Amazing Spider-Man #58 Review

 

Writers: Zeb Wells

Penciler: John Romita Jr

Inker: Scott Hanna

Colorist: Marcio Menyz

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Nick Lowe & C B Cebulski

Cover Artists: John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna & Morry Hollowell;Chris Allen & Frank D’Armata; Giuseppe Camuncoli & Ramulo Fajardo Jr; Ryan Meinerding; Leonardo Romero

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 25, 2024

 

When Lonnie Lincoln lay on life support, Janice took his crime syndicate away from him. Lonnie teamed with Spider-Man in the Gang War because he didn’t want his daughter to become like him. Then he stripped Janice of her Beetle wings at The Battle Of Central Park, abandoned Spider-Man’s coalition in the fight against Madame Masque, and boogied home with White Rabbit and his gang. After his lawyer arranged bail, Lonnie sent White Rabbit after his would-be son-in-law and murdered the police outside his daughter’s apartment. Will Lonnie kill Janice to prevent his daughter from sending him back to Ryker’s Island? Let's thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #58 and find out!

 

Story

When Spider-Man admitted he convinced Janice to testify against her father, Lonnie Lincoln told Spider-Man, “You have no idea what you’ve done.” When Michele got Lonnie out of Ryker’s, Peter Parker asked Lonnie's lawyer, “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” No one expected Lonnie to attack his daughter in her apartment. They assumed Janice would be safe. But Janice is the key to locking her father behind bars, and as Lonnie once told her, "Whoever wins today will own everything and will have to be a monster to keep it."

 

 

 

Perhaps Shotgun’s indictment still rings in Lonnie’s ears. The government didn’t view him as a long-term threat and sent Shotgun to assassinate his daughter. But when Janice reminds Lonnie of his paternal relationship in Zeb Wells’ story, her father says, “Not anymore.” Lonnie once told Wilson Fisk, “It’s Tombstone when I’m working.” Intriguingly, whether wearing street clothes or his costume, Peter Parker never uttered Tombstone’s name when he tried to cage the crime lord in Amazing Spider-Man #57. But when he interrupts the family squeezefest in Amazing Spider-Man #58 and Tombstone races outside after his daughter, Spider-Man never utters Lonnie's moniker. Instead, Spider-Man repeats the crime lord’s name in the fading hope that part of the man doesn’t want to be a monster.

 

 

 

Art

When Tombstone took out the police guarding her apartment, Janice heard three shots. Yet when Tombstone enters her apartment, he replaces the magazine in his semiautomatic with a fresh one. As she dives behind the bed, crawls into the bathroom, and dons her costume, Tombstone sprays the apartment with bullets. When Janice knocks the gun from his hand with a laser blast, Tombstone tosses an EMP grenade that chokes the room with smoke. As Janice goes for his throat with both hands, Tombstone grabs one of her arms, hurls her to the floor, and squeezes the life out of Janice with his free hand. John Romita Jr and Scott Hanna respect page boundaries while delivering an average of four to six panels per page. The exception is a double-page spread with inset panels when Spider-Man makes a spectacular entrance in Amazing Spider-Man #58.

 

 

 

Marcio Menyz surrounds Janice's chocolate features with mauve-brown walls. When Tombstone points his gun at her, orange fills the background and illuminates her face. Tombstone's stony features and white skin suggest Frankenstein's monster as he relentlessly pursues his daughter. His purple vest echoes his daughter's Beetle costume. Tombstone's choice of shirt seems deliberate, as it links him with the other person determined to rob him of his empire in Amazing Spider-Man #58. 

 

 

 

Joe Caramagna’s uppercase black lettering in dialogue balloons and narrative boxes grows bold for inflection, swells and changes color for increased volume, and shrinks for lowered voices. While colored and transparent sound effects enhance the nonstop battle and chase, red dominates with gunshots and enlarged dialogue that often disrespects balloon boundaries like Madame Masque, Spider-Man, Janice Lincoln, and the US government have disrespected Lonnie Lincoln. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Janice Lincoln doesn’t want Spider-Man to rescue her. Lonnie Lincoln doesn’t want Spider-Man to prevent him from killing his daughter. As Tombstone, Lonnie always put business over family. But then Spider-Man found Tombstone’s weak spot. So, in Amazing Spider-Man #58, Tombstone seeks to eliminate it before his weakness destroys what he values most.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

Preview the interior art in my review at Comic Book Dispatch.