I can’t claim to know what’s going on in the heads of marketing folks over at Marvel. For example, I would not be able to begin to guess how they think a 12 issue weekly series following the characters we came to not-know and not -love in Fear Itself is a good idea. But I can’t help but think that their Spider-Island event worked on me exactly the way they would have hoped. Prior to this event, I would pick up an occasional issue of Amazing Spider-Man, but I’ve never picked up more than three or four issues in a row. After picking up the prologue to Spider-Island, not only did I end up reading the whole series, but I picked up a few of the tie-in books (which were fun but not required), I’m planning to continue to read this title for the foreseeable future, and hell, I hear there’s a Spider-Clone book coming out soon and I’m actually kind of intrigued by that. I KNOW. I don’t know if Marvel’s marketing department dared to dream they could make someone only vaguely interested in Spider-man get that invested through this event, but that’s what happened.

Slott’s story particularly grabbed me because, although threat to Peter’s world felt real, it was portrayed lightly enough that it remained fun. There were no “shocking deaths” or angst-ridden heroes telling us that “everything is different now.” J. Jonah Jameson got turned into a giant spidermonster, and there was never any doubt that things would go back to normal with everyone enjoying a laugh at the Spider-mayor’s expense. Too many stories try too hard to “matter.” This one just tried to be fun.

Slott’s script was well-supported by Humberto Ramos’ cartoony, dynamic style, which was great throughout the series. Ramos gave the book the unreality it needed to keep things light. His art felt just a touch rushed in this final issue, but was excellent throughout the series.