Amazing Spider-Man #59: Mister Negative, Indeed

This issue of Amazing Spider-Man was not particularly good. Really not even close. Every issue can’t be a home run, I realize that, and overall, this series has a great track record for being consistently good, but everybody has an off day. I think the biggest mistake that writer Nick Spencer makes, is that he takes something that could be told in one page and stretches it out to a full issue. This is basically the comic equivalent of that paper you wrote in grade school where you came up really short on the word count so you added the word “very” fifty times so you wouldn’t get an F. We get an almost whole issue of Martin Li/Mister Negative stuff that is painfully boring. A couple of pages of Osborn family drama that makes so little sense that it’s laughable, and that’s about it. There are so many meaty storylines waiting to be plucked from this series, stories that could carry their own mini-series with NO problem at all, I can’t understand why Spencer just treads water for an issue. I will say, that the last page shocker gives me excitement and hope for the next issue, but it doesn’t make up for the whole issue they just made me read. 

The artist for this issue is Marcelo Ferreira, who’s a very capable artist, unfortunately, it really looks like he was in a hurry this issue because it’s not up to his usual high standard, He never skimps on backgrounds or details, but there are pages that just look…off. Design-wise he does a great job with the script that he was given but it had to be hard with the awkward stops and starts that are present in this issue.