The Amazing Spider-Man #24: Anywhere But New Jersey

Well, Zeb Wells has gotten the train back on track with THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #24, a nuanced issue that moves the plot along with some fun, and sometimes even trippy, event sequences are all strung together haphazardly.

So far, this Dead Language arc has not been able to hold itself up to narrative snuff. It has lacked engaging or emotional storytelling, trapped within the pacing of molasses rolling downhill. We pick up with Peter, who repeats the entire point of the last issue but with more brevity and actual results, stealing parts necessary to save MJ from the Baxter Building. Together, stuck in a New Jersey science lab where Khamla Kahn is sneaking around, he and Norman successfully send Peter through a near mind-breaking dimensional trip that leads to old information painted up as a big reveal.

The Peter/FF conflict in #23 could have never happened, and the one in this issue would make not just the same amount of sense as it already does but even more sense. Unlike in the last issue, Peter’s desperation and conflict with the Fantastic Four make more sense. He evades them instead of fighting them like he did Captain America, acting level-headed and fast without degrading himself more than necessary. Is Peter Parker perfect? Far from it, but he isn’t an idiot, and the character in this issue is leagues above the one seen in the last issue. The dichotomy between the two is crazy, and thanks to the genuine ‘nothing’ that happened in #23, this issue easily supplants it, overwriting any reason for the last one having existed. 

Zeb isn’t an awful writer by any means, but his writing style has not worked to justify or build up this strange era of Spider-Man in the slightest. Decompression is still killing the ideas in this arc, although there’s a little less rushing involved with the fluff on display. The plot has barely advanced; this issue contains nothing more than ‘okay’ to ‘fine’ scenes, strung together with no weight. Wells has a firm grasp of character voices, comedic timing, and allowing visuals to express emotion and tell a story dialogue can’t; he also has struggled to give this book a sense of depth. The best parts in this book are all little character moments, such as Ben Grimm getting a snack or Peter’s conversations with Norman. Zeb is not a writer that can craft really interesting plots or events to shift a character’s mythological paradigm, but he can do character work well. That’s why there’s such a vast disparity in acclaim from his first five issues. This issue has Zeb both at his strongest, as well as at his weakest.

The problem with this run has not been its plot ideas, as seen in this issue; it’s been the execution of said ideas. Every issue is ‘A’ plot focused, us having yet to return to the present timeline in Marvel Comics to showcase how the past has affected the present. Instead, we are wholly focused on the past, where nothing of interest occurs. Since its relaunch, at least, the narrative in this book has been rushed, loose, and lacking anything below surface level, thanks to a mystery-box setup that has yet to garner anything of note. Anything that would carry depth with it has yet to stick.