Spider-Man: The Fantastic Spider-Man

Comic Info

Amazing Spider-Man (2) #660

Reprints Amazing Spider-Man (2) #658-662 (June 2011-July 2011). Johnny Storm is dead and now Spider-Man is a member of the Fantastic Four…or actually the Future Foundation. Being a scientist, an Avenger, and now a member of the FF pulls Peter’s already strained time in more directions…and his secret life could catch up to his relationship with Carlie. Plus, it’s a throwdown with the Psycho Man as Spider-Man stands in as a substitute for the Avengers Academy.

Written by Dan Slott with back-up stories by Fred Van Lente, Christos Gage, Paul Benjamin, Frank Tieri, and Rob Williams, Spider-Man: The Fantastic Spider-Man is a follow-up to Spider-Man: Matters of Life and Death. The collection features art by Javier Pulido, Stefano Caselli, Reilly Brown, Javier Rodriguez, and Lee Garbett and the issues were also collected as part of Spider-Man: Big Time—The Complete Collection Volume 1.

This is a better entry in Dan Slott’s run because I actually rather like Spider-Man as a member of the FF. Spider-Man initially “auditioned” for the Fantastic Four in his first issue and his science aspect always seemed closer to Reed Richards than anyone on the Avengers. The last volume of Spider-Man was rather somber, but this collection is on the lighter side.

Amazing Spider-Man (2) #661

The storytelling is really aided by Javier Pulido’s throwback art on a few of the issues. While the other artists in the collection don’t do a bad job, Javier captures the feeling and essence of Spider-Man better than many recent artists. It combines modern art with vintage comic book art to make something feel entirely new.

As far as the story goes, it is a light romp. While I liked the FF issues and Peter’s attempt to fit in with a pre-existing family, the actual story with the pirates/faux Sinister Six/real Sinister Six was a bit convoluted, but I can forgive that because of the FF aspect. The Avengers Academy story felt like build up for a big nothing. I liked Spider-Man’s interactions with the kids, but the Psycho Man battle felt like a waste (especially since it was set up issues before).

I’d like to see more of Spider-Man in the FF, but I also would like him to scale back his activities to a realistic level. Spider-Man has always been thrown in for guest appearances and cameos when logically it doesn’t always make sense, but it also seemed like it was because there were more writers involved. With Slott’s big control over Spider-Man’s “destiny”, I’d like the idea of being spread so thin be more of an aspect of the story…what happens if they need something at Horizon Labs when he’s gone for a week on an adventure with the FF? What does Carlie say when he gets a broken arm in a battle with the Avengers? These are the problems I’ve always liked Spider-Man to deal with and I would love to see a “real world” Spider-Man face these issues. Spider-Man: The Fantastic Spider-Man is followed by Spider-Man: The Return of Anti-Venom.

Preceded By:

Spider-Man:  Matters of Life and Death