I’ve bought some crap Spider-Man comics over the years for the sake of John Romita Jr artwork. I persisted with J. Michael Straczynski’s run long after it ran out of inspiration, and I’ve even got Howard Mackie-written Clone Saga issues that I don’t feel an urge to take out and burn. So it’s no surprise that although I’ve been on the fence for most of the Brand New Day relaunch - there have been good stories, but also some pretty bland ones, and nothing yet has made me want to commit to forking out three issues’ worth of cash each month by putting it on my pull list - if there’s one thing guaranteed to get me buying the series regularly again after a long absence, it’s JRJr’s name.

And from that excellent cover onwards, he doesn’t disappoint. He’s joined by regular cohort Klaus Janson, who impressively reins in his inks so that they’re closer to Romita’s pencils, rather than his usual, somewhat looser style. It’s about halfway between the classic Romita/Janson look and the tighter one established in the days of Scott Hanna inking during JMS’ run - and it works brilliantly, aided by a strong colouring job. Romita Jr’s Spidey just feels like the character as he should be, twisting and contorting off walls - and a sequence in which our hero frees himself from a pile of rubble before taking a tired moment of reflection is a particular highlight. As with almost all of Romita’s work, it positively leaps off the page with its energy, and it’s a visual delight.

Not that there isn’t still work to do with the title as a whole. The bitter taste of One More Day still hasn’t been fully washed away, primarily because barely anything has been done so far that couldn’t have been by tweaking, rather than scrubbing, the previous status quo. And there are still countless unanswered questions, particularly surrounding Harry Osborn - such as Why Is He Alive and What’s The Point? And I’m not sure whether the reintroduction of Norman O into Peter’s life at the end of this issue - when he’d been happily carving out a niche of his own over in Ellis’ Thunderbolts - is deliberately designed to tackle said questions head on, or if it’s going to awkwardly draw further attention to them.

Still. If we’ve been able to take one thing from the relaunch so far, it’s that of all the “Brain Trust”, it’s Dan Slott who can really do his Spidey. Argue with the details of the setup if you want, but you can’t argue that he nails the character beats, the blend of action and humour, and the sheer vibrancy that all good webslinger stories need. Perhaps the first truly interesting aspect of the new setup - Peter joining Ben Urich and Robbie Robertson at their ‘underground’ paper - is established here, and it’ll be intriguing to see where Slott takes it. Then there’s the fact that all that Aunt May soup kitchen stuff is finally given a point, as an old villain makes a surprise (cover notwithstanding) reappearance - and it remains to be seen just how deliberate a choice of target for Mr Li-slash-Mr Negative’s “healing” Eddie Brock is, but I got the sense that the re-emergence of Venom just might have wound up being an accidental side-effect, and if so, that’s a neat twist.

There’s almost too much going on in this extra-long issue (extra-priced, too, a cheeky move when you consider that fans are already paying three times as much every month just to keep up) to adequately cover, but Slott rolls on with the Menace “mystery”, a bit of Thunderbolts, a bit of Osborn, a bit of Dexter Bennett and so on in swift and assured fashion, while also finding time to give us a two-page recap (complete with lovely retro JRJr art) of just who this Spider-Bloke is. You know, in case you weren’t sure. And because there haven’t been enough jumping-on points recently.

And six hundred words in and I still haven’t even got to the backup story - which sees Mark Waid and Adi Granov fleshing out Brock’s story a bit, infusing it with further tragedy (people wanting to do the right thing but having it all go wrong appears like it’s something of a theme for this story thread). It’s a solid little character piece, although it draws perhaps a bit too heavily on the sort of thing DC have been doing with Two-Face for years. And while Granov is technically a very gifted artist, there’s something a bit waxy and static about his people - and so a story consisting largely of talking heads isn’t really the best showcase for him. It’s in his flash shots of a creepy and very alien Venom that he really excels.

There’s a definite spark to this, perhaps more so than in any of Brand New Day. You can put it down to Slott being the best of the current bunch of writers, Romita’s brilliant art, the return of some more classic foes or the coming together of various slow-burning plot threats - or indeed any combination of all the above. I still can’t say the series is a must-buy, and I reserve judgement on the use of both Osborns, but the art alone means this was no waste of money for me - and the fact that the story is on the up is a bonus, really.

There’s plenty of news worth commenting on straight out of Wizard World Chicago as the Summer’s con season truly gets going, including reflections on the unfortunate passing of Mike Turner, Ghost Rider news (seriously), the near-mythical Superman 2000 pitch and Eric Stephenson’s recent promotion.
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