Roger Stern wrote the second comic book I ever read, "Amazing Spider-Man" #229. In fact, my initial subscription to "Amazing Spider-Man" overlapped almost entirely with his mid-200s run: I collected issues #228-#250 and he wrote issues #229-#252. Reading this issue, I'm reminded of how good that run was, something that my six-year old self probably didn't fully appreciate. Stern brought a consistent melancholiness to Peter's life that I'm not sure we'd experienced previously. Sure, Peter had faced some significant hardships by that point including the loss of Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy, and, of course, Gwen Stacy. But, under Stern, we no longer just saw Peter mourning specific events. Instead, we saw him frequently stumbling as he made a difficult transition into adulthood. He was forced to leave graduate school, he had a confusing relationship with the Black Cat, he frequently disappointed Mary Jane, and he was actively outmaneuvered by the Hobgoblin. In other words, he rarely got a clean win, in his personal or "professional" life.
This issue evokes that era perfectly. We begin with a reminder of one of Peter's more spectacular failures, getting fired from the "Daily Bugle" for doctoring photographs. This reminder comes in the form of Norah Winters when she asks Peter to come with her to explore the old Acme factory, telling him that he owes her for when she paid him under the table to take photographs in "Amazing Spider-Man" #625. What Norah doesn't know, but we do, of course, is that the Acme factory was where Peter confronted the mugger who murdered Uncle Ben, a reminder of Peter's most spectacular failure. Basically, we're not even past the third page and we're reminded of how often life doesn't go Peter's way.
However, Stern does here what he did then, reminding us why Peter's special, showing us how he doesn't surrender when facing such circumstances. When a security guard confronts the pair, Peter ushers Norah from the site, after his Spider-Sense warned him that security guard seemed to be involved in something more than just guarding the abandoned factory. In doing so, he accepts ridicule from Norah, who thinks that he was just scared by the guard. (Joe Robertson eventually fills in Peter's history for her, letting her draw a more sympathetic -- if not, correct -- conclusion.) We've see Peter accept the social consequences of his heroic actions a lot over the years and Stern does a great job of reminding us of that price that he frequently pays in this scene. Pete then returns to the site later that night to investigate, forced to confront the dark memories of his younger days. De La Torre does an amazing job for the entire issue, but his most memorable scene is showing an older Peter contemplating the place where his younger self first learned the truth about the captured burglar. It's a compellingly sad moment, with Peter pondering how young he was and how much his youth cost him. I'm not sure if I would've appreciated the moment that Stern and De La Torre present here as an 18-year-old, but I certainly do as a 36-year-old.
The rest of the issue shows Peter doing what he does best. He discovers that the guard was involved in the attempt by the Brand Corporation to excavate equipment that it was forced to abandoned after questionable experiments came to light. Spidey learns that the tunnel where day laborers are conducting the excavations is at risk of flooding, something that the guard was ignoring in pursuit of getting the job done. Spidey, of course, saves them with moments to spare. This whole sequence shows us the Spidey that we've come to know, putting aside Norah's opinion and his own history to save innocent people. But, of course, Pete doesn't see it that way, even after Norah apologizes to him. Here, Stern picks up a theme we've seen Slott explore in recent issues, with Pete still feeling like he just did what he had to do, living in the shadow of Uncle Ben's famous adage, "with great power comes great responsibility."
Although it's a more melancholy tale than Slott would probably tell, Stern really resurrects an approach and a feel that reminds us of where we've been and how much, and little, has changed. I've loved Slott's run, but, honestly, reading this issue, it makes you wonder what it would be like to return to the days when Spidey was written like a serialized novel rather than a monthly comic. I don't mean it as any slight to Slott. He's certainly making Peter deal with some heavy stuff recently. But, whereas Slott may tell an excellent story, Stern just somehow manages to capture Pete's emotions in a way that I don't know if anyone can match. Maybe it's my age talking, but I really feel that we see Pete struggling with his responsibilities here in a way that I generally don't when I read Slott's issues. (In fact, I think "Shed" was the last time I read an issue that cast Pete's dilemma as Spidey so similarly.) Even the revelation that Doc Ock used Pete's experiments in his most recent scheme isn't really something that perturbs him too much, whereas you can tell that Stern would've had that revelation devastate Peter as much as the decision to sacrifice Sable did.
All in all, Stern does exactly what this series of issues is supposed to do, recalling a past Spider-Man that we haven't seen in a while. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Spidey's 50th anniversary than this issue.
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