In this review of The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #1, Spider-Man comes face-to-face with new magic and a new enemy!
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: TORN #1
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Pere Pérez
Main Cover: Adam Hughes
Variant Covers: Aaron Kuder, Lee Garbett, Javier Garron, Pere Perez, Adam Hughes, Mark Bagley, Mark Chiarello
Page Count: 15 pages
Release Date: October 8, 2025
This Review Contains Spoilers
The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #1 begins as Peter arrives at Empire State University after capturing Sandman for another day of classes, only to fall asleep in one class and receive a lecture from a professor about his work in another. He manages to agree to join Gwen and their friends at the beach later in between. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman joins the assistant librarian at the Special Collections Library. She attacks the assistant and waits for the head librarian to arrive with a key to a mysterious book.
Peter rescues hostages in New Jersey and then makes it back in time for the hangout with his friends. In a moment of vulnerability, they talk about who they want to be in ten years. They take turns admitting their fears for the future, though Peter holds back. As they’re driving back to the school, Peter’s spider sense goes off as the woman from before kills the librarians for the key and takes the book.
Spider-Man jumps in, and she tries to shoot him, but one of her bullets ricochets off a suit of armor and hits her in the arm, getting her blood on the book. Mysterious magic shoots out from the book, and though Peter grabs it with his webs, it doesn’t stop the magic from turning the woman into a monster with wings and horns. She tries to take the book from him to change herself back, but the police arrive, and she flees by flying through the skylight of the library.
Analysis
The art in The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #1 is top-notch. The colors are bright and distinguishable, and shadows are used creatively. Motion truly feels like motion. It feels like you can truly see the weight of each character in the action scenes, but it also enhances everything from Peter Parker running across campus to the motion outside of a train window. This world and these characters feel colorful and real on every page.
The dialogue in The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #1 is also well done. Every line manages to prove that the issue is taking itself seriously while still leaving things open for humor. This is a genuinely funny issue, but there’s an intense plot lurking in the background that immediately shows the reader that the stakes are high with the deaths of the librarians.
The scene where Peter and his friends sit around the fire on the beach and talk about their insecurities is particularly well written. If you know these characters, you know how tragic their words are. Harry wants to make a life different than his father’s but ends up following in his footsteps, Gwen wants her life to mean something but is the first to die, MJ comes close to her goals, and Peter will always be afraid of losing those close to him.
The line between Peter and Spider-Man is also blurred in the dialogue. Readers will have no issue believing that it’s Peter behind the mask. Outside of the suit, Peter is just as funny as he is in the suit, but we also get to see his more serious side, showing the part of him that could take being a hero seriously, even outside of fighting crime.
The one area they could have spent a little more time on is Peter’s intellect. While Peter struggling to balance both sides of his life isn’t a new thing, part of what keeps him afloat is his intellect. Instead, while we see Peter use his brains to capture Sandman, we don’t get to see the reverse happen in his daily life. It’s a small piece that’s missing, but it would have been nice to see.
Final Thoughts
The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #1 is a great start to this story with great art, an intriguing story, and good dialogue. There is definitely room for more, but it manages to leave room without feeling like anything is lacking.
