Amazing Spider-Man #1 Review: Back To Basics Still Works

Marvel released four Amazing Spider-Man #1s in nine years. The issue that dropped Wednesday, April 27th, is the 2022 edition from Zeb Wells, John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, Marcio Menyz, and Joe Caramagna. It’s a back to basics restart for the series. No Spider-Totems, no cushy job with Iron Man or the Avengers. Just Peter Parker, no money, and a lot more enemies than friends. It’s not quite square one, but it’s close enough.

Speaking of which: Peter Parker did something, we don’t know what, and presumably, because of that, he’s alienated everyone, including Mary Jane Watson. The villains are engaged in a turf war, which I imagine follows up on Devil’s Reign, and for some reason, Spider-Man is the guy they’re all angry at. That’s the old Parker luck, I suppose.

The twist at the end of the comic seems reasonable, and I won’t spoil it or allude to it. If you want to be spoiled, well, click right here to go to Rich’s post about it.

Maybe writing one of these major properties is best compared to a cover song. Everyone already knows it, but the point is what a different artist adds or subtracts from the song. Romita Jr. is as safe a pair of hands as you can imagine, and Wells is well known to the Spider-Office already. Through that lens, 2022’s Amazing Spider-Man #1 is a largely faithful cover executed well by a team of old hands. The tune’s stuck in my head, and I never thought I’d say that about the Web-Head.

Peter’s on the outs with the FF. He’s on the outs with the Avengers. He’s on the outs with Aunt May! 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 what does Tombstone have planned? Just in time for Spider-Man’s 60th Anniversary, a new volume of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN begins, and 2022 is going to be the biggest year for Spider-Man EVER! Don’t believe us? We brought John Romita Jr. back JUST FOR THIS!

Amazing Spider-Man #1

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Review by James Hepplewhite

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7/10

A back-to-basics restart for the series. No Spider-Totems, no cushy job with Iron Man or the Avengers. Just Peter Parker, no money, and a lot more enemies than friends.

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