AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #58

This story is written by Nick Spencer, with pencils from Marcelo Ferreira.

 

Cover by Mark Bagley

So much for Kindred being put in the rear-view mirror then, as it seems we are not allowed to continue on without him making more appearances. I totally understand that he is a pretty big threat to Spider-Man, and those around him, meaning that he cannot exactly be ignored for too long, but Nick Spencer could have at least given us a little bit of a break from that entire situation for just a small while. Due to this, I can’t even really say that the new arc with Mister Negative and Martin Li is the main focus of the issue, because most of it took place in a flashback, that prominently featured Peter taking to Liz Allan about the stuff with Harry, with just a little bit of detail centred around what is going on.

I guess I may as well begin by addressing and expanding upon that conversation between Peter and Liz, because it was both interesting and utterly infuriating. Basically, Peter visits the home of Liz Allan, and tells her that Harry has “had some kind of relapse” and is now in custody. Her reaction to this reveal of a version of the truth is eerily reminiscent of back in the leadup to “Spectacular Spider-Man” #200 from back in the day, when she refused to accept the idea that Harry had once again become the Green Goblin, which was a pretty uncomfortable ride to say the very least. Thankfully, it seems that Nick Spencer has somewhat learnt from those that came before him, shortening down this uncomfortable period significantly, only really having Liz refuse to admit the truth for a page or so, before her son Normie sort of confirms Peter’s story, as he is sick of everybody lying to him, as though he is still a toddler. This is where the frustration comes into it, as after fifty-eight issues of teasing the identity of Kindred, apparently then revealing it to be Harry Osborn, Nick Spencer is already beginning to cast doubts upon this, a mere issue after the end of the “Last Remains” story arc. This was achieved by Normie unlocking a secret door within their apartment, that contained a stockpiling of Goblin paraphernalia. This raises the question of why exactly something that is allegedly a demon from the pits of hell really needs an arsenal of weapons, if he seemingly has the power to kill and resurrect anybody that he pleases.

Let us once again delve into the murky depths that make up the world of fan theories for just one second, in order to try and make some sense about what is going on here. So, we have one Kindred, self-professed demon from hell, and we have some Goblin gear. What if, Kindred is still Harry, but he has co-opted some of Mysterio’s tricks of illusion to con everybody into believing the whole demon narrative? This would certainly make a lot of sense, although I do then have the problem of trying to rationalise the idea that he can kill and resurrect people. So, let’s just say that, not only has he taken some hints and tips from good old Quentin Beck, but maybe he has also studied up on Kraven and his brood’s methods of combat, using different drugs to simply just make people believe that all of this strange stuff is happening. Quite honestly, him being a simple demon from hell was enough, so I please implore Nick Spencer to just drop this part of the narrative, because otherwise I am going to have to come up from some nonsense about the Sin-Eater’s power as well, which will likely just make no logical sense in any way.

After that very lengthy detour to things that really don’t pertain to the alleged main narrative of this new story arc, let us now return to the subject of the reappearance of Martin Li. We are shown a recap of Li being cleansed of us sins, having the Mister Negative persona apparently stripped from his being, allowing him to once again live the life that he always wanted. Of course, with Kindred being the dick that he is, he returned everyone’s sins back to them, basically just undoing everything that Spencer had written, and returning us to the way things were before anyway, rendering it almost utterly pointless. However, we are told that Li actually managed to purge Negative from is system once again, before pelting it straight the F.E.A.S.T., and the warming embrace of Aunt May, although Negative/Sin Cloud is still hunting the poor guy down. I feel that this is a pretty interesting take, and different to the way everybody else has been treated thus far following “Sins Rising” and “Last Remains”, as it shows that it is possible to temporarily rid yourself of the so-called “sins”. It is explained that this is due to the unique relationship that Martin Li and Mister Negative have, being two separate personalities inhabiting the same mortal vessel. Then again, it is made pretty obvious that this is very likely to be a very brief change, as the Inner Demons have already reached the shelter, and no amount of battering from Spider-Man is going to stop the literal red mist from descending upon everybody. What could be interesting is if the cloud were unable to get to Li himself, and instead entered somebody else, giving us a new version of the Mister Negative character. Unfortunately for this theory, the only two other characters present are Spider-Man and Aunt May, so it could be a pretty horrible time for them both.

In conclusion, despite a good few bumpy moments, I still feel that this issue was excellent. Nick Spencer did an okay job of establishing the new narrative, creating some potentially excellent moments to come in the next few issues, with the full return of Martin Li and Mister Negative hopefully being a standout. I was a little disappointed at first that Mark Bagley would not be drawing this issue, as that is what ComiXology listed, but I was more than impressed by the work of Marcelo Ferreira, who’s pencils were utterly splendid to behold, with the rest of the art team going above and beyond to make this book look as good as it could possibly be. I cannot wait for the upcoming issues, as I am interested to see how exactly the new look (however temporary it may be) comes about and am also interested to find out what Mayor Fisk’s ultimate goal is. 

 

I WILL BE GIVING THIS ISSUE OF “THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN” A “B+” GRADE, MOSTLY THANKS TO THE ARTWORK, AS THE WRITING GOT MIDDLE OF THE ROAD MARKS.