Amazing Spider-Man #33: Swinging Steady

The Amazing Spider-Man #33 is another slow-burn, character-focused issue on the road to #1000, continuing to lay the groundwork for emotional themes that have a great deal of potential if explored with emotional tact. As a lead-in to the landmark issue, it isn’t especially exciting on the surface, following Peter as he navigates his new relationship with Cormac while dealing with a D-list villain. It’s what Kelly weaves between those two storylines that really captured my attention.

Through the introduction of a new Damage Control unit and Cormac, Kelly has begun pushing Peter out of the two roles that have defined his life in serialized fiction for over sixty years. He is no longer the only person bearing the responsibility of caring for his aunt, while the preventative measures employed by the Department of Damage Control lessen the need for Spider-Man’s power. As a result, Peter is gradually being alienated by a world that no longer seems to need him in the ways it once did. His growing loneliness, born from random misfortune and his inability to keep pace with the world around him, has become a compelling source of conflict that’s been woven subtly throughout the book.

As another largely standalone issue, the slice-of-life approach is equally enjoyable. Rather than rushing headlong toward the biggest milestone in the series’ history, Kelly slows things down to explore Peter as a person and reinforce the grounded reality of his world. It never feels like filler. Instead, it embraces the kind of grounded, soap opera storytelling that has defined many of the character’s best runs. Getting time to just live with Peter and develop some of his outstanding cast, especially after what has felt like a run of massive event after massive event, is a needed pace change that has given the last few issues post-Death Spiral a lot of merit.

Ed McGuinness returns on art, and his work is as strong as ever. He injects the Jack O’Lantern fight with an infectious energy that elevates what could have been a fairly forgettable encounter, while continuing to excel at balancing exaggerated, cartoonish expression with genuine emotional weight. His characters are incredibly expressive, shifting effortlessly between quiet, reflective moments and explosive superhero action, giving the issue a visual cohesion that often communicates emotions beyond what Kelly’s script puts on the page.