The Sensational Spider-Man #28

Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Artist: Clayton Crain
Letterer: Joe Carmagna

When Spider-Man reveals his identity to the world it dramatically affects the life of one of Peter Parker’s students, who becomes involved in a showdown between Spider-Man and a revenge-seeking Dr. Octopus.

This is one of the first issues of a Spider-Man comic to deal with the aftermath of Peter Parker’s dramatic decision to reveal his identity to the world in Civil War #2. I’ll admit that I’m not a big supporter of this move, not because I think it should never be done but because I don’t think it was done well or for the right reasons. I see it as forced element created to garner buzz. But that’s just my opinion. It’s happened now so I guess I’ll just have to deal with it. Of course I haven’t read any Spider-Man comics on a regular basis for a few years now. Normally the only time I do read them is when I’m doing these reviews. Anyway, let’s talk about the book itself.

I have found that I enjoy Sacasa’s writing more on Sensational than I ever did on the Marvel Knights Fantastic Four series. He seems to have a much better understanding of the character of Spider-Man and knows exactly what sort of stories work for the character. This issue however seemed a little throw away in terms of its importance to the overall unmasking of Spider-Man storyline. It seems like a story that could have come later, after all the important aftermath and insanity had been dealt with. This issue felt a little too comfortable with an unmasked Spider-Man so early on in the whole “event”.

Not that it wasn’t interesting as the story is told through the eyes of a kid who is very much like a young Peter Parker, a geek, a science nerd. I enjoyed seeing how the revelation of Spider-Man’s identity became something that affected this boy’s entire life, how something that could be viewed as a problem for Spider-Man alone impacts even the most innocuous of characters. Adding to my enjoyment of the story was Clayton Crain’s gorgeous painted artwork. The pages are so full and lavishly colored they look good enough to eat. There were places where the art seemed a little too loose but for the most part it was extremely well done.

All in all it wasn’t a terrible issue. It felt a little out of sequence and I really think that Dr. Octopus should play a much bigger role in the overall unmasking than a simple five-page fight. I’m not sure why you’d waste such an important Spider-Man nemesis when any two-bit villain could probably have filled his place. Though I’m sure Dock Ock will show up later and with a much larger role.


Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.

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