Review: ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #66 Bats Clean Up

After all that work to gather the pieces of the Lifeline Tablet, Kingpin won in the end. Wilson Fisk brought his son, the Rose back to life. Along the way, Boomerang betrayed Spider-Man, leaving the hero reeling and wondering what to do next. How does Kindred fit into all this?

The return of the Rose sounds interesting enough, but it doesn’t pack all that much impact with how it’s presented. We’re talking about a D-level villain here. I’m somewhat curious as to how this will play out with Kingpin moving forward.

There are some twists and turns when it comes to Kindred. Originally introduced in the first issue of this volume, everything about him has been a mystery. Writer Nick Spencer has teased and pulled at this thread for some time, finally revealing the identity of this bandaged man to be none other than Harry Osborn, but I didn’t buy it. It felt like a cop out. This issue reinforces that feeling as the villain has been humbled, no longer seen as the unstoppable monster he once was. For those following WWE, it’s basically like when the Fiend was taken out by Goldberg.

Artist Mark Bagley plays this well, showing Kindred as frail and weak at first. He looks like a skeleton ready to crumble at a moment’s notice. Then he pulls the rug out from under us, revealing the wry grin below as Kindred makes his move. Inker John Dell helps out here, accentuating the lines in Kindred’s costume. Letterer Joe Caramagna puts the cherry on top with a decisive line delivery. You can hear Kindred’s strength returning as he utters these powerful words.

There are some weak sequences in Amazing Spider-Man #66, such as the group shot of the other heroes that recently came to aid the web-head. Their basic forms are there, but they look kind of vague and round.

This issue shifts between a number of different characters and settings. Colorist Brian Reber controls the tone for each one, moving from the sterile environment of Kindred’s prison to the bright light of the day during the super hero encounter, and to the evening where shadows loom. This instantly sets the mood for each sequence.

Amazing Spider-Man #66 serves as a wrap up of King’s Ransom and a general clean-up of a few dangling plot threads. The wall-crawler puts the new suit behind him, much to my dismay and gets back to his routine or whatever passes for it now. Knowing that Sinister War is going to be starting up soon, I’m bummed that Kindred will probably be placed on the back-burner once again. All this is fine, but it just feels rather middle of the road. It will ultimately be a forgotten issue.

Amazing Spider-Man #66 from Marvel Comics is currently available at your local comic shop and digitally through ComiXology and Amazon Kindle.