First off, this issue is something of a landmark as Amazing Spider-Man reaches the same number as Marvel’s longest published-title, Fantastic Four. Later this week, Spidey will storm into the lead. That’s a side-effect of going thrice-monthly that one imagines is neither unwelcome nor unexpected. After all, Spider-Man, while not the first, is the very template that Marvel’s heroes are built on, so it’s fitting he should have the highest numbering, I suppose.

More’s the pity that this issue doesn’t really set the world alight. While those who read the review on CBR will know that I enjoyed Wells’ first issue, I found this one far more generic and uninteresting. The villain of the piece is a little too cartoonish to be threatening, and the Mayans, used as a fake-out, were barely at the level of background characters before their untimely sacrifice.

The really interesting part of the episode is the snowstorm that’s afflicting the city as a result, and Spidey’s attempts to work despite that. Unfortunately, due to more of the timing problems that afflicted Strange’s appearance last issue, this is the most wintery issue of Spider-Man ever to be published in April (not that the UK isn’t have its own jokes with hailstorms this spring, but still.) Another glaring omission is last issue’s guest star, Wolverine, who has disappeared from the story without much of a send-off. Looking back at last issue, he’s gone to check on Dr. Strange, but I have to admit I expected some follow-up to that thread. There’s still one issue to go, I suppose, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be back now, and it’ll seem like a really odd way to structure a story if he doesn’t come back at some point.

Bachalo’s art is still the strongest thing about the title, and the opening scene with Jameson attempting to escape from hospital showcases Bachalo’s gift for comic timing that hasn’t been seen in god knows how long. The minimalist cover is fantastic, and one of the many things the Brand New Day team has done right is bring the iconic nature of covers back into focus – it’s been years since Bill Jemas and his ”Single Character Cover” policy ended, but things never really snapped back after that. Things are still a little generic – it’s fairly damning that the majority of Marvel Zombies cover homage/parodies didn’t come from recent issues, that’s for sure.

I found this to be a disappointing second issue from Wells, only slightly saved by Bachalo’s best work in some time. As the last of the “brand new day” writers, Wells is the first to hit a really duff note with me (despite Gale’s variable effort last month) and the first not to introduce a genuinely memorable new villain, so I’ll definitely have my eye on his next arc, whenever that turns up.

And so the Amazing merry-go-round continues, with Back To The Future co-scribe Bob Gale the latest to step up and tackle the new! Improved! Single! Webcrawler! for three weeks. Of course, the fact that all four writers are working in tandem as one big Spidey Team means that there’s hardly a jarring shift in tone – but what’s also noticeable as a result is just how one-note it’s already starting to become.

Take the jokey editorial notes, for example – in Slott’s run, they were a breath of fresh air. But when you’ve got a note on the first page followed by a note replying to it (courtesy of Joe Quesada muscling his way in), you realise just how annoying they can be. When the footnotes even start narrating the action (“Let’s see what’s going on elsewhere…”), you wish they’d just shut the hell up and let you get on with reading.

And I know that a core tenet of Brand New Day so far has been the return to “traditional” Marvel-style storytelling. But this isn’t 1963, and there’s only so far you can go – so use of the word “thru”, or incessant thought bubbles that fair clog up the pages, are just as much of a problem. The sense of fun, after years of JMS-fuelled gloom, is of course welcome – but there is such a thing as too much, particularly when it’s at the expense of solid storytelling.

And really, there isn’t very much storytelling on show at all here. The consequences of the final issue of Guggenheim’s arc are barely touched on – a shame, as the death of Councilwoman Parfrey was a shocking and well-played moment. Instead, we get the creation of a new villain (that’s three new villains in three short arcs, with the result that none have had anything like enough time to bed in and establish themselves) in an extremely clichéd and hokey way, interspersed with a bit of Daily Bugle, a bit of Peter ‘n’ Harry, and a cadre of gambling costumed villains. The pacing is quite fudged, so that some of the story elements feel like they’re being touched on for the sake of just including them, while others break up the fast-paced nature of the book by hanging around too long (such as two pages of Peter in his bedroom).

Phil Jimenez, meanwhile, is of course one of the more reliably classy portrayers of superheroics in the business. But even his work here feels a bit off – nothing wrong with the clarity of his storytelling, but perhaps it’s a personal reaction to his McFarlaneish Spidey – all spindly limbs and massive eyes (of course, if you like the early ‘90s vintage, you’ll probably enjoy it a lot more). It’s also quite interesting that at one point there’s one of those pesky editorial notes remaking on cutting away from a fight scene “before it gets too gruesome for our all-ages comic”, and yet the last-page splash of the new villain really does push it in terms of the schlock factor. Deliberate, or coincidence? I honestly couldn’t tell.

It’s still fairly entertaining, and the goodwill earned by the strong start of the run hasn’t worn off just yet. But we’re seven issues in, now, and something resembling a major plot would be nice – because there’s only so long you can get by on wisecracking, retro-style “fun” with nothing of substance behind it.

Coverage of Brand New Day continues here! Though let’s not kid ourselves that the marketing slogan really needs to be used anymore because this book sells itself! This month sees Marc Guggenheim and Savador Larocca left holding the baton, and after the Slott/McNiven powerhouse, I have to admit I was slightly concerned to see whether the quality of these two would match up. Guggenheim turned in a mostly excellent Wolverine arc during Civil War, but followed it up with uneven arcs on Blade and Flash. Larocca’s artwork has been consciously evolving styles for several years now, making him something of an unsafe bet - at least as far as my personal taste goes.

However, despite some arguably shaky architects, this issue promises to continue the trend of high quality that’s been set. Perhaps that’s down to the “braintrust” steering the ship – it’ll be interesting to see who makes the first genuine screw up, if nothing else. For now, Guggenheim keeps the wisecracks flowing and the plots moving. He’s also unenviably saddled with introducing two fairly major, and largely derided  plot developments into the “Brand New Day” continuity. Dexter Bennet turns up at the Daily Bugle and begins to remake it in his own image, and far more importantly, Spider-Man meets Jackpot for the first time since the possibly-not-in-continuity-but-now-it-is FCBD special, Swing Shift.

Jackpot is a character I’m not sure about. While I really like the idea of turning the tables on Peter and MJ’s relationship somewhat, there’s not much of a relationship to speak of at the moment. The hints that Jackpot is MJ – right down to Peter almost recognising her even in-costume – are being laid on with a trowel, and I can’t decide if it’s supposed to be misdirection or just an attempt to make sure that the blow, when it comes, is appropriately softened. There has to be a twist, surely? That said, Spidey and Jackpot’s interaction is handled well. As if Guggenheim didn’t have enough to deal with, he also has to use the fact that Jackpot is a “registered” heroine (and thus more legitimate that Spidey) drawing on one of the less-loved parts of Civil War.

Larocca’s artwork is, for me, still the weakest link in the BND chain, though I admit that’s largely personal taste at work. He’s got the storytelling down, he’s experimenting well with the opportunities afforded to people lucky enough to Spidey – crazy camera angles, comedy timing, that sort of thing – and he’s pulling it off. I just wish he’d get an inker in – he’s either inking himself or doing some version of the weird, washed-out greytone, shot from pencils-styling that made his X-Men art look increasingly like it’d been through the washing machine.

Now, all-in-all, it’s a good issue and a worthy successor to the Slott/McNiven arc, though there’s little chance it’ll dethrone it. If nothing else, this issues worth it just because they actually used the “hit the jackpot” joke that everyone on the Internet has been making…

Slott’s first arc on the character comes to an end, and it’s almost hard to know what to say. It’s been good. Really good. Whether or not you liked One More Day, it’s very hard not to argue that these last three issues comprise a really classic Spider-Man story. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to call it “classical.” In just about every way possible, it’s sticking fairly close to the accepted Spider-Man formula. He’s down on his luck, having trouble with the Bugle, trouble with his web-shooters, trouble with the police and he’s wisecracking hard despite his responsibilities as Spider-Man getting in the way of his welfare once again. If anything, they’re almost trying too hard to cram it all in, and the final issue especially comes over a bit jumbled at the finish. 

It’s especially good to see Spidey tackling something street-level. Mr. Negative, a mobster with some vaguely-defined, apparently low-level powers, is exactly the sort of character that heroes like Spider-Man and Daredevil should be tackling – not vampires and mystics and, god help us, Mephisto. Sure, it makes a nice change on occasion, but it’s nice to see that for all the recent screwups, Marvel are finally proving that they know what makes a good Spider-Man story, and that’s a good Spider-Man villain.

Sure, some people are saying that the character’s been taken back to the 70s, but that’s an over-simplification. What they’ve done is taken the character back to formula, so to speak, and if that feels like the 70s – well, Slott, Wacker and the other members of the Braintrust could’ve done far worse than create work that’s accused of resembling one of the most iconic and creative periods in Spider-Man history.

Still, as good as these last few issues have been, it’ll be interesting to see how close they stick to the basics in future issue. 3 issues of web-shooter problems are entertaining, but how will we take it if we get 6, or 12, or 24? This story, quite rightly, goes back to the core of the character, but if that’s all the new Spider-Man’s ever going to do, well, it might start to wear. For now, there’s plenty in the works to bring people back. The much-hyped Jackpot has barely appeared so far, and the ongoing plot threads regarding the new supporting cast and the new villains are weaving nicely in and out of the story without feeling intrusive. I’m anxious to see how Guggenheim – the next writer in the rota, and one with a fairly inconsistent history – performs in his issues. If nothing else, this arc has convinced me that Slott’s issues are going to be worth it.

Rarely has something so sweet left such a bitter taste. The joy at the fact that Dan Slott is so far proving to be an absolutely inspired choice of Spider-Man writer, and is already turning in the best material the main title has seen in years, is tempered by the fact that the success and acclaim of the run will surely allow Joe Quesada to crow that he was right all along – and that you can’t tell good stories with a married Spidey. Yeah, well, nice trick, Joe – but how different would it have been if you’d had Jeph Loeb up your sleeve for the relaunch instead?

Anyway, as it happens, the fact that the precise nature of the story is unimportant to the quality of the telling is demonstrated by the fact that, so far, Slott’s story has been neither groundbreaking nor particularly gripping. The villain is generic, “broke and misunderstood” is the quintessential Spidey scenario, and there are even elements of Ben Reilly’s brief and underappreciated tenure under the mask (that might just be because he’s skint and hanging out at a coffee house, but still). No, what makes this book so instantly unmissable is the way in which it’s told – finally we have a writer who just gets the core elements of good Spidey storytelling, balancing drama with genuine laughs. The whole thing feels effortless, and there’s a lightness of touch that even spreads as far as editor Steve Wacker (the editorial note on the last page is possibly the funniest bit of the whole thing). It may not be all that forward-thinking, but it’s exactly the kind of Spider-Man story for which we’ve been crying out for yonks. Watch out, too, for Slott’s deft grasp of structure – he’s now opened two successive issues with near-identical imagery used in completely different contexts. Who’ll Peter be smooching on the first page of issue #548, I wonder?

On art duties, Steve McNiven often gets criticism for his work having something of a staid, “action figure” quality, despite his undoubted technical brilliance. He definitely takes some time to settle in here, I think – his first full-costume shot is a bit awkward – but gets to grips with it later on, and in the final scene in particular he nails the Romita Jr-esque “lithe Spidey” look pretty well. The whole thing, though, is undeniably sharp and pretty, with a good grasp of character design – and a vast improvement on the artists Amazing has had to put up with in recent times. And if he can make it to the end of his allotted run without having to delay the book at all, well… job done, frankly.

It can’t be denied that it would be nice to see Slott flexing his muscles a bit more, and throwing Peter into a story with a bit more intrigue and interest to it. For the moment, though, he’s taking it one step at a time – restoring the character to his position at the pinnacle of purely entertaining superhero comics (and thereby ensuring that Spider-Man doesn’t get out-Spider-Manned by DC’s Blue Beetle, for once) and making great strides towards winning back the affections of longtime fans. Quesada’s story decisions may be abominable – but at least he can pick his writers.

Well, judgement day is here. We’ve all had our pops at Quesada, at Marvel, but now it’s time to accept the reality and move on with our lives. For some of us, that means no more Spider-Man comics. For the rest of us, that means getting to grips with the new, thrice-monthly Spider-Man comic. It’s here now, so what’s it like?

Well… It’s pretty good. Actually, it’s very good. Entertaining. Funny. Good - no, GREAT art. Is it a perfect comic? Well, no. But it is way above average.

As a fan and critic I’m torn. I admit, I didn’t want to like it. In my weaker moments, I wanted it to crash and burn. Unfortunately for me, Slott is a brilliant writer of comedy and drama, and McNiven is nothing short of fantastic - there’s no denying that this is a technically excellent comic, and I have to admit… I had fun reading it.

Yes, that’s “fun” – you know, like comics occasionally are when they’re not making you angry, or disgusted? Slott’s gift for comedy certain shines through the pages – Peter turning up shoe-less at a Soup Kitchen (after a spot of roof-running) only for Aunt May’s friends to think he’s become homeless was a particularly comedic moment, and demonstrates well how people are worried about Peter’s situation, being jobless and poor. The new cast of friends and villains shows up (and they’re actually pretty intriguing) and Jonah’s attempts to sort out the Bugle is a definite source of intrigue with a great soap opera-style cliffhanger.

But like I say, it’s not totally perfect. The spectre of One More Day hangs over events like a dark, sucking void. Harry is entertaining - if you don’t stop and think about why he’s there. There’s also terrible 2-page backup explaining the “revised” continuity. Surely if this information was important, it should’ve been incorporated into the story?

There’s also the nagging feeling that the reason this comic read so well is just because it’s the first “real” Spider-Man story in years, as the title has bounced from one status-quo redefining crossover to another. Ironically, Brand New Day is the first time in a long time that the title hasn’t been attempting to redefine the status quo, but simply operating within it.

In order to justify the dramabomb they’ve dropped on the character and fandom, there’s one real question that Marvel needs a positive answer to. Is Amazing #546 better than the title has been in the last 5, 10 or even 20 years?

Well, yes, it may well be. And that’s why I’ll be back next issue.