Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

The Amazing Spider-Man # 535

By Hervé St.Louis
October 2, 2006 - 00:23

Spider-man has a change of heart about his allegiance to the registration camp in the civil war happening in the Marvel universe. After seeing the concentration camp where non registered super humans are trapped and the lack of humanity of captors, he’s ready to make a move over to the resistance. However, he’ll have to march over Tony Stark, the Iron Man before that can happen.

Instead of focussing on the death of Goliath in Civil War #4 as the basis of Spider-Man change of heart, writer Straczynski chose the financial gains that the both Tony Stark and Reed Richard, of the Fantastic Four earn from the civil war. This is the type of Spider-man story that I like to read. Straczynski didn’t go far enough. There are complete psychological studies one why people respect authority, in dire situations, like in Nazi Germany. We get a hint of that in Reed Richard, but not enough to understand why a such a brilliant man such as Reed Richard could give way to a basic Arendt's situation.

Similarly, not enough is shown as to how Peter succeeds in breaking away from the same Arendt's situation. The Arendt's experiment explains how well adjust people can become tyrants under the right stress. Once one party believes it is the authority, it will administer this power cruelly. It’s hard to break from that hold. So I can’t imagine how Spider-man shows enough courage to break free.

Complex questions that I would like Marvel to answer. I like comic books who remind me of old classes I took in college.

I enjoyed Garney’s Spider-man. There are few lines, but they convey all the motion and emotion required for the story. I like the proportion given to character. Spider-man is not a body builder. He’s slim and shorter than Tony Stark. It’s the first time in years that I can positively say that Marvel characters are gaining individual features and body types. It’s a good time to be reading comics.

9/10

Amazing Spider-Man 534 Review

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12