The Amazing Spider-Man Sins Rising Prelude #1: It’s Getting Serious

All right, before you automatically grab this book and make off to the cash register of your LCS, let me give you a tiny warning. As Marty McFly would say “This is heavy”. The subject matter isn’t your normal fun, fluffy, Spidey adventure. It deals with very adult themes and very sad themes, but I’m happy to tell you that they’re all done very tastefully, and tactfully. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make the book any less depressing to read. Amazing Spider-Man author Nick Spencer takes the writing chores on this one, and he’s basically the only one that should, as this one-shot special leads directly into Amazing Spider-Man #45, which should be on stands shortly. Spencer tells the untold origin of Stanley Carter, AKA The Sin-Eater. If you’re not familiar with him, don’t worry, you will be after this issue. It’s a deep dive into his life and the horrific events that led him to become The Sin-Eater. The events aren’t pretty, but again, Spencer brings respectability to the events that make them more than just a Splatterhouse gorefest. If you’re a regular reader of the Amazing Spider-Man, this will be a chance for you to see Spencer stretch his legs, if you will. This book really shows how talented he is.

Excellent artist Guillermo Sanna draws this issue……really well. For the most part, this is a story of people without superpowers, but with many layers. The emotions he conveys through just his drawings of people’s faces is astonishing. Not to mention their body language, stance, and outright physicality. Everything he draws is gritty, sophisticated, and real. Like the writing, this is a very different method of storytelling than your usual issue of The Amazing Spider-Man.