Originally written April 24, 2018

Issues 20-31 marks the set of issues of the third year of The Amazing Spider-Man comic. By this point, the series has really started to settle into its own groove a bit more, and so the quality is a bit more consistent. I think the biggest criticism I have is just that there isn’t as much as originality in this set of issues as there was in previous issues, but it’s definitely still pretty amazing regardless. It still features the creative team of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and so now that they’ve found their groove with the series, it’s really starting to shine by this point.

So the thing I like is that at this point I’m noticing that the series is slowly starting to move away purely from self-contained one-off stories. While there are still some like this, there are more story threads that start to weave through the overall narrative, and this is a welcome change of pace. We get to see the rocky stages of Peter Parker’s relationship with Betty Brant, the health problems that Aunt May is starting to have, and even just some mini-stories like the identity of a police informant named Patch. More of the stories in this set of issues start to span multiple issues, and the final one (issue 31) is even the start of the series’ first three-parter.

As I said, my only real criticism of this set of issues is that it lacks some of the originality that earlier issues had. The only new villains introduced in this set of issues that went on to become really well-known Spider-Man villains are The Scorpion and Spencer Smythe’s Spider-Slayers. Otherwise, you get such amazing new villains like The Cat, The Clown, and The Crime-Master. Yeah, hard to see why those didn’t go on to become big names. However, one thing I won’t hold against this year’s issues as far as villains goes is when it brings back classic villains. We get to see Spider-Man face off against foes of his like Green Goblin and Mysterio again, and so it’s welcome to see these guys return.

Where the originality comes from in this year, and perhaps the biggest strength of these issues, is in the stories though. Like I said, you can really tell that Lee/Ditko have gotten comfortable, because they’re able to focus on good storytelling a lot better. There’s all the good things I mentioned earlier, but there’s also some more stuff worth mentioning. We really start to see J. Jonah Jameson’s hatred for Spider-Man reach new, dangerous heights. There’s a good self-contained story where Spider-Man thinks that he’s going insane. We get the introductions of some major Spider-Man characters like Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn. And we get to see Peter’s personal life evolve in many different ways, including his graduation from high school and entering into college. It’s a great mix, and so I think the storytelling has really hit a higher point than previous issues.

All in all, I think that this set of issues is keeping the series going strong. Obviously this is still very early in the Spider-Man mythos, but it’s an interesting mix of issues. While there are some low points, particularly with some of the villains that are introduced, the fantastic storylines more than make up for it. The third year of The Amazing Spider-Man is a success.

4.5/5