Have you ever wanted to be Spider-Man? Could you ever imagine having his powers? Using his abilities? What about with this great power do you know the responsibility that comes with it? Welcome to Spider-Island beginning today in Amazing Spider-Man #667, the Island where you, yes you over there in the Spider-Ham T-shirt, could be Spider-Man! In this situation though, this is no joking matter. The Jackal, a longtime Spider-Man villain has returned and unleashes genetically modified bugs all across Manhattan. Peter Parker’s world has come from being on top of the world to being something he couldn’t expect. The prelude to this last issue was the setup, from there you can only imagine what’s going to happen next. With Dan Slott writing our journey and Humberto Ramos drawing this perilous tale, we prepare for the story to begin.
We begin the issue quietly enough, until Peter suddenly sees his girlfriend Carlie with Spider powers! That’s right the classic Peter revealing his identity turned completely pardon my pun literally upside down. I liked how Humbertos Ramos drew this sequence actually. It’s quite playful yet shows Peter’s growing concern that something isn’t quite right here. There are some cute moments that follow this up, with Carlie wanting to go out on patrol. I say this much this is probably one of the times I truly find myself liking Carlie. She’s a police officer and the first thing that comes to mind for her is to help people. Simple as that and I like it. Peter’s reactions are wonderful, and Slott is showing a great dynamic with their relationship.
Meanwhile while this is going on, the Jackal arrives on the scene with his enforcers to begin the more sinister side of Spider-Island. The gathering of criminals from different crime families all across the Island. Nothing is going to go wrong with that at all. Leading to a double page spread that I couldn’t help buy enjoy. A classic beat down with the Jackal putting all the criminals in check with his two enforcers, Tarantula and Spider-King. Now class is in session. The Jackal begins to set his plan in motion. This sequence was nicely paced and the look that Ramos gave The Jackal when he’s holding up the Spider-Man costume is great. Oh the mischief to come indeed my friends.
With a quick interlude with Aunt May and her husband moving to Boston with one quick goodbye to Peter and Carlie, we’re off to the mayhem of Spider-Island. This sequence is absolute bliss to behold on the page. The sheer amount of work Humberto Ramos put into this is unbelievable. It’s the Spider-Man suit Easter Egg hunt. Name a Spider-Suit and you see it within these pages. Of course Dan Slott has a lot of fun with all these criminals in Spider suits. Mary Jane has some of the most priceless lines. Her response involving the Spider-Clones, made me laugh quite a bit. Then that beautifully creepy response from one of the Spider-Criminals in his FF outfit was messed up.
When the Avengers come into play, there’s a different turn of events for our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. In these pages Spider-Man learns the first lesson of Spider-Island. For the first time great power and great responsibility is meaningless. The first part of this surprised me, Spider-Island is off to a great start. Dan Slott has added a nice sinister edge, showing you the chaos of Spider-Island. Humberto Ramos has done his best art job yet and I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do in the months to come. If you’re looking for a genuinely fun event, look no further than Spider-Island.
