ICYMI: The Amazing Spider-Man #5: The Goblin Shuffle

From the moment Joe Kelly was announced as the main author guiding The Amazing Spider-Man title, I allowed an unfettered amount of caution and skepticism to color my opinions going into the book. Even after four straight reviews of positivity, a lot was left hanging on the finale of their first arc, Get Back Up, to really seal the deal for me on whether or not the next few years of rotating artists, tight schedules, and corporate restraints would kill another author’s legacy on the ever-damning Web of Destiny.

The Amazing Spider-Man #5 is the pulse-pounding proof of excellence that has set Kelly and his team up for success beyond my wildest dreams. Within the framework of modern Spider-Man, they have crushed it, weaving together a tale that is as fresh as it is classical, combining everything you love about Peter Parker’s life with the necessary fantasy of being Spider-Man. With attention to narrative detail and an overarching theme of emotional growth, the simplicity of a story about Spider-Man shutting down a kooky Hobgoblin scheme has managed to outshine the last five years of events, tie-ins, and stories somehow always bigger than the Death of Gwen Stacy. With a character whose world has been rocked to the point of sickness, the cure has been nothing more than stepping back and allowing him to swing for himself—no gimmicks needed.

It is because of that that the action focus of this issue actually carries weight. Every page is a painting, with dynamic coloring from Marte Gracia that scores Pepe Larraz’s art with just the right tone and flow to breed action scenes so kinetic you might as well stream them to the big screen. While Larraz’s artwork aids in the visual thrill of brutality, it’s in Kelly’s completion of the narrative that it gains lasting power. While it may have felt front-loaded, there is a satisfying use of Peter’s new status quo within the finale that colors his future with great promise. Brian’s assistance with thwarting Kingsley did not undercut Peter’s own actions but instead concluded the physical aspect of this conflict by means of intelligence that Peter had helped initiate.

As for the issue’s other points of resolution, Norman’s quest for redemption is more human and convincing under Kelly. His vindication—accepting that the creation of Kingsley was his own fault—and his role in assisting with the takedown is a much more interesting place for the character to be in, as the Gold Goblin dependency takes a back seat. The big catharsis of this issue, however, is in the last few pages, in which Aunt May lays everything out for Peter in a way that stands for both their relationship since 2018 as well as the readership’s own frustrations—depending on how much you allow a meta-textual lens to influence your reading. Larraz’s ability to coast off the adrenaline of the issue’s big Hobgoblin fight into a quiet, emotional final scene speaks to his excellence with tonal control, the team working with impressive synchronicity.