Amazing Spider-Man #50 Review

 

Writers: Zeb Wells, Marv Wolfman, Nikesh Shukla

Pencilers: Ed McGuinness, Terry Dodson

Inker: Mark Farmer

Artists: Crisscross, Juan Ferreyra, and Todd Nauck

Colorists: Marcio Menyz & Erick Arciniega; Terry Dodson; Andrew Dalhouse; Juan Ferreyra; Rachelle Rosenberg

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz; Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg; Greg Capullo & FCO Plascencia; Iban Coello & Jesus Aburtov; John Romita Sr & Edgar Delgado; John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna & Dean White; John Tyler Christopher

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $9.99

Release Date: May 22, 2024

 

Spider-Man battled gangs to protect people like Peter Parker's friend, Randy Robertson. Spider-Man also helped Peter's friend, Betty Brant, recapture the Winkler Device from Hobgoblin and Queen Goblin. Spidey even saved the Living Brain from the Sinister Six and stored it in Peter Parker's workplace. But is Peter Parker Spider-Man? Let’s grab some brain food to confront this brainteaser, thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #50, and find out!

 

Main Story

Peter Parker’s life has not gone smoothly. He confessed to Shay that he doesn’t do well in personal relationships. Yet he’s tried to make more time for friends like Miles Morales, Randy Robertson, and Betty Brant. But then, there was that evening that Michele claimed he stood her up for a date.

 

In Amazing Spider-Man #50, another strange incident occurs. Instead of saving people from dangerous situations or capturing criminals, Spider-Man is hassling a Real Estate agent named Keyan when Norman Osborn calls. It seems like a strange use of Peter Parker’s precious time. But Peter has bigger fish to fry. The Living Brain is in a chatty mood.

 

Recently, the giant cerebrum penetrated the digital clean room to travel the worldwide web. Now, it endangers its existence to communicate. The message it sends Peter, which he relays to Norman, could change both men’s lives forever.

 

After conferring with Dr Curt Connors, Peter heads to Norman's office. Peter is Norman's employee and friend. In Kamala Khan's absence, Peter is Norman's moral compass. Like any multimillionaire, power and influence insulate Norman from the consequences of his actions. Norman can injure or destroy people's lives more effectively than Tombstone's flunkies Kareem or White Rabbit, let alone Tombstone's lawyer Michele or an underhand Real Estate agent named Keyan. The question is, does Norman want to?  

 

Amazing Spider-Man #50 spins a web of story strands over more than half the oversized issue. Zeb Wells unearths Easter Eggs hidden beneath more eye-catching events. Yet Wells also asks if we can be happy when denying our most powerful urges. Can someone who derives pleasure from hurting others ever reform and be satisfied with helping people? Or, like the Living Brain, are we damaging ourselves by ignoring our primary drives and trying to reshape our identities?

 

 

 

Art

A light show surrounds the giant brain. Sparks erupt from monitors in the control room. As lab-coated technicians scramble to understand what's happening, a ticker tape issues from a workstation.

 

Keyan tries to pull webbing off his dark suit while Spider-Man squats atop a mailbox. More webbing stretches from a window washer's platform to nearby objects. A trio of circular panels nestles beside successive rectangular panels of Spider-Man and Keyan. Norman resides in these circular panels, clad in his dark suit. As he converses with Spidey, he clutches a chess piece. Is it a bishop or a pawn?

 

Marcio Menyz & Erick Arciniega lavish a loaded palette on Ed McGuinness and Mark Farmer’s stylish art. Old School panels give way to more modern layouts, interposed with splash pages and double-page spreads. Brown, gray, and orange control room scenes give way to vivid colors as a door opens, and a frown becomes a wicked smile. Brightly colored opening scenes transition to electrifying green, purple, and orange. The sunlight illuminating Spider-Man and Kayan shout that this issue takes place after events in Amazing Spider-Man Blood Hunt. But by the end of this story, another darkness has overcome our world.

 

Welcome to the jungle, baby.

 

 

 

 

Cat-Nipped!

Story

Spider-Man pursues Black Cat after her latest robbery, but she eludes him. Later, he stops by her Litter Box. Black Cat left him a message in her apartment. Like Freddie Mercury, she says, Don't stop me now. But Spider-Man wants to halt her fun and games. So, he seeks a pattern behind her intriguing crime spree.

 

In Amazing Spider-Man #50, Marv Wolfman touches on the intriguing link between competition, forgery, and homage. Like Randy Robertson's former relationship with Tombstone's daughter, the story also reveals how closeness to those who don’t share our moral standards can blind us to the harm they cause.

 

Art

Black Cat swings above the street and somersaults onto a semi-truck trailer. As she races toward the cab, Spider-Man swings past and snatches the poster tube from her shoulder. Sorry, Black Cat! You won’t be bringing that art to your next convention!

 

Terry and Rachel Dodson populate pages with one or two panels and build around those with thin strips or tiny boxes. Terry Dodson employs a limited palette dominated by blues, making skin tones and the red on Spidey’s costume stand out. The final pages bloom with more colors as Spider-Man thwips into the sunrise.

 

 

 

Time To Make The Donuts

Story

Spider-Man loves Lionel King's donuts. Missing out on them makes Spidey unhappy. Spider-Man has dedicated his life to thwipping and fighting crime. Yet he's amazed by Lionel's dedication to such a mundane task.

 

Nikesh Shukla’s story in Amazing Spider-Man #50 reminds us to respect how food influences us and unites us with others. It also highlights how a stray comment can transform a person's life.

 

Art

Introductory scenes focus on the cooking donuts, then pull back to show Spider-Man standing beside Lionel’s food truck. Crisscross devotes a page to Spidey thwipping above the city before he meets with Mrs. King. Andrew Dalhouse employs subdued colors while sparing bright green and pink to highlight Lionel and his mother. A memory bathes in yellow, orange, and copper. After the engaging dialogue and intense kitchen action, the final panel darkens. Will the brightness return when Spidey reunites with Lionel and his mother? 

 

 

 

Don’t Thing Thrice, It’s All Right

Story

Lee Gatlin brings a dose of cartoony fun to Amazing Spider-Man #50. Spidey spots the Rhino’s silhouette in a darkened apartment. So he swoops in, only to realize that he’s crashing a surprise birthday party. While packing his story about Spider-Man and the Thing with hijinks and humor, Lee muses on how bringing someone to mind may provoke a seemingly random meetup.

 

Art

Gangly Spider-Man thwips around a brownstone before swinging through a window and webbing everyone inside. Like the other guests, the ever-loving Thing is wearing a party hat. The next day, a practical joke makes the Thing resemble Rhino. Lee Gatlin complements his fun cartoony art with textured color that imbues this short tale about friends and enemies with depth and atmosphere. 

 

 

 

Secrets

Story

While Zeb Wells scattered the seeds for his story in Amazing Spider-Man #50 in preceding issues, Joe Kelly shares another previously unrevealed event. Peter can’t shake some pesky Niffleheim Imps, so he heads to the Sanctum Sanctorum. As Doctor Strange struggles with his health and focus, Peter seems oblivious to the sorcerer’s pain and his need to concentrate. Steven's final words and the stick he clamps in his jaws hint at upcoming developments that may rock Spider-Man's world. That is, assuming he survives the current storyline involving the Living Brain, Norman Osborn, and the Green Goblin.

 

Kelly’s story reminds us how pestering others to resolve our urgent business can derail others from fulfilling necessary tasks.

 

Art

In contrast to Lee Gatlin’s black and red Spider-Man, Juan Ferreyra shows tiny green goblins chomping on Spidey’s bright red and blue suit. Spidey trails a cloud of lavender as he tumbles inside the Sanctum Sanctorum. Light shines from the bat's mouths as Spider-Man sits on a hammock. Spindly, articulated limbs pluck the Cornish Pixies away. Yet Spider-Man ignores a nightmarish apparition and regards Doctor Strange on his upholstered, armored throne. Ferreyra’s atmospheric art suggests the power an upcoming Spine-Tingling Doctor Strange series could wield.

 

 

Epilogue And Lettering

Like a post-credit scene in an MCU movie, Zeb Wells, Todd Nauck, and Rachelle Rosenberg provide an epilogue in the jungle where Dr Connors plays to close out the main story in Amazing Spider-Man #50.

 

Aside from Lee Gatlin's hand lettering, Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase black lettering into dialogue balloons and narrative boxes in Amazing Spider-Man #50. The font grows bold for inflection, swells for increased volume, and rarely shrinks. Immense letters help us hear a semi-truck crash, a giant brain scream, and overwhelmingly evil laughter.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

When the Living Brain starts talking, its words upend Peter Parker and Norman Osborn’s lives in Amazing Spider-Man #50. Perhaps it's just as well that Peter's heightened strength, agility, and spider-sense prevent him from ever relaxing. He'll need all his wits to confront the enemies that surround him and the demons that lurk within.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To preview interior art for the main story see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Recent Reads & an Appearance by Stan Lee

Every Thursday on her blog, American Fantasy author Jane Lindskold hosts a conversation with a reader from New Zealand. Then, every Friday, she shares what books she's been reading lately. Last week's conversation covered how readers often judge older stories by contemporary values, and criticize such works if they fail to live up to current standards. On Friday, I shared with Jane Lindskold the novels I had read that week in her Comments section. Given their discussion, I thought it would be fun to judge these novels as critics might if they had been written today. 

1) Omoo by Herman Melville. (Published 1847) No strong female characters. Whaling Industry Employees stereotyped as layabouts and scoundrels. Assessment: Must be rewritten for today's diversity-conscious readers.

2) Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich. (Published 2015) Stephanie seems more capable than ever before. Her mother reveals herself as a kick-ass heroine. Morelli portrayed as weak and fragile. Conclusion: suitable for today's readers.

3) Nova Classic: Volume 1 by Marv Wolfman. (A graphic novel, made up of comics published in the 1970s). Early adventures of Nova, who gained his powers from the Nova Corps on Xandar, as shown in the recent movie "Guardians of the Galaxy." Bronze Age superhero fare in the tradition of Stan Lee's early Spider-Man stories. Sadly lacking in strong female superheroes, naked people, or characters with TV sets for heads. Warning: Reading Volume 1 could lead you to purchase Volume 2.

With regard to Nova, my remark regarding a lack of naked people, or characters with TV sets as heads, was intended as tongue-in-cheek. One of the books Jane Lindskold listed in her weekly reads was a graphic novel compilation of issues of Saga, a Science Fiction comic book series geared to adults. I read the first issue, and a few later ones, and didn't feel attracted to the story, let alone such outrageous character types. But others find value in  it. Not only is the series successful, but the first graphic novel compilation of Saga issues won the prestigious Hugo award in the Best Graphic Story category. 

Regular readers may remember my posts on Sam Alexander, the newest Human to bear the mantle of Nova on Earth. Sam is a fun character, created by author Jeph Loeb, and subsequent writers have preserved the young boy's charm. His adventures tug at the heart, as he seeks to defend Earth, find his father (a retired Nova who has gone missing), and keep up his grades in school. These stories, while original in themselves, build upon the stories contained in Nova Classic: Volume 1, in which Marv Wolfman introduced readers to High School student Richard Rider. 

When a dying Nova Corps agent arrives in Earth orbit, he transfers his powers to Richard. Like his successor, Richard would fight to defend his fellow Humans from super villains, preserve a family struggling financially, and keep up his grades. Unlike Sam, he had close friends, and when those friends were threatened, he used his powers to come to their aid. Also unlike Sam, Marv Wolfman created new villains to fight his new superhero. There's even one episode where Richard flies to the Marvel Comics office in New York, and tries to convince actual writers, artists, and production staff to portray his real life adventures in their comics. Who should ultimate axe this brilliant idea? No one other than Marvel's sunny Editor-in-Chief Stan Lee!

With its preponderance of male heroes, villains, and supporting characters, Nova Classic may not represent contemporary readers' hunger for strong, female characters. But it's a lot of fun, and shines a light on life in the 1970s. Unlike Saga, it features no nude characters, or people with TV sets for heads. But hey, it features special appearances by Marv Wolfman and Stan-the-Man Lee. And really, what could be better than that?

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries
Falling in Love with a New Nova: Part 1
Falling in Love with a New Nova: Part 2

Related Internet Links
Jane Lindskold's blog

Falling in Love with a New Nova: Part 1

Awhile back, I told you about my journey across San Diego to complete the missing chapters in Sam Humphries' Black Vortex saga. This journey was sparked because my wife and I were reading Humphries' Legendary Star Lord series, and the Black Vortex storyline spun out from that title. The Black Vortex was an ancient artifact that could imbue any person with extraordinary powers. Once it is discovered, many super heroes and villains learn of its power, and succumb to the temptation to amplify their abilities. Some of the heroes who end up permanently changed by the Black Vortex include members of the X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Thus, the Black Vortex saga continued through Legendary Star Lord, Guardians of the Galaxy, and several other titles. We had already picked up a few of these other titles in the discount box of our local comic book store. One of the issues we needed to complete the Black Vortex story was Nova Issue 28. 

My wife and I grew acquainted with the former Nova, Richard Rider, when we read some of the 1970s The Man Called Nova series, written by Marv Wolfman. After the last surviving member of the intergalactic Nova Corps bequeaths his helmet to Richard, this ordinary human teenager gains extraordinary powers. He uses them to defeat villains, team up with other superheroes, and save the Earth numerous times. 

After reading the recent Nova issue 28, and completing Sam Humphries' Black Vortex 13 issue story, I found myself intrigued by this new Nova, a young boy from Earth named Sam Alexander. So I gradually began assembling a collection from the discount racks of local comic book stores. Unlike most series, this time I didn't wait until I had nearly every issue to start reading. I dived right in, on whatever issue I picked up. Even though I was reading them out of order, I was gaining an understanding of Sam's life, and the scope of his adventures. So after awhile, I had to go out and pick up Issue 1. Even if it wasn't available in the discount section.

In Nova issue 1, written by Jeph Loeb, we meet an agent of the Nova Corps. His name is Jesse Alexander. He fights alongside people from other races who have pledged their lives in service to others. One thing he shares with his band of brothers is bravery.

He risks certain death, time and time again, for his fellow Nova officers. Unlike them, however, Jesse has, in one way, betrayed his calling. He's fallen in love with a woman, and married her. So after one particular battle, their ship takes them as close to Earth as they're likely to get, and the team drops him off, so Jesse can be a husband to the wife he loves, and a father to the child she's expecting.

Imagine leaving behind a high-flying life of sailing through interstellar space, saving people, civilizations and worlds again and again, to return home to live a normal existence as a husband and father. No matter how much Jesse loves his wife, that sacrifice will take its toll on him. I'll talk about that, how that effects young Sam's view of his father, and how I've fallen in love with this new Nova in the next post.

Dragon Dave

Those Nameless Star Trek Security Guards

In the original Star Trek TV series, the security guards wore red shirts.  This must have worried them, as red is such an eye-catching color.  Indeed, most of the people who died on away-missions wore red.  These security guards filled an important function, yet they were rarely recognized, and none became memorable crew-members of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

While the later movies would address this issue by making Mr. Chekov head of Security, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” really made the security guards stand out.  Each wore armor that covered his torso, as well as a helmet secured by a thick chinstrap.  Unfortunately, the encounter with V’ger never gives them anything to do.  Even when the burst of plasma energy invades the bridge, the security guard is ordered to keep back, and not even fire his phaser, as Ilia, the beautiful Deltan navigator, is killed. 

Apparently Marv Wolfman, who adapted Harold Livingston’s script for Marvel Comics, was dissatisfied with the inability of the security guards to fulfill their proper role.  So he has the security officer on the bridge attempt to combat the V’ger’s plasma-probe, in the hopes of defending his crewmates.

Needless to say, things don’t go well for him. 

While Wolfman doesn’t name the fallen security guard, he will have Kirk list the security guard among the Enterprise personnel “Missing” following their encounter with V’ger.  And so, finally, a Star Trek security guard gets the respect he deserves.   

Images from Marvel Comics' Star Trek Vol. 1, Issue No. 2.

Dragon Dave