Amazing Spider-Man # 794

By Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger and Marte Gracia

Dan Slott’s last issue of Amazing Spider-Man is coming very soon. He’s had a heck of a run on the book. There have been great stories and there have been some that have been met with criticism, but you can’t say he isn’t leaving his mark on the series. Before he steps away from the wall crawler for good, he’s going to leave us with a big character changing story with Threat Level: Red.

One character that got a lot of panel time under Dan Slott’s pen is Scorpio. It shouln’t be a surprise that Slott revisits him one last time as he fights with Peter and company. This part of the issue is handled well, as Spidey uses his brain to defeat the villain. The funny thing about this issue is that the battle between Spider-Man and Scorpio is irrelevant. It’s a smoke screen for a true danger that will be waiting for the wall crawler in upcoming issues. Dan Slott handles this misdirection nicely. The issue leads us to believe that a break in at an underground base is centered around Scorpio’s Zodiac key, but there is more going on then we realize. Keeping with the recent trend of “after credit scenes” there is another one in this issue. The last couple of pages of this issue really set up an interesting final arc. Dan Slott has always had pretty decent ideas for stories. What is being plotted her has the potential to be, no lame pun intended, amazing.

The pencils this issue are handled by Stuart Immonen with inks by Wade Von Grawbadger and colors by Marte Gracia. Everything about the art this issue helps make it sizzle. Stuart Immonen’s pencils are great. Panels where the team fights Zodiac are clean and crisp, thanks to inks by Wade Von Grawbadger. Seeing the Zodiac key fly in to battle and cause destruction is an image that will stand out with you as you flip through the issue. There is also a panel as Zodiac is leaving his prison where he is at a distance. Immonen draws this wonderfully, with good inks. It’s one of those moments where you just know things are going to hit the fan. The colors by Gracia are integral to the issue. He uses lots of greens and reds to fill in the backgrounds, but they come off so well and make the issue. The colors on Spider-Man’s costume leap off the page too. The art team did a great job this issue and deserves a huge pat on the back.

Amazing Spider-Man has been consistently good for a while now. There are people who don’t care for Dan Slott, but you can’t argue with his resume and longevity on the title. You really couldn’t ask for a better job from the art team. Each member brought their ‘A’ game and it shows on the page. There were some seeds planted for this issue that are shaping up to be a very cool story arc.