Amazing Spider-Man #11 is out 12/12. — **Amazing Spider-Man #11** is out 12/12.

By Zack Quaintance — Amazing Spider-Man #11 marks the return of this series’ primary art team (or at least the one that gets top billing): penciler Ryan Ottley, inker Cliff Rathburn, and colorist Laura Martin. As such, it’s a bit of a shift. Nothing is lost in transition, but it does require a few moments of quick re-orienting at its start. Perhaps more consequentially, Amazing Spider-Man #11 is also a slight emotional reset for this ongoing story, which makes sense given that it’s a new story arc (although, arcs have so far been a little amorphous in this young run).

As I wrote in my review of Amazing Spider-Man #10, that issue featured a satisfying emotional crescendo for a team-up between Spider-Man and Black Cat, who have romantic history together but have both very much moved on. It used the concept of mine erasure (a very comics-y concept) to get at universal truths about respecting the emotional impact one’s behavior has on an ex, even if nobody’s carrying a burning torch. It was well-done and went straight for the heart strings with its ending. This issue doesn’t involve Black Cat, which is expected because of how the last one wrapped so nicely, but it also doesn’t involve Mary-Jane Watson either. It doesn’t involve Peter’s love life at all. Thus the shift.

In Amazing Spider-Man #11 we get a Christmas story starring members of Peter’s supporting cast not seen since the first arc with Ottley/Rathburn/Martin, almost as if Spencer had his collaborators pick teams from among the massive Spidey friends and family bunch (there are plenty to go around). What we get here is a story that involves the folks Peter knows from the Daily Bugle, mainly J. Jonah Jameson and Robbie Robertson, both of whom are used well as polemics for philosophies within the modern media industry, plus also for laughs.

Jameson (who scores laughs in almost every panel he’s in) is a cartoon representation of the media at its worst (as he has been for years), wildly oscillating between impassioned stances against/for whatever passes in front of his face. He’s hungry for credit and quick to get egotistical by insinuating his name alone causes seismic shakes in organizational profitability. Robertson, meanwhile, is a thoughtful journalist who Jameson’s behavior has forced into an impossible situation. He can’t pander in the slightest or he’ll be lumped in with Jameson’s ilk, yet a certain segment of his audience is prone to/expectant of blatant pandering. It’s pretty smart media commentary wrapped in an entertaining blanket of Spencer-penned curmudgeonly one-liners. I’m a reporter by trade, and I found it alternately cathartic and funny.

So yes, I liked this individual issue quite a bit. There’s also the question of where does this little story fit into the larger tapestry of what Spencer et. al are trying to do here? It definitely advances Spencer’s commitment to touching more corners of Spider-Man’s deep mythos than have been used in the recent past, incorporating rarely-seen villains like Arcade and the old-timey Enforcers. In an age where the go-to superhero foe has become other superheroes, this book is a well-done refutation to the standard, and I for one am loving it. Spencer is also adept at handling the double-shipping schedule, layering plot developments in a way that blurs the arcs into one long ongoing story. If he can keep it up, a year or two from now we might be talking about this era of Amazing Spider-Man as something truly special.

Overall: Heavy on media commentary, old supporting cast members, and solid laughs, Amazing Spider-Man #11 shifts the tone from recent issues and continues to seed plot points for the team to develop moving forward. Despite the always-tricky double-shipping schedule, this comic is rock solid. 8.5/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

By Zack Quaintance — Despite the name of this website (which is ironic!), I’m prone to Batman fatigue. It’s not that I don’t like the character. No, I think it’s pretty easy to make a case for Batman being one of the most compelling characters to ever grow from American fiction. It’s just that I don’t often see much new ground for stories about Batman to cover, so prolific are DC’s Batman releases. That said, I still fairly regularly find myself drawn into and torn up by well-done Batman stories.

This week ambushed me in that way. As you’ll notice shortly, two of our Top Comics to Buy for December 12 star the Dark Knight, while a third gets a recommendation in our new #1 comics section. So yes, this is a great week for all things Batman. It’s also a great week for Marvel’s (arguable) flagship character, Spider-Man, as Amazing Spider-Man hums right along and Miles Morales returns to Marvel’s pages just in time for his big screen review. Coincidence? Hardly. This is Marvel, and synergy is what’s for sale.

Now on to this week’s comics!

Top Comics to Buy for December 12, 2018

*PICK OF THE WEEK*
Batman Annual #3
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Otto Schmidt
Letterer: A Larger World’s Troy Peteri
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
"THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PENNY!" Alfred Pennyworth has been Batman's most trusted ally and confidant since the Dark Knight first hit the streets of Gotham City. Now, witness Batman's battle for justice from Alfred's perspective and learn how harrowing that journey has been as Batman experiences one of the worst nights Gotham City has ever seen-a night that will push Alfred to the breaking point! Best-selling writer Tom Taylor presents an epic tale that promises to be one of the most Alfred stories ever told!
Why It’s Cool: This is an emotional and well-told Batman story that may have you tearing up within the first three pages. Taylor and Schmidt are a pair of creators deserving of much bigger stages, and hopefully incredible work like this will help them get there. This is also a self-contained story, so even readers who have been off Batman proper for a while, can still pop into buy this comic.

Amazing Spider-Man #11
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Ryan Ottley
Inker: Cliff Rathburn
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
J. JONAH JAMESON has a new job as a shock jock, but is the world ready for a pro-Spider-Man JJJ? More importantly, is Spider-Man ready? His post-secret-identity relationship with Jonah was already complicated, but this very public embrace may put him over the edge! Spidey's definitely not ready for the Enforcers to come at him harder than ever!
Why It’s Cool: If it weren’t for Immortal Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man might be our favorite book at Marvel right now (with apologies to Black Panther and Captain America). It’s just been so good since launching with a new #1 issue in July, and now it has artist Ryan Ottley rejoining writer Nick Spencer to presumably replicate the creative alchemy that made the first arc so special. It also has some momentum, with last month’s Amazing Spider-Man #10 ranking as one of our favorite issues of Marvel’s flagship Spidey title in many, many years.

Bitter Root #2
Writers: David F. Walker & Chuck Brown
Artist: Sanford Greene
Colorists: Rico Renzi & Sanford Greene
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
An evil force stalks the streets of Harlem as Berg and Cullen face off against a deadly creature that may be more than they can handle. Meanwhile, in Mississippi, a mysterious stranger unleashes furious retribution in the name of justice.
Why It’s Cool: The work of building this world and the way it works was set into motion so wonderfully by Bitter Root #1. Now, the creators are free to let us know more about their story and its characters. This is a visually lush and intellectually complex book, one that doesn’t flinch as it depicts monster hunters confronting ghoulish members of the KKK. In this second issue we learn more about the long-standing family dynamics at the heart of the relationships between our character. This book, simply put, continues to be an utter joy to read.

Detective Comics #994
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Inker: Jaime Mendoza
Colorist: David Baron
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Batman's strangest case begins as the new creative team of writer Peter J. Tomasi and artist Doug Mahnke take over DETECTIVE COMICS! Commissioner Gordon calls in the Dark Knight Detective when there's a murder at the Gotham City Aquarium-staged to look exactly like Thomas and Martha Wayne's crime scene, right down to the Playbill and pearls. How does this bizarre homicide tie into the shadowy monster that attacks Dr. Leslie Thompkins? This creature looks to wage a war on Batman-and it's using Joker Gas to do it!
Why It’s Cool: There’s so much Batman goodness packed into this first issue of the countdown to Detective Comics #1000, the comic that launched the character. It starts with a bizarre mystery and just gleefully builds from there. I didn’t quite know what to expect from this Tomasi/Mahnke run and hadn’t heard the kind of buzz one might expect for something like this, but this first issue is poised to build that excitement right back up.

Fearscape #3
Writer: Ryan O’Sullivan
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Colorist: Vladimir Popov
Letterer: Andworld Design
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Having escaped the clutches of the Fearscape, Henry Henry tries to... Aha! You'll use my name, I see, but won't let me speak! That you would require solicitation copy for the third issue, after the genre-redefining brilliance of the first two, is nothing short of a personal insult. The work speaks for itself. Any tale of my exploits should not be hawked to those asleep at the wheel.
Why It’s Cool: This meta story of literary writers’ doubt barrels forward, with protagonist Henry Henry returning from the mythical storytelling Fearscape realm to the real world. This is a singular comic unlike anything else coming out today, and every issue is one to be poured over. This story brims in equal parts with braggadocio and imposter syndrome. For serious patrons of the art and would-be creators, this series continues to be a must.

Check out our reviews of Fearscape #1 and Fearscape #2.

Others Receiving Votes

Avengers #11
Black Panther #7
Cemetery Beach #4
Dead Kings #2
Electric Warriors #2
Hawkman #7
Lone Ranger #3
Murder Falcon #3
Oblivion Song #10
Outer Darkness #2
Redlands #9
Skyward #9
Supergirl #25
Superman #6
X-Men Red #11

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase. He also writes comics and is currently working hard to complete one.

REVIEW: Amazing Spider-Man #11 alternates between media commentary and laughs

Top Comics to Buy for December 12, 2018

Top Comics to Buy for December 12, 2018

Top New #1 Comics

Others Receiving Votes