Creative Team:
Writer: Joe Kelly
Well, Jimbo, I am jumping in a time machine from 1963’s The Amazing Spider-Man #1 to 2025’s Amazing Spider-Man #1, also labelled with legacy numbering as issue 965. Long-time comic book fans will be familiar with this numbering system and may skip to the review, but I will elaborate on this here for new readers. Longstanding titles of American comics eventually end runs and may start again as a new volume at issue #1. To prevent confusion, legacy numbers are often provided on the covers of comics in addition to the issue number for that series. Looking to the future, I will review the current run of ASM and continue to review its tremendous backlog.
Let’s look at the cover variant I grabbed for this issue featuring one of Spider-Man’s most iconic villains: the Rhino! Ryan Stegman gives us a great shot of Spidey using his webs to escape mortal danger dramatically, with the Rhino looking on angrily as he crushes a subway platform column. The intricacy of the depiction of this engagement alongside a full-body action shot of our webbed combatant makes this an iconic cover, in my mind. Spider-Man’s web-slinging shows his strategic resilience to stand against foes wielding great destructive power. Comparing this cover to Ditko’s work is not only a testament to the advancements in technology, media, and art since 1963 but also the enduring genius of Steve Ditko’s character design and Stan Lee’s writing. While I much prefer the modern covers and the option to pick up alternative variant cover issues, I would call both covers exceptional products of their time and highlight the Marvel era origins in a fast-moving press environment. Maybe a Mad Men-style office drama could dramatize the origins of our creative giants. Of course, I’m joking. Unless…
Joe Kelly starts his new Spider-Man run by visiting familiar Spider-Man tropes ( also encountered in Nick Spencer’s ASM run (Vol. 5, 2018) that do well to encapsulate the essence of our web-slinging hero. The infamous “Parker luck” holds back the man behind the mask in his personal life. Kelly also balances Peter’s life with the mayhem of Spider-Man’s duty, often in a juxtaposition achieved through strategic use of panels. Peter’s commitment to maintaining his alias contrasts with many other Marvel superheroes. After all, Captain America and the Fantastic Four (among others) make being a hero their profession.
I’ve only read a few issues of Stan Lee’s run, and my modern Spider-Man experience is limited to about 50 issues of Nick’s Spencer’s run. Therefore, I am familiar with a few references within this “jumping on” point, but not all. For example, the existence of Spider-Boy is news to me. A quick web search shows that he is a Spider-Verse character brought to Earth-616 (The setting of the main Marvel Universe), first created by Dan Slott before Nick Spencer’s run. Regardless, I love our protagonist’s continued involvement with his family, both kin and chosen. Joe Kelly’s approach to a fresh slate seems similar to Spencer’s run.
This issue has a humble beginning, like our protagonist. This is not as true as a clean slate as Nick Spencer, but fans of his run might find something to like here. I will personally continue to collect this run physically on release, but I could see a strong argument to wait until the trade paperback is released in December.
Rating: READ
