Being the level-headed and forgiving reviewer (SHUT UP I AM!) I would be remiss if I didn’t try my hand at new comics for this new year. I’ve tried Amazing Spider-Man a chance so many times it is like I’m Mr. Warbucks telling Annie to go back to the orphanage every few months. (See level headed and forgiving) So I might as well try out the start of 2012 Spider-Man with a Black Cat plot. It sounded very generic until I realized that: A) Mark Wait is writing it and B) HIS Daredevil is apart of it. So maybe this title has finally ‘got me’ for the new year.

There is only one thing that bugged me about this issue, and negated to be my personal POTW, and that is how annoying Peter Parker has become. Am I the only one to notice Peter has went from being one of the most interesting characters in fiction to one of the most annoying pieces of shit ever? Even with Mark Waid at the helm I can’t help but think how much I want to punch this guy repeatably in the face. Sure he was quirky and had no problems joking a mile a minute. But this isn’t the Spider-Man I grew up on. The drama didn’t feel tacked on nor did it feel like the writers were desperate to make someone laugh. I have to imagine the way Bendis has turned Parker into this type of guy has become the new benchmark to write him which depresses me. Maybe another reboot is in order to make this a more likable Peter Parker.

Okay enough with the ranting and more why this was still a pretty awesome issue. Even if Parker is a douchebage, Mark Waid handles him very nicely with his emotions. He jokes when he has too but he also turns into a 13 year old boy when he sees a hot girl. Spidey and Daredevil have had a nice, friendly bond between them so when you see a sequence of them free falling off the Chrysler Building it adds more dimension then just a regular team up. The overall story of Black Cat being framed is fine, if a little generic for a book like this, but it does a nice job bringing the characters together to make Waid write them together. (Although here is another nitpick: When the hell did Black Cat become a mutant? I knew she vaguely had ‘Luck Powers’ but like Gambit I’d assumed it died off quickly)

The art by Emma Rios is the real star of this issue. Good lord what a talent! I was struck by the beauty of these pencils the moment I opened the title. The character designs are unique and quite pretty too look at. (I say characters and not just Black Cat cause that’ll make me sound like a pervert. But hell, this is the most gorgeous looking Black Cat I’ve seen) I also love the tiny details Rios puts into her work. Like seeing Parker’s lips pucker in a page, or seeing the individual threads in his webs. You don’t see this type of detail in a Spider-Man comic often (especially with Ramos) so it’s a nice change of pace to see. What also works in this is Javier Rodriguez colors and it makes me wonder if Rios could team up with him again for Daredevil….Her style really meshes well with Martin and Paolo Rivera now that I think about it.

So for once in my life, trying out Amazing Spider-Man turned into a positive thing. This was a great issue for both a Daredevil team up and for the incredibly gorgeous art. If this issue was a test to showcase Waid and Rios for a future Daredevil arc then mission accomplished. The only downside of this issue is that I don’t see myself buying another issue in the future. I’m not a fan of Dan Slott and especially of Humberto Ramos and the rest of the artists. Maybe if this team would stay in the near future I would consider buying it more often.