In this review of The Amazing Spider-Man #70, Spider-Man confronts the Blight as a Juggernaut!
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #70
Writer: Joe Kelly
Art and Main Cover: Ed Mcguinness
Variant Covers: Skottie Young, Peach Momoko, Frank Miller, Iban Coello, Björn Barends, Brent Schoonover, Netease Games
Page Count: 23 pages
Release Date: March 26, 2025
This Review Contains Spoilers
The Amazing Spider-Man #70 kicks off as Spider-Man, now a Juggernaut, knocks Callix from Cyttorak’s domain back to Earth, knocking the rot away and returning to the city to join the X-Men. The X-Men turn to Callix while Spider-Man goes to fight the Blight. As he goes, Doom and Strange talk, and Strange wonders if Doom planned for this outcome, and that’s why he chose Spider-Man.
Meanwhile, Cyra, surrounded by her slain siblings, explains to Cyttorak that the pain that immobilizes him is called grief. He demands that she make it stop, but she cannot. She compares it to the Blight as a force of nature and tells him that there is someone who can help.
Spider-Man makes it the Blight and decides to cast the Casket of Cyttorak until he dies, effectively holding it off until then. Cyttorak approaches him and wonders why Spider-Man would do such a thing when life is so fragile and he knows he will eventually fail. The hero explains that life is beautiful because each one is fragile and unique, that what he does will matter today, and that today is worth fighting for.
Though he does not expect Cyttorak to understand, he does, and he pushes him out of the spell, taking his place to become the casket himself and shield the realm from the Blight.
Spider-Man returns to New York just in time to see the X-Men prepare to take Callix home, and he collapses swearing to never do magic again.
Later, Peter takes Bailey to the funeral of Kenneth McCarry, the window washer whom Peter saved at the beginning of the arc, who died shortly after. Bailey remarks about how sad it is during the eulogy, but Peter tells him to listen anyway.
Peter then goes to Aunt May, and doesn’t get to finish his apology before she hugs him in forgiveness. He then sits with Felicia, explaining that he doesn’t know if an apology or a “thank you” is right to say to her, but she says it is okay as long as he promises to keep “Emo Peter” at bay.
Callix is imprisoned on his father’s throne, and though he tries to convince Cyra to release him and join him in taking over the universe, she refuses. In the final panels, Peter and Randy speak at the Spider-Man gallery, where Peter commends his ability to set it up, but Randy laments that the only ones there are Peter’s friends and family, and no one will buy any of the pieces.
As they speak, Shay approaches, and Peter takes the chance to apologize and asks if they can try again. She agrees, jokingly telling Peter that he’ll need a nurse for the beating he’ll take after the gallery show.
Analysis
The art in The Amazing Spider-Man #70 truly elevates to the next level. Everything feels as though it’s constantly in motion, living and breathing. There is a use of various angles through conversations and battles that ensures nothing ever feels stationary. You can feel the weight of each character’s motion, and everything comes across clearly.
Several locations are featured in this issue, from the destroyed city to Cyttorak’s realm to the vastness of space. No matter where the characters are, the settings are treated to a level of detail that makes them feel like they pop off the page. There is energy in each panel that this arc desperately needed, and I was glad to see it.
The battle in The Amazing Spider-Man #70 is nothing short of epic. Spider-Man as a Juggernaut was cool to see, and the change did not overstay it’s welcome, but I do wish it had done a bit more than be a visual aid to the power Peter gained from Cyra.
The parallel between Peter and Cyttorak is more apparent than ever in this issue. Cyttorak is what Peter could have become, numbed and immobilized by the feeling that nothing matters and the grief of loss. However, this parallel feels a bit hollow considering that it’s not a lesson that Peter needed to learn.
Peter’s entire Spider-Man story follows the death of his Uncle Ben, a man who, ultimately, has very little impact on the lives of anyone outside of Peter (other than the fact that his death is the catalyst for Peter’s heroics) and who died partially because of Peter’s inaction. The lesson that he learned and then passed on to Cyttorak, that every life matters and that the here and now is worth fighting for, was one he had already learned.
The main problem with the end of this arc is that Peter treats this lesson as though it’s new to him. Had there been a connection made with this arc and Ben, the several issues we got of Peter refusing to be Spider-Man and the lesson he imparts to Cyttorak would have felt more cohesive, especially considering that his uncle’s death was featured in one of the Scions’ trials.
The rest of the ending works well. Cyttorak becoming the casket, as well as his final words, fits well into the narrative. Cyra and Cyttorak learning about life outside of their immortal view was a far more compelling story, and it pays off well here with the conversation between Cyra and her father and Cyttorak’s choices, especially when he says he wants to protect his remaining children despite their flaws.
As far as the rest of the interactions throughout The Amazing Spider-Man #70 go, they were fairly well done. Taking Bailey to Kenneth’s funeral is Peter’s way of teaching him about the importance of every life and ensuring he doesn’t make the same mistake he did.
The conversations with Felicia and Aunt May were fine, but I particularly enjoyed Peter’s conversation with Randy, where he praises him for all his work, but all Randy can think about is how much money and effort he put into the gallery, knowing he won’t get anything out of it. While the conversation feels mostly positive, there’s also a hollowness to it, as though Peter’s return didn’t just fix everything. It feels real, especially considering we don’t see Peter apologize to Randy. He only thanks him.
This is the feeling that I wanted to have when Peter apologized to Shay. Their last conversation was tense and sad, came after Peter ghosted Shay, and Peter spent a night with Felicia immediately after. While I don’t necessarily want to see them break up for good, their ending was far too easy after all of that. Their banter in The Amazing Spider-Man #70 was playful and cute, but it felt like they rushed to give Peter the happiest ending possible.
Peter has a lot of making up to do to everyone, but especially to Shay, and while their last panel was nice, I would have liked something that was still hopeful but made it more clear that they had work to do to repair the relationship.
Final Thoughts
The Amazing Spider-Man #70 has strong art and solid character moments, but misses a few key moments to make a stronger emotional connection.
