The Amazing Spider-man #667

Marvel Comics
The Amazing Spider-man #667
By Hervé St-Louis
August 17, 2011 - 08:12

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Dan Slott
Penciller(s): Humberto Ramos
Inker(s): Carlos Cuevas
Colourist(s): Edgar Delgado
Letterer(s): Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist(s): Humberto Ramos
$3.99 US

New Yorkers are affected by a bug that gives them Spider-man-like powers. Even Carly, Spider-man’s girlfriend is affected. Now a group of mobsters also affected are gathering and planning a big hit. Will Spider-man stop them in time, or will the Avengers stop him, by mistaking him for one of the affected New Yorkers?

Spider-man was fun, but the formula tried after A Brand New Day has apparently been dumped in favour of more crazy stories. Slott has been writing Spider-man for a while now, so he does have a good handle on the character, but this story is so over the top and features none of the charm of Spider-man as a downtrodden hero. Instead, this issue is a set up for another Spider-man-based crossover which I will skip. Shang Shi and Madame Web are all involved. It feels like the writer is running out of ideas, when he has to make a story where everyone gets Spider-man powers. Hasn’t this been done to the Flash already or Aquaman. I don’t know. The one good line from this comic book was Carly sharing the secret of her powers with Spider-man. Although the story loses all credibility with her just storming out of a cab on a bridge without ever having used the powers and spider-slinging into action.

I don’t like Humberto Ramos’ work. I won’t go in details since I have never liked his work. There’s too much happening at once and the characters’ proportions are exaggerated and distorted. However, many people like his work and I won’t fight against that. While many of the pages’ interior art was tough to follow in action scenes, the quiet ones were much better laid out. I will give him props for being a dynamic illustrator.
Rating: 6.5/10