REVIEW: The Amazing Spider-Man #21

Setting New Standards

The Amazing Spider-Man #21 opens up on an unfamiliar scene; instead of our hero swinging high above the New York skyline, we peer in on Mary Jane, who is married and has two kids. Surprisingly the father/partner is not Spider-Man himself. Already this issue shakes up the status quo by skipping MJ into motherhood and leaving Peter in the dust, still in a crappy apartment and falling behind in his personal life as we watch him stumble out of bed late for an appointment with Norman Osborn.

It’s certainly a different take, and the ‘will-they-won’t-they’ has been a trope of superhero stories since the inception of Spider-Man as a character back with Gwen and other ladies in his life; however, saddling MJ with two children really limits her ability to play the field with Peter. I don’t think I care for this decision because it feels like all the build-up of their relationship over the years has suddenly hit a brick wall. Couples can come back from a lot of things but throwing somebody else’s kids in the mix is usually a deal-breaker; In my personal experience, my father did it, but not everybody has his strength of character. Suddenly the monotony of being a single loser and an overtired mother is broken up when an unnatural twister hits the city with a strangely familiar figure at the storm’s centre.

One Year Earlier

We cut to the prison on Ryker’s Island, where a cultist nut job has painted runes and calculations around his cell with the blood of other inmates. We soon discover that whatever deity this madman worships is real, as he’s granted enough power to escape confinement and peruse Spider-Man. Just a year ago, Peter and MJ were still a couple and even living together, so I have no idea where these children, who appear to be six and four, respectively, came from. The criminal has plans on sacrificing Spidey to his god for full power, but the Webhead isn’t going to let that happen. The action scenes with art by John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna with Marcio Menyz on colours are really good; this is the standard of quality I expect when I think of the Marvel brand and an A-Lister like Spider-Man. The art in this issue shows how the quality has just dropped off with other current Marvel titles.

New Era Of Spider-Man

I won’t spoil the end for you here, but it did take me by surprise at just how different this new age of Spider-Man will be, especially in terms of MJ herself and not just her relationship status with Peter. The book has a few surprises and some charming art and is a smaller slice of grander things to come; I’m interested to see where the life of The Amazing Spider-Man goes from here and how he plans to untangle the web of problems he’s found himself in.

“Nice art, interesting story developments and setups for MJ. I want to see where it goes.”

SCORE:
3/5 Stars

WRITER: Zeb Wells
ART: John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna
COLORS: Marcio Menyz
PUBLISHER: Marvel