THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #801 review

(Review by Melody Werner)
The Amazing Spider-Man #801 is Dan Slott's final issue writing The Amazing Spider-Man for Marvel. Illustrated by Marcos Martín (previously the artist of The Private Eye, something I'll be reviewing eventually). Despite Slott's reputation (at least, personal rep with me) of having created stories that were too dense to navigate, this is a fully stand-alone story, and one that is being heralded as Dan's best. Unlike a certain other Dan I know of, however, I will admit that Slott impressed me with this short but sweet issue.

Martín's art is clean, but also enjoyably cartoony. Packs a lot of detail into every single panel while still looking fresh and not making your eyes go insane trying to find out what's pertinent. Muntsa Vincente's color-work suits Martín well and brings a lot of vibrancy to the visuals. The lettering is tight, sequential reading flow is smooth. 

The story itself is not the most unique, but the execution is on-point. Focusing on the effects of Spidey on the lives of the city populace from their perspective is something we don't see often enough, and the character this follows absolutely holds up. The dialogue and narration are fitting and easy to read. Spidey sounds like Spidey, civilians sound like actual people (for the most part; there's a lecture-y bit that came across kinda unnatural to me, felt like something no normal person would ever actually say). Overall, this is a very satisfying and uplifting read that had me touched by the end of it.

I can imagine this being someone's very first Spider-Man experience and them being entranced. For someone who's been fond of the webhead since childhood watching the 90's cartoon with C.D. Barnes and riding the stellar theme park attraction at Universal, I enjoyed it a ton. I won't say it's one of the best Spider-Man stories ever, but it's something everyone should have on their radar nevertheless. I will say that I don't think this was much of a tearjerker--more a heartwarmer than anything else. I suppose the meta story, this being Slott's final issue, could bring someone who followed his run since the beginning or someone who started Spidey with him to tears. But they like Dan Slott, so they're irrelevant, right? All jokes aside, #801 is not something to sniff at and it does make me hopeful for Slott's upcoming (at time of writing) Fantastic Four run. Please, please don't suck. The Amazing Spider-Man #801 gets a 5/5.

Fantastic

Summary:
Probably Slott's finest work on TAS. I mean, I haven't read too much of his run, but this has gotta be hard to top.

(originally posted: 6/23/2018)