It's a wonderful annual
Peter Parker
and his co-worker Grady are working on a time displacement machine at Horizon
Labs when Parker is accidentally erased from history! When he arrives in New
York City in the new present day, he finds that the world is a much different
place without Spider-Man or Peter Parker. The only problem is that it might be
better off without him.
The great
thing about annual issues of popular characters is that we get a break from the
huge continuity and plot lines that are going on in the main titles. They’re
not always bad, but it’s good to get a burst of fresh air with a one-shot or
single contained story that’s just there for the sake of telling a story.
This is one
of those annuals that can really make you appreciate those isolated stories.
Brian Reed
writes a version of Parker and Spider-Man that’s a good split between the
serious, hardworking hero and the witty quipster with web shooters. There were
some great science fiction and It’s a
Wonderful Life moments where Parker was reliving memories and seeing the
fallout of never existing. It was an all around enjoyable take on the wall
crawler.
The art by Lee
Garbett had a very impressive shift to the original Spider-Man art back in the
sixties. Even the coloring and inking looked just like an issue you’d of found
when Stan Lee had introduced the character back in the early days of Marvel
Comics. An added bonus is that the supporting characters look and feel
authentic as well, which really helps an ensemble story.
The only
down point I can really think of is that Uncle Ben didn’t feel quite right to
me in this issue. You can argue that he’s a different version of the character,
what with time travel and all, but he seemed to speak in a way that felt a
little too modern for an old-fashioned character. Still, it’s always nice to
see him assure Parker that he’s doing the right thing.
Marvel has
really been turning out some great content lately. I haven’t been keeping up on
the regular Amazing Spider-Man title,
but this story is worth any casual Spider-Fan’s time.
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