In this review of Amazing Spider-Man #61, the beginning of an unlikely team-up between Spider-Man and Doctor Doom
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #61
Writer: Joe Kelly
Art: Ed McGuinness and Niko Henrichon
Main Cover: Ed McGuinness
Variant Covers: Gleb Melnikove, Aaron Kuder, Simone Bianchi, Paolo Motura, Skottie Young
Page Count: 24 pages
Release Date: November 13, 2024
This review contains spoilers
The Amazing Spider-Man #61 begins in the middle of a fight with Burnout, as Doctor Doom approaches Spider-Man with a vague offer that he does not hesitate to turn down. After the battle, it is shown that Peter is once again struggling to balance his superhero life with his civilian life. He attempts to escape an uncomfortable situation with May, Randy, and Shay and drops the ball on Spider-Boy’s training before running off to fight a new creature in the city.
Doctor Doom appears again during this fight, offering help in exchange for Spider-Man agreeing to his pact. He explains that Doctor Strange entered a bargain with the god Cyttorak. In exchange for the Casket, which would protect Earth, Doctor Strange had to best the Scions of Cyttorak. He succeeded, and now Doctor Doom has chosen Spider-Man as his champion. Along with their covenant came a new suit, new powers, and eight reeds of Raggador, which would revive him once each if he died.
Spider-Man faces the enemy, who reveals himself as Cyntros, the first Scion, and wins but dies in the fight. He uses the first of the reeds to revive himself painfully, and Doctor Strange is there to meet him and tell him he has won and is alive, but he will have to fight seven more of the Scions and will likely die seven more times.
Analysis
I really enjoyed the art in The Amazing Spider-Man #61. The backgrounds have just enough detail without being distracting, and even the backgrounds without buildings or interior details feature either a gradient, are made up of several colors, or are the only single-color panels on the page, which makes them all feel unique. There is a moment when the art style shifts into a watercolor style that looks beautiful. It temporarily abandons the traditional panel style and separates moments in Doctor Doom’s story by color and texture. It feels more like looking at a timelapse instead of reading a comic, creating a unique effect.
Now, for the big one: Peter’s new suit. I didn’t think I liked it initially, but it looks good in panels when he’s in motion. The ends of the cape make a cool-looking silhouette, and I think it looks particularly nice in the final panel when he’s sitting next to Doctor Strange. I’m not entirely sold on it yet, but I don’t dislike it.
The story in The Amazing Spider-Man #61 is interesting. The idea that Peter is now a Champion who has to battle and will likely die seven more agonizing deaths is a setup that has caught my attention. By doing this, it has set up the next several issues already while also leaving us with several questions. We know that Peter will have to fight seven more scions and will die seven more times. But who are the Scions? How will he die? Why did Doctor Doom choose Peter, of all people and heroes, to take on this fight? What will this conversation with Doctor Strange entail? It’s a great setup, but I do have a few concerns.
My main worry is that we’re starting on another arc of “everything bad happens to Peter Parker.” In the first fight of the arc, he loses some of the money for F.E.A.S.T. he was meant to deliver, misses his accidentally double-booked lunch date and working lunch, ruins his pictures, breaks the gift for his girlfriend, and lets down spider-boy. Not a single relationship of his starts off well. Then, in the fight immediately after, he dies an agonizing death and then gets revived painfully.
The Amazing Spider-Man #61 seems to enjoy making Peter suffer, and while the life of a hero is far from sunshine and rainbows, I wish there was a better balance between the positives and negatives of the life he’s living. I won’t count out this arc yet, but we already know that dying and returning to life will be a big part of this storyline. If that’s the case, I’m hoping for a more positive outcome in his social life to balance everything out.
Finally, I have to mention the writing. I think most of the writing in this issue is great, but I have to talk about Peter’s quips against Burnout at the beginning. Immediately, the issue dates itself by including jokes about AI, Temu, and Instagram in rapid succession. It feels too much like they’re worried about making Peter cool and relatable. The rest of his quips were fine, and his jokes about Burnout’s name were more than enough. Aside from making the reader cringe, I’m not sure what the point of putting those in there was.
Final Thoughts
There are fantastic art and narrative choices made in this issue, but it is not quite enough to stop me from worrying about the future of this arc.
Editor’s Note: Marvel Comics provided The Comic Book Spot with an advanced copy of this comic for review purposes. You can find this comic and help support us in the process by ordering this issue digitally on Amazon or a physical copy of the title through My Comic Shop.
