Read our review of Amazing Spider-Man #50 from Marvel Comics, written by Zeb Wells with art by Ed McGuinness.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Amazing Spider-Man #50 Review:
In the over-sized issue, Spider-Man is once again battling the Green Goblin. Only this time, the Goblin… Is him! Gasp!
“I really liked this issue,” host Alex Zalben said, kicking things off. “And I really liked the main story even as I was frustrated at the same time by the idea that they teased out Spider-Man turning into the Goblin issues ago, and they could have done it issues ago. Instead, they tried to do this feint where it actually happens here. Even though I don’t like that, there’s a really good amount of tension to this issue. Because as a reader, given that you know this is happening, you know exactly what is going happen before the characters of the book… It feels like you’re watching a horror movie while you’re reading it because you’re shouting at them… So I don’t love the idea of Peter Parker being a Goblin. I don’t love the fact that they did it, and then stopped it, and now they’re doing it again. But at the same time, I will say this is a well-crafted comic book.”
Pete LePage agreed adding that when Peter starts laughing “it was like a horror movie come to life… Epic and well done.” He also shouted out the back-up story by Lee Gatlin as “lovely.”
Getting back to the main part of the issue, Justin Tyler also enjoyed the book, and thought there were moments that were purposefully hilarious — like the reveal that Norman Osborn is once again the Green Goblin… To which Tyler added a “finally” on getting to the point that the character is bad again.
“Ultimately, the proof is going to be the execution of this storyline,” Zalben said. “I beat this drum all the time, but what does this mean for Peter Parker? And what does this tell us about Peter Parker? If the answer is ‘not much,’ this is not a good move. But if we learn something else about him if it pushes him forward in some way, that’s great, so we’ll see. But as a whole, like Pete was indicating ,this is a very good package of a comic book, and the backup stories are great throughout as well. So very fun.”
Amazing Spider-Man #50 Official Synopsis:
GUESS WHO’S BACK?! THE GREEN GOBLIN RETURNS in this landmark and massive issue of ASM that boasts not only a double-sized main story but some instant Spider-Man classics by legends and legends to be! The Sins of Norman Osborn have found their way home and Norman shows his true color – green. But is it truly that simple? Spidey and Gobby’s brutal fight is one for the ages and you don’t want to miss this ending. PLUS! MARV WOLFMAN RETURNS TO SPIDER-MAN! NIKESH SHUKLA tells a story that will stay with you for a long time. And more!
