Nick Spencer’s run on The Amazing Spider-man had a very precarious position and role to play in the lives of Spider-man fans. Dan Slott had just wrapped up a 10 Year run on the title and while some of Slott’s work was fun, groundbreaking and challenging for the character, other elements really aimed to upset the apple cart, managed to upset readers and leave us wanting a fresh status quo.
Spencer’s run came about as part of the Marvel’s Fresh Start initiative, where, as happens every few years, Marvel recycles the titles to new #1 issues, new creative teams and sometimes new schedules. The title lived up to the idea of being a fresh start. Amazing Spider-man gained the writer Nick Spencer as the new ongoing writer and the new almost-regular artist of the title came in the form of Invincible artist Ryan Ottley. While Ottley’s work was fresh and enjoyable - the prelude in the 2018 Free Comic Book Day issue gave a fresh excitement for this new art as an exisiting Invincible fan - it soon started to feel rather stale. The character designs felt like you were still just reading an issue of Invincible. MJ looks like Atom Eve and Peter more or less looked like a character out of Robert Kirkman’s superhero universe.
Thankfully this was rectified with a few occasional fill in artists, the notable inclusion being ex-DC artist Patrick Gleason, whose work on the Rebirth era Superman title reinvigorated that character with a Christopher Reeve charm unseen for years. Gleason joined the title during the 2099 crossover which meant we got to double dip seeing his work on both Peter and Miguel - a treat for any fan.
To get to the main crux of the issue with this run would raise the question, can you look past potential lackluster or infrequently enjoyable work visually if the story and narrative compels you to a point of loving the story and hungering for more.
One of the more fun experiences of reading comics is the mystery character. Most notable recent examples for me is Mr. Oz and fake-Clark Kent in the Rebirth era Superman titles. These were mysteries which were engaging and made fun sport of speculation.
Spencer’s work on Spider-man had this opportunity in the form of Kindred, who was unnamed until around issue #10-15. The reason this mystery hasn’t worked is because it’s the basis of the run, which is now nearing issue #50, and we have no new information on the character. Within 50 issues we have had a major crossover hearkening back to Kraven’s Last Hunt, we have seen major interpersonal drama between Peter and his supporting cast and we have had teases of his relationship with MJ. We have had some fun and blockbuster like moments such as a Spider-man Tri-Sentinel. Around all of these moments, Spencer’s main antithesis for the series has sat around and honestly gotten stale.
I note there are probably still engaged readers out there who are interested in the story and will enjoy it when it happens and as for me I will still be interested when we find out who Kindered is, what they want and why they have been in the background for almost 50 issues. The impact of any upcoming reveal, however, will be lessened.
I recently read Chip Zdarsky’s Spectacular Spider-man run. This line ran for about 20 issues. It had interwoven plot threads, engaging character arcs (some same points that Spencer is using such as the Peter/Jonah relationship) and Zdarsky was still able to tell his story and made a point of not letting the series be bogged down by filler issues, unnecessary plot points or unengaging events.
In the alternate universe where Spencer is reading this, I say Nick, zero in on the existing plot threads before you create new ones. Make your point, find the climax and then if there is more to tell, approach those then.
To my readers, let me know in the comments, how do you feel about the current Spider-man ongoing? Do you think less issues can make a more concise and engaging story?