The Amazing Spider-man 554 By Hervé St-Louis May 4, 2008 - 7:47:36 AM Marvel Comics Writer(s): Bob Gale Penciller(s): Phil Jimenez Inker(s): Lanning, Miki, Jimenez Cover Artist(s): Phil Jimenez $2.99

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Peter Parker’s bad luck continues as the Daily Bugle accuses him of trying to murder a mayoral candidate and call Freak the new villain who wants to destroy him, a hero.  It’s a fight to the finish with Freak in a cocaine laboratory and Spider-man may not survive this fight. But before that can happen, Spider-man decides to pay a visit to his former boss, and the former owner of the Daily Bugle John Jonah Jameson. How much electricity and sparkle that will generate is hard to tell.

This story is the last of a three part storyline with Spider-man fighting the new villain Freak who gained his powers from the same formula that created the Lizard. Continuing the Brand new Day theme where Spider-man’s history has been altered and he is no longer married to Mary Jane Watson, this story is entertaining and shows all the weakness and fun of Spider-man. It’s a continuing sequence of bad luck that reminds me of the Spider-man II film where no matter how much Spider-man or Peter Parker struggle, they are faced with even bigger challenges. I like the touches in this issue and previous ones, where Peter Parker has to take public transit to avoid being shot at as Spider-man.  This rotating team of writers and artist have made Spider-man easy to read again and removed most of the complexity and obscure back stories from the past. It’s a good time to jump on this series.

I was afraid of having Jimenez as the artist for this storyline. His work is always good and complex, but it doesn’t lend itself to an acrobatic character like Spider-man. Here, he almost gets it right. Freak is of course magnificent to look at and full of details. But Spider-man is not graceful when he swoops and spins in the air. His posing seems forced. The pages with the fire in the cocaine laboratory are too crowded because of the fire framing used.

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