I have not owned a Spider-Man comic since One More Day, 2007. I won't lie: that stung, HARD. Spider-Man was the fictional love of my imagination since four years old, and still is. A guy who can swing high above buildings, climb walls and get out of the way just in time, plus he's wicked smart? Sign me up. But One More Day changed that. In my anger I threw away every comic I ever owned and swore off anything to do with the things.
Time's passed, and I stuck true to my promise. Well, sorta. See, while I never bought a comic in those five years I certainly kept up on Spidey's exploits. I regularly haunted SpiderFan for news and reviews, and watched Spidey evolve from afar. And believe me, I was not terribly impressed. Most of Brand New Day seemed... off. The constant juggling of writers and feels of Spidey wasn't something I really wanted to deal with, and this whole "Peter has to sleep with anything that moves" philosophy of the writers was... unsettling. But this Dan Slott guy? He was alright by me, cause he seemed to get the ol' Webhead in a way I hadn't heard anyone else really talking about since The Spectacular Spider-Man tragically ended. He knew the Spidey I knew, the one who had a wise-ass comment and then went home and worried about things like the rest of us. Now, if Marvel got THAT man to write a Spidey book? That I would buy.
Enter SpiderBob, a former roommate of mine. See, he had the balls to not give up on our Webhead. A SpiderFan is a SpiderFan, damnit, and he was gonna give his money regardless. Well, he kept telling me about how great Dan Slott's run was, and how much he enjoyed it. And I smiled, remembered One More Day, and listened to him. Then he brought the comics to our house. And I read them. I haven't told anyone this up until this review, but I remember going upstairs really quickly so I could cry. I know it sounds silly, but that's really how much it hit me. I realized that I missed buying and enjoying comics. But, me being me, I didn't do anything about it. I couldn't afford it at the time, and that was that.
SpiderBob wasn't done, not by a long shot. I have, in my hands, the first issue of my subscription to The Amazing Spider-Man, a gracious gift from SpiderBob. And, my friends, it feels GOOD to be reading Spider-Man again. I realize this probably isn't Dan Slott's best issue of the run. I mean, the whole thing with Alpha was resolved a little too quickly for my liking. But the dialogue, the action, the character work, they were all bloody spot on. Say what you will, this man's mediocre work is so good that I can honestly say that I think I'll follow this guy for a long time to come, come what may. I've already ordered the Spider-Island TPB hardcover, along with a lot of his Big Time run. And after hearing about the Superior Spider-Man I know I'll be getting it. Hell, I'm even getting back into comics in general, starting with Batman's Court of Owls storyline and subscription to Batman.
It's good to be back home, honestly. Even if Joephisto's stench is still on Spider-Man you've still got Dan Slott there to make it seem as if I'd never left at all.
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