The Amazing Spider-Man #582

I'm on record as being opposed to the whole "deal with the devil - no more marriage" thing, so maybe that accounts for my ongoing lack of interest in The Amazing Spider-Man - but I think the problem is deeper than that.

The problem isn't that this is a new and different Spider-Man. It's really the same Peter Parker as before, and the situations are about the same as ever.

In this issue, written by Dan Slott, Peter is in the suburbs with the newly-revived Harry Osborn. (Hey, it turns out that when Harry died all those years back, he wasn't really dead - another amazing plot twist!) Harry is visiting his ex-wife Liz and their son, but the reunion is broken up by an attack by the Molten Man. Fights and wisecracks ensue.

Of course, the real problem with this story is that Harry and Liz would have to be complete morons to not realize that Pete is Spider-Man, since Pete runs away and Spidey appears - in the suburbs, far away from Spidey's usual hangout.

The art in the issue is very good, with Mike McKone, Andy Lanning and Kris Justice offering a fun version of Spider-Man and an interesting take on the Molten Man - solid work all around.

Getting back to the problem with Spider-Man's title, it's simple: we're getting overloaded with Spider-Man. With three issues a month, and each month's titles by a different creative team, we're seeing loads of comics, but there's no continuity.

The look is different each month, the tone is different, and it just feels like an overload of the same old fight scenes. If this book came out once a month, with the same creative team each month, then it would work.

But by trying to cash in on Spidey by making the book a near-weekly, they're diluting the brand down until it's weak stuff indeed.

The first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man I picked up was #15 (with the first appearance of Kraven the Hunter). I'd be the first to admit that there were times when I bought this comic out of inertia (Clone Saga, take a bow). That's where I am again today - but for the first time since issue #15, I'm seriously considering dropping this title.

This isn't a bad comic - but right now, it's all volume and no heart. Perhaps it is possible to get too much of a good thing.

Grade: B-