Amazing Spider-man #613 (Ongoing)

"The first piece of Amazing Spider-Man's "Gauntlet" storyline, featuring the return of Spidey's more notorious foes like Rhino and the Lizard, continues this week. This initial arc features Electro, and the presence of a more recognizable villain, coupled with a stellar creative team, results in one of the best issues of this series in some time." That's a quote from IGN editor Bryan Joel's review of issue #613. He immediately notes that one of the things he loves most for this issue is the artwork of Paul Azaceta, as having a palpably Silver Age influence to it. Don't look now but last ish I did mention it as strikingly reminiscent of vintage Jack Kirby with a dash of Steve Ditko going through a dark, moody phase--and I believe my description is the more accurate. Mark Waid also brings a rare credible core to Electro as he imbues this erstwhile two-dimensional villain with heretofore unrealized flesh and character, even as he manages to seamlessly introduce granularity and atmosphere from the very start of his work on the title. IGN gave this issue an "Impressive" 8.3 out of 10 rating. I disagree. You may say I'm biased, but, going by IGN's ratings system, it is at least a "Great" 8.9 for me. Spider-Man first appeared in the comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962). The series was canceled with that issue, but response to the character was so positive that a solo title, The Amazing Spider-Man, was launched with a March 1963 cover-date. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Steve Ditko, and the pair produced 38 issues from 1963 to 1966. title is the character's flagship series. Most of the major characters and villains of the Spider-Man saga have been introduced here, and it is where key events occur. The title was published continuously until 1998 when Marvel Comics relaunched it with a new issue #1 (Jan. 1999), but on Spider-Man's 40th anniversary, this new title reverted to using the numbering of the original series, beginning again with issue #500 (Dec. 2003).

'POWER TO THE PEOPLE' PART 2 THE GAUNTLET continues! His electric abilities waning and waxing uncontrollably while the power of his fame grows, Electro turns to an unexpected ally to seek a cure for his condition! By: Mark Waid, Paul Azaceta, Marko Djurdjevic --

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