Hello there! Padawan J here, the resident Star Wars expert from the ODPH! And this week I’m going to be reviewing the 8th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man from Marvel Comics!
Things have been going good for Peter Parker lately, which is SHOCKING I know. He put a stop to Hobgoblin, fixed things with Aunt May & Shay, and even maintained his job at Rand Enterprises! But, as is often the case, all good things must come to an end. Because now he’s standing face to face with the mysterious figure known as Hellgate! So let’s jump into it!
The Amazing Spider-Man #8 by Joe Kelly (Writer), John Romita Jr & Todd Nuack (Pencilers), Scott Hanna & Todd Nuack (Inkers), Marcio Menyz & Erick Arciniega (Colorists), VC’s Joe Caramanga (Letterer) is one of the better issues I’ve read of Spider-Man in some time (that isn’t Ultimate Spider-Man)!
The Story
Joe Kelly continues to add to the greatest of his run with this issue. The story in this issue is a classic one that all Spider-Man fans will enjoy.
This story is tremendous from start to finish! It’s split between two stories, and it blends together so wonderfully. The first story is the ongoing knockdown drag out fight going on between Spider-Man & Hellgate. The fight is in the early hours of the morning, and they’re fighting all over central park before it spills out on to Columbus Circle. It’s about as classic a Spider-Man fight as there can be.
The other story goes along with what we see take place during the fight. And it flashes back to a time when Peter was a child, and living with his Uncle Ben & Aunt May. Peter wants to learn karate because “the guy who kicked my butt knew karate”. However Ben wants to teach him boxing and once he shows Peter why, he’s ready to learn boxing.
The flashbacks play out really beautifully, and the lessons Ben teaches Peter really connect to the story incredibly. And they also give a better insight into just why Peter fights the way he does. It’s a sequence I didn’t know I needed until I was reading it.
The Artwork
John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna, Todd Huack, Marcio Menyz & Erick Arciniega really bring their A game with the artwork in this issue. The battle between Spider-Man & Hellgate is epic in every sense of the word. It’s grandiose, its destructive and it’s AWESOME!
They really stand out in the flashback sequence. It is some of the best artwork I’ve seen in comics this year! There’s such love & care with the presentation & overall look. You can really feel the love & care they took with those panels especially.
FINAL POINT: If you’ve been turned off The Amazing Spider-Man, this series is the best one in years! The story from Joe Kelly is tremendous, and the artwork from the whole creative team is just a masterclass in ink, color & letters. If you’re a Spider-Man fan, you HAVE to pick up this issue because it’s shaping up to be one of the more memorable ones in recent memory!
Overall Grade: 9/10
Thanks for checking out my review on Nerd Initiative. For more of my content, check out ODPHpodcast.com, follow me on Twitter, and check out more of my reviews here on Nerd Initiative: https://nerdinitiative.com/author/padawanj/!
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