Peter Parker is dying.
Doesn’t that suck! I am completely bummed, especially because I fear that they are launching a new Spider-man series out of this crossover, and that it’s only going to last 4 issues…
That’s my first/biggest complaint about The Other – it’s all done with this air of Peter dying, which we KNOW isn’t going to happen. They’ve put in the quotation of how this will change Spidey forever, which might be true – hell, it might bring back Ben Reilly, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling a little less worried when I know that they are still using this event to launch a NEW TITLE..
That has nothing to do with this particular issue though, so let’s get into it.
STORY!
Peter Parker is dying.
Doesn’t that suck! I am complete—
Hold on. I seem to be repeating myself here. That is my biggest complaint about this, the 3rd installment of The Other crossover. We’ve watched as Peter has learned of his problem. Mary Jane has learned of his problem in MK Spidey. Now, in Amazing, Aunt May learns. The reader though, is still left up shit’s creek without a paddle.
Does that make this a bad story? No. Not at all. The Peter David writing is ideal for Spidey, and as this story ends, it has shown me how much I’m going to want to read Friendly Neighborhood… I will also be completely frank about it. This book and story arc were excellent.
Let’s remove all subject of Spidey’s illness. We end up with a book where Peter sits and deals with his personal problems with MJ and Aunt May. We have a fight with a newer supervillain (Is Tracer altogether new? I have no idea, honestly.) who actually has the cajones to hang out at the Avenger’s mansion… and…
We have Uncle Ben. There is an internal conversation between May and Ben that takes you by the heart and pumps for you. P. Daviddy’s understanding of how much May loved him is easy to see. He is then able to take that and put it on paper in such a way that makes you both happy for her that she is learning to love again, and sad because you realize that she never stopped loving Ben.
I forgot that I was sitting on a ‘WHAT’S THE PROBLEM!?!?’ cliffhanger until the last page. That, my friends, is incredible storytelling.
ART!
There is something special about this issue. It might be my turning point on Deodato Jr. I originally was expecting to despise him. Found out I liked him more than Romita, Jr. This issue though might have put him into the realm of love.
There is something about the way he sits and reaches across the panels, or even stretches the image over two panels that just moves the story as much as David’s plotting. Add in the fact that everytime Aunt May says something, to Tracer, to Ben, or to Peter… her face is perfect for what an old, hardheaded, loving mother figure might be.
OVERALL!
If this 3 issue arc has proven anything to me, it’s that Peter David loves these characters. He truly gets the depth of each one, and it felt, in hindsight, that this might be his resume piece. You can look at this story and answer any questions about what he might, or might not understand about the Spidey mythos.
The answer, of course, is all of it.
I wanted to give this book a 10 so badly. The fact is though, it is a superior comic, and better than even what JMS has put out over the last few months. The one point taken away is because the question on everyone’s mind is now still lingering for Reggie Hudlin to tell us, when I feel it was Peter David’s answer to tell.
