- Written by: Joe Kelly
- Art by: Pepe Larraz
- Colors by: Marte Gracia
- Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
- Cover art by: Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia
- Cover price: $5.99
- Release date: April 9, 2025
Amazing Spider-Man #1, by Marvel on 4/9/25, begins a Brand New Day (*ugh*) when Peter Parker temporarily overcomes Parker Luck to land a job with Rand Enterprises, but a chance encounter with Rhino leads to a new mystery.
Is Amazing Spider-Man #1 Good?
Plot Synopsis
Amazing Spider-Man #1 begins with a montage of the famous Parker Luck in action when Peter hops from one job interview to the next on a hunt for new employment. Sadly, Peter’s checkered employment past catches up with him at every turn. During an afternoon visit with Aunt May, Peter gets a call with a job offer at Rand Enterprises, thanks to the internal recommendation from a boyhood schoolmate, Brian Nehring.
Peter’s first day at Rand goes well until he spots Rhino rampaging down the middle of the street. Peter ducks out of his orientation and changes to Spider-Man to get Rhino under control. The battle seems out of character for Rhino since he won’t listen to reason and fights in a blind rage. Spidey slows Rhino down by smashing him with a moving truck, but the maneuver gives Rhino a heart attack.
Later, Peter goes on a double date. His relationship with Shay isn’t completely off. Peter learns from Randy Robertson that families living in the same area as Rhino have also acted strangely, raising Peter’s suspicions.
Elsewhere, Roderick Kingsley, aka Hobgoblin, receives a report from his assistant that Rhino survived his heart attack and that there’s little risk that the special chemical in Rhino’s blood will be found. When Kingsley dismisses his assistant, he tells a shadowy figure to deal with Rhino to prevent further inquiries about Rhino’s condition.
The issue ends with Spider-Man visiting Rhino’s empty apartment to search for clues, but his search gets trippy when Kingsley’s shadowy partner surprises Spidey and sends his mind into a spiral.
Backup Story (Joe Kelly, John Romita, Jr.)
Norman Osborn holds a press conference, intending to announce his resignation to live out his goblin-free days in obscurity. During the press conference, a man whose wife died at the hands of the Green goblin freaks out and turns into a mechanical monster intent on killing Norman. Osborn fights back and tears the mechanical monstrosities limbs off. Norman recalls an earlier chat and decides his time would be better served using his time to make amends with his great power.
This short doesn’t connect to the main story in any obvious way, but it contradicts the last few issues of the Zeb Wells run wherein Norman declared he unceremoniously shout down Oscorp. It’s not clear which story is the right one, and at this point, it doesn’t matter, but Joe Kelly appears to have clumsily invented a reason to keep Norman Osborn in Spider-Man’s sphere for now.
First Impressions
Amazing Spider-Man #1 is okay-ish. It’s a considerable step up from the previous run by Zeb Wells because there wasn’t anything in the issue that infuriated me. Does that mean Joe Kelly is the savior of the run? No. That means Amazing Spider-Man #1 is just serviceable, which is still an improvement.
How’s the Art?
Pepe Larraz is one of the top artists at the Big 2 (and beyond), with good reason. To get the emotional beats and expressiveness of the character, an artist has to exaggerate the facial acting to balance against the seriousness of the script material. Here, Larraz strikes that balance well by exaggerating the character expressions just enough to keep the story playful without getting too cartoonish or slapstickish. Plus, the brief fight between Spidey and Rhino is well done.
What’s great about Amazing Spider-Man #1?
As kickoffs go for what should be Marvel’s flagship character and title, Joe Kelly’s start feels like a serviceable return to form. You get a light, airy montage of scenes to update readers on the current status quo without getting into the weeds. You get a solid, albeit brief, fight against a classic Spidey villain as the entry point to a new mystery, and you get a decent cliffhanger. Amazing Spider-Man fans eager to get the bitter taste of the Wells run out their mouths will find this first issue a largely pleasant issue.
What’s not great about Amazing Spider-Man #1?
To remind new readers of the current status quo, Joe Kelly crafts a script heavy on exposition and drama-free dialog and light on action and memorable moments. Worse, Marvel’s reliance on that famous Parker Luck is obnoxiously in full effect. It’s fair to say Peter Parker has suffered as the Marvel punching bag for way too long, and readers are sick of it.
For example, the issue opens with a montage of job interviews that feels like a greatest hits of previously failed ASM storylines, pushing the overplayed Parker Luck by presenting Peter as a loser who fumbled multiple opportunities.
As another example, the brief fight between Rhino and Spider-Man is fun and classic in execution, but it comes out of nowhere and at the worst possible time since Peter is interrupted on his first day at Rand. Again, Joe Kelly and Marvel lean on the Parker Luck out of nowhere to start the mystery when it’s unnecessary. Does the interruption create conflict in Peter’s “professional” life? Yes, but the conflict reads as manufactured rather than organic.
In all, you get little action, lots of talking, and over-reliance on that famous Parker Luck. Amazing Spider-Man #1 is still an improvement over the Zeb Wells run, but it’s mediocre at best.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
Amazing Spider-Man #1 begins a new day with a new creative team when Peter Parker finds a new job, and Spider-Man stumbles upon a new mystery. Joe Kelly’s script is a significant improvement over the Zeb Wells run, but the drama-light story is long on dialog, short on action, and slathered in Parker Luck tropes. On the plus side, Pepe Larraz does a bang-up job on the art, so this first issue at least shows mild promise.
6/10
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