The Amazing Spider-Man # 542 - Back in Black (part 4 of 5)

(spoilers abound)

I was expecting a major scuffle between these two (Kingpin and Spidey) with Spider-Man coming out victorious like always, but what we got instead was an good old fashioned beat down from web-head. 80% of this comic is Spider-Man kicking the loving crap out of Fisk and it couldn't be sweeter. The rage, anger, and vengeance that Peter feels is on full display thanks to the writing of Michael Straczynski.

When Peter takes off his costume to beat down Fisk, I honestly thought he might kill him. The payoff is so much sweeter though. Peter Embarrasses Fisk in front of the entire prison and tells him that when Aunt May dies, he will come kill Fisk. But until then, Fisk will have to endure the humiliation of being beaten with hundreds of witnesses. We're left at the end with Fisk stumbling back to his jail bed to rest himself after being severely ruffed, completely bruised up and bleeding from the head.

This was classic comic book story telling. Revenge is sweet.

When the Back in Black storyline started most of us just figured this is a gimmick to tie in with the Spider-Man 3 movie that was coming out, to think otherwise would have been foolish. The thing is... J. Michael Straczynski actually made it work. At no time while reading this issue did I think of the movie, in fact I was totally engrossed in the story. There's no similarities between the story being told here, and what was seen in the film (except for Spidey being in black). I should have known better then to doubt JMS.

This entire issue is basically the confrontation between Spider-Man and Kingpin. The build up last month was great, but usually having an entire comic book dedicated to a fight between only two characters is tough to pull off. Even if the characters have a huge history it doesn't always work as demonstrated in Wolverine #50 in a fight between Logan and Sabretooth. Sometimes the reader just feels like they've seen this before and have very little reason to revisit these two enemies fighting for the umpteenth time. If that wasn't enough, for anyone reading Daredevil, those readers already knew what the faith of Wilson Fisk was going to be. As we've been reminded since the Back in Black arc started, this story takes place before the events in DD.

With all that working against it, why would you want to read issue #542? Well... it's actually good... it's actually pretty damn good. Even though the fight is between two old adversaries, it's unlike any confrontation they've had before. It's made very clear that the rules have changed, and Parker is actually on the edge. Even knowing the faith of Fisk before hand, Straczynski still manages to build tension and suspense in the story. Peter Parker also doesn't feel out of character here even though he's never been darker. What brought him to this point is completely believable, and yet it still feels as though it's the same Spider-Man we've been reading for years.

I also have to mention Ron Garney. He had the impossible task of coming onto Amazing Spider-Man after John Romita Jr.'s incredible run. How the hell do you follow JR Jr.? Well you do what Garney has done. He's made ASM his own. His style compliments what Romita has done before, but it doesn't seem like he's copying his style at the same time. He's at a point now where he seems very in tune with what JMS is writing.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

After three issues of build up, Spidey's epic confrontation with the Kingpin has finally arrived! And what a confrontation it is! JMS writes a great sequence and Ron Garney draws it beautifully, but I can't help but feel a little bit cheated by the outcome. I mean, I knew Spidey wasn't actually going to kill the Kingpin, but the logic he uses in letting him live just didn't seem right to me. I mean, hasn't the Kingpin been beat up countless times before by Daredevil in front of other criminals? If Fisk could bounce back from that, I'm pretty sure his reputation could survive a beat down by Spidey, who is a much more powerful opponent anyway. Also, by the end of the issue Peter still says he's going to kill the Kingpin; the problem I have with this is that Marvel is not going to let Spider-Man kill anybody, so it makes Peter's threats seem hollow. All in all though, this was a solid issue, even if there weren't any surprises.