The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #2 Review

 

Writer: J Michael Straczynski

Artist: Pere Pérez

Colorist: Guru-eFX

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Mark Chiarello; Ario Anindito; Gabriele Dell’Otto; Steve Rude; Pere Pérez & Marte Gracia

Designer: Carlos Lao

Editors: Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: November 12, 2025

 

Life at Empire State University challenges Peter Parker. Some General Education classes tax him. Other subjects he could ace in his sleep, but must sit through regardless. Peter feels torn between his duty to protect the public and his schoolwork. College life also prompts Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and Mary Jane Watson to contemplate the careers they will pursue and the people they will share their futures with.

 

As Peter struggles to figure out where he belongs and what his future holds, trouble explodes on campus. While stealing a rare book, the stone-cold killer executes the librarian and his assistant. But before Peter can apprehend her, the woman transforms into a winged demon. Who will the demon thief attack next? And can Peter draw on German 101 to read the 13^th-century tome and figure out how to reverse the thief’s transformation? Let's thwip into The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #2 and see!

 

Story

The dangers that threaten people know no boundaries. They may occur across the Hudson or when Peter is relaxing with his friends. After his uncle taught him the relationship between power and responsibility, Peter feels the weight of every soul he couldn't protect. So, while Gwen, Harry, and Mary Jane mourn librarian Tom Ambrose and his assistant Lauren Connor, Peter blames himself for their deaths.

 

In The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #2, Peter researches the book he grasped from Evangeline's claws to understand why they died. But he finds little or no mention of the book online. Languages change over time, and Peter keeps tripping up in Dr Dunkle’s class. He realizes he’s not up to deciphering 13^th-century German. So, Peter seeks assistance, even though doing so risks his secret identity.

 

As Peter navigates the complex web of his investigation, guilt, and relationships, Evangeline strives to understand what has happened to her. She seeks the aid of the person who commissioned her theft. Evangeline is frustrated and shocked by her transformation. And while she's not thinking straight, she lashes out with her newfound strength. In J Michael Straczynski’s story, Evangeline clings to the hope of regaining the body she has lost.

 

 

 

 

Art

In Lafayette Deli, a young employee struggles to comprehend the intricacies of customer service. His pupils rise when webbing yanks the bag from his smiling employer's hands in The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #2. As Peter sits atop a column high above the street, Pere Pérez shows how Peter relies on coffee to prepare for those grueling 8 am general ed classes. Amid the streamlined towers, a man gazes out upon the city through his wall windows. His Garfield-like cat leaps from his arms when a winged demon makes a spectacular entrance.

 

 

 

 

As Guru-eFX adorns The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #2 with a radiant palette, he gives Mary Jane and Peter black shirts, and dresses Dr Dunkle in a black suit. The man who commissioned Evangeline’s theft wears a purple robe, a color historically linked with wealth, royalty, and power. The story he weaves for Evangeline’s pointed ears appears in white, black, and purple. As he explains how the book transformed her, Evangeline’s brown skin links her with the leather-bound volume.

 

 

 

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase black letters into white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. The words grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and rarely shrink. Evangeline speaks into cloudy balloons, while the font hints at her traumatized state. Sound effects herald a shrieking demon, enhance fighting, and remind Peter of an upcoming engagement. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, Peter. It tolls for thee! Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a review copy.

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

While Peter fears hurting his friends, losing the last person he sees as a parent, and not saving those in need, he worries about the trauma people undergo following a life-threatening ordeal. Mary Jane fears the consequences of an opportunity not taken, while Evangeline fears life as an outsider. Yet the greatest fear people face in The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #2 isn't death, relationships, or the future. Instead, it is the secrets contained in an ancient book, and what drawing upon its power could unleash.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

Amazing Spider-Man #53 Review

 

Writers: Zeb Wells

Pencilers: Todd Nauck & Ed McGuinness

Inker: Todd Nauck & Wade Von Grawbadger

Colorists: Marcio Menyz

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz; Ivan Bigarella; Tony Daniel & Marcelo Maiolo; Russell Dauterman; Gabriele Dell’Otto

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: July 10, 2024

 

The Green Goblin transformed Peter Parker into Spider-Goblin. Chasm loosened the Golbin's hold on his mind. But then Peter ignores the plans he made for the Goblin's return. Without Spider-Man leading the Goblin Resistance, will Ms. Marvel, J Jonah Jameson, Dr Curt Connors, the Walking Brain, and their Web-Whanging replacement commemorate their victory with Riesling and Gorgonzola? Or will the Green Goblin detonate their new plans with a flurry of pumpkin bombs? Let's thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #53, Big Believers, and find out!

 

Story

The Emissary transported Peter Parker and Mary Jane to an alternate Earth. When Paul sent Peter back to Earth-616, Norman helped Peter return to rescue Mary Jane. Even though Norman was helping his friend, Ms Marvel blames Norman for instigating the events that led to her death. If the Green Goblin influenced Norman's actions, that also makes him responsible for wrecking Peter’s love life and Mary Jane becoming the superhero Jackpot. Whatever the case, Ms Marvel’s not in a hurry to die again. So she teams with the Walking Brain’s posse and invades Oscorp.

 

Norman Osborn currently owns Oscorp, but Peter, Kamala, Dr Curt Connors, and his assistant Doug have spent days and years there. It's as familiar a battleground for the participants as Central Park was for the gangs of New York. Still, much is uncertain in Amazing Spider-Man #53. In Peter's absence, Dr Curt Connors tries to control Doc Ock’s old mechanical legs, the Walking Brain furiously calculates the Green Goblin’s goal, and Norman’s former intern takes on a supervillain with decades of fighting expertise. Yes, Rek-Rap, it is indeed slobberin’ time.

 

 

 

Chasm’s psychoreactive goo helped Peter's consciousness return. But like Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up," once Peter hears the Green Goblin's thoughts, he can't get them out of his head. So, like many of us, he struggles to ignore distracting thoughts and concentrate on what he wants to do. Peter has a plan to combat the Green Goblin. It involves a spear that gave him Norman Osborn's sins and a machine that turns people into goblins. Peter told Hallows' Eve that no good ever came from the Winkler machine. He insisted the machine couldn’t heal Chasm. So why does Peter think that a sin-filled spear and a machine up to no good can heal Norman Osborn?

 

In Amazing Spider-Man #53, the protagonists battle a superior adversary. They struggle and fall. And a hero descends into the darkness to relieve his friend of his inner demons.

 

 

Art

After glaring at faces on a monitor, Norman stands beside his goblin suit and loosens his tie. Norman never looked as happy in a business suit as when clad in his beloved green and purple costume. As Ms Marvel shows how she invaded Oscorp, a goblin glider enters the room. Todd Nauck and Ed McGuinness maintain the tension through character expressions and body language in Amazing Spider-Man #53. Peter hunches over his workbench before clasping his adapted spear. Ms Marvel’s long arms reach out for Norman as Curt Connors scrambles atop Doc Ock’s old mechanical legs. Rek-Rap grabs Green Goblin upside down and stares deeply into his eyes. Hey! That's Mary Jane and Spider-Man's special move, Rek-Rap!

 

 

 

Marcio Menyz adorns heroes and villains with bold, eye-catching colors. Orange and yellow replace gray backgrounds when Green Goblin leaps aboard his glider, and the Walking Brain executes his endgame. Waves of red radiate from Peter as he struggles to control his thoughts, while the Walking Brain and Green Goblin share the same bright color. In the lair of the Sinister Six, Kraven surveys his unconscious associates. If the Green Goblin, Mysterio, Elektro, Vulture, Doc Ock, and Sandman all wear green, does that mean the Walking Brain is evil too?

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase black lettering into dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. The fonts grow bold for inflection, swell for increased volume, get italicized for machine-speak, and rarely shrink for lowered voices. The Green Goblin’s giant red “Me” seeks harmony with Peter Parker’s “No,” while Rek-Rap’s Chud opposes the Goblin’s red laughter. Kraven’s orange narrative boxes follow Ms Marvel’s distraught orange cry, reminding readers that popular characters can die in Amazing Spider-Man #53. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

As Ms Marvel assembles a team of people more accustomed to using their minds than their fists, Spider-Man attempts to banish Norman's thoughts from his mind. Amazing Spider-Man #53 speaks to the duality inside each of us and reminds us of the importance of our mental health.

 

9.4/10

 

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