Amazing Spider-Man is the first Marvel comic to actually hit four digit issues, and issue 1000 is a celebration of all the writers, artists, and memorable moments that made Spider-Man a pop culture icon. It hits most of the major relationships and milestones in Spider-Man/Peter Parker’s life and explores the tragedy that created him as well as the more fun kicking supervillain butt and flirting with Mary Jane type moments. However, the 100+ page comic gets off to a bit of a rough start.

Amazing Spider-Man #1000 begins with the requisite full length, present day story for folks who are actually following the ongoing series and not just checking in for the anniversary like yours truly. Joe Kelly, Pepe Larraz, and Federico Blee craft a story centered around Aunt May having a stroke and fighting for her life with her nephew Peter Parker/Spider-Man by her side as well as her long lost son, Cormac Crane. In the most predictable “twist” ever, Crane is the villainous Ravage (No relation that we know of to the 2099 or Hulk baddie.) and wants to take all of May and Peter’s memories so he can have the “life” he wish he’d had growing up. (I also too want to be filled with guilt when I experienced my uncle being murdered, and I had a chance to stop it.) This memory “exhuming” is a handy plot device to go down memory lane and revisit the important moments in Spider-Man’s heroic journey and especially in his relationship with Aunt May. The ordinary moments between Peter and May warmed my heart like when she brings him an “apologystrami” sandwich.

Kelly and Larraz’s reverence for the classic Stan Lee/Steve Ditko/John Romita comics comes through in their approach to the flashbacks in their Amazing Spider-Man #1000, especially Pepe Larraz’s cinematic compositions with layouts that look like Spider-Man’s mask or a smooth sequence where Spidey saves a train on a bridge a la Spider-Man 2. It’s why we love this character, but it’s paired with some ugly, soap opera (Derogatorily, not in a Chris Claremont way) plotting that definitely didn’t make me want to pick up issue 1001 although Larraz is a perfect fit for the character. There is no depth to Crane beyond him being a pure evil guilt trip with an omniscient knowledge of Spider-Man’s life. Even his visuals look like a Fortnite skin. I look forward to a six issue arc and then never hearing about him again. (Remember Teresa Parker?)

After an insightful Q&A with Tom Holland (I really resonated with his love for Ultimate Spider-Man.) and Destin Daniel Cretton (He’s a fellow Boomerang stan!), the second story in Amazing Spider-Man #1000 marks the Marvel Comics debut of Fargo/Legion/Alien Earth creator Noah Hawley with art from Patrick Gleason, Marco Menyz, and Erick Arciniega. Predominantly set in the memory care unit of a retirement home in Queens, New York, “Still Standing” is a poetic final Peter Parker adventure as he finds closure and eventually gets to see the legacy of Spider-Man realized through his grandson. The story starts unobtrusively enough until Peter’s first, long lost love Gwen Stacy waltzes back in his life, and feelings and regrets well up. Of course, there’s more to this reunion than meets the eye, and the whole memory loss aspect really makes it a tearjerker. (My grandma is going through a similar situation right now.)

“Still Standing” centers around conversations and past memories so Gleason’s character acting and Menyz and Arciniega’s wistful color palette with touches of red and blue help unpack these elements. Peter, his son Miles, and his grandson Spider-Man are at different stages in their lives and have distinct gaits and bearings. It’s very jarring to see Peter go from sitting in his easy chair to hanging from the ceiling, but having the proportionate strength and speed of a spider doesn’t go away even if his mind unfortunately isn’t doing too well. The interactions between Peter and Gwen are very charged as she brings light and love to his twilight years. I won’t spoil how Hawley and Patrick Gleason get from Point A to Point B, but I felt a touch of sadness and an even stronger sense of closure after reading this story. If this was the final issue of Amazing Spider-Man, this is the kind of story perfect for wrapping up the decades-long saga.

Amazing Spider-Man #1000’s intergenerational throughline continues in its third story “Requiem for a Goblin” by J.M. DeMatteis, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, and Edgar Delgado. This story is about the funeral of Harry Osborn, who became the New Goblin, but then made a heroic sacrifice back in 1993’s Spectacular Spider-Man #200. DeMatteis and Ramos dig into the friendship between Peter Parker and Osborn as well as their superheroic or villainous alter egos. Most of it takes place in Peter’s head while he tries to come to grips with the loss of his friend, and whether villainy was something he chose or something thrust on him by his abusive and evil father and grandfather. True to form, J.M. DeMatteis’ writing is dark and psychological while Humberto Ramos and Olazaba’s line work is more upbeat and takes you back to the more laidback days of the late 1990s/early 2000s. Their character designs coupled with Delgado’s palette have so much personality and energy, and it makes me miss the days when superheroes had robust civilian supporting cast. “Requiem for a Goblin” is the perfect, reflective story for fans of media like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Ultimate Spider-Man where the Peter Parker/Norman Osborn/Harry Osborn father/son dynamic is important.

In “Tears of the Spider-Queen”, two comics auteurs Frank Miller and Peach Momoko join forces to spin a yarn (Pun very much intended.) of an early career Spider-Man coming to blows with Miller creation, the Hand. Body horror, superheroes, and ninjas collide as Spidey tracks down a young girl named Allison, who has been given the title of Spider-Queen by The Hand and transformed into something monstrous. Momoko’s manga-tinged visuals and powerful color palette goes hand in hand with the ratatat of Frank Miller’s Spillane-esque captions. Even now, you feel like he could turn in another run on Daredevil or a killer collaboration like Elektra Assassin or Martha Washington. His words accentuate the primal nature of Peach Momoko’s art, especially when Allison transforms from girl to spider. She’s a counterbalance to Spider-Man, but also someone for him to mentor and rescue. I hope we get to see more of her, but I’ll take this spine chilling story by two of my all-time favorite comics artists for now.

After this, Amazing Spider-Man #1000 goes a little lighter with a wrestling/Uncle Ben-centric story from *naturally* Triple H, Rob Fee, Ed McGuinness, Mark Farmer, and Matthew Wilson. Most of this sweet, sentimental story is a young Peter Parker geeking out about going to a wrestling match with his uncle. His enthusiasm is infectious and a good match for the big limbs and high energy of McGuinness and Farmer’s art that culminates in a double page spread featuring Crusher Hogan and D-Man duking it out. However, the best part of this story is reading Uncle Ben’s body language and understanding that the wrestling match was a financial sacrifice for him, but he’d do anything to make his nephew happy. It’s interesting that Spidey gets back to his working class hero roots in a story by probably the most corporate co-writer in this comic.

After the wrassling and splash pages, we get some snappy patter and well-paced action sequences in “The Gesture” courtesy of Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen (Inking himself!), and Marte Gracia. Spider-Man gets an Avengers alert on almost never used, often lost Priority Identicard, but first, he has take out some Z-list supervillains in Times Square. The insecurity, the well-timed comedy, and of course, the explosive action is all here and a reminder of why Bendis and Immonen (And Bagley before him, and Pichelli after him) were so great on Ultimate Spider-Man. Spidey’s roast of White Rabbit, Firebrand, and Basilisk is the perfect combination of his annual run-ins with the Shocker and when he verbally decimated the Kingpin. Brian Bendis’ love of deep Spider-Man lore comes out in this issue, and it has a heartwarming finale showing just how important he is to his friends and family with the help of Captain America. The heart and humor in this story definitely made me want to dust off my Ultimate Spidey omnibi!

The penultimate story in Amazing Spider-Man #1000 features a script from living legend Larry Lieber with art from Giuseppe Camuncoli, Klaus Janson, and Rachelle Rosenberg. It’s a straight up Spider-Man goes back to the Old West with a prominent appearance from Lieber co-creation The Rawhide Kid. This comic feels like going back in time over 60 years ago when John Wayne ruled the box office instead of, well, our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Camuncoli and Janson give the visuals an old school vibe that is aided by Rosenberg’s use of primarily flat colors. This feels like finding a long lost Western/superhero mash up comic and is just plain fun although both Spidey and the Rawhide Kid find common ground in shared tragedy.

Amazing Spider-Man #1000 saves the best for last in a retelling of Amazing Fantasy #15 from the POV of the policemen chasing the Burglar, who Spider-Man lets get away and then kills Uncle Ben. Dan Slott, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente drop us straight into a pulse pounding cops and robbers chase and shootout with speed lines, quick nimble paneling, and rapid fire dialogue. It’s a movie we’ve seen dozens of times, but edited and shot differently. Except for the tiniest of silhouettes, Spider-Man and Peter Parker are always off panel: they’re incidental characters in Arthur’s all-consuming quest to catch the Five Boroughs Burglar. This rule only applies to the flashback sequence, and as Slott and Martin progress into the present day, the Spider-Man iconography takes over the page. This represents closure and finality as Amazing Spider-Man #1000 closes a loop that began 60+ years ago in Amazing Fantasy #15. It’s a nigh-perfect way to conclude the comic.

A dud of an opening story aside, Amazing Spider-Man #1000 is an emotional and visually stunning journey through the triumph and tragedy of an American icon. Although each story has vastly different art and writing styles, creators as disparate as Noah Hawley and Triple H, Larry Lieber and Peach Momoko find common ground in shared themes of family, finding closure, and finding heroism after experiencing the darkest moment in one’s life. I don’t know if the current Amazing Spider-Man stories will be any good, but there’s an epic back catalog to dive back (Let’s say I probably have about 500 issues of ASM to catch up on.) that’s accessible thanks to Marvel Unlimited. Plus you could always re-read this book, especially the Hawley/Patrick Gleason story if you need a good cry.

Story: Joe Kelly, Noah Hawley, J.M. DeMatteis, Frank Miller, Triple H, Rob Fee,
Brian Michael Bendis, Larry Lieber, Dan Slott
Art: Pepe Larraz, Patrick Gleason, Humberto Ramos & Victor Olazaba, Peach Momoko,
Ed McGuinness & Mark Farmer, Stuart Immonen, Giuseppe Camuncoli & Klaus Janson, Marcos Martin
Colors: Klaus Janson, Marcos Martin
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Story: 8.1 Art: 8.9 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle