With Otto Ocatavius living out Spider-Man’s life in the pages of Marvel’s monthly book, the only place to get your Peter Parker fix right now is in the side stories and one-shots that Marvel occasionally puts out. This past month saw the release of Amazing Spider-Man #700.1 and #700.2, which featured a two-part story from David Morrell, the writer of Rambo.
The story in these two issues is a very emotional one, as we see a Peter Parker that is getting beaten down by the endless duties of Spider-Man. For each crime he stops or person he saves, another three are waiting for him. And as the city is hammered by a massive snowstorm, Peter has to battle the elements and his own self-doubts in order to get to Aunt May before she succumbs to the cold.
I really enjoyed this story and the characterization of Peter as a hero who sometimes questions if he’s even making a difference. Klaus Janson’s art and Steve Buccellatto’s colors are fantastic in these issues, and the entire story is at its best when the artwork is telling the story.
Interestingly, David Morrell recently publicly complained that changes he made to the second issue were not implemented and the issue that saw print is not as he intended. Marvel even admitted the wrong version was sent to the printer, and the changes will be included in the trade. But even though the dialogue and some of the captions are kind of stiff in the second part of the story, the core of it still shines through, and it’s definitely worth a read.
If you’ve been missing Peter Parker, this story is a great reminder of why we Spidey fans love him.
4 out of 5 Save Aunt Mays