The Amazing Spider-Man #6: The Cat’s Return

The Amazing Spider-Man #6 is, conceptually, a near-perfect follow-up to the explosive finale of the title’s first arc. It takes its time in emotionally establishing the fallout of Hobgoblin’s attacks, pushes Peter’s new status quo further along, and allows a moment of brevity that fleshes out all the high-speed introductions made during the last arc’s breakneck pace. However, the refreshing bravery of Joe Kelly and Pepe Larraz has wavered in the face of commitment, as the book begins playing haphazardly with the relationship between Peter and Felicia—while John Romita Jr. returns once again to remind us all of both the best and worst Spider-Man stories since the turn of the century. While the positive reprieve for Peter and the character writing surrounding the issue’s central plot is meaty and delicious, it’s all drowned out by a fear of commitment to growth that the title has “pissed the bed” on time and time again.

So yes, regardless of my overall score, there is a lot to love about the writing in this issue. At its core is an exploration of Peter’s overwhelming sense of happiness as he finally gets his life moving again with a much more natural cadence than expected. Kelly is at his best when writing a levelheaded Spider-Man—one far evolved from the Randian trappings of the Ditko era—and the duality of Peter’s perspectives on himself and those around him really helps raise the bar for his work under the current team.

Where the writing falls short is in its lack of commitment to moving past the trends of the last volume, as the book begins tracing over relationships worn out to the point of exhaustion. While I have a soft spot in my heart for Tombstone and Gerry Conway’s work with him, his return in this issue merits some conversation about the retreading of such a recent story—namely Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr.’s start to their run on the book, titled A World Without Love.

With the inclusion of Black Cat and the continued dismantling of Peter and Shay’s potential for an emotionally fulfilling relationship, it seems as though the team is trying to promise they can do better than the last group by playing with the same toys—just under a brighter light. Sure, they do that by an objective measure, but what they’ve done here is nowhere near as thrilling or interesting as the initial prospect of the previous volume. All of this overshadows a book that is halfway great, and although the reputation is apparent, it doesn’t take away from the overall issue structure and tone being nothing but unbridled sunshine.

Felicia’s role in the title is increasingly gross, as either editorial or Kelly himself tries to excuse the flippant use of her as quick cover-bait as something “mature and adult” in how loose their relationship is. If you’re a teenager just being introduced to the concept of casual intercourse, then sure, it may seem pretty dang adult. But as any real adult knows, there’s nothing more difficult than the formation of strong, emotionally fulfilling partnerships that force you to confront yourself from the point of view of another person—your entire being tested by the framework of socio-emotional responsibility.

That is what makes romance so damn interesting in Spider-Man comics. The evolution between Peter and Felicia over the years into true friends—the lust for their masked identities dissolving into something more human—is part of their beauty. The point of all this may be that Kelly intends to confront it head-on, but there’s no hint of that here, and his history with Black Cat doesn’t suggest any attempt at depth. Luckily, G. Willow Wilson and Gleb Melnikov are waiting just around the corner to act as our salvation from recent characterization.

The character writing throughout the rest of the issue is still as top-notch as the previous arc had been, thankfully. Kelly is excellent at balancing the main plot of an issue with the important role the side cast plays in its theming. His Norman, May, Shay, and new introductions are such a joy to read—his dialogue, even when slightly out of character, is snappy with an almost Bendis-like fervor. It is a shame to see a lack of commitment to Shay, as under Kelly, she is such a joy to read. Everyone is for that matter.