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Right now I own parts 1-4. I make them available to my students because I really love the drawings, the layout, and the amazing rich, lively colors. This series has great drama and witty humor, I love it. There is no other comic book hero that moves quite like Spiderman. Pages of amazing compositions of him flying and twisting like an elegant pretzel.
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Coming Home was a story which redefined Spider-Man after the overlong and overboring Howard Mackie run. This trade paperback, tells the story about Morlun, an interresting new Villain for Spidey, Ezekiel, a new ally for our favourite web slinger and how Spidey is taking his break-up with MJ.
The story starts with a melancholic Spidey trying to distract himself, because he can't take how his life is going at the moment and some of his thoughts are hilarious, especially his talk about zippers, which made me laugh out loud. The first three issues also introduce Ezekiel, which is a mysterious man, with powers similar to Spidey's, who puts a new twist to Spidey's origin. This revelation, despite the dislike many people (me included) have towards it, doesn't hurt the story, as it is brushed aside by main plot points, and it is an interresting way of looking at Spidey's origin. The first three issues, which are almost an arc on their own, show the preparation Morlun goes through to face Spidey and also introduces Pete as a teacher, which is definately the most interessting development the character has had in a while.
The 3 other issues of the collection are pretty much an extended fight between Spider-Man and Morlun, and even though its a long fight, it doesn't feel dragged out and it also feels epic. I can't talk too much about it without giving it away, but Morlun gives Spidey a torrid time, before he learns his lesson and JMS' solution to the fight is logical and it shows Peter's intelligence. I'll also say that the last page is shocking and it will most definately leave you wanting more and you'll go out looking for the "revelations" trade. Morlun is also a very interrest villain, despite his ridiculous design, and I personally enjoy how he has nothing personal against Peter Parker or Spider-Man.
John Romita Jr.'s art is a perfect fit for Spider-Man. I'm a big fan of the guy and his pencils match the fluidity in movement of Spidey's character, he specially shines in the shots of Spidey swinging around and crawlin up walls, his action sequences look really good as well. His storytelling abilities are great as well.
Coming Home is a great trade paperback, probably the best story in Amazing Spider-Man ever since the second volume started, and most likely even before that. Any Spidey fan will get a kick outta this, JMS fans will also enjoy it, since its the man at his best. Super-hero fans looking for some great super-hero (in and out of costume) story will also enjoy the heck outta this book.
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Now THIS should have been Spider-Man's "Brand New Day": We have a single Peter Parker, with a secret identity and Mary Jane is nowhere in the picture... here they're just seperated, but no mention is made of them actually being married. And to think, we had to suffer through "One More Day"...
But enough of that. What we have here is a great Spider-Man story. We see Peter Parker take a teaching position at his old high school and battling a brand new enemy called Morlun, who simply cannot be stopped (think Morbius with a hint of Juggernaut and you get the idea). We also are given a peak into a new side of Spidey's origin, which gets into totemistic stuff which, well, is a little hard to swallow but services the story at hand. All in all this is one of the better Spidey stories out there; to me JMS's run never really got this good again until "Sins Past"... but then the final two parts of THAT storyline came out and well, yeah, not the best stuff. (Damn your interventions, Quesada!!!) Highly Recommended.
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Amazing Spiderman is amazing! I guarentee that if you read the first issue of this series you will not be able to put it down until it is finished!
5/5 - story
5/5 - artwork (John Romita Jr. never fails!)
5/5 - great dialogue!
This series will make anyone a spiderman fan!
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Through reading these and other recent Spider-Man books (25 issues worth) one thing comes to mind: even through bad stories, Spider-Man is still the man. It may be controversial but I like the idea of Ezekiel, Morlun, the Spider totem, all of it. Spider-Man has to be changed up every once in awhile and this is a much better way to do it then killing people off, or a new costume. As Straczynski's run goes on he shows a new side to Spider-Man/Peter Parker, MJ, Aunt May, even Uncle Ben. Spider-Man is firmly in the Marvel Universe in this series, with random comings and goings from other heroes. On the other hand, Peter Parker is firmly in the real world during this run. Peter Parker in college has been tried before, but Peter Parker (as an adult of course) in high school? Well, that's different and incredibly entertaining. The new villains are memorable and the older cast reminds you why you loved them to begin with.
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