Are the bad old days of Brand New Day behind us?
If the last last few issues are any indication, then the answer is yes.
When Marvel decided to reboot the Spider-man franchise by erasing Peter Parker's marriage from continuity, they promised a return to the Spider-man of old; a more care-free and fun Spider-man. Marvel's audience, however, has had a rather mixed response, with many boycotting the comic altogether. But with Joe Kelly's recent American Son arc and the excellent 600th issue, perhaps its time to forgive and forget.
More than any other Spider-man comic in recent memory, issue 600 feels like vintage Peter Parker. The action is hot, the jokes are funny and the characters feel real without being depressing. In fact the only sad part in the main story is the reminder than Flash Thompson is a paraplegic. But he's a jerk, so screw him. Even Doctor Octopus is back with new and frightening machinations.
This is a fun issue, with a lot of humor, glorious guest stars and team ups and fantastic art by a man who is arguably the definitive Spider-man artist, John Romita Jr. But don't let the fun and nostalgia fool you, this issue is just as relevant as any of the more tragic Spider-man comics. Dr Octopus is dying. Aunt May gets married to J Jonah Jameson's father. Peter gets a date! ...and then promptly loses her to Johnny Storm. And then gets another one! And it all comes to a conclusion that is predictable yet satisfying. Best of all is the conversation between Peter and May before her nuptials. It's something that could have been played as cheesy, but comes off very simple and sweet.
Even some of the back up stories play into the plot. Aunt May has conversation with Ben's grave. It didn't need to be seen, but nonetheless its something you would expect her to do as the sweet woman she is. Another back-up foreshadows the impending "Gauntlet" arc that promises to rattle some cages and rock Peter's world. And for the first time since JMS left the title, I feel like its a good thing.
As fans, we want to love Amazing Spider-man. Peter Parker is the superhero inside all of us, and we need to believe in him; for him to be as real as the air we breathe. Because on some subconscious level, when the lovable loser and geek on the page is doing well, it feels like we're doing better. Things feel possible.
When things are bad, its a bad sign for comics and a bad sign for us. But things are looking up. If this is the type of quality story the Brand New Day crew plans to bring, then maybe it was worth it after all. They're giving us a product worth believing in again.
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