Amazing Spider-Man 38
PLOT: Aunt May confronts Peter about her discovery that he is Spider-Man.
LIKES: This issue strikes all the right chords. The sequence of Peter imagining the different possibilities of what May wants to talk about is great. Their talk, which takes up practically the whole issue, is a classic. It rings true emotionally. May’s focusing more on the fact that Peter has lied to her over a long period of time than on the fact of him being Spider-Man forces him to come clean. Her show of strenght also allows Peter to admit the truth. Their swapping stories about Uncle Ben’s murder is particularly powerful. In this one issue JMS has made May a more substantial and rounded character than at any time in the nearly 40 years of Spider-Man.
DISLIKES: Although it does get a slight mention I think Spider-Man’s bad reputation and May’s life long fear of him should have been a bigger point of eontention during their talk. Is JMS relying on an origin other than Lee and Ditko’s? In Spider-Man Vol. 1, No. 1(not Amazing Fantasy 15, I checked) Ben is clearly shot in the house in view of May. Here May says he went for a walk and was killed.
RATING: 4 of 5 webheads: 1 point is lost for glossing over Spider-Man’s image as a quasi-criminal and for the twist from the original origin. Otherwise a very strong issue.
You might be interested in …
Amazing Spider-Man 792 Review (Venom Inc #2) (Spoilers)
Man, it feels like forever since I did a review. And sure, I got like two Venom reviews, Generations/Legacy issues, Monsters Unleashed VenomVerse tie-ins, and Spider-Men 2 to do…. but my boy Flash has got […]
Alford Notes – Sinister War #1
Face front, True Believers! We have legions of losers, surpluses of sixes, heaps of has-beens (and never-wases), and copious amounts of Kindred lackeys! In other words – MY KIND OF ISSUE! The only thing missing […]
Alford Notes: ASM #75 Beyond – Chapter One
It’s a brand-new day for Amazing Spider-Man, folks! Well, maybe that is a poor choice of words, but despite the fact that we are still talking about the end of Spencer’s run, it’s time for […]
Support the Crawlspace on Patreon
Crawlspace Discord
Recent Comments
on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #48 (Legacy #942): “The Doctor Will See You Now” or “The (Henry) Winkler Device Returns”: “People have been speculating that the WD device has something to do with the spider who gobbles stuff, but I…” Apr 26, 01:33
on Read’s Reads Amazing Spider-Man #48 and Ultimate Spider-Man #4: “Regarding Peter’s connection to the Winkler Device, this is a new development so that’s why it hasn’t been mentioned before.…” Apr 25, 15:21
on Spider-Previews 04-24-24: “@Aqu@ — Another good point. The freedom to make mistakes and grow and learn and improve is what life is…” Apr 25, 13:02
on Spider-Previews 04-24-24: “Oh, but we can. Unluckily said writer is also us. (but if we’re going all serious on the topic: I…” Apr 25, 11:04
on Spider-Tracer: Watch Out for the Wondrous Walrus!: “Ha! Awesome! Can’t wait to see him make another appearance! Thanks for the laugh, Bill!” Apr 24, 23:09
Recent Amazing Spider-Man Reviews
Spider-Satellite Reviews
Subscribe to the Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Pandora
Amazon Music
iHeartRadio
Podbean
Amazon Alexa
Player.fm
Listen Notes
Stitcher