Amazing Spider-Man #8 Review

Growing pains

This was an interesting and welcome change to the going-through-the-motions feel of last issue. While Ms Marvel still dominated the main story, it felt like Spidey had some actual involvement instead of being the idol superhero guy.

And the backup! I loved Mayday and while the return is as much tragic as it is eventful, the fact that this set up some interesting divisions within the Spider ranks is welcome.

Slott and Gage combine to give a great conclusion to the Ms Marvel-Spiderman teamup and Camuncoli hits it out of the park with the artwork!

SPOILERS FOLLOW…………….

Ms Marvel, after some initial deer-caught-in-the-headlights moments, is able to combine with Spider-man to deal some blows to Dr Minn-Erva, who has mutated into some enormous bug monster.

It’s doubly fun for Kamala as she recreates some moves of the former Ms Marvel, Carol Danvers, who is her idol. Seeing a teenager take center-stage in a book that was essentially that at conception is eye-opening and reveals much about how much Peter has come through.

Most of all, Spider-Man feels like a fun book again, after some doom and gloom (and with more to follow).

The way in which the battle ends – with Peter fake calling Avengers Tower to tell the Kree that she’s acting without authorization, and the reveal that one of the henchmen was Clayton Cole, formerly Clash of ‘Learning to Crawl’ miniseries fame.

It’s handled well as Clayton gets a chance at redemption by being given a job at Parker Industries. I hope he gets a lot more focus in upcoming issues as that would prove an interesting parallel to Peter’s own evolution.

And Peter and Kamala totally work well together – with one seeing the reflection of his fun yet bewildering younger self in the other.

Cindy meanwhile has tried to move away from Peter (and their in-heat moments) and she is searching for a new flat, when her new boss, Natalie Long of Fact channel, calls her up. This leads to her own moment in the spotlight as she heeds Long's advice and changes up her costume for a better one. And unlike the JJ-Peter conflict, it seems like she's got a fan.

Now comes the difficult part, as we go further down in time to another universe where Peter has grown up to be a father, lost his leg and his daughter is the Spider-Girl of that universe. Yes, MC2 returns with MayDay Parker.

Daemos, from last issue, has hoped to Earth 982 and despite some questionable pencil work by Ramos, this issue tugs at the heartstrings on anyone who has invested time in that universe.

Peter goes out like a true Spider-man, with Mary Jane Watson Parker by his side, as Mayday and her baby brother are escorted away by other Spiders.

But before she leaves, she delivers a chilling threat of death to Daemos that will probably become a dividing line between her and most of the other Spiders.

Not much for character development here, but it demands that you be already invested in the character and her universe already for this to have the emotional impact it needs.

SPOILERS END……………..

Slott and Gage manage to turn the team-up on it’s head, finishing off with some light-hearted yet heart warming fare while the artwork is some of the best I’ve seen on this title.

Ramos taking over art duties leads to a dip in quality, and it’s hard to judge the backup on it’s own merit given the need for longtime investment in the protagonist there, but still it manages to hold it’s own and give us the sense of impending doom of the Spider-Verse.

So, I give it 8.0 out of 10.

+Some great character moments

+Proper humor returns

+Kamala and Peter have great chemistry together

+Some great artwork in the main story

+Spider-Girl aka Mayday Parker returns

-Ramos’s backup artwork is a dip in quality

-Backup requires too much investment in the character for it to work