What is the secret of Kindred? And will Spidey live long enough to find out? Your Major Spoilers review of Amazing Spider-Man #50 from Marvel Comics awaits!

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AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #50

Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: October 14, 2020

Previously in Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Man just took the beating of his life and we’re just getting started. Kindred is stepping out on stage for the first time and Spider-Man is not ready for the havoc that Kindred is going to let loose.

“CLEARLY, I AM OFF MY GAME…”

This issue opens with a truly chilling scene, as Kindred uses his strange insectoid powers to rip open a grave and remove a corpse from the coffin within. As he monologues about how excited he is, Kindred cradles the exhumed body as our point-of-view shot moves away to the headstone… of George Stacy. We pick up with Spider-Man after the terrible beating he took last issue, trying to swing across the rooftops and instead crashing into moving traffic and bouncing into a dumpster. As he struggles to get up, Sin-Eater finally finds Norman Osborn at Ravencroft Asylum, vowing to make the once-and-probably-future Goblin pay for his sins. Norman rants, then begs, then shifts into his Green Goblin persona, who taunts Sin-Eater to shoot Norman, as he doesn’t need him anymore, and the villain obliges him. Spider-Man manages to make his way to Doctor Strange’s home, where he finally explains what brought him to this low point: A deal with a demon. Oh, and the other members of the Spider-Family (Miles, Spider-Gwen, Silk, Spider-Woman and Spider-Girl) have all been possessed by that demon. As Kindred sets a table for a horrifying family reunion (as George isn’t the only corpse he’s dug up), Norman Osborn awakens, cleansed of his madness and insisting that he has to help Kindred.

After all, he’s Norman’s son.

A BAD END FOR SIN-EATER

That shocking reveal at the end was pretty nicely handled, but the rest of the issue is less successful for me. Spencer’s tendency to jump back and forth in time at random makes this issue a hard read, especially since there seems to be a time-jump between the end of last issue and this one. The flashback to what happened to the other Spiders just pops up in the middle of the book, and it’s confusing even once you understand what’s happening. I’m also not sure about Patrick Gleason’s pencil-work in these pages, combining some of the odd proportions of Humberto Ramos with the exaggerated anatomy of McFarlane or Bagley, and while he excels at mummified bodies and Kindred’s monstrous powers, the normal people aren’t quite as well-rendered. That said, his Spider-Man actually looks really good, and the final page of Kindred looking at “himself” in the mirror is very strong, reminding me of Leinil Yu with a stronger ink line.

BOTTOM LINE: NOT A BAD ISSUE

All in all, while Amazing Spider-Man #50 is more setup for the next big thing than wrap-up of the last, it’s drives excitement and gets in a couple of shocking moments that work even where the plotting or art falls a little short, earning 3 out of 5 stars overall. There’s potential for a really interesting story here, even if the creative team doesn’t quite stick the landing perfectly, and I’m really wondering where the Norman and Harry parts of this story are going to go from here.

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