Amazing Spider-Man #546-548

Amazing Spider-Man #546-548

Originally released in 2008

Written by Dan Slott

Art by Steve McNiven

Full disclosure - I picked this entirely because the trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day came out today.  That movie looks like an interesting change to Spider-Man's status quo after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, feeling almost like a comic book with characters from all corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Bruce Banner, the Punisher, and possibly others if the speculation around Sadie Sink's casting is any indication).  The comic is also providing an introduction to a new status quo, but it comes in the aftermath of One More Day, a comic that I previously read and hated.

The opening of this comic does little to endear me to the aftermath of One More Day, with the status quo being that Peter almost married Mary Jane but didn't, feeling that he's too young for marriage.  Now he's unemployed, living in Aunt May's house (and even her patience seems to be wearing a little thin, as she pushes for him to get a job), and is in such a bad state that he's briefly mistaken for a homeless man at one point.

Harry Osborn (who's alive as a result of One More Day, somehow) is trying to help Peter get back on his feet, even if Peter won't accept his money.  He's even trying to set Peter up with Carlie Cooper, a friend of Harry's new girlfriend; the series acts like there's an immediate connection between them, which is a bizarre move in the issue after Peter and Mary Jane were split up by a deal with the devil, and it did little to make the audience like the character. (it had quite the opposite effect, in fact)

Spider-Man hasn't been seen for months (and as a result, Daily Bugle sales are at an all-time low and the paper's at risk of being bought out, and a mugger is going around New York wearing a Spider-Man mask), but even with the Bugle's financial difficulties, that won't stop Peter from barging in and demanding to be paid what he's owed. He picks a poor time to do it, as the one time that he stands up for himself to J.J. rather than accepting what little the editor pays him, Jameson has a heart attack.

There's also a new vigilante in town, Jackpot.  It seems like a shameless attempt to make people think that Mary Jane has taken up a superhero identity (and she will use the name Jackpot later, using a superpower-granting roulette that inexplicably has an outcome that instantly kills the user - thanks a LOT, Paul), complete with using nicknames like "tiger" in her internal monologue, but by my understanding, it's just a misdirect and this is someone else entirely.

Robbie Robertson is doing his best to keep the paper afloat while Jonah's heading to the hospital, but he knows that that there's one thing that the Daily Bugle (and by extension J. Jonah Jameson) needs in order to survive: photos! Photos of Spider-Man!

While chasing down the tracer he put on the Spider-Mugger, he doesn't realize that the Spider-Mugger (who had previously stolen one of Peter's web-shooters, thinking it was a watch) planted another spider tracer onto a Maggia gangster.  He follows the gangster's tracer, leading him to a face-to-face confrontation with the new crime boss in town, Mister Negative.

Mister Negative's plan is to use an ancient stone tablet (apparently Spider-Man encounters a lot of those) to create a poison called the Devil's Breath, but Spider-Man isn't having any of that today, smashing the tablet mid-monologue. (Mister Negative already wrote down the contents of the tablet, unfortunately)

As this is happening, the Spider-Mugger realizes that if he has one of Spider-Man's web shooters, then the guy that he mugged earlier must also be Spider-Man.  He stole Peter's wallet as well and sold it, so he just needs to get it back and he'll know Spider-Man's identity and address.

Funnily enough, Peter hasn't realized this problem yet, as he's busy dealing with Mister Negative attempting to murder the members of various mafia families using the Devil's Breath.  He decides to solve this problem by jumping into the middle of the meeting, which is immediately followed by the criminals ignoring what he has to say and trying to shoot him.

Peter seems to have a habit of forgetting things in this story, as he also forgets to set up his camera, meaning that he has no photographs of Spider-Man or the mafia meeting.  Issue 547 ends with him passed out in the Devil's Breath cloud, seemingly dying. (of course, he's not, but the same can't be said for the various gangsters)

On a side note, each of these first three issues starts off with Spider-Man/Peter face-to-face with someone looking like he's kissing them or about to kiss them. It's an odd running gag, especially when those people are a woman that he's never met who wants to get into Harry's social circle for the money, J. Jonah Jameson (Peter's giving him CPR), and a mafia member's corpse.

Realizing that the Devil's Breath targets people with specific DNA (such as a crime family), Peter heads to a circus where the women and children of that family are visiting during the meeting to try to get everyone to evacuate, only for Mister Negative's minions to make it seem like this is all part of the show.

Despite his plan being foiled, Mister Negative manages to take a hostage, demanding that Spider-Man give him a sample of his blood in exchange for letting the girl go.  Given the obvious problem of Mister Negative building a DNA-targeting nerve gas (along with the problems with people getting their hands on Spider-Man's DNA, whether it's clones, trying to recreate his powers, or other issues), this is going to backfire HORRIBLY on Peter, but the alternative is letting a child die, so he agrees. (thankfully Aunt May isn't related to him by blood)

The Spider-Mugger is found dead in an alley, and of course, that's when the police happen to pull up.  All in all, it's not a great day for Spider-Man.  The same could be said for this story as a whole; while the dialogue and art are good, the overall direction of this story is pushing way too hard on the "Peter is a total loser, failing miserably as Peter and as Spider-Man" mindset, which more or less seems to have stuck with the character to the present day nearly 20 years later.

In the early days of the character, a big part of the appeal was how (much like a lot of people) he was completely overwhelmed by school, work, and various other responsibilities (with his superheroics being just one factor in that), but his life wasn't just an endless parade of misery - it had bright spots, like his relationships with Gwen and Mary Jane, that gave him heartwarming and happy moments.  That's not the case here, aside from very brief appearances by Aunt May and Harry, which makes the story feel like it doesn't understand the appeal of the character. (I'm chalking that up to editorial not wanting Spider-Man to have a steady relationship, especially with Mary Jane, under the misguided belief that it makes him more "relatable", which is an utterly baffling decision that should have been undone a long time ago)