Every Wednesday we take turns to delve into our trusty longboxes, pluck out a dusty back issue, and give you our thoughts. We’ll also try and place it in the context of the time it was originally published.

Since we’re in the middle of an exciting! Spidey! Relaunch!, promising a return to classic Spidey storytelling and all that stuff, it was I suppose inevitable that at some point we’d turn our eye to the last time this all happened - and the first issue of J. Michael Stracynski’s run on Amazing. It’s almost as amazing to think of it now as it is to imagine the fact that it was seven years ago, but when JMS first came along he was seen as a genuine breath of fresh air after the full-on stagnation of the dreaded Mackie/Byrne years (which themselves were an attempt to finally pull Spidey out of the post-Clone Saga funk). Of course, back then we didn’t know how it would all turn out - but there was a definite sense of optimism, with the movie on the way and a revitalised character leading up to it.

At the time, then, I was one of the people wowed by this issue and the ones that immediately followed. And you know, looking back over it now, there’s still plenty to enjoy. Much as Dan Slott has managed to do in his early issues (and the other “Brain Trust” members to a much lesser extent), JMS sets out his stall with an opening sequence that, although it features Spidey swinging around on his own, grumbling to himself, is filled with classic “why me?” banter - a rambling monologue about pockets a particularly amusing highlight. He’s also economical with his storytelling, making good use of the first page to explain the current status quo (Peter living on his own, Mary Jane having left him) for those brought onboard by the relaunch. After bounding around for a bit setting up elements that will later be developed (such as the first suggestion that Peter might go and work in a school), we settle into the meat of the opening arc - the appearance of Ezekiel.

Now. It’s hard to really get too much into discussing Ezekiel’s appearance without considering the longer-term ramifications of him, and of the revelations that he makes about Peter’s powers. Put simply, JMS made a right royal cock-up of things by introducing all kinds of mystical rubbish that had no place whatsoever in a Spider-Man book. Not that it was a particularly bad idea that some kind of totemic spider-energy sought out a vessel for these powers once in a generation, and that Ezekiel had brought about all kinds of havoc by going and snatching them for himself - it just wasn’t Spider-Man. But that’s all retrospective context, and we’re supposed to be looking at these issues in isolation - and it has to be said, Ezekiel’s first appearance is great. His presence is a complete surprise - as much to us as it is to Peter - he’s sharp and funny (”Darn, there go my shoes again…”), and in an instant he raises all kinds of questions about things that Peter had spent his entire life taken for granted. The fact that the answers to those questions turned out to be crap is kind of irrelevant in the immediate context - this was exactly the kick up the arse that the series and character needed at that point in time.

Helping with the revitalisation of the series - as he always seems to do - is John Romita Jr returning to art duties. I’m not sure quite how it is that one of Amazing’s longest-serving artists always manages to freshen up the series when he returns, but he does. Scott Hanna’s sharp and tight inks make for a different style to when Klaus Janson is finishing, but coupled with a fine, vibrant colouring job the whole thing looks utterly terrific - arguably better, in fact, than JRJr’s recent work on the Slott run.  In fact, it’s fair to say that it’s this particular run that confirmed Romita Jr’s place as my favourite Spidey artist.

While not an absolutely perfect beginning - even with his first appearance in the closing pages, Morlun seems to tick all kinds of “cliche” boxes - Straczynski certainly hit the ground running in giving Spidey fans a character and a series to be excited about again. As with Slott’s successful recent arc, the appeal of the early issues lies less in the specifics of the story and more in boiling it back down to classic, conventional Spidey storytelling, judging the tone perfectly between lightness and angst. But the fact that JMS would soon get bogged down in storylines that simply felt wrong for the comic, turning his run as a whole into an overlong and largely disliked slog, might act as a lesson for the Brain Trust should they get too confident in the book’s current success…

Tags: J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita Jr., Spider-Man
Publisher: Dusting Off, Marvel