The Amazing Spider-Man #599

Here we mercifully reach the end of the "American Son" storyline that has been inflicted on The Amazing Spider-Man.

Reviewers like to call stories like this an "idiot plot," because the story only works if everyone involved acts like an idiot.

To recap the events so far: In hopes of saving Harry Osborn from his father, Norman (Green Goblin) Osborn, Spider-Man tries to infiltrate the Dark Avengers while disguised as Venom. When discovered, he has an arrow shot into each leg by Bullseye, and then Norman shoots Spidey in the head with a pistol. Through means never quite explained (his suit can resist bullets but not arrows?), Spidey's disguise (provided by Reed Richards) allows him to survive, so instead he's taken prisoner and tortured through most of the last issue. In the meantime, Harry, who's been trying to rescue his fiance (the Goblin-esque villain Terror), discovers that she's been seduced by his father and... well, to explain more would probably give me a headache.

This issue features a showdown between the Osborns, with Spidey settling for a supporting role. Obviously, I really haven't cared for this storyline. Spidey has always been portrayed as a smart character with occasional bouts of bad luck, and in this story he's just been acting like... well, an idiot. (Though luckily he's apparently developed a Wolverine-like healing factor, to have taken all those wounds and still be able to walk around.)

The art is a mixed bag, as four different pencilers team up to crank this one out.

Enough hammering on this issue - it's just a shame that Marvel is more interested in quantity on this title (by publishing it three times a month) as opposed to focusing on quality.

It's interesting to realize that the Lee / Ditko era, the Lee / Romita series, the Conway / Andru comics, and the Stern / Frenz run (to name a few) would never have happened with the current publishing schedule.

I'd much rather have a monthly comic with top talent working on it instead of the current method, which is cranking out comics as fast as possible. You get more Spidey that way, but it's the difference between Big Macs and a steak dinner.

Grade: C-