Review of The Spectacular Spider-Man #57 Comic

Art by: John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna

Colors by: Marcio Menyz

Letters by: Vc’s Joe Caramagna

Cover art by: John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, Marcio Menyz

Cover price: $4.99

Release date: September 11, 2024

Amazing Spider-Man #57, by Marvel Comics on 9/11/24, Tombstone makes bail, sending Team Spidey on a frantic race to protect the people who can make or break Tombstone’s trial – Janice and Randy.

Is Amazing Spider-Man #57 Good?

Zeb Wells almost had it. He almost had an issue that will get Spider-Man fans nodding their heads with satisfaction. Sadly, the issue is marred by a boneheaded creative choice at the peak moment of action that will have you shaking your head in disbelief.

When last we left Ol’ Web Head in Amazing Spider-Man #56, Tombstone decided to make an example of Spider-Man after our friendly neighborhood hero disrupted several criminal business deals and spread the rumor that Tombstone and Spider-Man were working together. Tombstone’s plan? Beat Peter Parker to death to draw Spidey out. However, Spidey turned the tables when he hatched a plan to have Tombstone caught in the act of attempted murder and turned the tables even further by using Tombstone’s daughter, Janice Lincoln, as State’s witness.

In Amazing Spider-Man #57, Spidey visits Tombstone in prison. It’s not clear from their tense dialog why Spidey saw fit to visit Tombstone other than to (maybe) gloat. Unfortunately, their visit is interrupted when a guard tells Tombstone he’s being released on bail. Later, Peter confronts Tombstone’s lawyer, Michele, to scold her for putting Janice and Randy in danger, but his scolding falls on uncaring ears.

Well, you can’t have a NY-based Marvel comic without showing a criminal justice system that’s utterly inept and corrupt. Rather than focusing on how Tombstone made bail under airtight criminal charges, the issue moves on to Spidey’s visit with Mayor Cage.

Later, Mayor Cage and She-Hulk agree their legal hands are tied. They also agree that Tombstone wouldn’t kill his daughter outright, so the next logical target is Randy. Everyone on both sides of the law comes to the same conclusion, so the race is on to figure out how to get Janice and Randy to safety without getting killed or kidnapped.

In fairness to Zeb Wells, the issue picks up its pace once plans are initiated on both sides. The tension escalates as you watch to see who fools who to get what they want.

Spider-Man follows an armored police truck containing Randy and Janice while White Rabbit and Digger dislodge an underground subway track. The tension springs when the dislodged track sends a subway car up through the pavement and into the armored truck as it passes through the intersection. The issue concludes with a bait-and-switch, seeing through the bait-and-switch, and an uncertain outcome.

What’s great about Amazing Spider-Man #57? The highlight of this issue is the tightening spring of tension as the enemies prepare to spring their surprises on the opposing team. You can tell a surprise is coming, but you don’t from which direction it comes and from who until it’s too late.

What’s not great about Amazing Spider-Man #57? It all comes down to the trap and the art as down points.

First, the trap. It boggles my mind that a creative team and editorial staff populated by adults with supposedly fully functioning reasoning skills thought Digger could shoot a subway train up through the pavement at the precise moment an armored truck happened to be passing through the intersection. It’s not that the scenario would play out a little differently. It wouldn’t work at all. Yes, this is a superhero comic populated by fantastical people in a fantastical world, but you have to create a scenario that’s somewhat believable. Zeb Wells isn’t even trying at this point, and I’m not sure he ever was.

And then there’s the art. Some panels look fine. Other panels look like Sunday paper comic strip sketches. Character proportions, particularly their heads, changed wildly from one panel to the next, and the whole issue looks like it was drawn by looking at references in a funhouse mirror. Oy!

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 #57 ratchets up the stakes, action, and tension when Tombstone makes bail and takes steps to make sure he stays out of jail. Unfortunately, the goodwill created by building momentum is spoiled by a bizarre trap that’s too dumb to believe. Couple a bad creative choice with bizarrely inconsistent art, and you get a wildly uneven issue.

5.8/10

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