Posted October 3, 2012 by Mikael Angelo Francisco in Comics

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Amazing Spider-Man #695

Reviewing Amazing Spider-Man #695 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage and Giuseppe Camuncoli.

The race to issue #700 continues with this week’s Amazing Spider-Man #695. Co-written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage, ASM 695 serves as the opening act of “Danger Zone”, the three-parter that promises a showdown between the current Hobgoblin – Phil Urich, nephew of journalist Ben Urich and former heroic Green Goblin – and the original – Roderick Kingsley, who assumed the mantle of the “Devil Spider” after disappearing from the Spider-books for an extended period of time.

I was a bit apprehensive and confused when I first saw that this issue was co-written by Slott and Gage. Based on my experience, a story tends to be less than spectacular when more than one person is writing it.

Cough.

AvX. Avengers Versus X-Men. Marvel’s shameless cash grab. Er. Event.

Cough. Hack. Wheeze.

…Sorry, my seasonal allergies must be kicking in.

Anyway, as I was saying, I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of Slott sharing writing duties with someone else. After all, he has done a more-than-satisfactory job on ASM all by his lonesome. Apparently, this time he needed a bit of help with issues 695 to 697 to be able to devote more time to 698, 699 and 700. Gage scripted “Danger Zone” while Slott plotted it, and so far, it looks pretty good. Marvel’s solicitations have been telling us that it’s going to be a dark time for Spider-Man, and if the events in this issue are any indication, it looks like Peter’s on his way out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Without going into a lot of detail, one of Spider-Man’s most unique assets is used against him in this issue, to devastating effect. Given just how often this power of Spider-Man’s has become a significant plot point in various stories during Slott’s entire run, I’m beginning to think that this is possibly his favorite among Spidey’s powers.The ending, while a bit on the cliche side, is still striking and shocking to a certain degree, and while I can (and actually have) thought of a way to explain exactly what happened, I’ll still be waiting with baited breath for the next issue.

I’m not really a fan of Giuseppe Camuncoli’s art, but for some reason it’s easier for me to look at his work in this issue. He seems to have a different inker and colorist this time around (I’m not sure); somehow, the quality of his art seems to have improved significantly. I can’t talk about the art without mentioning the gorgeous cover by Steve McNiven, though; it sort of tells you exactly what to expect from the story, and at the same time leaves you excited and wondering.

VERDICT: 5/5

This issue grips you from start to finish, and is a very good lead-up to the inevitable smackdown between two Goblins. Let’s just hope the creative team of Amazing can deliver a story that doesn’t end up falling flat (like last issue’s “Alpha” conclusion).