The Amazing Spider-Man #544
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Joe Quesada
Company: Marvel Comics
What would you do if you only had one more day? It’s the foreboding question that not only looms on the cover of this issue, but has also appeared in one form or another on many Marvel house ads, solicits and a good majority of other book’s covers as well. Needless to say, the hype machine for this “One More Day” storyline is in full gear. In fact, the word around the campfire is that this is going to rival the recent death of Captain America storyline, and will transform the landscape of the Spider-Man titles for years to come. That’s an awful lot to promise a reader, especially since the “Death of a Dream” stuff was handled so well, and done with such precision by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Mike Perkins. So, I guess the big question is: Does the first issue and the team of J.M.S. and Joe Quesada deliver the goods?
The short answer is this: It’s too early to tell.
Straczynski’s story is a sound one, a tale of of man at the end of his rope and the world as he knows it crashing down around him. For Marvel, and for Spider-Man in particular, this is a tried and true method of storytelling. It has been used for years, done in a hundered different manners and done with varying degrees of success by countless writers, everyone from the beloved Stan Lee to J.M. DeMatteis to Peter David. Straczynski himself has done an aircraft carrier’s worth of Spider-Man stories, some extremely well done and some as dull and as awful as you can get. This time out though, the story being told is one that seems to fall into the good category. It may be a bit heavy handed at times, dependent upon the much darker backdrop of the current Marvel Universe, but the script is tight and the action is well paced. The biggest flaw is that this story, so far at least, doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Aunt May is still on her death bed and Peter Parker is still on the run. What it feels more like than anything else is the next chapter of the “Back in Black” storyline, only labeled something else.
In the grand scheme of things that may not matter but when you bill something as being as big as they have with this one, it seems like a little bit of a letdown. What does take place thoughout the issue is relatively interesting. Seeing Peter Parker’s inner conflict with the downside of him unmasking works. It may have already been explored elsewhere in a few of the other Spider-Man titles, but Straczynski sells it better here and packages it in a bright and shiny container that makes sense. One of the other, much bigger, things to happen in this issue is Parker’s confrontation with Tony Stark. Of all of the things that have happened in the Marvel Universe lately, Iron Man’s elevation to a mustache-twirling bad guy is probably one of the worst ideas to come to fruition. It just doesn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense, and to see him used as a hero in some places (like in his own book) muddles the picture even more. That said, Straczynski backs off of the whole ranting villain a little. It’s still there somewhat, but what’s nice is that he plays the character a little closer to who he should be and is able to make him seem a little more human and less like a one-dimensional schmuck.
On the art side of the table, we have Joe Quesada. When he was drawing Daredevil, during the whole Kevin Smith era, I was never wowed by it. It had a good energy to it, a sort of Todd McFarlene-like vibe that worked with the acrobatics and constant action that the Daredevil book needed. That same flow has continued here. Quesada’s art still feels very much the same, with slight improvements here and there. His line art is as strong as it’s always been, right along with his action, but the thing that he really has improved upon is his characterizations of the characters that he draws. The level of emotion that he uses is probably the biggest asset to his work. There are still times when he pushes it a little too far, making the characters resemble the overwrought, big-eyed characters of the Japansese Manga. Still, seeing the pain, anger and astonishment fly across Peter Parker’s face as he’s web-slinging his way across the Manhattan skyline or having a toe to toe brawl with Iron Man gels with the story being told, and makes it better.
All in all, I’m very tenative about this story. It’s off to a surprisingly good start for what it is but it could easily jump the rails, careen straight into the bowels of a volcano, and join the ranks of those awful stories that should be quickly forgotten and completely written out of existence. We’ll see how it goes.
This is an advance review. Amazing Spider-Man #544 hits shelves 9/6/07
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This’ll be the first Marvel Universe Spider-man book I’ve bought in over a year and a half. Was planning to skip it, since the current administration’s view of the MJ relationship is completely contrary to mine, and this story promises to address that. But I’m pretty interested in reading the ensemble take on the book coming up, and figured i’d be lost if i didn’t start here. Anyway (sorry about the rambling) you guys seem to have similar opinions to mine when it comes to Spidey, so it’s good to hear that this story might not be half-bad. Hopefully we’ll see a more classic take on the character soon without the Other powers, public identity, minimal references to the Avengers, and (please God) no mention ever of Gwen fucking the Green Goblin. I’d love to see a return to the Daily Bugle too, but it sounds like no one at Marvel is interested in doing that.
31 Aug 2007 at 9:03 pm
QuoteRumor has it this story will reboot Spider-man with him making a decision to undue his past. Other rumor is, and I’m not happy about it tho I love the character, is the return of Gwen Stacy. We’ll see soon enough if it has any weight to it.
31 Aug 2007 at 9:09 pm
QuoteThe only Spider-man stories I’ve consistently enjoyed over the last few years were in various mini-series, the Spider-man/Fantastic Four one by Parker and ‘Ringo (R.I.P.) being the most recent.
Frankly I’m tired of the reboots, rebirths, retcons, and pointless deaths, so I’ll probably give this storyline a pass unless I hear REALLY good things about it. I don’t expect much from JMS and Quesada, though.
- Dex
31 Aug 2007 at 9:29 pm
QuoteI’ve more or less enjoyed Straczynski’s stuff, but I was pretty worried about this arc (does it count as a crossover?), this review is reassuring though. If they go through with ending the marriage I hope it’s at least executed well, even though I don’t think it’s necessary. Regardless of what comes of this story i’m still really looking forward to “Brand New Day”.
31 Aug 2007 at 9:39 pm
Quoteno sale here Joe does’nt need my money to break his toys
31 Aug 2007 at 11:06 pm
QuoteThey released this to critics? WOW.
01 Sep 2007 at 12:38 am
QuoteDan:
They actually released it to retailers as part of their preview pack.
01 Sep 2007 at 7:39 am
QuoteI used to buy anything Quesada did, period, and I loved most of it. However, I really don’t like his art with Miki on inks. Palmiotti made it look slick, but this looks all scratchy.
Some artists do scratchy well (e.g., Janson, Sienkewicz (sp?), Cowan), but IMO Quesada doesn’t.
01 Sep 2007 at 12:13 pm
QuoteSpider-man is such a specal case. Other characters have been messed up but Spider-man is ruined. Making him an Avenger, living only with and amoung superheroes makes him less Peter Parker.
Revealing the ID destroys Peter and JQ gets his little reboot and will even get some miles out of “recrating an icon”
01 Sep 2007 at 1:48 pm
QuoteI agree with you about Palmiotti’s inks; Quesada’s current inker’s work detracts from the pencil work.
01 Sep 2007 at 5:02 pm
QuoteI’m going to make this nitpick once, but it’s one I want to make all the time.
It’s not “advanced.” It’s “advance.” The former means “on a higher level” and not “early.” It’s a mistake that i see constantly and that drives me crazy.
Thanks.
01 Sep 2007 at 7:32 pm
QuoteWhat you don’t know, Simon, is that I work part time at A.I.M. So really, this review truly is Advanced.
Okay, bad…bad joke. Thanks for pointing out the mistake. It’s fixed now.
01 Sep 2007 at 9:15 pm
QuoteI, too, read the issue. I was let down by the art. I seem to remember when Quesada was good, not mundane.
Not coming out of this story, but going through it—it is just not possible for anyone to sneak an injured person into a hospital, get them a bed and medical care, and for it to be days until somebody at the hospital notices the extra person. Plus that nobody ever recognized Mary Jane the famous model, nor that anybody never recognized Peter Parker after his very public unmasking on television, all make for such a serious plot hole—as big as the Grand Canyon—that I am taken right out of the story with every panel that is set in the hospital. (And I like Straczynski and his writing.)
01 Sep 2007 at 9:19 pm
QuoteHonestly, after he came back from the Spider-Clone saga, I don’t think it’s possible to ruin Spider-Man. You can *always* bring him back to prominence.
That doesn’t mean I’m in favor of the direction they’re going with “OMD” (One More Day, not Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark). Unless it’s a big fakeout and there is no death and/or divorce, I think it’s a misreading of what most fans want out of Spider-Man, and I also think married Spider-Man is not inherently less interesting or more interesting than unmarried Spidey… it’s just different.
As for Quesada’s art, I only gave this the flip-through because, as I said, I’ve got no real interest in the story, just the end result, but it looked pretty decent to me. Not enough to be worth the delays it may cause, but certainly solid. Quesada’s got major art chops, and even though this might not be as good as his work with Palmiotti, it’s still good art. Not my particular favorite style, but then my art tastes seem to be a bit off the beaten path… my suspicion is that many will very much enjoy the Quesada art on the story, if not necessarily the story itself.
01 Sep 2007 at 11:21 pm
QuoteI don’t think he’s ever fully come back from the clone saga, unless you are counting the movies, Loves Mary Jane, or the Ultimate line…stuff outside of continuity.
Aside from the movies I think the Darwyn Cooke Tangeled Web stories or the Dan Slott Spide/Torch series are the only time I’ve completely enjoyed the character in the last 15 years. So I’m really looking forward to this upcoming reboot. Love Slott, Guggenheim, Wells, and the spirit they’re seemingly bringing to the title.
02 Sep 2007 at 9:51 am
QuoteI hope so believe or not I love marvel but having read “The last FF” story see http://www.howcomics.com for review. I did’nt know how much I hate new Marvel until it was’nt there anymore
02 Sep 2007 at 10:15 pm
QuoteSomeone needs grammar lessons.
03 Sep 2007 at 7:29 pm
QuoteGreat…yet another must-have event from Marvel. How cool would it be if a comic company for once just admitted they’d messed up and just corrected it without a big money-spinning event or retcon? That’d be a lot more ballsy. Besides, I don’t think a married Spider-Man is half as bad as secret ID-less Spider-Man, Avenger Spider-Man or “The Other” Spider-Man. A lot of the changes that have screwed the character up have been recent ones under this regime.
04 Sep 2007 at 9:58 am
QuoteThat does explain the crazy headgear.
04 Sep 2007 at 11:39 am
QuoteActually, I don’t think Spider-man can recover from Straczynski.
05 Sep 2007 at 10:46 am
QuoteAnd hey, JMS, speaking as an Iron Man fan, even after this issue?
FUCK YOU.
06 Sep 2007 at 12:48 pm
QuoteHe’d like to help restore Iron Man as a character, Dan, but it would be traced back to him and ruin everything he’s trying to accomplish.
08 Sep 2007 at 3:49 pm
QuoteI actually told Tom Brevoort to his face today at Baltimore that if he wants to stop fans from complaining about Iron Man, he’s got to forbid Straczynski from writing him. Brevoort responded that JMS was “very passionate” about his portrayal of the character. “But he’s a straw man argument in JMS’s hands!” I responded. We agreed to disagree.
08 Sep 2007 at 10:40 pm
Quote