• Cover A of Amazing Spider-Man #25 with Spider-Man swinging across the cover with Mary Jane in the background.
    The Amazing Spider-Man #25
    Writer:
    Zeb Wells
    Artist:
    Kaare Andrews, John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz
    Letterer:
    VC's Joe Caramagna
    Cover Artist:
    John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, Marcio Menyz
    Publisher:
    Marvel
    Price:
    $6.99
    Release Date:
    2023-05-10
    Colorist:
    Andrew Crossley, Marcio Menyz

With Zeb Wells' contentious run of the main Spider-Man title continuing, the relationship between Peter Parker and Mary Jane is getting more complicated by the day. Their lives intertwined like the strands of a web, the star-crossed lovers find themselves at crossroads as the mad mathematician Rabin has marked them for his master, the evil Mayan God Wayep. Written by Wells with artwork from Kaare Andrews, John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz and lettering by VC's Joe Caramagna, Amazing Spider-Man #25 elaborates on Mary Jane and Paul's misadventures in the alternate Earth. Meanwhile, Marvel Comics is gearing up for a milestone at the end of this month, promising the most shocking Spider-Man issue in 50 years.

Amazing Spider-Man #25 plays out from the perspective of Mary Jane after she finds herself stranded in an alternate dimension. The issue begins with her sending Peter back home, knowing full well that she has spent her one-way ticket. She spends days waiting for Peter to come and rescue her while staving off attacks from Rabin and his creations. Days roll into weeks, and weeks roll into months. In the meantime, Paul and Mary Jane find two siblings in the wastelands and give them a home and a family as the two survivors slowly fall for each other. In the short story by Rainbow Rowell, Alvaro Lopez, Andrew Crossley, and VC's Joe Caramagna, Peter and Felicia get away from the hullabaloo, but fall into clichéd trappings.

RELATED: REVIEW: Marvel's Spider-Man 2099: Dark Genesis #1 Releases Carnage on Nueva York

Mary Jane sends Peter back home as Wayep dies in Amazing Spider-Man #25

To make head or tail of the time-lapse, Amazing Spider-Man #25 takes refuge in Mary Jane's perspective of the events and tries to sum up the "how" behind the current circumstances. The post-apocalyptic setting of the issue makes for a palpable atmosphere where survival seems to be the only and obvious answer. There is a resident loneliness throughout the book that slowly fades away as more characters come into the fold. As the distance between Paul and MJ seems to lessen, writer Zeb Wells teases their relationship through somber moments. By the time the issue reaches its climax, Mary Jane has forgotten about her ordeal and embraced her new life and family. Eventually, when the story passes the baton to Peter, the dejection spills onto the pages as anger, giving him a bad look. Letterer Joe Caramagna doles out emotional damage in the form of speech bubbles, some of which are emboldened to emphasize the character's mental state. The only instant of narration comes from Rabin, where the rugged boxes and font indicate a festering sinisterness.

Kaare Andrews shares artwork duties with John Romita Jr., taking care of a large chunk of the story as he shows the world through the eyes of Mary Jane. This is not Andrews's first foray into depicting a savage land full of unprecedented danger, having done so before in the Amazing Fantasy series revival. His inking creates a claustrophobic space. Soon, it evolves into a sci-fi setting. However, once Romita Jr. takes point, the commando getup recedes to a more base look, with the dichotomy open for all to see. Colorist Marcio Menyz does an excellent job of keeping the visuals consistent with a bright palette, especially in scenes where Rabin shows up with his flashy powers.

Mary Jane and Paul fight against Rabin in Amazing Spider-Man #25

The primary focus of Amazing Spider-Man #25 is Mary Jane and her life in the alternate dimension, which acts as the cause for the latter part of the tale and the reason for Peter's heartbreak. However, with the Fantastic Four cornering him in the middle of the night, their high and mighty attitude comes off as hypocritical, them having known full well about Parker's plight beforehand. It is distressing to see Peter wallow around in more grief than usual, emotionally betrayed and broken. In truth, Amazing Spider-Man #25 adds nothing new to the already depressing turn of events other than adding to the drama and making fans wait weeks to lift the weight over their chest if possible.