In my review of "Amazing Spider-Man" #660, I supported the idea of the editors including "Marvel Team-Up"-esque secondary features at the end of each issue, but stressed that I didn't want to see the title become "Marvel Team-Up." I made this comment largely in frustration over the frequent number of guest stars (to be discussed in excruciating detail below) who seemed to be hijacking "Amazing Spider-Man" at a time when Dan Slott was in the process of truly revolutionizing the character. I mean, don't get me wrong. I loved the fun stories that the old "Marvel Team-Up" used to deliver. By making the guest stars take up so much space in "Amazing Spider-Man," however, I felt that Slott and the editors were distracting from the amazing (heh) Spidey-centric stories that Slott was already telling. In other words, I wanted more Peter Parker, less everyone else.
With "Avenging Spider-Man," I appear to have gotten my wish.
Guest stars are often a blessing for a struggling book. They often inject a fresh perspective into tired stories and usually serve as comic relief, lightening the mood of books that have become too dark. (For example, I felt like Deadpool's appearance in "Amazing Spider-Man" #611 was a welcome change in the midst of the depressing "Gauntlet" arc.) But, "Amazing Spider-Man" was anything but a depressing or struggling book at that time, so the unstopped cavalcade of guest stars in those first few days made little sense (and led me to believe they were mostly there as part of an editorial mandate, particularly the FF, which Spidey had recently joined).
To be fair, Slott actually began his run with an appearance by the Avengers in the first issue of "Big Time" ("Amazing Spider-Man" #648), something I praised at the time because he was beginning a theme that he's maintained throughout his run, integrating the disparate aspects of Spidey's life into the main title better than anyone has ever previously accomplished. When we then got the New Avengers appearing in "Revenge of the Spider-Slayer" ("Amazing Spider-Man" #653-#654), I was still excited for Slott's efforts at integration, though, in my review of "Amazing Spider-Man" #653, it's wearing thing, given that I mention that I don't want that series to become a team-up book. I was getting increasingly agitated when the Fantastic Four (sorry, "Future Foundation") appeared in three separate stories ("Amazing Spider-Man" #657-#660). By the time we get Gage's Avengers Academy debacle in "The Substitute" ("Amazing Spider-Man" #661-#662), I was not amused.
Aside from "The Subsitute," I didn't dislike any of these stories (though the FF ones weren't all that great). But, again, they came at a time when Slott was just building his own Spidey mythos. Slott had just delivered the amazing "Big Time," which incorporated some long-ignored characters (like the Black Cat, a Hobgoblin, and the Kingpin), jettisoned some annoying ones (like Dexter Bennett and Michele Gonzalez), and added exiciting new elements (such as Pete's job at Horizon Labs and his new penchant for designer suits). By the end of the Avengers Academy story, I just wanted to return to these stories, focused solely on Spidey and his new (awesome) world. Slott eventually gave us that with "The Return of Anti-Venom" arc ("Amazing Spider-Man" #663-#664), but then, after the terrible "Crossroads" issue, we dove right back into the team-up pool with (the spectacular, but still guest-star-y) "Spider-Island" ("Amazing Spider-Man" #666-#673).
To my count, 17 of 26 issues featured some sort of guest star in the main story. In addition, during this era, we also got two team-up-y secondary features, as previously mentioned, notably Power Man (ugh) in "Amazing Spider-Man" #652-#653 and Ghost Rider in "Amazing Spider-Man" #658-#660. Cloak and Dagger and Shang-Chi also made appearances in the "Infested: The Road to Spider-Island" secondary features that ran in "Amazing Spider-Man #663-#664. These appearances bring us to 20 of 26 issues involving guest stars, or roughly 80 percent of the books of this era.
I'm actually stunned how well Slott managed to re-invent Spider-Man while juggling all these guest stars. Imagine how much more he could've done without them? I mean, certainly some of them furthered the plot here and there, but, overall, I think it's clear that they were a net distraction.
Enter "Avenging Spider-Man."
During the "Brand New Day" era, I applauded Marvel for giving us one title three times a month, because it streamlined story telling. Previously, even if you had bought "Amazing Spider-Man," "Spectacular Spider-Man," and "Web of Spider-Man," you would never have gotten a coherent story. In fact, you were actually more likely to believe that you were reading about three different Spider-Man, given that these issues appeared concurrently. You were left to assume that Spidey was battling Dr. Octopus in "Amazing," running to take down Kraven in "Spectacular," limping to fight off Electro in "Web," and returning to "Amazing" to resume his fight with Dr. Octopus and start the cycle anew. By giving us three issues a month of the same series, the editors were now giving us sequential stories. Spidey might've been busy, but at least he wasn't in three places at once.
I accept the fact that the addition of this title will return us to the old dynamic a bit. I think it's going to be impossible to display the level of narrative control that we saw under "Brand New Day," because you're still dealing with two different authors telling two different stories about Spider-Man occurring at the same time, no matter how much Slott and Wells work together. (Of course, we're somewhat acclimated to this situation, given Spidey's membership in the FF and New Avengers. At least he's not on the principal Avengers team any more.) But, I think the team-up mandate at least makes sense. It's not just another "Amazing Spider-Man," which "Spectacular Spider-Man" and "Web of Spider-Man" were, despite Marvel's occasional protests to the contrary. If you want to follow the drama of Peter's life, you pick up "Amazing Spider-Man." If you want to see the adventures of Spidey and his Amazing Friends, you pick up "Avenging Spider-Man." The main title is no longer trying to be all things to all people. It's exactly what I wanted to happen, and I accept the disruption to the narrative flow that comes with it.
Bring on the Avenging!
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