Spoilers ahead.
Right, so: it seems that modern Marvel & DC anniversary/anthology issues are a mixed bag. This one’s no different.
“Ravaged” (Joe Kelly/Pepe Larraz/Federico Blee) introduces a new villain, Ravage, who just happens to be Aunt May’s son, separated at birth. He manages to steal May’s memories of raising Peter. They fight, but nothing is solved. This is a decent enough villain introduction, but not much of a story.
“Still Standing” (Noah Hawley/Patrick Gleason/Marcio Menyz) is a poignant look at an elderly Peter’s guilt over the death of Gwen Stacy, and an elderly Mysterio’s plan to torture Peter with memories of her. There’s some good writing about regret, mourning, forgiveness, and mortality in this, and I think this was the highlight of the issue.
“Requiem for a Goblin” (J.M. De Matteis/Humberto/Ramos/Victor Olazaba/Edgar Delgado) looks at Peter’s coping with Harry Osborn’s turn as the Green Goblin & subsequent death. A good story, though maybe a touch behind “Still Standing” in its quality.
“Tears of the Spider-Queen” (Frank Miller/Peach Momoko) kicks off the shorter stories part of the boo, and it’s a good little story by an unexpected pair of creators. Spidey saves a girl from a cult that tries to use her to summon a goddess/create a monster/something weird like that. I enjoyed this quite a bit.
“The Big Night” (Triple H/Rob Fee/Ed McGuinness/Mark Farmer/Matthew Wilson) looks at Spider-Man’s dalliances with pro wrestling and his childhood love of it. The most notable bit of this is working in WWE logos on turnbuckles in a panel. Pretty forgettable, and it kind of stinks of wanting to do something with someone famous outside of wrestling.
“The Gesture” (Brian Michael Bendis/Stuart Immonen/Marte Garcia) is pretty straight forward – Spidey is attacked by three villains, fights them off, and is late going to Avengers Mansion, where he’s given a present in commemoration of taking on the mask. Solid enough.
“Of Webs and Six-Guns” (Larry Lieber/Giuseppe Camuncoli/Klaus Janson/Rachelle Rosenberg) Spidey dreams he meets the Rawhide Kid & saves him. I didn’t get much out of this one, other than the gimmick of the cameo.
“I Can Never Rest” (Dan Slott/Marcos Martin/Muntsa Vicente) looks at the story of Uncle Ben’s death from the point of view of the cop who was chasing the robber/murderer. Jump forward, the cop finds Spidey and thanks him for helping him eventually catch the robber. Decent.
All in all, this was solid, with a couple highlights that are dragged down by middling entries. If you’re a Spidey fan, you should check this out. If you’re Spider-curious, there’s better starting points than something that is mostly fan service.
The Amazing Spider-Man #1000
Writer/Artists/Colors: many
Marvel
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