THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #50

  

   After reading the latest The Amazing Spider-Man #50, I was curious how many #50's there have been. The first one was published in October 1967. In that issue, Peter Parker quits being Spider-Man and throws out his costume but remembers he's fighting for Uncle Ben and resumes being the hero. Stan Lee and John Romita did that issue. The Kingpin makes his debut in that issue as well. The next #50 was in February 2003. Straczynski and John Romita, Jr. did that issue. The last one, during Nick Spencer's run, was published on October 14th, 2020. So this is only the 4th #50. There were a few re-boots that never even made it to #50, though. The first re-boot and new #1 was in January 2003, when Dan Slott was writing the book. Then April 2014 there was a new #1. Then in October 2015 there was another re-boot and #1. Then July 2018 had another re-boot and #1. And then we get to the current Zeb Wells run, which started in April 2022 with a new #1. So there's been 6 re-boots and 6 #1's. Hard to make sense of all this ridiculousness. It's pretty crazy that there was a #1 in 2014 and then another #1 in 2015. And when Zeb Wells leaves, in a year or so, there'll surely be another #1. I guess I was curious about all of this because in this new #50 issue, Norman Osbourne as The Green Goblin fights Peter Parker as Spider-Man. If you remember, this is a feud started in the 1960's, culminating in Spider-Man killing Norman Osbourne/The Green Goblin. That happened in May 1973. They actually kept Norman Osbourne dead for 23 years. So much for that! It's June 2024...so Norman Osbourne/The Green Goblin was killed off 50 years ago. 50 fucking years ago! You gotta kind of wonder why they have no new ideas anymore. I suppose Marvel's excuse is that Norman as The Goblin was great back then; a cool character, a fan favorite...and kids reading comic books now weren't reading them in the 60's and early 70's. Why not show them what they were missing? Eh. I can't even think of any new, cool villains they've created for Spider-Man since Venom...and that was in 1988. What the hell are these writers doing, anyway? Nick Spencer attempted to create a new villain with Kindred. I guess he was at least trying. Zeb Wells hasn't created anyone. Wells has used Tombstone a lot for whatever reason. And #51 has The Sinister 6 on the cover. It does seem like the writers have very limited leeway at writing this book. It seemed like Spencer was attempting to get MJ and Pete back together, but that never happened, probably because the editors and bosses have the final say. Spider-Man is such a great character that it's really a shame the book feels like it can't be fresh, exciting, bold, or new. It just constantly feels stale, like it's running in place constantly. The big, new idea in this new #50 is that Norman gives Parker the Goblin serum, turning him into Spider-Goblin...or whatever the heck they're going to call him. They seem to do that a lot in the Batman books with the Joker serum, too, don't they? I wonder who was first with that? I will admit that this issue was a lot more entertaining than the last dozen or so issues Zeb Wells has written. Last Fall they had a big crime epic where a bunch of crime families were battling for control of NYC. That was a total bore. And the last couple of issues were totally forgettable and weird. So Goblin vs. Spider-Man is back to basics. And they got Ed McGuniess to draw the pretty cool cover and main story, which is a giant plus. There's a few terrible back-ups I skimmed through. I guess I can't really complain about The Green Goblin still being around after dying 50 years ago...because it's pretty hard to mess up a comic book involving The Green Goblin battling Spider-Man. I wish this book was better, though, and I really am starting to wonder if it'll ever be really good ever again. **1/2