Amazing Spider-Man #601

....

wait... didn't... wasn't this cover used already? I'm trying to remember where I've seen it before...

maybe I'm just crazy.

Okay, between that excellent issue 600 & Mark Waid writing and the return of MJ, I'm giving this issue a shot.

@mangaman

I think J. Scott Campbell did a very similar cover during JMS' run. With MJ leaning against the apartment wall, with Spider-man web-swing outside. I get the feeling this cover has been kicking around for a while since there's a Daily Bugle on the table.

 I'm looking forward to this. The return of MJ - woo!

The cover made a big spalsh on newsarama months ago when it was announced campbell would be back doing covers. and the Daily Bugle thing might mean the story is a flashback. i say that mostly cause MJ doesn't live in NY right now and i doubt she'd bring a framed photo of her and peter for her hotel room

Like the Fantastic Four, will MJ remember everything once Spider-Man revels himself to her? 

I wonder how long it will be before MJ and Peter are back together again? Will that be next Summers big event?

I think MJ rembers everything or atleast has a memory of rembering Peter.

whatever happened to the loeb/campbell series that was supposed to come out.  i remember reading about it like 2 or 3 years ago. 

That solicit makes me think even Marvel is sick of Dark Reign.

Less Loeb = better for comic readers

Mario Alberti is growing on me.

Is it Wednesday yet?

Damn this looks good.

cheesecake  <3

@peterporker-here here.  That's some fine looking cheesecake

Isn't there supposed to be a bendis story in this?

That solicit is actually pretty funny. 

It's nice to see Lindsay Lohan is taking care of herself and looking good again. 

@ Nate:

 Damn man, you're right! Looks like she got implants too.

the only thing that's bothered me about Spidey recently is that he went through all that trouble to conceal his identity and then gives it up to close friends again.  I know this is an older subject, but that's been eating at me recently.  I think the recent New Avengers comic got me thinking about it.

Yeah Crippler, these ASM solicits have really been cracking me up lately, lol

Thank god, MJ has the inside of her elbows to support her bosom. Geez.

I think she looks like The Little Mermaid on this cover, but without the giant gold penises in the background.

@Roivampire

MJ strikes me as the sort of person who does carry pictures of herself around, lol to dectorate hotel rooms.

It's either a flashback or an unsed cover finally seeing the light of day.

The preview six pages has me thinking MJ might be crashing in Peter's "spare" room.

Those are some nice dimensions on MJ.

Ripped jeans are back? Cool!

This cover is ridiculous. I dont know any woman who is so upset (as she seems to be) that she has to thrust her breasts forward as much as possible. Its actually quite comical, which is convenient as it is on a comic... Aaaanyway, I am definately getting this, but with a variant cover, because Spider-Man is easily the most consistent and enjoyable book Marvel put out atm.

Waid has been excellent on Spider-Man, possibly the best writer of them all.  We'll see with this issue.

@Garrett - Mephisto has something to do with ripped jeans being fashionable again.

@har13quin - I don't know any woman with a spider-man shirt.

@KickAss

Agreed. 24/7 and the Tribute to Dating (Betty Brant) issue have been the highlights of this era. I'm a little annoyed Mark Waid is only during this issue, the Van Lante is taking over.

 ...but MJ so yay!

I really liked Van Lente's last issue, Return of the Spot #589. I love a one and done story, wish we got more of them. 

MJ 4 life. Love the cover.

@crazychris

Are you the crazychris from Spider-man Crawlspace? I love that site.

I wouldn't read too much into the specifics of the cover, like the Bugle being the Bugle and there being a framed picture of the couple on the wall. I think most of it is just meant to be metaphorical, or just Campbell slapping some window dressing on a pinup so it can be used as a cover.

Was MJ's mind wiped after OMD? I didn't think so. Maybe just her knowledge that he was Spidey, but not her memory of their marriage. Either way, can't wait to read this.

@crazychris - are you also the host of "The Amazing Spider-Cast?"  Because that podcast is laughably bad!  Nothing personal to anyone involved, but man is that the worst podcast I've ever heard, in production and commentaries on comics.  Whew, it's bad!

Wait, you couldn't be that podcast guy, cause he went nuts-o and said he'd never read Amazing Spider-Man again.  Heh, heh...though your name is "crazycrhis!"

I have to admit, the "Dark Mary-Jane" part did make me laugh. I wouldn't put it past them to do it at this point, though.

Does anybody think that this might be that perfect point in time to stop buying the issues three times a month, and just wait for the hardcovers.  I mean Marvel is usually fast about getting their reprint collections out fast, aren't they?  And something that comes out three times a month would be out in trade pretty damn fast, am I right?

Great. J. Scott Campbell covers. And MJ's back.

 Why, Marvel? Why? Short of answering the questions raised by One More Day (and they're not), I can't see why MJ needs to be back right now. #600 had me so excited about ASM until the  the MJ page. 

And now Campbell covers? They want me to drop this book. I might.

Does Peter remember that he was married to MJ? Wasn't the whole point of One More Day is to reboot the whole relationship? My guess is we might get a year worth of issues where they find themselves all over again. I have to agree that the cover is great and hot red heads posing seductively will get me to fork over my hard earned cash.

@ mongo

 I think "offically" Peter doesn't remember being married to MJ, from his point of view he and MJ where in love, lived together, where going to get married, but something got in the way.

What MJ remembers is anyones guess.

So was that MJs part of the deal with the devil?

@supertrackmonkey-Nobody knows what MJ's part of the deal is really.  She agreed to the dissolution of the marriage, that much was stated.  But then there was an 'on-camera' whisper between Mephisto and MJ.  It has yet to be revealed what was whispered.  This is the speculated 'out' in case the storyline goes stale. 

Definitely the best issue of Spider-Man since before One More Day; probably my favorite single issue since that annual with Matt Fraction.  Easily better than #600, in which the writing in the main story really wasn't very good.

Just a fantastic comic, #601.  

I'm glad to see that Brand New Day Peter is a heterosexual-- I was starting to believe he was asexual, after the last year's worth of stories.  Good for you, Peter-- I can actually take you seriously as a 20-something-year-old man again. 

MJ looks straight up weird in some of these frames. Still, this book rules.

Why, for the life of me, can I not figure out who did the art around the boarder of the 70th Annv. variant? It looks like Cheung.

"The young man with the furrowed hair..." + "Take that, window!" = early PoW contender for me.

The black cloud of OMD does loom heavily over this, though. As they slowly pick away at the results of that abhorrent story's end results, it does nothing more than remind us of that which we should never remember. If only Joe Quesada could make a deal w/ Mephisto to wipe all of our minds clear of it, we'd be more appeased readers for it.

This is like the second or third time I've tried Spider-Man since One More Day and I just can't get into it. Depressing.

Bliss!!!! J. Scott Campbell will be at Chicago Wizard Con this weekend! Guess who's getting an autographed copy of #601.

@ProjectX2:

You have to jump on for an arc to really get hooked. I did the same thing as you for a few months after Brand New Day and did really get back into ASM until a little over a year ago. But now I'm hooked and it's always a contender for my POTW.  

@ moron

It is Cheung, I believe.

I liked this issue a lot. It definatly answered a question I had, I miss MJ and Peter had actaully shared a scene though. Some great jokes, great moments, looking forward to the next issue. Is it POTW for me, I still got some books to read.

What's with Quesada drawing Spider-man's face so face-y? I mean I guess that's what it  would look like in "real life" but it's just so weird looking and kinda creepy in the comics.

I enjoyed the issue, though I'm not sure how I feel about Pete possibly having a one night stand with his roommate. Seems kind of out of chracter. The constant stupid internet references pissed me off, too. I was already sick enough of "fail" and "unpossible," so I'd rather not read them in Amazing Spider-Man.

Otherwise, it was a great issue, especially thethe last few pages. It's great to have MJ back, and I'm looking forward to next issue. Hopefully Spidey won't say "O RLY?" in 602.

Four stars.

SpiderFAIL.org and one night stands FTW!!1!

http://www.spiderfail.org is real?

Anyone else scrutinize the baby's eyes in the last panel to see if they were green?  No?  Just me?

@ HBD: I didn't the first read through. But When I read it again today, I did check the eyes out, and they were brown.

@ spooky:

www.spiderfail.org is a real website. And an "Amazing" one at that. 

this was not terrible...and maybe MJ still knows whats going on, and can set Peter straight again.  Bought this for the back up, though.  which actually felt more like a spider-man story than the main story.

I made this POTW for me, it was between this and Cry for Justice. I loved this story, but hated the art, but with Cry for Justice I loved the art, and thought the story lacked direction. In the end I thought which did I enjoyed the most, and it was this.

It wasn't a good week for me, I got four books and none of them were 5-star. I think we've been spoiled lately.

I wasn't that interested in this story. This was one of the few average Amazing Spider-Man comics since the status quo change.

Considering Marvel's recent effort for many books to be "big story" books, I really appreciated the ongoing stories focusing so much on the relationships of Peter, especially his friendships and family dynamics.  Spidey is best when it is grounded in Peter being a part of a "gang" of friends and M.J. is and always should be part of that gang.

@ willcrimson:

I agree. That's why people loved Ultimate Spider-Man so much... 

I think this will replace Irredeemable as POTW for me. It's just soooo good.

I also bought both covers because I love Romita.

Terrible art in this book.  I liked the main story though.  Bendis' back-up just seemed like a commercial for Spider-woman.  I could've done without that.

This was head and shoulders better then 600.  PoTW, if for no other then reason then Pete actually, for once, acts like a normal guy his age would act.  I'm a somewhat-long time ASM reader.  Can anyone else clarify for me if this is the first time we've actually seen Pete a) drink, get drunk and have a hangover b) have sex with someone he's not married to?  He's usually so squeeky clean it hurts. 

He is usually written as overly squeaky clean, but I find it acceptable that a guy who is obsessed with responsibility wouldn't be given to getting drunk when he's capable of literally ripping a person's head off.  As far as simply drinking, I know there have been times he's had a drink in a bar with other characters or super-heroes. On specific time was before Ben Reilly died, they drank beer on top of Aunt May's house, reminiscing about Uncle Ben.  Also, I'm pretty sure it's been established he slept with Gwen, and they weren't married.  Again, he's been obsessed with being responsible for 501 issues, so I can see him being paranoid about getting a girl pregnant and being afraid that the shock would give Aunt May a heart attack.  Even so, is a drunken one night stand the magic ingredient that has been missing from Spider-Man?

@Crippler    Peter got really drunk at a college party once, back during Roger Stern's run i think, and couldn't really function as spider-man when things went down a few hours later.Mostly the reason we never see Peter drink is that he never has time for a social life between work and spider-man. Plus ever since that college experience he only has like one or two beers maybe. But seeing your ex unexpectedly is enough to make anyone reach for a few more glasses of champagne.

@400yrs  Jessica Jones isn't Spider-Woman.

the art was really bad, it looked like their faces were sliding off their heads in some scenes...