ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘Amazing Spider-Man,’ Issue #82

Amazing Spider-Man #82 is written by Saladin Ahmed, illustrated by Jorge Fornés, colored by Dan Brown, and lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna. It is published by Marvel Comics. After the events of Amazing Spider-Man #80.BEY, Peter Parker has awoken from his coma but is still in less-than-ideal shape. To make matters worse, a mysterious orderly has been wheeling away other patients who have been in the same room as Peter, and no one ever hears from them. When Peter is the latest to go missing, it falls to his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson to save him.

Ahmed uses this issue as a departure from the Beyond Saga and effectively sets up a single-issue story that also acts as an effective horror tale. His script perfectly ratchets up the dread as patients go missing and Peter, still in pain from the battle with the U-Foes, can’t use his arachnid abilities to protect himself. Thankfully he has MJ, who actually manages to get one up on the orderly in his “true form.” People often write MJ off as a damsel in distress, but she’s handled her own against Spidey foes include the Chameleon and the Green Goblin; she can definitely handle a Tales from the Crypt reject. And don’t worry dear readers;  the last two pages connect back to the Beyond Saga as the Daughters of the Dragon encounter a classic Spider-Man foe.

Joining Ahmed on art duties is Fornes, and to use a now-outdated meme he perfectly understands the assignment. Fornes is best known for his DC work including Tom King’s run on Batman and the Rorschach miniseries, which deal with heroes that have a grittier aesthetic than Spidey. Keeping in line with this, Peter spends the whole issue in a hospital gown instead of his bright red and blue Spider-Man suit and the climax of the issue takes place in the hospital’s underbelly, which is shrouded in shadows. The orderly himself looks utterly horrifying; his eyes are yellowed and emotionless, his skin is sallow, and he speaks in a tone that sent chills up my spine. Believe it or not, his “true form” is even more horrifying. Even Marvel villains like Mojo and the Shadow King would run screaming from him.

What also helps the horror theme is Brown’s color art, which features more muted tones and liberal use of shadows, especially in the climax. When MJ starts running from the monster, only its glowing red eyes and a maw of yellowed razor-sharp teeth can be revealed. Brown also gives Caramagna’s letters a unique color. The creature’s roars are colored in blood red, a camera flash is as golden bright as the sun, and whenever Peter is in pain an entire panel flashes orange as he yells in agony.

Amazing Spider-Man #82 is a perfectly constructed standalone issue, veering into horror territory as Saladin Ahmed and Jorge Fornes put Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson into a horror movie. The next issue sees the return of Patrick Gleason to the title, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does-especially considering how great this issue was.

Amazing Spider-Man #82 will be available wherever comics are sold on December 22, 2021.