Amazing Spider-Man #32: A Goblin Among Us

The Amazing Spider-Man #32 is an incredibly strong comic book, looking each criticism of the title in the eye and taking it to heart without abandoning its creative ingenuity. This issue doesn’t set out to please those who desire a certain status quo for the character but repairs past mistakes that have occurred at a technical level. This includes a massive overhaul of the book’s pacing, writing, characterization, and visual style. Alongside the return of Patrick Gleason, the kick-off to Spider-Man’s Last Hunt is the best Spider-Man has been in a long time.

Beginning with an intro to Kraven, the issue is already off to an incredible start. Gleason’s art sets the tale off with a distinct visual atmosphere that both grounds yet elevates the fantastical nature of this story in a wholly believable style. However, it symbiotically blends with Marcio Menyz’s coloring and Wells’ narration to engage and drag readers into the narrative. Gleason is the one artist on this title that Wells’ writing doesn’t change the style for. While under Romita, it’s a bit angrier, and under McGuinness, it’s a bit goofy, with Gleason it’s balanced. There’s a level of symbiosis the team reaches here that’s necessary to elevate every function of a comic book.

The team does a good job of showcasing Kraven as a genuine threat as opposed to a goofy caricature. The same can be said for Ashley Kafka, whose turn to the dark side was contrived and underutilized. This is somewhat rectified by the issue’s main plot. The opening reveals that Kafka had gone to Kraven to have the ‘Sins of Norman Osborn’ removed from her soul, and upon their removal, asked him to hunt Norman down and re-inject him with his sins to bring back the Green Goblin and have him killed.

Even without the Sins flowing freely throughout her system, Kafka remains manipulative, vengeful, and malicious. This helps showcase her turn to evil as a little more in line with the character, as well as reinforces the notion that the Goblin serum brought out the worst in those victims to its effects. It adds more believability to Norman’s redemption arc. If the serum is what elevates a person’s darkest sides, then there really was something inside Norman that desperately needed to be healed, and he had done so with honest intent. While Kafka does say she might not be truly free until the sins find a home, the implication of what’s currently being done stands above a potential ‘fix-all’ plot convenience that may come later.

That being said, the rest of the issue features a similar level of intelligent and entertaining character writing on behalf of Wells. While his trademark goofy dialogue remains in sections, there’s a level of comedic restraint in this issue. Peter is shown to be growing and takes himself seriously. He has a strong backbone, and while he at times may make mistakes, he sticks true to his guns as a person throughout this issue with confidence. He’s still relatable without being beaten down senselessly and is allowed to be an active character in his title. With some additive development to his side cast, as well as a genuine exploration of Peter’s new relationship with Norman, this features the strongest version of the character under Wells’ pen in the modern era.

Even the plot and its pacing are at an apex level. The story directly affects and develops Peter’s current status quo while remaining incredibly street-level and personal. Unlike Dark Web and Dead Language, the story here is developed naturally and builds upon what came before while being completely accessible to someone who may be checking out the title for the first time in a while. Peter being injected by and now having to deal with Norman’s past at a deeply personal level, reliving both his own and his greatest enemy’s trauma, is conceptually cool and hopefully keeps up the momentum introduced here. Wells even threads in some world-building related to Peter’s personal life and none of it feels broken or out of place.

Zeb was and remains an excellent writer when not hindered by the schizophrenic release schedule and pacing of a heavily editorialized version of Spider-Man that often reads as a corporate caricature, and not the grounded boy from Queens many fell in love with in their youth. When Wells writes Peter in a natural and honest story, he’s a strong protagonist navigating a fresh plot.