The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 Review

 

Writers: Derek Landy

Penciler: Ron Lim

Inker: Don Ho

Artist: Sara Pichelli

Colorists: Israel Silva & Travis Lanham

Letterers: Joe Caramagna & Travis Lanham

Cover Artists: Salvador Larroca & Edgar Delgado; Ron Lim & Israel Silva; Mike McKone & Dean White; RB Silva

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: July 3, 2024

 

Thanos made his beloved Death into an Infinity Stone. Like the others, the Death Stone sought a person to inhabit. Sadly for Thanos, it wasn't him. Who are the Infinity Stone Bearers, and what do they have to do with Peter Parker? Let's thwip into Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and find out!

 

The Infinity Watch Part 2

Story

Spider-Man is having a bad day. When he sees someone robbing an armored money truck, he realizes it's about to get better. Apprehending a villain gives him a chance to let off some steam. But will it ease his guilt over not saving a man’s life yesterday? In Derek Landy's story, Peter's not so overwhelmed that he asks Norman Osborn to boost his spider-sense. (In Norman's current mood, he probably wouldn't help anyway). But Fission was learning to use his powers. Perhaps Fission could have matured into a hero and used his powers to help others. But he won't get that chance because Spider-Man couldn't diagnose Fission’s malfunctioning tech before it overloaded.

 

In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, Overtime is having a bad day. Fighting Spider-Man doesn’t make it any better. But then he realizes that Spider-Man is also hurting. So, Overtime abandons his long-term plans to ease his conscience and uses his Time Stone powers to help Spider-Man. In Derek Landy's story, Overtime can return to the same event multiple times without meeting himself. To paraphrase his conversation with Spider-Man, he can mess with the timestream without creating paradoxes. But even when he has part of his personal goal within his grasp, Overtime sacrifices his partial victory to help someone else. 

 

 

 

Art

Ron Lim and Don Ho help Spider-Man emerge from a four-panel page as skyscrapers rise to his left and motion lines streak through the sky to his right before the webslinger alights on a street light and crouches like Spidey The Hunter. Yellow police tape surrounds the broken concrete at the base of a pillar supporting an electronic billboard. Spider-Man's body language suggests more anger than amusement as the green-suited robber escalates from fisticuffs to a side-handle baton. Overtime's easygoing expression graduates to irritation, then anger when he realizes he won't accomplish his goal today.

 

 

Israel Silva lavishes a loaded palette of bright and attractive colors on Ron Lim and Don Ho’s action-packed panels in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. White-green energy mimics the circle on Overtime’s chest as he travels in time. Colors show depth and nuance as Overtime splashes through the wet streets, webbed Fission explodes in the rain, and the bird on the billboard changes expressions and postures. Joe Caramagna enhances Overtime's sacrificial journey with large, black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons, white letters in green narrative boxes, enlarged colorful words, and energizing sound effects.

 

 

 

The Death Stone Saga Part 2

Story

The Death Stone rejected Nighthawk and raised Phil Coulson from the dead. Nighthawk tries to connect with Phil, but the revived man's memories are fragmented. Unlike Star, Quantum, and Overtime, Phil Coulson doesn't understand what has happened to him. But Nighthawk isn't interested in what Phil Coulson might do once he gets his head together. Like Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Nighthawk wants to reshape the universe. But first, he needs all the Infinity Stones. (A shiny gauntlet would also come in handy).

 

Derek Landy’s second story in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 doesn’t feature our web-slinging hero. Still, it’s another story about people trying to rewrite the present to suit their preferred vision of reality. Nighthawk grows more desperate to accomplish his mission here than in the Thanos Annual #1. Perhaps Spider-Man could have talked Nighthawk into making a better choice in The Death Stone Saga Part 2. As things stand, shadows cover Nighthawk's path, and his journey may grow darker with time.

 

Art

Nick Fury’s son rises from bed, pulls on his eye patch, and enters the kitchen. He gazes through the window over the sink and drinks a glass of water. Nighthawk stands atop a crypt. Like Batman or Spawn, he gazes down at Phil Coulson, sitting on the ground between the upright headstones. Coulson resembles a broken man. Yet he soon rises to regard Nighthawk. Resolve washes through his eyes as the purpose that once drove him struggles to return. But then, Tahiti is a magical place.

 

Mattia Iacono casts Nick Fury’s early morning rising in soft blues and paints the graveyard’s sky aqua green. Coulson's dark suit and Nighthawk's black costume stand out amid the pale brown trees and gray memorials. Travis Lanham enhances Derek Landy’s second story in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 with large, black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons and white letters in blue narrative boxes. A shrunken final word suggests Phil Of The Dead's realization that he needs to get his head together fast if he wishes to pursue another celebrated political career.

 

 

Final Thoughts

Should we use our resources and skills to help people today or focus on correcting yesterday’s errors? Or is there a difference between the two options? In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, Overtime sets aside his plans to help Spider-Man, while another hero must decide if a second chance at life is worth fighting for.

 

Rating 9.3/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.