Amazing Spider-Man #23 // Review
Peter Parker was in another dimension for a week. As it turns out, only a few hours passed in his home dimension. So he probably doesn’t have much time to work things out for Mary Jane. (She’s still in the other world.) He’s going to look for help in Amazing Spider-Man #23. Writer Zeb Wells continues a multi-dimensional Spidey story that is breathtakingly brought to the page by veteran artist John Romita Jr. and inker Scott Hanna. Color comes to the page courtesy of Marcio Menyz. Wells’s script moves well within the bewildering machinery of the Marvel Universe with crisp and deft storytelling in another satisfying issue.
Spidey’s first instinct is to go have a little conversation with Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four to discuss the whole...parallel universe thing. The only catch is that Reed is off-world. Spider-Man’s perfectly happy using Reed’s lab...and he would do so were it not for the fact that the F.F. don’t exactly know who it is that they’re dealing with, and now Captain America is after him. In a Marvel multiverse with infinite doppelgängers, it’s really difficult for ANYONE to know who to trust.
Wells brings a fugitive Spider-Man story into very sharp focus. Peter Parker is on the run, and Wells is doing a really good job of keeping him moving. The challenge is to deliver the crazy energy of someone with Parker’s abilities running out of time. Wells is giving Spidey the kind of obstacles he deserves. The rush of the action continues from cover to cover in an issue that has just enough face-to-face interpersonal drama to serve as a counterpoint for all of the action. Fugitive Spidey has been seen countless times over the years. Wells brings the ideas to the page with style and form.
Romita Jr.’s style fits Wells’s unique mixture of elements quite well. The intensity of the drama feels powerful and nuanced. The action is well laid-out on the page with a clever sense of motion both in and between panels. Romita Jr.’s backgrounds are brilliantly delivered as well. There isn’t a scene in the issue that isn’t in a firmly-established atmospheric setting. From an open field to the skyline of Manhattan to a domestic apartment to the high-tech Baxter Building...it’s all given such a rich sense of place thanks to the light and depth of Menyz’s colors.
Peter Parker casually runs into issues with half of the Fantastic Four and Captain America. There’s a sense of desperation as Parker rushes to try to do what he needs to do. Wells and company put together a remarkably sharp issue that doesn’t require a whole lot of familiarity with Spidey’s recent past. A general familiarity with the Marvel Universe is all that’s absolutely necessary. Issue #23 is a perfect example of how a long-running series can keep going indefinitely: keep established readers entertained while steering clear of the kind of muddled plot that would be boring to new readers.
