PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN #156.1 is a quietly captivating Spider-Man tale, wonderfully told by veteran scribe Roger Stern and beautifully illustrated by Roberto De La Torre and Matt Hollingsworth. This is a simple standalone issue, which has no great bearing on the Spider-Man universe, and in time, may well be forgotten; but as an infrequent Spider-Man reader, this served up a perfect reminder of why I love the character. Stern includes plenty of throwbacks to his run on Spider-Man – citing events as far back as ASM #234 – but the narrative doesn’t feel aged, and if anything, emphasises Stern’s writing competency. He’s one of very few old-school writers who’ve managed to modernise their storytelling with the times without losing the voice that made them a success in the first place. He writes the perfect Peter Parker; a character who never quite manages to find that perfect balance between confidence and self-doubt, and Stern capably integrates some of Spidey’s newer supporting cast, particularly Norah Winters.

This is a done-in-one, twenty-two paged story, centred on Peter’s return to the Acme Warehouse (where he confronted his Uncle’s killer all those years ago) and the re-emergence of the Brand Corporation, and ends with Peter reasserting that famed lesson he learned from his uncle all those years ago; with great power comes great responsibility. The tale feels inherently classic, but contemporized thanks to De La Torre’s artwork. It’s very clean, very simple, and at the end of the day, worth your 2.99 if you want a quick Spider-Man fix without the trestles of continuity or the need to pick up a following issue. Take PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN #156.1 for what it is and you’ll have a good time.