Comics Amazing Spider-Man by Zeb and Junior - April 2022

[Ben_Reilly]

Zeb Wells And John Romita Jr. Launch A New Volume Of Amazing Spider-Man
The next era of Spider-Man begins this April in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Spider-Man and Marvel Comics is proud to celebrate its most iconic hero with a new volume of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN brought to life by two acclaimed comic book talents!

His “Shed” storyline is considered one of the best Spider-Man stories of all time, his bold work on NEW WARRIORS laid the groundwork for CIVIL WAR, and he’s currently making waves within the Spidey mythos in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN’s current “Beyond” era. Now hit writer Zeb Wells is ready to begin a new age at the helm of one of Marvel’s all-time great comic book series. Wells will be joined on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN by none other than the legend himself—JOHN ROMITA JR. The definitive AMAZING SPIDER-MAN artist made his grand return to Marvel Comics last year specifically for this run and is back to bring Spider-Man’s world to the page with his singular, unmatched finesse. Arriving in April, Wells and Romita Jr.’s run will house all the classic elements fans love about Peter Parker, surprising new takes on your favorite Spider-Man foes, and the answer to the question that will be on everyone’s mind: WHAT DID SPIDER-MAN DO?

Peter’s on the outs with the FF. He’s on the outs with the Avengers. He’s even on the outs with Aunt May! After a terrible and mysterious incident, no one wants to see Spider-Man – except for Doctor Octopus. Ock’s on Spider-Man’s tail and the Master Planner has something truly terrible planned for when he gets his tentacles on Spidey. All that, and Tombstone makes a move that will remind readers why he’s one of Spider-Man’s most terrifying villains…

“Spider-Man doesn’t turn sixty every year,” says Spider-Editor Nick Lowe, “and we are going BIG with this run cramming it with the biggest WTF moments Spidey has ever had. Zeb and JRJR will go down in history as one of the best creative teams ever!”

Here's what John Romita Jr. had to say about his own personal history with the character and what excites him most about the upcoming run:

“Ever since my father told my brother and me that Spider-Man/Peter Parker lived close to our home in Queens, NYC, we were hooked! We talked Spider Man on long drives to family get-togethers, and it was as if we had an extra family member!

“As luck would have it, my brother Vic had the brains and went in another direction, while I had a little bit of art in me. As luck would also have it, I was able to watch the greatest Spider-Man artist, my father, John, work with the greatest Spider Man writer, Stan Lee, on the greatest character of all time. Fortunately, after joining the comic book universe, I was given a chance to work on this great character, the Amazing Spider-Man. I was terrified! How do I follow my father??? How do I follow any of the previous Spidey artists?? I had no idea, but I stuck it out and got lucky. The subsequent runs were much less terrifying, and became more and more fun. There was one particular run that was incredibly fun, but also incredibly important to me. The 9/11 issue may well be with me for as long as I live. One commonality with all the runs, was working with the brilliant writers and artists….. again, luck!!

“To take being lucky to another level: Marvel has allowed me to get back to work on this amazing character, and work with another brilliant writer, Zeb Wells! The stories are stunning and I am reading the scripts with a grin and wonderment…..then wondering how the heck to do them justice!!

“Well, fortunately, I have a close friend and brilliant artist to help me do that. Scott Hanna and I have worked on this character before and Scott is still a brilliant artist who will continue to be brilliant, lucky for me and anyone who looks at the art. Adding to Scott and myself is the third artist, the color artist, Marcio Menyz. It’s difficult to describe how wonderful his work is, so to save space and everyone’s patience, I’ll let it speak for itself! It’s stunning!!

“The editorial team beginning with Nick Lowe, adding in Lindsay Cohick, and Kaeden McGahey, make the work process smoother. Judging by the scope of Zeb’s stories, I can use all the help I can get!

“One commonality here, is how lucky I am to be back working on my ‘other’ brother, Spider-Man, and to be back with my professional ‘family,’ Marvel. Thanks folks, I’ll work hard to make you proud!”

“I've waited my entire career to work with John Romita Jr.,” Wells says. “To team up with him on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN for the character's 60th anniversary is so exciting words can't describe it. We're gonna have a blast!”

Join us for Spider-Man’s biggest year when AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 hits stands in April.

 

[Ben_Reilly]

Not caring for Junior's return.
Not thrilled on the whole Spidey did something wrong and is hated by everyone, even friends bit... Again...

 

[UltimateWebhead]

When exactly did 'Shed' become regarded as 'one of the best Spider-Man stories of all time?' I could have sworn it was a crap story.

“and we are going BIG with this run cramming it with the biggest WTF moments Spidey has ever had."

Ugh. I'm really tired of hearing stuff like this. It's more of the same nonsense..."like nothing you've ever seen before" "nothing will ever be the same after this" "you're not ready for everything that's gonna happen" "we're going BIG for this story" "it's the biggest surprise that you'll never see coming"

Like seriously, please stop. Anyone that's been reading Spider-Man comics for more than 5 minutes...you're not fooling any of us with that diatribe.

What happened to big, fun stories that make you enjoy the escape of comic books?

 

[Ben_Reilly]

I agree with almost everything you said, but I would swap Big Stories for Small ones!

 

[Spidey_62]

Honestly from the preview stuff JRJR's art is looking the strongest it's been in a while, I think I chalk it up to having Scott Hanna back inking him again and having a complimentary colorist for it all then too.

His DC work was mostly really rough and his last Spidey circa BND era was also pretty rough, I think on the case of the latter for me it was the looseness of his pencils being paired with Janson's pretty loose inks doing no compliments to the art, and then White's coloring on top of that was just muddy for it. All pretty talented in their own right but that was not a good pairing at all, JRJR at this point really needs inkers who can take what's provided and tighten it up and Scott Hanna is probably my favorite inker on him, he inked his Spidey in the late '90s-early '00s.

 

[Ben_Reilly]

What's everyone's theory on the "What did Spider-Man do?" storyline?

 

[UltimateWebhead]

What's everyone's theory on the "What did Spider-Man do?" storyline?

Do you think that whatever he may have done is seeded within the Beyond story?

If so, then I really don't know because other than reading reviews I've not read anything from this series.

Outside of that at this point it's hard to make a guess. I'll be back to reading once the Amazing issues start again and I'm sure we'll have a better idea. Maybe.

 

[Ben_Reilly]

I didn't see anything in it to hint at it.
And now, after reading #93, I just don't care.
I'm completely and totally done with Spider-Man and Marvel.
This is the third time they've pulled this crap!
Current editorial needs to be fired!

 

[Ben_Reilly]

What a waste of two pages!

 

[Nicko-Ray]

Did you guys see the preview for the upcoming issues in July or so? Since Norman’s reformed, I guess he builds Spider-Man some tech resulting in a new suit and a glider? Ngl, I’m looking fwd to tomorrow’s first issue. 60 year anniversary. Man, I remember picking up the Alpha issue 10 years ago for his 50th. But the glider thing…if that’s a sign of the direction this is going in…man idk lol

 

[Ben_Reilly]

Did you guys see the preview for the upcoming issues in July or so? Since Norman’s reformed, I guess he builds Spider-Man some tech resulting in a new suit and a glider? Ngl, I’m looking fwd to tomorrow’s first issue. 60 year anniversary. Man, I remember picking up the Alpha issue 10 years ago for his 50th. But the glider thing…if that’s a sign of the direction this is going in…man idk lol

I posted spoiler/leaks in a different thread so as to keep this one clear for people who don't want spoilers.
Hell, I could have posted the entire first issue Saturday, but I didn't feel like it, plus I'm not reading Spider-Man anymore. At least not until editor Nick Lowe is gone. Check the Beyond thread for my reasons why.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Issue #1 for the 6th or 7th time...

Well, here we go again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Taking Spider-Man back to basics yet again. Will they, won't they with MJ, May and others upset with Peter regarding some unknown story element, yet another mystery, Peter unemployed again, etc, etc.

I'm so tired of these cyclical tropes. Can we just stop with this nonsense? I'm incredibly bored with these tactics.

Tone wise this is vastly different from BND so that at least is a good thing and with that said there's probably a huge swerve coming that will create an earned and positive resolution. But imo, it doesn't justify this type of storytelling. There are much better ways to create tension, conflict, and struggle with these characters.

There's also been comparisons drawn between this new run and JMS at least beat wise. And I gotta say I really disagree with that. JMS was about a progression and involved a character driven story whereas with Wells we have regression and a story that is driving the characters. I much prefer the former.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

Issue #1 for the 6th or 7th time...

Well, here we go again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Taking Spider-Man back to basics yet again. Will they, won't they with MJ, May and others upset with Peter regarding some unknown story element, yet another mystery, Peter unemployed again, etc, etc.

I'm so tired of these cyclical tropes. Can we just stop with this nonsense? I'm incredibly bored with these tactics.

Tone wise this is vastly different from BND so that at least is a good thing and with that said there's probably a huge swerve coming that will create an earned and positive resolution. But imo, it doesn't justify this type of storytelling. There are much better ways to create tension, conflict, and struggle with these characters.

There's also been comparisons drawn between this new run and JMS at least beat wise. And I gotta say I really disagree with that. JMS was about a progression and involved a character driven story whereas with Wells we have regression and a story that is driving the characters. I much prefer the former.

Lol. Dude. I feel you 100%. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. I read it last week — I was so pumped. It was one of the most mediocre SPIDER-MAN issues I’ve read. I mean, c’mon, we’re talking his 60th anniversary and THIS is what they came up with for that and a #1 issue? It’s not that it was bad per se, just extremely mediocre. I didn’t even know that Peter not being himself was an unknown story element. I just assumed something happened in BEYOND that I wasn’t aware of (I skipped all of BEYOND). I think to put it simply, it just felt like I’ve read this issue 100 times before. I’ll give it to the end of its arc, maybe. But this might be the first time I’m dropping Spidey from my pull since 2018.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Lol. Dude. I feel you 100%. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. I read it last week — I was so pumped. It was one of the most mediocre SPIDER-MAN issues I’ve read. I mean, c’mon, we’re talking his 60th anniversary and THIS is what they came up with for that and a #1 issue? It’s not that it was bad per se, just extremely mediocre. I didn’t even know that Peter not being himself was an unknown story element. I just assumed something happened in BEYOND that I wasn’t aware of (I skipped all of BEYOND). I think to put it simply, it just felt like I’ve read this issue 100 times before. I’ll give it to the end of its arc, maybe. But this might be the first time I’m dropping Spidey from my pull since 2018.

As often as they change the creative staff on these books they should change the editorial staff as well. At this point I feel like Lowe just has no idea what to do with the character anymore. He's so wishy-washy with the decisions. I really feel like Spencer was going hard with the OMD reversal but Lowe got cold feet or nervous or chickened out and pulled back the reins and decided not to do it. And maybe it's not completely Lowe's fault, I mean he does have bosses to report to but he's also the most public figure and therefore deserves blame. Either way I'm incredibly unimpressed with the decisions that are being made. And not just with the main title but tie ins as well as the upcoming 60th anniversary issue.

Did you see that they're hinting towards a return of Gwen? For whatever reason it's like how many times do we have to retread over the same topics. And then in the 60th anniversary they have Slott writing a story about the enduring love of Peter and MJ. Like, wtf?! They gave this story to the guy that would have a petulant infantile cry baby Internet yelling breakdown every time someone said they wanted those two back together. Where is Conway or JMS or DeMatteis or even Stem in that 60th anniversary list of writers?

 

[Nicko-Ray]

As often as they change the creative staff on these books they should change the editorial staff as well. At this point I feel like Lowe just has no idea what to do with the character anymore. He's so wishy-washy with the decisions. I really feel like Spencer was going hard with the OMD reversal but Lowe got cold feet or nervous or chickened out and pulled back the reins and decided not to do it. And maybe it's not completely Lowe's fault, I mean he does have bosses to report to but he's also the most public figure and therefore deserves blame. Either way I'm incredibly unimpressed with the decisions that are being made. And not just with the main title but tie ins as well as the upcoming 60th anniversary issue.

Did you see that they're hinting towards a return of Gwen? For whatever reason it's like how many times do we have to retread over the same topics. And then in the 60th anniversary they have Slott writing a story about the enduring love of Peter and MJ. Like, wtf?! They gave this story to the guy that would have a petulant infantile cry baby Internet yelling breakdown every time someone said they wanted those two back together. Where is Conway or JMS or DeMatteis or even Stem in that 60th anniversary list of writers?

Great point. And that's sad re: not knowing what to do with the character anymore. You'd think something like his 60th anniversary would inspire something new and refreshing ALBEIT familiar. Yes, that whole OMD thing was so strange and I think you put it accurately. Maybe one day someone will spill the beans candidly.

I didn't see the Gwen thing. I saw that the pages were leaked in another thread but I didn't want to look. LOL at Slott. But it brings me back to what I was saying about "new and refreshing but familiar". That's why I think THE MANDALORIAN is so successful is because it widens the lore but does it in a familiar way. I think that's the best way to go about a mythology that's been around for 60 years. I've yet to read the rest of this arc but #1 was very disappointing. I miss 2018 when we had FNSM, PP:TSSM, and ASM all running concurrently and were all good to read. And the game was out then, too, which just added. Ah, what a time...

 

[Lyle Shintasm]

Sweet Lord, this forum has died since I "left". (PM me for details on that, if you would like)
This book is a big flaming dumpster fire for horrible ideas. Gleason's artwork was the only highlight for me. JRJr is a classical favorite of mine, but this storyline is rubbish. The whole MJ/Paul thing was crap, the Peter/BC break up was crap, and the Gang War storyline has seriously nerfed Peter and moved him to the sidelines of his own series. Also, Fisk acting all lovey-dovey with Typhoid is some of the most Schumacher level camp lame-ness that I have seen.
Wake me up at the next relaunch.
Also, good to see you guys!