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The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) (Single Issues)
The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #19
Dark Web is over, but the effects will shake Spider-Man for a long time. To recover, Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy, A.K.A. the Black Cat, escape from the city to an exclusive spa in the Catskills! Surely, trouble won’t follow our Web-Head and ruin his romantic getaway…Join superstar guest creative team Joe Kelly and Terry Dodson for this special two-parter where Spidey and Black Cat take their next step and no one tries to kill them…yet.
21 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 8, 2023
7 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
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Joe Kelly
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 9, 2023
Look, I’m happy that this isn’t as god-awful as Dark Web, and the Dodsons are always a welcome sight, but I’m so sick and tired of Amazing Spider-Man being a directionless slog. After this filler arc is over, I’m gonna give Zeb Wells one more chance to hook me with his reveal of “what Peter Parker did,” and if I’m not won over, I’m probably gonna drop this damn book.
March 10, 2023
Hey gang! Welcome back to another round of The Amazing Spider-Man: Sucked or Really Sucked?
And the answer: Yeah, That Pretty Much Sucked.
Not as bad as a Zeb Wells-penned issue, we're in Joe Kelly's hands here so the dialogue at least approaches something an actual human and not a Skynet prototype might say. Approaches being the key word because there are still some stinky stinkers. And this being Joe Kelly, the humor falls on the forced side; if you think making fun of tech bros is like, so, 2023 and not a completely tired cliche that was old when the pandemic started, congrats! You possess the perfect mentality - and knowledge of what's cutting edge - to consume this issue.
Before we start, the usual PSA: No. There is no movement on Wells's precious mystery box. Zeb is apparently still working the key he swallowed through his digestive track and the shit - I mean, revelation - won't hit the fan for another two issues. So if you are still wondering about the abrupt change in status quo that started this run, you can take February off. What's another month, when you've now...looks at calendar....wasted an ENTIRE YEAR waiting for answers.
Y'know, I am a kind and compassionate person. No, seriously, I am, Goodreads persona aside. But I really hope that someday, Zeb Wells gets his expectations absolutely shat on, with each ray of hope systematically assassinated by lasers or something, because really, why should we have all the fun? I hope the universe forces you to join in someday, Zeb. Or maybe the eight level of hell, because Dante missed a beat by not including this run of ASM on its list of punishments. Although, strike that, no amount of sinning deserves this.
OK, moving on.
So: Dark Web is now over, and Peter is back to his life of being Gwen Stacy's murderer's sugar baby and dating Black Cat because MJ is "mysteriously" married with kids--*errrrrrrzzzt*
Oh, was that a record scratch? Yes. MJ is apparently married, people. And how do we know this? Because we were told on the recap page.
Recap page.
A fucking recap page.
Oh, and Peter is dating Felicia now. Even though we last saw Felicia....flips through pages...um....flips more...oh, here it is. We last saw Felicia in issue ELEVEN. This is issue NINETEEN, for those of you not keeping track. And in issue 11, Peter asked Felicia to dinner and she said...are you ready?...she said "Maybe."
Apparently, people, saying "Maybe" means you are now going steady and bumping nasties. Who knew? Aunt May knows, however, because she tells Peter to wear a raincoat. Hardy-Har-Har and that works on so many levels.
Oh, and MJ? Hasn't been seen since issue 9 when she took Peter's head off when he suggested they have coffee after he saved her damsel butt. But good to know she's married. That's not, like, important information that would inform how the reader interprets her actions and dialogue, oh no. Not important at all.
I wish you could see the middle finger I'm holding in the direction of Marvel's offices right now.
Okay, here come the spoilers, turn around now and save yourselves. I'm going to work off memory because I refuse to read this issue again, but hopefully I get things right. If I don't, don't worry, the recap page will give us absolutely new information next issue anyway.
So Petey's life is going pretty damn swell, because he's got a sugar daddy who killed his first love (didn't get better), his clone brother (did get better but it's complicated) and his baby (who knows). Oh, and kidnapped his aunt and tried to kill his wife and tortured his best friend and...well, you get the picture. But I repeat, Pete's life is swell. He's also apparently beceome reacquainted with Black Cat's personal kitty, if you know what I mean wink wink nudge nudge, and that pesky clone brother is now locked up in a Limbo cell even though the entire story could have been solved by the two telepaths just standing there and Chasm's accomplice Maddy got off scot free with everything she wanted plus an embassy in New York City for demons because sure, why not, the rest of the country thinks NYC is demonic anyway, why not make it so for realsies.
But Pete's a little tired - getting constantly nerfed and screaming you're going to die or lose an eye will do that to a fellow, even one who supposedly has spider strength, not that we've seen much evidence of that lately - so he and Felicia, who gets turned into a manic pixie dream girl who likes to stand on the front seat of covertibles when she's the driver - go to a spa upstate.
And guess who's there?!
No, you'll never guess. Not in a hundred million yea--
Oh. You knew it was MJ and Paul. I guess you've seen reruns of Three's Company or Frasier or How I Met Your Mother or any number of generic sitcoms. You know Joe Kelly has!
This spa operates like no spa I've ever heard of. It apparently thinks it's a cruise ship and puts couples - wearing their spa robes - randomly together for a meal. Yeah, because when I go to a spa for a romantic weekend, I want to be wearing only my bathrobe and have dinner with randos.
Only of course, they aren't random, they are awkward exes! Cue the canned laughter.
MJ is angry and Peter assures her he isn't stalking her...this time. Yes, people, Wells (and I guess Kelly, although my money is on this being something in Wells's outline) has now made canon that Peter Parker stalks women after they've said no. So heroic. Such a great guy. A+ characterization, Zebster and Joe.
Felicia assures MJ that this was a coincidence - apparently she and Paul share the same marketing profile and both fell for Groupon offers - and MJ relaxes once she realizes Peter and Fel are actually there just to screw and this wasn't another attempt to see her personal tiger, if you know what I mean.
A rumble/quake doesn't set off Peter's spider sense but he and Felicia decide to ditch dinner and run to investigate - hope the meal was prepaid! - but not before it's revealed Peter is wearing "here kitty kitty" boxers, which cause both Felicia and MJ to roast him. After Peter and Fel leave, MJ assures Paul that his boxers are "cuter, hon" which, I don't know, is that something people want to hear about that area of their bodies? Cute? You tell me. He asks if she is fine and she assures him she really is.
Peter, however, is not fine. Felicia points out he's spiraling because he saw MJ and he's still in love with her but that's okay, she's perfectly willing to be second best and scarf up the rebound leftovers because Felicia is now a) being given MJ's dialogue once again when it comes to insights into Peter and b) pathetic. I'm sorry, but the Felicia in the Jed MacKay series would be revealing she still has the Iron Cat armor and jetting out back to the city right about now, where she would decide to salvage her evening by sleeping with a gorgeous male CEO or a gorgeous female CEO or perhaps both. And then using their passcodes while they are sleeping to wipe out their ill-gotten corporate gains off the backs of oppressed workers.
But this isn't a Jed MacKay book, so instead Felicia presses Peter to confess he still loves MJ - he can trust her with the knowledge - which Peter is reluctant to do and hey! Saved by the stupidly rich tech bros playing supervillain dress up in the nearby field, including a guy playing Shocker who caused the rumble. And look who else is there! It's Spidey's old friends, White Rabbit and Kareem. When Spidey last saw Kareem, he played Spidey as expertly as Yo Yo Ma on the cello and got him to take down the Rose's organization for Tombstone, complete with popping Richard Fisk in the nose. But hey, what's a few tricking someone into committing aggravated assaults between friends? Once you're bestest buddies with Norman Osborn, you are a friend to all criminals.
White Rabbit confims that by telling the tech bros "Spidey is cool" which Peter agrees with. Peter and Felicia are invited to join the tech bros and the two henchmen at their party house. Peter is a teensy bit concerned that major super villian weaponry is in the hands of civilians, but Felicia wants to finish her $1000 caviar first and Peter bros down with another techie. White Rabbit makes out in the kitchen with the CEO, who is wearing Mysterio's costume, but comes back into the room where Spidey and the others are for the obligatory exposition. See, back in ASM 1-6, White Rabbit and Kareen were gathering up supervillain costumes and they were supposed to sell them for Tombstone, but White Rabbit instead got the bright idea - and she's not wrong - to rent them out for corporate retreat warriors who want to cosplay with actual weapons.
You'll never guess what happens next. You can't. No, try. You'll never--
Oh. Right. The CEO wearing green is murdered in the kitchen with an umbrella to the skull. Of course you knew, you've played Clue.
The remaining tech bros turn on their supervillain weapons because they don't want to go to jail, which...does not make sense, they have an alibi, they were hanging with Spidey and Black Cat. I guess the police would be upset that Spider-Man was there and did nothing to confiscate the weaponry but instead bro-ed out and ate their caviar, but gotta have a cliffhanger.
The end. Not as aggressively asinine as a wholly Wells-penned issue, and the Dodsons art is of course gorgeous.
But the unprofessionalism of revealing two major plot points in a recap page with no hint in the story: it's strictly amateur hour at the Spidey office and it is shameful - SHAMEFUL - this run was allowed to see print as is.
SHAMEFUL.
And the answer: Yeah, That Pretty Much Sucked.
Not as bad as a Zeb Wells-penned issue, we're in Joe Kelly's hands here so the dialogue at least approaches something an actual human and not a Skynet prototype might say. Approaches being the key word because there are still some stinky stinkers. And this being Joe Kelly, the humor falls on the forced side; if you think making fun of tech bros is like, so, 2023 and not a completely tired cliche that was old when the pandemic started, congrats! You possess the perfect mentality - and knowledge of what's cutting edge - to consume this issue.
Before we start, the usual PSA: No. There is no movement on Wells's precious mystery box. Zeb is apparently still working the key he swallowed through his digestive track and the shit - I mean, revelation - won't hit the fan for another two issues. So if you are still wondering about the abrupt change in status quo that started this run, you can take February off. What's another month, when you've now...looks at calendar....wasted an ENTIRE YEAR waiting for answers.
Y'know, I am a kind and compassionate person. No, seriously, I am, Goodreads persona aside. But I really hope that someday, Zeb Wells gets his expectations absolutely shat on, with each ray of hope systematically assassinated by lasers or something, because really, why should we have all the fun? I hope the universe forces you to join in someday, Zeb. Or maybe the eight level of hell, because Dante missed a beat by not including this run of ASM on its list of punishments. Although, strike that, no amount of sinning deserves this.
OK, moving on.
So: Dark Web is now over, and Peter is back to his life of being Gwen Stacy's murderer's sugar baby and dating Black Cat because MJ is "mysteriously" married with kids--*errrrrrrzzzt*
Oh, was that a record scratch? Yes. MJ is apparently married, people. And how do we know this? Because we were told on the recap page.
Recap page.
A fucking recap page.
Oh, and Peter is dating Felicia now. Even though we last saw Felicia....flips through pages...um....flips more...oh, here it is. We last saw Felicia in issue ELEVEN. This is issue NINETEEN, for those of you not keeping track. And in issue 11, Peter asked Felicia to dinner and she said...are you ready?...she said "Maybe."
Apparently, people, saying "Maybe" means you are now going steady and bumping nasties. Who knew? Aunt May knows, however, because she tells Peter to wear a raincoat. Hardy-Har-Har and that works on so many levels.
Oh, and MJ? Hasn't been seen since issue 9 when she took Peter's head off when he suggested they have coffee after he saved her damsel butt. But good to know she's married. That's not, like, important information that would inform how the reader interprets her actions and dialogue, oh no. Not important at all.
I wish you could see the middle finger I'm holding in the direction of Marvel's offices right now.
Okay, here come the spoilers, turn around now and save yourselves. I'm going to work off memory because I refuse to read this issue again, but hopefully I get things right. If I don't, don't worry, the recap page will give us absolutely new information next issue anyway.
So Petey's life is going pretty damn swell, because he's got a sugar daddy who killed his first love (didn't get better), his clone brother (did get better but it's complicated) and his baby (who knows). Oh, and kidnapped his aunt and tried to kill his wife and tortured his best friend and...well, you get the picture. But I repeat, Pete's life is swell. He's also apparently beceome reacquainted with Black Cat's personal kitty, if you know what I mean wink wink nudge nudge, and that pesky clone brother is now locked up in a Limbo cell even though the entire story could have been solved by the two telepaths just standing there and Chasm's accomplice Maddy got off scot free with everything she wanted plus an embassy in New York City for demons because sure, why not, the rest of the country thinks NYC is demonic anyway, why not make it so for realsies.
But Pete's a little tired - getting constantly nerfed and screaming you're going to die or lose an eye will do that to a fellow, even one who supposedly has spider strength, not that we've seen much evidence of that lately - so he and Felicia, who gets turned into a manic pixie dream girl who likes to stand on the front seat of covertibles when she's the driver - go to a spa upstate.
And guess who's there?!
No, you'll never guess. Not in a hundred million yea--
Oh. You knew it was MJ and Paul. I guess you've seen reruns of Three's Company or Frasier or How I Met Your Mother or any number of generic sitcoms. You know Joe Kelly has!
This spa operates like no spa I've ever heard of. It apparently thinks it's a cruise ship and puts couples - wearing their spa robes - randomly together for a meal. Yeah, because when I go to a spa for a romantic weekend, I want to be wearing only my bathrobe and have dinner with randos.
Only of course, they aren't random, they are awkward exes! Cue the canned laughter.
MJ is angry and Peter assures her he isn't stalking her...this time. Yes, people, Wells (and I guess Kelly, although my money is on this being something in Wells's outline) has now made canon that Peter Parker stalks women after they've said no. So heroic. Such a great guy. A+ characterization, Zebster and Joe.
Felicia assures MJ that this was a coincidence - apparently she and Paul share the same marketing profile and both fell for Groupon offers - and MJ relaxes once she realizes Peter and Fel are actually there just to screw and this wasn't another attempt to see her personal tiger, if you know what I mean.
A rumble/quake doesn't set off Peter's spider sense but he and Felicia decide to ditch dinner and run to investigate - hope the meal was prepaid! - but not before it's revealed Peter is wearing "here kitty kitty" boxers, which cause both Felicia and MJ to roast him. After Peter and Fel leave, MJ assures Paul that his boxers are "cuter, hon" which, I don't know, is that something people want to hear about that area of their bodies? Cute? You tell me. He asks if she is fine and she assures him she really is.
Peter, however, is not fine. Felicia points out he's spiraling because he saw MJ and he's still in love with her but that's okay, she's perfectly willing to be second best and scarf up the rebound leftovers because Felicia is now a) being given MJ's dialogue once again when it comes to insights into Peter and b) pathetic. I'm sorry, but the Felicia in the Jed MacKay series would be revealing she still has the Iron Cat armor and jetting out back to the city right about now, where she would decide to salvage her evening by sleeping with a gorgeous male CEO or a gorgeous female CEO or perhaps both. And then using their passcodes while they are sleeping to wipe out their ill-gotten corporate gains off the backs of oppressed workers.
But this isn't a Jed MacKay book, so instead Felicia presses Peter to confess he still loves MJ - he can trust her with the knowledge - which Peter is reluctant to do and hey! Saved by the stupidly rich tech bros playing supervillain dress up in the nearby field, including a guy playing Shocker who caused the rumble. And look who else is there! It's Spidey's old friends, White Rabbit and Kareem. When Spidey last saw Kareem, he played Spidey as expertly as Yo Yo Ma on the cello and got him to take down the Rose's organization for Tombstone, complete with popping Richard Fisk in the nose. But hey, what's a few tricking someone into committing aggravated assaults between friends? Once you're bestest buddies with Norman Osborn, you are a friend to all criminals.
White Rabbit confims that by telling the tech bros "Spidey is cool" which Peter agrees with. Peter and Felicia are invited to join the tech bros and the two henchmen at their party house. Peter is a teensy bit concerned that major super villian weaponry is in the hands of civilians, but Felicia wants to finish her $1000 caviar first and Peter bros down with another techie. White Rabbit makes out in the kitchen with the CEO, who is wearing Mysterio's costume, but comes back into the room where Spidey and the others are for the obligatory exposition. See, back in ASM 1-6, White Rabbit and Kareen were gathering up supervillain costumes and they were supposed to sell them for Tombstone, but White Rabbit instead got the bright idea - and she's not wrong - to rent them out for corporate retreat warriors who want to cosplay with actual weapons.
You'll never guess what happens next. You can't. No, try. You'll never--
Oh. Right. The CEO wearing green is murdered in the kitchen with an umbrella to the skull. Of course you knew, you've played Clue.
The remaining tech bros turn on their supervillain weapons because they don't want to go to jail, which...does not make sense, they have an alibi, they were hanging with Spidey and Black Cat. I guess the police would be upset that Spider-Man was there and did nothing to confiscate the weaponry but instead bro-ed out and ate their caviar, but gotta have a cliffhanger.
The end. Not as aggressively asinine as a wholly Wells-penned issue, and the Dodsons art is of course gorgeous.
But the unprofessionalism of revealing two major plot points in a recap page with no hint in the story: it's strictly amateur hour at the Spidey office and it is shameful - SHAMEFUL - this run was allowed to see print as is.
SHAMEFUL.
February 10, 2023
Poor Artwork
Some of the artwork seems to have been drawn by kindergarten children. Not the greatest storyline either. Totally disappointed, yeash.
Some of the artwork seems to have been drawn by kindergarten children. Not the greatest storyline either. Totally disappointed, yeash.
January 11, 2025
No idea what is going on here with this story…thus far I have enjoyed the Tombstone story, and the Dark Web story finally hooked me, but this I’m unsure of. The artwork isn’t quite there, but Felicia looks mighty fine. I like that there is more talking going on in this issue, if only the story made a bit of sense.
May 21, 2025
Really disappointed by this one unfortunately. I had the Planet of the Apes variant cover and while I’m glad I have it in my collection just for the cover, I’m a little sad there were so actual apes. Also, I feel like the story was just pretty boring and the sinister 6 were very underutilized, which is weird for a longer comic with this being 20+ pages
February 8, 2023
I really like the way Terry Dodson draws Peter
February 17, 2023
I LOVE THEM 💖💖.
March 19, 2023
2.5 slog. I will say, this thing is batshit crazy and that makes it at least interesting enough to finish.
May 23, 2023
A great story, covering Peter and Spidey real life situations.
May 30, 2023
Better than Dark Webb but that ain't saying much. This filler romance trip is falling short in almost every way. Art is decent tho.
May 9, 2023
This was absolutely my fault! I thought it was a standalone book because I thought (based on the cover) that it was a Mickey and co, become the Fantastic Four book, not #19 in a Spider-Man series!
So I was completely lost, still got some good chuckles and the art was cool so based on that I gave it 3 stars. If I read all the others I'd probably get more out of it but for now that's what it is.
So I was completely lost, still got some good chuckles and the art was cool so based on that I gave it 3 stars. If I read all the others I'd probably get more out of it but for now that's what it is.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews