Amazing Spider-Man #11 didn’t do much in the way of building confidence in the new direction this series is taking. The series has been split into three different stories with Peter Parker lost in space, Ben Reilly posing as Peter Parker, and Norman Osborn as Spider-Man. Of these three stories it’s only the real Peter Parker’s story that got the intrigue behind it. Spider-Man being lost in space and training for a rematch with Hellgate is interesting enough. Adding in the Ben Reilly and Norman Osborn stories just appear to overcomplicate things so that Peter’s life can be a disaster when he returns, like normal. Let’s see if Amazing Spider-Man #12 changes the perception with the focus this will have on Ben and Norman’s side of the narrative.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joe Kelly
Artist: Ed McGuinness
Inkers: Cliff Rathburn and Ed McGuinness
Colorists: Marcio Menyz and Erick Arciniega
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #12 SOLICITATION
“STOP SPIDER-MAN! Spider-Man’s gone too far. Now his greatest allies must stop him before it’s too late!” – Marvel Comics
HIGHLIGHTS OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #12
Appreciation for Peter Parker’s Life
Joe Kelly does what he can to not simply recycle the Superior Spider-Man plotline. He does this with Norman Osborn quickly realizing the life Peter lived is much more difficult than perceived. Finding balance in life is much more difficult. It is an interesting character study on the difference in lifestyle as a hero and villain. The awareness by Norman that his life as Green Goblin, no matter the chaos, was simpler was handled well in the intro to his story.
Spider-Man Family Treated as Characters not Plot Devices
Far too often we’ve seen this life switching scenario just be set up to dump on the lead character. That was certainly expected for Peter Parker given similar past storylines. So, it was certainly surprising to see that the Spider-Man Family immediately recognize the “new” Spider-Man was a fake. Adding in the detail that Cindy Moon detected that Peter is alive but not on Earth was a nice use of continuity with their connection. This made the Spider-Man Family better characters as they were defending their friend from someone damaging Peter’s reputation.
Ed McGuinness Artwork Steals the Show
Having Ed McGuinness on a comic featuring Spider-Man taking the Spider-Man family is a cheat code. McGuinness shows why he is a great Spider-Man artist with the way he draws the characters movements. There is enough done with how Norman operates as Spider-Man that you know the character has to compensate for his lack of spider powers. That is driven home with how the rest of the Spider-Man Family fights in a fluid way. This forces Norman to resort to his Green Goblin fighting style to drive home why he is just playing being Spider-Man.
WHAT DIDN’T WORK IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #12
Tough to Connect with Norman Osborn as Spider-Man
There are things about Norman’s side of the narrative that is handled better than the previous issue. Unfortunately, at the end of the day Norman is not a convincing lead. There is an aura around Norman that you can’t buy into this direction of him being a temporary Spider-Man. Even if he is doing it to try to help Peter it is not really. There is to much baggage with Norman’s character to ever believe this attempt at a heroic turn. That is emphasized by his breakdown after being confronted by Spider-Gwen. Everything feels forced to garner sympathy but it just doesn’t.
Ben Reilly Proves He’s Not a Series Lead
We don’t get a ton from Ben Reilly in Amazing Spider-Man #12. Ben’s appearance is a quick two-page scene that shows he is already exhausted having to keep up his Peter Parker persona. Just like how Ben acts as Peter, as the reader we are given the perception this part of the story has run its course. It is an extremely boring scene that is not made any better by how Ben blows off Brian Nehring. It would be one thing if Ben showed that simply focusing on being Peter leads to a better life. But thus far he and Janine are just trying to do their best Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson impression.
Struggle Balancing “Peter Parker” & “Spider-Man” as Series Leads
The thing that Amazing Spider-Man #12 succeeded in proving above all else is that splitting up the “Peter Parker” and “Spider-Man” narratives is a mistake. It doesn’t help that Kelly will have the real Peter’s space adventures told every other issue until his return to Earth. Splitting the narrative up in this way already will be a lot to juggle. As we see with what spotlighting Norman’s struggle to balance taking on the Spider-Man identity meant. There was so much to be done with Norman it meant that Ben’s narrative could only get two pages development. That is not enough to buy into this direction being must-read. If anything this shows it was a mistake to go with this narrative structure.
Supporting Cast Dragged Down
With Kelly’s struggles to balance having Ben and Norman as leads things are even worse for the supporting cast. All we get is a page is of J. Jonah Jameson recording his podcast and Brian Nehring failed attempts to be Ben’s Peter Parker friend. Outside of that we get a brief blink or you’ll miss it cameo from Aunt May. With Spider-Man being known for having a strong supporting cast not having more involvement from them hurts this story. It would’ve strengthen the narrative if we actually heard what Aunt May thinks of how Ben is acting as Peter. The same goes for others like Shay who were close to the real Peter before all this went down.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Amazing Spider-Man #12 is certainly an improvement over the introduction of this new direction for the series. Joe Kelly shows a strong handle of how to write the Spider-Man Family and Ed McGuinness on artwork is a cheat code. Unfortunately, this issue just drove home why splitting up the narrative into three distinct parts is an Achilles heel. On top of that Norman Osborn and Ben Reilly are simply not intriguing long-term co-series leads. There’s too much baggage to tell a balanced story every other issue. Hopefully the real Peter Parker’s side of this series will do better with its presentation.
Story Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
For more opinions on anime, comic book, movies, and sports you can follow Kevin on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter/X.