Comic Review: The Amazing Spider-Man (2018-) #25

The Amazing Spider-Man (2018-) #25

Marvel Comics

Writer: Nick Spencer

Artist: Ryan Ottley, Humberto Ramos, Patrick Gleason, Kev Walker

Year two of Nick Spencer and crew’s Amazing Spider-Man run kicks off in a pretty solid way with issue #25. First of all, we get 60 pages of comic and a hefty $8 price-tag to go with it. It’s definitely worth the money though, as this issue contains a lot of great stuff that gets me very excited for the next year of Spider-Man in comics.

There’s a nice prologue regarding Mysterio’s “demise” that also gives us a teeny bit more information on The Kindred. He’s that guy who’s been appearing in Spencer’s run that’s covered in rags and infested with centipedes. More about him is teased throughout this issue, but it’s all incredibly ominous. That’s a good thing though because I hate when a mystery ends up being incredibly obvious. That happens a lot in comics and it’s refreshing to not have to worry about already knowing what exactly is happening.

The main story for this issue is mostly told in two parts. Spider-Man’s side, illustrated by Humberto Ramos and Mary Jane’s side, illustrated by Ryan Ottley. Spider-Man has been searching for Curt Connors ever since the whole Kraven fiasco that transpired in the “Hunted” arc. Spidey is finally closing in on Connors location but finds himself dealing with attack drones. This unexpected bout is postponing his date with Mary Jane, who’s at a theater awaiting Peter’s arrival. MJ already had a backup plan just in case and attends the play with Carlie Cooper – One of Peter’s exes that also knows of his secret identity. While the show is happening, though, Electro attacks and takes the main star hostage and live streams the whole thing.

The live streaming thing doesn’t really seem like something Electro would do. This is a different female Electro, but still. Why not use Screwball? Her whole gimmick is that she’s a megalomaniac that streams everything she does. Plus, because of last year’s Spider-Man game, she’s gained some more popularity and isn’t nearly as obscure.

I really enjoy when two different narratives are drawn by different artists. I could be wrong, but I believe this is Ramos’ last issue of ASM so far. As usual, he did a good job drawing action-packed scenes and always excels when those scenes involve Spider-Man. Of course, there’s some questionable anatomy here and there, but that’s something we should be used to by now with Ramos. I was never fully a fan of his art style, but he won me over throughout all these years. If this really is his last issue for the foreseeable future, he left a hell of an impact on this book.

Ryan Ottley’s art on the MJ side of things is more casually paced. The expressions he gave to everyone he drew were nicely done and really helped the narrative. There’s one scene specifically where MJ is catching up with an old friend that she doesn’t really care for and is just being “fake nice”. You can really see the disgust and slight anguish in her face. That’s a hard expression to get right, despite the fact that so many of us have done it in the past. I applaud you, Ryan Ottley.

The rest of this issue is mostly a tease for what’s to come in the next year or so with Spider-Man. Plus bonus stories by Zeb Wells, Todd Nauck, Keaton Patti, and Dan Hip, along with first looks at the art by newcomers Patrick Gleason and Kev Walker. I think Amazing Spider-Man is heading into a wonderful direction with Nick Spencer at the helm. He understands Spider-Man and his supporting cast exceptionally. This is a definite must read if you’ve been following ASM. Why stop now?