The Amazing Spider-Man #655 Review

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I'll say this right up front ASM #655 is one of the best comic books I have ever read. Over the course of the years there have been plenty of remembrance issues, this isn't even the only one being released this week. So while the concept may not be original, writer Dan Slott and artist Marcos Martin have created what could possibly be the perfect eulogy issue. Following on from the death of Marla Jameson last issue the first 10 pages of the issue cover her funeral. Ten pages that smack the reader with emotional resonance, absent a single word of dialogue. Martin puts on a masterclass, the symbolism as Peter dresses for the funeral over his Spidey costume, the pain in his face as he realizes Spider-Man is to blame for Marla's death and image of him leaving the apartment while his discarded suit lays strewn across the bed is powerful stuff. What's also great is the stoic J Jonah Jameson, his expression never changes the only emotion he shows is when he holds his fathers hand for a beat. The reader is left to wonder what JJ's reaction will be once it all sinks in.

There is no lack of emotion from Pete, he can't even look at JJ and after the funeral is over and he falls asleep Dan Slott adds his tremendous writing to Martin's visuals. Pete's dreams are filled with images of the people he has been unable to save, including his Uncle Ben, Marla and Gwen Stacy. To see Ben's killer sitting down and enjoying breakfast like one of the family is jarring to say the least. In a great splash page visual from Martin, Pete runs into the people who have died over the years while he is chasing Gwen Stacy. The whole layout reminds me of the endless staircase scene from Labyrinth. After being confronted by perhaps his largest demon, his refusal to kill, Pete snaps. He relives the memory of Ben's killer passing him in the hallway only this time he handles it differently, he beats him to a bloody pulp. When he's done he looks down at the bloody, broken body of Uncle Ben expressing his disappointment with him for what he has resorted to. Then he is posed the ultimate question by Marla "what will you do now?". His answer? That he's done accepting things the way they are, no matter where he is from now on no one is going to die while he is around. Unfortunately for him you just can't save everybody, as the final page proves. 

It's a pretty special book that makes me think about changing how my rating system works, giving this book the highest rating I can is a gimme but it stands head and shoulders above some of the books that have also earned that ranking. It's just that good. Martin's art work is inspired, from the entire funeral scene, to the great dream sequences it's all exquisite. Slott is firing on all cylinders again, the vulnerable damaged side of Peter Parker is shown in all it's glory during the dream sequence. The struggle that he goes through to not let himself slip and become the murderer he could so easily be is shown with a quiet elegance. It's definitely a treat for me to have such a fantastic creative force as Dan Slott writing one of my favorite Marvel characters, I can't wait to see what he and the house of ideas come up with next. 

Writer - Dan Slott
Artist - Marcos Martin
Colors - Muntsa Vincente
Letters - Joe Caramagna
Publisher - Marvel Comics