Peter’s birthday party is interrupted by Doc Ock…’s robot arms. But where’s the Doc? And when Adrian Toomes’ granddaughter finds out about her granddad’s supervillain past and disowns him, he suspects Spidey’s involvement - and the Vulture sets out to get revenge.
The second book in Zeb Wells’ Amazing Spider-Man run is light on the more layered and substantial content that made the first book stand out and a tad heavy on the action but it’s a decent entry in the series.
It’s mostly taken up by the bumper 86 page Amazing Spider-Man #6 (or #900 in the overall numbering) which reveals the mysterious figure holding Doc Ock hostage in the first book. It’s not a bad story but it feels a bit stretched out to make the page length - it’s basically one long action sequence featuring the Sinister Six. I like that the villain is not entirely villainous - that ambiguity in the characterisation is something I’m noticing about Wells’ writing generally in this series and it’s a really good feature - and Ed McGuinness’ art is as solid as ever. It’s a fine story for this celebratory issue.
Also included are some shorts where Peter returns some old library books, Spidey meets Jimmy Kimmel and something about prom, all of which were forgettable additions.
The book improves noticeably once Wells and John Romita Jr get back to the regular-sized issues. The Vulture storyline has the same problem that 99.9% of superhero stories have, which is that rather than talking to someone about a misunderstanding, they launch straight into fighting and only later figure out that they didn’t need to. At least the comic references this trope so it's aware of what it's doing.
That said, the Spidey/Vulture fight was the most intense and compelling fight sequence I’ve read in some time. Vulture goes hard and the action is varied and entertaining the whole time - you really get to see what a threat Toomes can be when he wants. And of course JRJR’s art helps put that across on every page - top work from this artist again. There’s an interesting development with Peter’s professional life as he decides to go into business with Norman Osborn and a new Goblin-inspired Spidey outfit is debuted.
Amazing Spider-Man, Volume 2: The New Sinister is a bit much on the action front for my taste but when it’s good, it’s really good, and the art in general can’t be faulted - a fine follow-up overall. Now that the 900th issue and its accompanying bells and whistles have been acknowledged, hopefully we’ll get back to the more nuanced storytelling in the next one that made the first book so strong.
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