Review: Amazing Spider-Man 54.LR

The Fallen Order storyline continues to weave its way through the life of Peter, Norman, Harry, MJ and a host of Spidey people. As much fun the recent issues of this run have been, when it comes to these Last Remain parts, I have to ask what is the point?

The last issue saw MJ making a walk into the cemetery turned battleground. After the 22 pages of this book that is pretty much the same place we end up in. Wait, did I say 22 pages? I meant 18 as the first part of the book is actually 4 pages from The Spectacular Spider-Man #200 written by the fantastic J.M. DeMatteis featuring the equally fantastic art of Sal Buscema. Take those pages away, and you have something of a pointless meandering book, regardless of the twist at the end.

Nick Spencer’s reputation for interesting stories seemed tarnished following the majority of this run; expectations set by his oft controversial work on Captain America. The extra issues that make up the Last Remains books seem to just be “padding the stats” as it were. In fact, there is even very little Spider-man in here! The dialogue is ok for the most part, but the inclusion of the J.M. DeMatteis pages makes Spencer’s monologue pale in comparison.

The art for the main book is supplied by Federico Vincentini and Takeshi Miyazawa who both ink along with Scott Hanna. By now, you all know how I feel about art by committee and that doesn’t change here. As Spencer is focussing the action parts of the overall arc on the Last Remain issues, the page and panel design is a tad chaotic to say the least. Characters lose focus as the each vie for panel time. The colors from Erick Arciniega are suitably dark for a dark story. Finally, letters are provided by VC’s Ariana Maher who gets to play with a number of different styles and fonts for the various characters.

I am totally lost for words (ironic, right!) when it comes to this run. How can it go from amazing scores to average score in the space of an issue; it’s called Amazing Spider-Man, not Average Spider-Man. Truthfully, it comes down to pacing and the editorial need, from the Big Two, to write for a trade paperback audience at the expense of a monthly audience. With one issue to go, I am still interested in how this goes. Guess I will find out in a couple of weeks.

Writing – 3 Stars

Art – 3 Stars

Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 3.5 Stars

Written by; Nick Spencer feat. J.M. DeMatteis
Art by; Federico Vincentini, Takeshi Miyazawa feat. Sal Buscema
Inks by; Federico Vincentin, Takeshi Miyazawa and Scott Hanna
Colors by; Erick Arciniega feat. Bob Sharen
Letters by; VC’s Ariana Maher feat. Joe Rosen
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network