In Part Two of “New Ways To Die,” the Thunderbolts pay Peter Parker a visit, Harry Osborn makes a surprise announcement, Norman continues to be a bastard, Spider-Man strikes back, and Eddie Brock undergoes a startling transformation. Do fan-favorite creators Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. disappoint or surprise? It’s all in here.

It’s no secret that the Spider-Man storyline “One More Day”, which did away with Peter Parker’s marriage and made sweeping changes to the supporting cast, wasn’t exactly a big hit with fans of the web-slinger. Some posters online were quite vocal about their dislike and alleged that they would be boycotting Amazing Spider-Man. However, when “New Ways To Die” was announced online, and the buzz was that not only would Norman Osborn (formerly the Green Goblin) and Venom be appearing, but the writer and artist team would be none other than Dan Slott and veteran artist John Romita Jr., many were clear that they would be picking up “New Ways To Die” because of the talent involved. Admittedly, as one of the vocal boycotters of Amazing Spider-Man, I had some apprehensions about picking up this arc. Surprisingly, I was impressed as Slott and Romita manage to keep the story moving, and do a nice job of it.

Slott managed to keep me hooked from page one, as the issue starts off right away with a quick pace, with Norman Osborn and his Thunderbolts (allegedly former super-villains employed by the government to track down unregistered super-heroes) threatening Peter Parker and ransacking the apartment he shares with a police officer in order to force Peter to help him find Spider-Man (as a result of “One More Day,” nobody remembers that Peter Parker is Spider-Man). After the Thunderbolts have left, we meet Eddie Brock at the shelter that Peter’s Aunt May volunteers at. Slott then does a nice job of moving some other subplots along, as we learn that the man who is running for mayor may be corrupt, and is helping out Norman. In a transition skillfully pulled off, we then see Harry and how he’s doing with his new coffee shop, the Coffee Bean (this was Harry, Peter, MJ, Gwen, and Flash’s old hangout from college). Norman meets up with his son and Dan Slott shows us why we truly like to hate Norman Osborn: he’s cold to his son, who seeks only his approval and love.

Then, the action really gets started, as Spider-Man sneaks into the Thunderbolts’ base and has a face-to-face with our man, Norman. Finally, we learn the whereabouts of Mac Gargan (Venom’s current host) who had been out of contact with Norman Osborn for a while. He’s tracked down Venom’s former host, Eddie Brock, and tries to bond with him (Eddie previously spurned the Venom symbiote after re-discovering his faith). Through circumstances not explained in this issue, though, the bonding process goes wrong and instead of Eddie Brock becoming Venom, he becomes an entirely new character—an Anti-Venom, if you will.

Slott is actually a great fit for Spider-Man. He’s worked on a lot of smaller titles with humourous elements and he definitely manages to throw in some wisecracks and get some good one-liners in for the ol’ wall-crawler. His script hits all the right notes, with all the classic characters’—Peter, Norman, Harry, Eddie’s—characterizations being spot-on. The writing is constantly compelling and he manages to seamlessly fit in exposition, back-story, and explanations into the plot (this is especially appreciated by me since I didn’t pick up the first part of this arc). Honestly, the one-page summary at the beginning of the book was superfluous.

John Romita Jr. is truly a great artist: he meets his deadlines, is a master storyteller (having, no doubt, learned from the best), and, to top it all off, his art is darn pretty to look at. This issue does not disappoint as he manages to get a lot of feeling and nuances out of the characters. The scene with Norman and Harry in the Coffee Bean is a great example of this. Dean White (who also colors John’s work on Kick-Ass), complements the pencils nicely with a softer palette, as opposed to the overdone computer effects that seem to be becoming more commonplace in comics. My one complaint with the art, though, was that every time Norman Osborn is seen as a small figure, his hair looks odd, like he’s balder than he actually is. It’s rather annoying and pulled me out of the story a bit when it happened, but honestly that’s nitpicking a bit. (Though, looking over the panels in question, I’ve decided it was likely due to a misunderstanding on the colorist’s fault).

Another problem I had with the book was that apparently Peter remembers the deal he made with Mephisto in “One More Day” (though to what extent is not made clear—it’s obvious he knows something made everybody forget about his indentity, but it’s not obvious whether Peter remembers Mephisto being a part of it, or whether he remembers his marriage with Mary Jane. It’s all a bit frustrating, as I had managed to forget about my problems with One More Day long enough to enjoy this story, and once these loose plot points are brought up they distract from the story. (Slott also shows a willingness to poke fun at One More Day, though, as he writes, “What does Osborn think? That he can just wave a magic wand and everyone will forget who he really is?” “Right. ‘Cause that’d be… crazy.” However, the last part was said by Peter in response to reporter Ben Urich, so these could also be interpreted as hinting that Peter still remembers the deal with Mephisto).

Eddie’s transformation into Anti-Venom seems like a logical step for the character (he now repents for his crimes as Venom, so to become the Anti-Venom makes sense). Some people have talked about how an Anti-Venom is unnecessary, as Spider-Man already is the opposite of Venom. Except, no, he isn’t. Venom is a “cracked mirror” version of Spider-Man. (Neither is Carnage the anti-Venom—rather, Carnage is Venom’s cracked mirror version). A character who’s the opposite of Venom isn’t as unoriginal an idea as everybody wants to think.

Overall, this is an entertaining issue with solid writing and art, and easy enough for even a new reader to get into. Even readers who had been previously put off by One More Day can enjoy this issue. One thing’s for sure: Slott and Romita have me hooked and I’ll be back for the next issue.

The Amazing Spider-Man
“The Osborn Supremacy”
Written by: Dan Slott
Penciled by: John Romita, Jr.
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Dean White
Lettered by: VC’s Cory Petit