It’s been a while since we checked in on Brand New Day, as it’s still being called. Seriously, isn’t it time to drop that particular piece of marketing-speak? The initial thrill has now roundly worn off, and the glut of new enemies and characters is starting to weaken a little.

It’s fairly confusing that, of all the writers on the Spidey “Brain Trust”, Bob Gale appears to be the one getting the most stories out the door – especially because he’s the got most individual style of the four (and, some would certainly argue, the worst style.) His frequent use of expository captions is quite grating, and his spidey wisecracks seem dated and unfunny, especially when placed alongside Slott’s genuinely hilarious dialogue.

Gale’s last two issues have made use of the interesting concept (recently introduced to the Spider-Man universe) of “The Bookie” – a small-time crook who takes bets on Superhero fights in the Bar With No Name – a super-villain sanctuary. The idea is uniquely suited to Spider-Man, and adds nicely to the fabric of the Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, Gale’s attempt to write a story about the character – while quite welcome – has ended up jettisoning the elements that made Brand New Day seem successful in the first place – as a result it doesn’t feel classically-influenced so much as it feels generic.

There are some good moments – the bartender halting the fight because technically, Spider-Man’s a “villain” and the bar is a sanctuary for crooks was a nice touch, as was Spidey making use of the cross-town train system in lieu of swinging. Finally, too, we get some advancement on the Spider-Tracer killer plotline which has been running through the books – turns out, Spidey’s being set up, though if it’s clear the “victims” died of natural causes, one would hope that it’d be… picked up by the coroner? Personally, my money’s on the “killer” being one of Spidey’s more well-known foes, and that this plotline might actually tie into the return of Venom.

Largely, though, it feels like a bit of a mis-fire, and perhaps because while there’s a lot of Spider-Man, there’s not actually much Peter Parker – he appears in one panel at the end. If the idea behind Brand New Day was to get back to Peter’s life, this issue is definitely a failure in that regard. McKone’s artwork is reliably good, at least, but he colouring seems a little too muddy and dull, and makes the book read about as entertainingly as it’s written.

Certainly Amazing #563 isn’t the worst Brand New Day issue, but it does have the dubious honour of being the least remarkable – and that might ultimately be more of a worry in the long run.