The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (Marvel Comics)
Hello there! Padawan J here, the resident Star Wars expert from the ODPH! This week I'm going to be reviewing the 31st issue of The Amazing Spider-Man from Marvel Comics!
Spider-Man has gone and faced a lot of foes in his life. He’s also gone through some changes in his life for the good & bad. So what happens when there’s a change in his life that is massive in scope? Let’s jump into it!
Credit: Marvel Comics // The Amazing Spider-Man #31 by Joe Kelly (Writer), Patrick Gleason (Artist), Marcio Menyz (Color Artist), VC’s Joe Caramanga (Letterer), Patrick Gleason & Dean White (Cover Art)
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
The Story
Joe Kelly takes things on an interesting path this issue with a slight divergence from the Spore storyline with one that is sure to have fans talking. It’s a major change for Peter Parker & his family that I’m not sure a lot of readers might have seen coming.
The story is split between two focuses with both of them being Peter Parker focused. One of them is Peter crashing an auction house (of sorts) for villains who are bidding on the assets of other villains. The only hitch is there’s no money involved, and rather you need to pay in “pain and blood” to win the lot. The story doesn’t feel all that important quite yet, but rather one that we will see it’s importance play out in perhaps the next issue.
The other side of the story involves Peter, Aunt May & Cormac Crane. It’s a story that’s been building since the end of the Death Spiral Saga where Peter learned from Torment that he has a cousin. In the heat of the moment he thought maybe it was a “second cousin once removed” situation. However as you learn once you read the issue that is NOT the case. You’ll see what the reveal is once you read the issue, because as you know I won’t spoil it here.
What I will say about the reveal is that I’m not sure how I feel about it. Is it a bold step in the mythos of Peter Parker/Spider-Man? Absolutely. However I’m willing to wait to see how this plays out before jumping to conclusions. The reveal just got confirmed and we haven’t had any time to see how it plays out or what comes out of it. This could be a good thing for Peter, but of course time will tell.
The Artwork
Patrick Gleason & Marcio Menyz are in charge of the artwork for this issue and they really do a great job with it. Patrick does a great job keeping the same look fans will be used to by this point. Marcio also does a fantastic job with the color bouncing between the two storylines that are so different tonally. No matter who is in charge of the issue with each issue, the art in the series is the best you’ll see at Marvel each week.
Overall Grade: 7/10
Joe Kelly drops what might be the biggest twist in the Spider-Man mythos is some time. It’s a great issue with a very compelling story and artwork that is simply stunning.
