The Amazing Spider-Man #66: A Beaten Path

As I turned the last page of The Amazing Spider-Man #66, I let out a big sigh knowing that I’d have to go into this review ready to balance myself on a tightrope of thought. On one hand, I found Justina Ireland’s continued voice for the character compelling as we begin moving toward the ultimate climax for this story. On the other, it’s plagued by a level of story repetition that tore away the potential power of the beats in this issue, as we return—without any recognition of it—to the same emotional status quo we saw for Peter at the top of this volume.

There will be spoilers going forward, but before we get to that, I will make note of one thing. Justina Ireland’s voice for these characters and her approach to Peter’s headspace in this issue was really compelling, and much of the negative rumblings I’ll have about the story choices in this issue aren’t aimed at the writing skill on display here. 8 Deaths continues to be written and illustrated with themes that get stronger by the day and a consistency that has me going into the upcoming relaunch with more excitement than I expected to have.

Now, for the spoilers. Folks, the cover was not a bait-and-switch. Peter and Felicia do kiss in the wake of Pete’s growing cynicism, his inability to stay connected to himself costing him the potential of a more engaging and fresh relationship with Shay for the sake of covering old, tired ground. Now, this could be a fake-out that leads to a realization of Peter’s emotional irresponsibility in this arc thus far, which would make this moment a little bit kinder on both of them, who are stuck in this cycle of ‘catch and release,’ where Peter, in some sort of emotional pain, seeks out Felicia to quell those ills through a floaty mix of romance and physical affirmation.

If we tackle that and do something with it, then this heel turn won’t be as sour. There’s potential for a very compelling and emotionally satisfying arc for them if we tackle that cycle and try to tell an actual story with these two, something the previous run set itself up to do but instead utilized Felicia as nothing more than eye-candy for the covers. However, if the book continues down that exact same route as the previous run, I’m afraid we’ll get nothing more than a substance-less toxicity that’ll see readers once again fail to take Felicia seriously as anything other than cover bait, which is made even more disappointing because of how well she’s been written in this arc thus far.

The same could be said for Peter’s dilemma here, which is pretty engaging when read with a level of contextualization from the last few years of the title. However, this issue doesn’t attempt to better tie Peter’s loss of faith in his mission to the fact that, since Beyond, he’s faced nothing but hardship that has left him worse for wear each and every time. It’s not just that the character has been through a lot; he’s been unable to really achieve anything, and eventually all of that ‘nothing’ will simply lead to more pain.

We get that here, but are asked to believe in that dilemma after witnessing him experience something that’s intangible to most readers. It makes sense that experiencing the weight of ‘three million deaths’ would be heavy, but there isn’t a reader out there who can relate to that kind of weight. Understand it, sure, but it’s such a fantastical situation that a lack of more concrete reflection on Peter’s end leaves it feeling emotionally under-baked.

That being said, the actual themes on display and the critical observations being made of Peter’s humanity are really well done, and the way that this arc has built itself into such a compelling theme has been great to see. I think Ireland’s use of Doctor Strange and Cyra was a great tool to convey that to the audience.

As for the continued champion storyline, we get a good amount of setup that’ll lead us into something pretty climactic. With the X-Men coming in and the balance of power shifting among our villains, there’s a lot teased here that is pretty exciting and sets Kelly up for a potentially strong ending that delivers in both big action and emotional satisfaction once Peter puts his game face back on.

The art is really strong for what the issue is overall, and I found Broccardo a great fit for an issue that’s focused mainly on conveying internal turmoil and the shifting tides of battle that will likely explode visually in the coming issues. You get a great amount of emotion penciled into everyone’s faces here, and the varying different POV shots and moments of unconventional paneling help bring a sense of visual life to an issue that’s mostly tailored toward its script.