Writer: Joe Kelly
Penciler: Ed McGuinness
Inker: Mark Farmer
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
Dream Sequence Artist: Niko Henrichon
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover Artists: John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz; Gleb Melnikov & Richard Isanove; Aaron Kuder & Paul Mounts; Skottie Young; Simone Bianchi; Paolo Mottura
Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Tom Groneman, Nick Lowe & C B Cebulski
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $4.99
Release Date: November 13, 2024
Aunt May wants Peter to help her with the FEAST center. Shay Marken wants a relationship with him. Randy Robertson tries to further Peter’s photography career by being his agent. Spider-Boy wants Spider-Man to train him. Still, Spider-Man won't let a fiery new villain unsettle his professional, personal, and superhero life, right? So what happens when Doctor Doom offers Spidey a life extension? Let's thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #61 and find out!
Story
Shay challenged him to become the Amazing Peter Parker. Aunt May, Randy, and Bailey Briggs also want to share his life. Trying to satisfy his friends and loved ones overwhelms Peter. And the demands never stop. Norman Osborn tried to give Peter a career at Oscorp. But that situation endangered his friends and drew him into policing shady business affairs. A return to the Daily Bugle isn't happening. So, in Amazing Spider-Man #61, Peter embarks on a new career with Randy and lets everyone down.
Being Spider-Man is central to Peter’s life because he cares about people. He doesn’t want to end up like Tombstone, filled with power and success but lacking in friends. So, while Spider-Man fights people like Tombstone and rescues people from danger, Peter also fights to support friends and loved ones. Sadly, another villain wants a piece of Spidey's action.
Tombstone tricked Spider-Man into helping him win the New York Gang War. Now, Doctor Doom appeals to Spidey for help. If Spider-Man says No, people die. Doom claims Doctor Strange agreed to a recurring contest between Cyttorak and Earth because he craved more power. Yet Doom mentions the Darkhold, an ancient book of evil written by the elder god Chthon. The Darkholders used spells in the book to create Varnae. That vampire possessed Blade and killed Doctor Strange, prompting Strange's spirit to appeal for help from Doctor Doom. Like Tombstone in the Gang War, Doom protected Latveria from a vampiric invasion and emerged from Blood Hunt as Sorcerer Supreme.
In Joe Kelly's story, Spider-Man can't sit back and wait for Doom to play his hand. Cyntros, the first demigod to attack Earth, wields the power that controls the cosmos. While Spider-Man fights to protect people, he must figure out what Doom wants and why the Sorcerer Supreme selected him as Earth's champion. When will Peter Parker get his life together, Aunt May? It won't be in Amazing Spider-Man #61!
Art
Ed McGuinness and Mark Farmer portray the barely controlled chaos of Spider-Man's life as items tumble out of his pack while protecting Kevin from Burnout. They contrast the midair fight with Peter's grimaces and shrugs to his friends. A Deadpool patch on Peter's satchel suggests his life would be easier if Spider-Man killed foes rather than apprehending or reforming them. Doom turns an untrained fiery foe into a flock of Phoenixes, further complicating Peter's life. Doctor Doom stands imperious, clad in his metal armor, green tunic, and the Sorcerer Supreme’s Cloak Of Levitation.
Later, Spider-Man stalks a roof, gesturing his frustrations over meeting everyone's expectations. The graffiti suggests that New York declines when Peter neglects his superhero duties. Spider-Boy stands before mockups of two A-list villains constructed from wood and metal cans. Then sparks fly from Spider-Boy's head, and he shrinks as Spidey thwips into the sky.
Marcio Menyz lavishes bold colors upon Spider-Man’s fight with Burnout and his meetup with Doctor Doom. Peter spends time with friends and Aunt May amid softer pastels. Cyntros glows red and wields yellow energy that colors captured objects orange and brown. Niko Henrichon adorns pages with a smoky montage of characters' expressions, actions, and a moment that evokes Doctor Strange’s divining on Titan in Avengers: Infinity War. Doom fades away in his green, silver, and red when he clads his champion in green, silver, and red in Amazing Spider-Man #61.
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. Enlarged and colored dialogue threatens to burst dialogue balloons in Amazing Spider-Man #61. Sound effects introduce a demigod, slam home the futility of fighting Cyntros without help, and remind Spider-Man of his inability to satisfy everyone. Yet an enlarged red scream reminds us that there's no such thing as a free lunch (or life extension). Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
Doctor Doom tricked Doctor Strange into giving up the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. In Amazing Spider-Man #61, Doom manipulates Spider-Man into defending Earth in a cosmic contest. If he survives, perhaps Peter Parker will learn why Doom picked him over all of Earth’s mightiest heroes. But first, a man who can’t safely deliver a Rick Jones record to his girlfriend must defeat eight demigods.
Rating 9.8/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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