Amazing Spider-Man 624

Mark Waid, I (as the meme goes) am disappoint.

So, the cliffhanger at the end of the last issue is quickly thwarted at the beginning of this one (turns out it's not JJJ's body but that of a helpful staffer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time). Spidey runs out of web-fluid trying to bring down the Vulture and is unable to prevent his escape. Peter Parker makes some questionable decisions in an attempt to clear Jonah's name and is promptly rewarded with a public firing. And we're treated to the origin story of the new Vulture, which is as cliche as it is nonsensical.

Jimmy, as he was known before his transformation, is a "fixer" for the mob, who's responsible for cleaning up after the various mob members as they go about their mobby business. Unfortunately, business getting sloppy and Jimmy's got more than he can handle. So Jimmy finds himself a professor who's gotten his hands on the same tech that made the Scorpion, and hires said professor to build him a new Vulture henchman who'll prey on any fellow mob members who're making too big a mess. And no, it doesn't make any god damn sense to create a super henchman and then send him after your own people, but let's press on. So Jimmy pitches this idea to his mob bosses, who immediately stab him in the back (well, shoot him in the leg) and offer him up as a test subject. Why would they sacrifice one of their best "fixers" when the workload is already getting out of hand? Well, because they've been watching 1930s mobster movies and don't share more than a handful of braincells between them, obviously. They're criminals, you can't expect them to act logically, as that would be silly. So the procedure predictably goes wrong, Jimmy gets crazy and violent and decides to exact revenge.

I understand what Waid is going for here with the homage to Silver Age comics, and on paper it seems like an interesting idea, especially during an ongoing storyline featuring the return of classic Spidey villains. But style alone isn't enough to overcome a weak storyline, and it was not without good reason that some of the storytelling devices used in comic books in the 60s and 70s were abandoned. The bait and switch with Jonah's body at the start of the issue is cute, but still seems like just as big a cop out now as it ever did. The new Vulture is a flat, boring character with only the most basic motivation, and his origin story (another apparent allusion to comics' "good ol' days") just doesn't work.

Paul Azaceta's art is meant to add to the nostalgic feel, but try as I might I just can't bring myself to enjoy it. The thick, heavy lines don't lend themselves to detail work, so faces just become vague shapes, and it's hard, if not impossible to interpret emotions (like is Peter crying or simply rubbing his forehead as he's being fired?). And in one particularly poorly drawn (and inked) frame towards the end of the book Azaceta explores what Peter might look like if he were black. No, I'm not making that up.

I did enjoy some of the developments in Peter's personal life, as his job loss and public humiliation serve to further complicate his already complicated life. And I hope it's an indication that "The Gauntlet" story line is actually headed somewhere meaningful, as opposed to just being an excuse to showcase old Spider-Man villains.