Title of the Week for 4/1/09  

So the title I most enjoyed last week was easily Amazing Spider-Man #590. Everything in this issue was enjoyable. The art of Barry Kitson and the writing of Dan Slott is a match that I hope we see more often. The whole story reads as an old fashioned fun story. No brooding bad guys, no drama with the normal cast and no lady issues. It is a great way to shift gears after the darkly intense issues we've been presented with in the last few months. While those issues were great they make an issue like this that much better.

This issue basically revolves around Spidey and the Fantastic Four and a prior visit to the Macroverse they made. They end up saving some inhabitants and all the while Spidey does so without a mask. Now, cut to sometime later and this same area is calling for help from these heroes specifically. Of course they go but there is a problem with the situation to Johnny. He remembers Spidey not wearing a mask and for the life of him he can't remember what he looked like. Then to top it off they find statues glorifying them all but Spidey's is mask less and the face is worn off. So Johnny demands the truth but a reluctant Spidey refuses. Johnny though burns the mask of his face and Spidey is potentially exposed. Potentially...

One of the best scenes here is Reed trying without success to convince the others to let the villainy they witness go on because they don't want to interact. Uatu protocols he calls it. Though in succession they all leave Reed standing there as they rush in to help. Great scene that was a lot of fun.

Another great scene where the art and writing are in fantastic sync is Spidey questioning a villain he has webbed to a wall. He explains how Norman's darker times can make him darker as well. He draws in closely and looks very menacing. Then with a great shot of the villains eye you see Spidey's reflection as the villain panics. Spidey then swings away as the villain screams of the wedgie that Spidey has given him while he's webbed to the wall. Classic and fun Spidey rendered quite well.

The only gripe I had about this issue was Spidey unmasking for the Fantastic four. Just the week before we had Spidey doing it for his New Avengers teammates. Granted this issue, in a very Human Torch fashion, Johnny pushes the subject and forces Spidey to unmask. For whatever reason he unmasks he still does and it is all very quick considering how even quicker the identity subject was washed away along with the marriage. This could really start to pick at the festering wounds of the fanboys and fangirls who really dislike Brand New Day. Also, the whole worn face on the statue of Spidey in the Macroverse implies Belasco's reach and the deal stretch into areas that maybe he wouldn't even have influence on.

It is to be noted that we don't know for sure that he has been unmasked to be Peter Parker. As I said earlier this issue has that real old school team-up vibe and at the end of the issue all we see is a shot of the mask on the floor and the Torch saying, "NO WAY! NO FREAKIN WAY!", to a neck down shot of Spidey. That leaves this open to the old school twist where something happens and no identity is revelaed. Another mask underneath? Some Chameleon face putty? Who knows. I'll be there for the next issue I know that much though. I suggest you be there as well Inmates.