Lily Hollister (as Brand New Day a character as there is, I think — and apparently a big secret about her was revealed somewhere in-between New Ways to Die and this issue). Writer Mark Waid gives us a relentlessly driven Spider-Man who is hell-bent on finding retribution for an unthinkable crime.

Artists Paul Azaceta and Matthew Southworth have an appealing, near-alt-comix looseness, a style somewhere near the corner of Guy Davis Avenue and Michael Lark Boulevard that provides clear, traditional (that’s a good thing) Marvel-style storytelling to carry the reader through a night of terror for NYC’s bad guys. Spider-Man is often gone by the time we arrive on the scene in the aftermath of his rage, a great technique for building suspense, reminiscent of the way Bram Stoker kept Dracula off the page for much of the novel. By the time Spider-Man learns the entire truth about what has happened, the writer and artists have earned  an impressive full-page shot of the title character kicking down the doors of Kraven’s mansion in search of the true cause of his most recent problems.

I didn’t understand all the goings-on here — Mary Jane’s back, I see, but I have no idea how or why or what she or Peter Parker remember of their former marriage. I guess this is written for the inevitable collected edition, but as a single issue, as with most corporate superhero comics these days, it kind of fails to provide a complete reading experience in that sense, and makes me wonder why they even bother telling stories like this in single, monthly issues anymore. As a chapter of a longer story, I get the sense this would be a solid and entertaining work read all in one sitting, but I can’t say the story is strong enough to make me want to buy the trade paperback when it comes out, or even check into the next issue to see how it all turns out.

— Alan David Doane

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