Noteworthy Issues: The Amazing Spider-Man #57 (January, 2021)

Sometimes I stop reading a series for a while because I lose track of it.  I like what’s happening, but I have other stuff I get to in the meantime.

Other times it’s because I start to wonder if I even care anymore.  That’s pretty much what happened on Nick Spencer’s Amazing Spider-Man.

Issue:  The Amazing Spider-Man #57, January 2021

Writer:  Nick Spencer

Artist:  Mark Bagley

The Plot:  Peter Parker has his own issues after “Last Remains”.

Commentary:  So, I think it is safe to say this series isn’t working for me anymore.  I won’t exactly give it up entirely, not just yet, but I am getting there.  If the next couple storylines step away from Kindred and go back to, say, whatever Boomerang is up to, I might be more inclined to stick with this.  I’ve long held Spider-Man, like the Flash, just has to be fun, and this Spider-Man isn’t very fun.  Yeah, there are hints that there is more going on.  Yeah, the series let it be known Kindred, who may be Harry Osborn back from the dead, is still having everything going the way he wants it to, and…

Can I just say that the bad guy whose plans include losing on purpose is a really lame thing?  I think the only time it ever worked was when Jim Starlin was telling his original Thanos stories, and those I know more by reputation.  It helps if the bad guy in question is kinda cool to begin with, and Kindred just, well, isn’t.

But that doesn’t quite explain Peter’s behavior in this issue.  Yeah, I get that he doesn’t trust Norman.  Even if Norman is still “good,” and that will obviously be a temporary status, that doesn’t mean Peter will work with him.  I mean, Peter working with Norman Osborn?  That sounds just plain nutty.

But it also means Peter is not going to be responsible for a friend.  That’s not the Peter I know.  Or if it, he ends up regretting it.

He also opts not to tell the other Spider-Heroes what really happened.  Um, why?  They know his secret identity (I think).  And can you really keep a secret from Madame Web?  I don’t know.

If anything, there was a secret that wasn’t quite revealed yet at the issue’s end, but this didn’t feel like the Peter Parker whose adventures I generally enjoy.  The issue itself is average (it’s always nice to see Mark Bagley’s Spider-Man), but yeah, I think I know why I didn’t get back to this one sooner.

Grade:  C