GamersCircle

Context
Betty Brant explores her friendship with Peter Parker

Story
After the conclusion of Mind on Fire and before Character assasination comes this "filler" issue of ASM. And Filler it is. While entertaining, it is clear that this two-story issue was only printed for the purpose of putting President Obama on the cover rather than to put any real substance into the story itself. That being said, this issue was fairly pleasurable read that had some value outside of it’s collectors value.

Told from the point of view of Betty Brant, this issue is spent highlighting the problem Peter Parker has with puncuality. Mark Waid uses Brant to show the struggle Peter has balancing his peronal life and Spidey life as well as showing the effect it has on his loved ones. Although Peter Parker’s puncuality problem is already well known as a basic component of the character we know and love, it is nice to see it from the perspective of someone who actaully has to deal with it. To avoid this being a completely obsolete issue, Waid does include some hints regarding what is to come in the future Character Assaination story line. These include a look at Spider-Man’s latest "menace", and some rather suprising foreshadowing of a possible romance. Waid tried his best to keep this issue interesting to loyal ASM readers considering it was meant more for the general public to collect than to please monthly readers.

Now onto the Obama story, "Spidey Meets the President!." This story wasn’t expected to be anything real special. And by that logic, it lived up to it’s expectations. Zeb wells writes this short story by the basics. The reader also learns a fun fact about our president! All-in-all, this story was what it was meant to be, a spider-man story featuring the president.

Art
Me being a rookie in the world of comics, i feel like i am not the best judge on art quality. That being said, i can tell when art is simply bad or good. For the main story, the art was mediocre. It wasn’t near bad, but it also wasn’t anything special. As fr the Obama story, the art was pretty dodgy. nothing too off-putting though.

What to Look For
Peter calling Aunt May a "cougar."
Use of the word "redonkulous."
And a drunk Batty Brant.

What Might Put You Off
Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy

Recommendations
Aside from the colector’s value of this issue, it really isn’t a "must read." Aside from that, ASM is a staple in every reader’s pull list.

Credits

Title
Amazing Spider-Man

Issue Number
583

Publisher
Marvel Comics

Release Date
1/21/09

Writer
Mark Waid

Artist
Barry Kitson

Colorist
Andres Mossa

Letterer
VC’s Coey Petit

Asst. Editor
Tom Brennan

Editor
Tom Brevoort

Editor in Chief
Joe Quesada

Publisher
Dan Buckley

Cover
Barry Kitson

Reviewed By
Alex Tillisch

Source

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