Spider-Man’s Anniversary Comic Disappoints

This issue marks the first of two big numbering milestones the Spider-Man franchise will be celebrating this spring. Unfortunately, take away the #300 ob the cover and the only thing truly noteworthy about this comic is its length. In terms of dramatic stakes and emotional investment, this storyline is falling disappointingly flat.

It’s not even a problem of scope. Writer Chip Zdarsky introduces a truly world-ending threat as Spidey and his fellow heroes find their own tech wiped out even as an army of Tinkerer-boosted villains swoop in for the kill. That in turn fuels a larger doomsday scenario later in the story. Some might argue this is all too big for a Spider-Man comic, dragging the hero out of his comfort zone to deal with challenges above his pay grade. I don’t put much stock in that criticism, as Dan Slott’s Spider-Man run has regularly proven that it’s possible to push the character in strange, unlikely new directions and still maintain the core of Spider-Man.

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