the plot: Reflecting on his separation from Mary Jane, Spider-Man vents his frustration on an abandoned building, while spouting off a few one-liners. Then, at his new teaching job at good old Midtown High, Peter stops a few bullies from bothering a familiar looking teen, who gets mad for Peter's intervention. Then, later that day, while webslinging, Spidey runs into the mysterious Ezekial, who has spider-like powers as well. And if all of this wasn't enough, a new villain arrives in New York with sinister and unknown plans.

the review: So, after months of hype leading up to this book, and many claiming that a new age of greatness is upon us, the premiere issue of J. Michael Straczynski's run on Amazing Spider-Man has arrived. Is it interesting? Yes, it most certainly is. Mr. Straczynski has proven himself to be an excellent craftsman of ideas and the idea that the spider that bit Peter Parker may not have been radioactive is interesting. While I first met the idea with hesitation, it actually didn't change much towards the overall origin story of Spider-Man; he was still bitten and still got powers, though the source of those powers has changed, it seems.

Mr. Straczynski has said in interviews that he wants to return Spider-Man to his early roots of humor, the days where he was not simply wisecracking, but actually spout out a series of funny one-liners, and that's apparent in the Spidey-action scenes. But humor alone does not make for a good Spider-Man. The J. M. Dematteis run, on Amazing and then Spectacular Spider-Man, did not always have humor. But the run is amongst the more memorable runs because of the stories and their execution. Dematteis (whose name I'm sure I've misspelled) was an excellent writer when it came to moving and psychological stories and wrote them skillfully. His stories stick with us because they're well written and say something that relates to us. His work with the son of Kraven the Hunter, had resonance with readers because, aside from the fact it was about two spandex clad rivals fighting, at its core it was about a son wanting to discover his father. Alyosha Kravinoff later adopted the Kraven moniker in the Mackie-Byrne run, and while some may find that to be poor use of a potentially interesting character, an interesting story could come from a son so obsessed with his late father that he chooses to become him. But while that is possibly a good idea for a story, a good writer could have to be called in for it to be executed properly. And when you're dealing with one of the most-popular characters in fiction today, you would hope him to be dealt with by only the best.

But being able to write a psychologically probing story alone does not make a good writer. While I do not intend to bash the writing of Howard Mackie, I should say that I did not enjoy his writing on Peter Parker: Spider-Man #95, a story set around Peter Parker and Norman Osborn trapped in an elevator together with Osborn's grandson Normie and Daily Bugle reporter and friend Betty Brant. It is obvious from the writing and layout of the story that it is to have been intense. Peter wondering if he should use his powers with Betty and Normie nearby and the possibility of security cameras looking on, and being forced to save the life of his greatest enemy, who for all rights should have been dead several times by now. That is a good idea and should have been the sort of story that you read with awe, wanting to turn every page to see what was happening next. However it fell short and became all the more disappointing as a result. Peter Parker: Spider-Man #95, at its core had a good idea, but it sadly did not reach it's potential. It is one thing to read a bad book, because you know it's bad and in some way that becomes entertaining. It's another to read a story that has an idea you want to enjoy, but for reasons you can't.

I'm reminded of the "Avengers" animated series that ran on FOX last season. Some have asked why I have a section of my page for a show that was a bastardized version of one of Marvel's greatest series. The reason for that is because I wanted to enjoy it, I mean it was the Avengers on television, and whether or not you enjoyed it or even saw it, it will be a long time until that happens again. To be fair, I did not enjoy the show all the time, but when I saw something I did like, I was overjoyed. The excellent premise began to live up to it's potential. I was perhaps a little overly lenient with the Avengers program, but only because it was Earth's Mightiest Heroes on Saturday mornings. It's funny, because even though I am a very big Spider-Man fan, I can be very critical of a bad issue when I read it. That probably has to due with my being such a continuity geek though. Peter Parker: Spider-Man #4 and then #18 were panned by me if only for the poor characterization of Flash Thompson, though I do agree with the critic that said that PP:SM #18 and it's revelation of the fifth Green Goblin being a weird DNA construct being like a slap in the face by the creative team.

That, in whatever way, brings up back to the original idea of ideas and execution and my original distaste over the idea of tinkering with Spider-Man's origin. It had been done before, seemingly permanently, in "Chapter One" (which I've said before and I'll say again, no matter how bad it got, I refuse to call "Crapter One") and more recently in the mega popular "Ultimate Spider-Man". Given the fact that "Ultimate Spider-Man" is not regular cannon it was probably met with greater acceptance, but is still a far better story than "Chapter One". So, given the tricky nature of fandom's embracing of reworking the origin, it seemed natural that the skeptics would come out of hiding for the revelation that the radioactive spider was actually a mystically powered spider. I recall visiting the Spider-Man Message Board at Comicboards.com and reading the many messages lambasting that story element. But even the worst ideas can appear good if executed properly, and the idea of the spider having powers, while not a favored idea amongst fans, has been done in a way both respectful to the previous works by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and still moving forward, as opposed to the regressively aggressive Mr. Thompson.

When John Byrne returned to Spider-Man in mid-1998, there was a rumor that he wanted Peter Parker to return to high school, de-age the twenty-five year old Peter to sixteen again. In theory that isn't a bad idea. Spider-Man was created to be an average teenager, and now that he was a twenty something husband and former father-to-be, he seemed to be unable to relate to young people. Aside from the fact that I began reading Spider-Man in 1994, about the time Mary Jane got pregnant, and that I suppose that I can be considered a 'young-person', I found no problem getting into stories and being entertained. Still, there is a segment wishing to read a high school age Spider-Man, a group now appeased by Ultimate Spidey, but as far back as the early Lee-Ditko issues one important thing about the Spider-Man books has been the continued evolution and growth of Peter Parker. Mr. Straczynski manages to find a happy medium in the core-titles by bringing Peter back to Midtown High, but this time as a science teacher. An interesting development, considering Peter's interest in science and his dismissal from Tri-Corp. Returning to Midtown High, now a rough inner-city school, is again an interesting development on Mr. Straczynski's part. Don't get me wrong, I like this idea, but I'd rather see Peter teaching at ESU again, as seen the recent and enjoyable Spider-Man / Marrow one-shot, but this should fuel plots for years to come if kept as a part of the books.

Now, as I've mentioned, I am a bit of a continuity geek, and as a result I do know that Midtown High was first shown as an inner-city rough school in Web of Spider-Man #35, back in the 1980's, so it was nice that Peter wasn't surprised by the state of his old alma-mater.

At Midtown High, a couple of new cast members are introduced, including Joel a nerd in the Parker fashion and the P.E teacher Kyle Jacoby, who Straczynski said, will be filling the Flash Thompson/bully role. I was actually surprised by Jacoby's presence; when I'd heard that the P.E teacher would be a problem I instantly pictured the P.E from Ultimate Spider-Man, the fat, balding slob. It's interesting that Jacoby should be very unexaggerated in design and character, and for the fact that he is any ethnicity. In the Marvel Universe it seems that ninety-five percent of its residents are Caucasian, so it's great to see someone of color as a cast member.

Of the new elements introduced by Straczynski in this issue, the two main sections of any controversial nature are the previously mentioned mystical spider, and the two characters relating to that plot. The first brought in Ezekial, the character who introduces Peter to the idea that he received his powers from a source other than radiation. The character is intriguing, though I fail to understand the sudden fan following behind him. I'd read that some compared his to Uncle Ben in terms of characterization, but I personally don't see that. He is still an interesting enough character and should lead to more interesting situations, with perhaps more Spider-people, that's if we haven't already seen some of them...I'm looking at you Jessica Drew... The second character with a story yet to be told is Morlun, the newest mysterious villain to plague Spider-Man. Yes, his design is a touch on the generic side and his characterization has yet to distinguish him from other villains, but I haven't seen enough of him to make up my mind. Morlun seems to feed on super-heroes, in an almost vampiric fashion, though Straczynski has revealed that Morlun is an age-old character, who is just trying to survive. It's hard for me to get an opinion of Morlun based on his only, brief appearance, but I wouldn't expect Mr. Straczynski to offer up a mundane rehash of Crown as a not-vampire.

Like all good stories, and even more bad stories, it begins with a promising start, ripe for potential. The ideas that Mr. Straczynski has brought to Amazing Spider-Man give the book an interesting shot in the arm and with any luck should end as well as they've begun. Since I've spent such a long time discussing Amazing Spider-Man #30, it feels odd for me to give it a rating based on the number system. I do recommend this book however, and any Spider-Man fan with an interest in good stories would like this book.

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