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The first story arc of the series is over and Peter Parker is only now getting acquainted with his new lifestyle. New roommates, new girlfriend (sorta), and a new direction as the wall-crawler who has the worst luck. With Mary Jane back in his life though, how can anything ruin his mood? Writer Nick Spencer aims to show us this issue.
So what’s it about?
Read our preview.
Why does this matter?
Spencer is very good at character writing, which is perfect for a character like Peter Parker. His domestic life is potentially more interesting than any superhero fight. So far he’s done an excellent job showing the interesting nature of Peter Parker, which only gets more complicated with a roomate who is also a supervillain.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
This is a great issue in part because it manages to pack so much into the 20-page comic book format. By my count, it contains five scenes, each progressing some part of the overall story while delving a bit deeper into characters like Boomerang who haven’t had much focus in the series so far. The issue opens with action, but make no mistake, this issue is rather light on the stuff. That allows Spencer and Ramos to focus on character work, which is done very well via interspersed flashbacks.
Instead, writer Nick Spencer has focused on average day moments in the lives of Boomerang and Spider-Man and raised them up in interesting ways. Spencer has a knack for taking a hero and reminding us they are human, like how in this issue Peter gets annoyed over simple things like his roommate not doing chores (or getting extra channels charged on the shared cable bill).
Flashbacks can sometimes suck the energy out of a story, but here they work nicely to remind us what happened not only in recent stories but in events of last summer. This adds much-needed context so we understand why Boomerang has a chip on his shoulder and more detail on a key location by the end of the issue.
The art by Ramos is fantastic, as you might expect, but I was taken aback by how good the flashbacks were. The style was somewhat different from his usual style, in part because of the great colors by Edgar Delgado, and it works well to look a bit aged and fuzzy as if we’re remembering.
Love is in the air. Credit: Marvel Comics
It can’t be perfect can it?
Vulture is taking fashion tips from Mysterio. Credit: Marvel Comics
Is it good?
This is a very good issue that begins a new direction for the character as he endures a roommate situation that adds a different kind of flavor to Peter Parker’s already miserable life. When a story can take the mundane like this story does and spin it into a compelling narrative, you know you have magic on your hands.
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