US Shipping Date: September 27, 2006

Previous Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #534 Next Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #536

Synopsis
MJ wakes up in the middle of the night to find Peter watching TV. He sends her back to bed as he hears a report about Stark Enterprises gaining a 2 billion dollar military contract. He goes to confront Tony about his motives and demands to be shown where the heroes he helped ring in end up. Tony takes him to the Baxter Building and Reed Richards opens a portal to the facility… in the Negative Zone! Tony shows Peter around the facility (where Prodigy makes a cameo appearance!) and tells him that this is not a temporary solution. Holding these people on neutral soil means that the laws of fair trials do not count and they can be held here indefinitely without trial. Peter has a major problem with this and gets in Tony’s face. Once they leave, Peter loiters behind and asks Reed why he is on Tony’s side. Reed talks about his uncle who was persecuted during the McCarthy Era and ended up losing everything over it. Reed loved his uncle but has learned from his lessons; the laws are there to be upheld and that standing against them is too risky. Peter leaves Reed with his thoughts and is accosted by Tony. Leaving for a meeting himself, Tony thinks it would be a good idea for Peter to travel to LA to head an initiative there and to clear his head… That night, Peter wakes May and MJ and tells them that he thinks he is on the wrong side. Immediately there is a massive booming heading towards them and Peter yells at them to run! Bounding down the corridor in his suit, Spidey is tackled clean through a wall… by Iron Man!

Highlight
The closing page is full of power and amazing detail and is exactly what I have been waiting for!

Comments
This arc continues to impress me!

The formula for it has been pretty simple (Peter choosing a side, dealing with the unmasking, fighting Cap and now changing sides – ok, the events read as far from simple but as a structure goes the changing sides has been pretty much what we expected) but it has been told with particular care. And it has had to have been. Knowing that Peter would eventually change sides means that the effects of suspense and reasoning have had to be drawn out through the details and quality of the writing and not the chock value of what is being written about. For example, I figured that Peter would change sides this issue and that Iron Man would not be happy, but the way that Straczynski built up bubbling resentment between these two this issue makes this a logical step for Peter to take and the rapid last two pages are enough to create an immense need to get the next issue!

In fact, these last two pages have got me more built up than any Amazing Spider-Man issue in a while. If you look at them in more detail, everything about them is superb! From the echoes of the ‘boom boom’ getting bigger and faster to the blurred vibrating effect of the panel with MJ and May in to the panel with Peter bounding down the corridor to get some distance between him and his loved ones there is so much built up in one page its unbelievable. It’s also worth noting that we do not get to hear Peter’s thoughts here, and actually for any of this issue, and I think that’s because the focus is now on Peter’s actions. Straczynski uses Peter’s actions and expressions to tell his story and this is a powerful statement. Moving quickly on to the final page and it is a heck of an image! Credit to Garney who gives this so much impact as Peter is basically tackled through a wall! The sudden leap from not seeing Iron Man to seeing him crash into Peter like this really conveys the speed and force at which this fight is going to have. I can’t wait! Oh, and once again, Garney proves that his simple rendition of Peter’s new costume is the best around at the moment.

As far as the rest of the issue goes, Straczynski uses it to fuel his Fantastic Four story, to flesh out the Civil War story and to build up a fundamental disagreement about right and wrong between Tony and Peter. One comes out of this latter one with a sense that Peter is brave enough to stand up for what he believes is right and that Tony is not. The emotional resonance of the story of Reed Richards’ uncle enforces this as Reed comes across as a desperate man clinging to a law that he doesn’t necessary believe in and seemingly not having the courage to stand up and be counted. (You can tell which side I am on!) The shadowing of Reed and his dishevelled look, plus the fact that he is now alone, implies that he has lost his way and Peter’s comments on this resound to put Peter high up on the moral ladder.

And that is why we love him; his morals and the need to protect the innocent are one of the driving forces behind him and, as he once made a mistake and let a burglar slip past him, he learns and is now on the path to rectify the situation.

It’s just a path through Iron Man!

Garney's pencils are incredible. I don't want to harp on about the quality of the last couple of pages again... so I won't. But the rest of the issue conveys a lot of emotion, solid detail and a grat sense of storytelling (the physical tension between Peter and Tony) that makes this issue special. The consistency of his pencils are a credit to this title as well - I love it when artists stay on a title for a decent amount of time , they get to grips with the characters and there is a sense of continuous storytelling by issues and not just arc followed by arc.

Another very strong issue and I just wish the wait wasn’t so long for the next one. Although I said the formula has been pretty simple so far I honestly can’t see where this is going next. (Dare I say… Punisher?)

Rating
Cover – 2½ / 5
Overall – 4½ / 5

Reviewed by Adam Rivett

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Previous Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #534 Next Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #536