Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #556

Background

In the middle of a blizzard, Spider-Man teams up with Wolverine to save a Dr. from three Mayan Extremists. Once saving the Dr. and stopping the Extremists, Wolverine heads back to the New Avengers' headquarters, leaving Spider-Man with the bad guys. He drags them to the police station, with the man he saved as well, and then heads out into the snow again to find the Dr.'s colleagues who were kidnapped and trapped in a freezing truck in New York City.

Story 'The Last Nameless Day'

J. Jonah Jameson sits in the hospital, reading Garden Gun. Jameson promises to his overbearing nurse that he has no intention of marching down to the DB and confronting Bennett. However, the minute she leaves the room, he gets up, takes his IV with him, and starts to sneak out of the hospital. He makes it to the door, and the blowing blizzard, and is finally restrained by orderlies and nurses.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man, freezing, struggles through the blizzard-laden city. Back at the precinct that Spidey dropped off the ninjas and the Dr. off at, the Dr. explains his story, that he was saved by Spider-Man. Carlie drops by, as she's trying to finish her report on FREAK's attack on the Crowne Campaign. She talks to Dr. Rabin regarding his circumstances and why the Mayan extremists were after him, explaining his research and why it made the extremists come after him.

Spider-Man continues to struggle through the city and the snow. He stumbles upon an old man who's freezing outside, and is wearing Peter's jacket that he lost earlier. The two have a brief exchange, about fair being fair.

Back at the precinct, Vin tells Carlie that they checked out the Doctor's story, and that they're not holding him as a suspect. As Carlie and Vin talk, Vin tells Carlie that he's looking for a roommate, but before he can ask her, she brings up Peter, and suggests that he ask Peter Parker to move in with him.

Back with Spider-Man, Vern pads his costume with newspaper, to help bulk him up and pad him from the cold. As him and Vern travel, they come across one of the Mayan godlike creatures. He has a quick spar, and then is released, and keeps travelling to save the colleagues of the Doctor. When he saves one of the colleagues, he discovers that Rabin isn't as innocent as he thought, and threatened to kill her, and already killed another, named Dave.

Back at the precinct, Carlie comes upon Dr. Rabin, who's killed a Mayan, and is covered in blood...

General Comments

This issue is even better than Zeb Wells' first issue on this book, boasting snappy banter, great characterization, and just a good sense of fun. This read like an old-school Spidey tale in the best way possible, with Spider-Man doing his best to save the day, braving the cold in order to do so. Not only is Spider-Man doing his thing, but we have ample use of his supporting cast here, with Jameson being Jameson, Carlie getting Peter closer to having a new roommate, and much more. I'm really liking how the cast is working out, and the characters are really growing on me. I'm happy that they're finally moving to resolve the fact that Peter is living at home, and I am also finding myself glad that they took their time with it and made it more natural, let a friendship blossom with him and Carlie, and then her trying to help him out. I'm also a fan of the new cops, how they've been slowly integrated into the cast, and although not quite full supporting cast members yet, they're definitely on their way. It makes Spider-Man's life feel much more full, and its a great slow-burn process that I'm really beginning to appreciate. Things are happening at a more laid back yet natural and organic pace, which is excellent.

This is a fun issue, and is really classic Spider-Man, with Spider-Man taking lessons from a homeless man on how to keep warm in the cold. The entire issue is really well-paced and snappy, and even with the relatively simple and bland villains, Wells has turned things around with Dr. Rabin, into a storyline that in some ways reminds me of the classic Spidey storylines with the Tablet of Time, etc, so its not that out of place to have these Mayan Extremists here.

The artwork by Bachalo is excellent, he really has a great style for this book, he's honed his work and it fits excellently. The characters look great, the colorist has done a great job on the atmosphere of the book, and even the cover is excellent, and very eye-catching.

Overall Rating

This is a good issue, and I'm definitely looking forward to the end of this arc, to see how Wells/Bachalo wrap up this enjoyable romp.