Amazing Spider-Man #655 - "Awakening"
4/5
Near the end of Brand New Day, we've encountered quite a large number of deaths that were largely tasteless in my opinion - specifically the ones in "Shed" and "Grim Hunt", two very well-received story arcs that are still popular today. But for me, I was not only exhausted by the fact that Curt Connors wasn't given the proper rest he deserves after having his entire life toyed around in the history of Spider-Man comics, but also the fact that two characters in these two arcs were killed off as a plot-device to create a contrived emotional impact on both Spider-Man and the readers. That one victim in Grim Hunt, especially, was thrown away and forgotten after her purpose was served. No proper funeral, no words of mourning. "Disgusting" couldn't even describe what I felt reading that.
That being said, I could understand the reasoning behind these deaths. It was to wear down the webslinger, make him feel each death he failed to prevent. I welcome these suffering placed upon our Webhead's shoulders - when they are done well. That's always been Spidey's most defining trait, his perseverance in spite of all the suffering, in spite of his failures. And issue 655, "Awakening", another chapter in Spidey's numerous failures, is one of the finer examples of doing it well. Well, almost.
First off, the "silent" first-half of the comic was of course beautiful. Marcos Martin gave us a display of visual storytelling at its finest. Comics are a visual medium, and much like movies, I always love it when they utilize the visuals to tell the story more so than using mere words. It is a trying task, for sure, since wordless panels can either become too plain or too ambiguous, but Marcos Martin here tells the readers a lot more details using the characters' body language than one ever could with dialogue, like the way Jonah somberly dresses himself without a frown or a tear, or the way Peter seperates himself from the others in a literal panel of his own. There's a very tense and almost 'silent' atmosphere felt in the first-half because of that lack of dialogue, and it's appropriately so. I particularly love the way certain panels connect to the following one and paralleling each other. That's a nice touch that further reflects the different reactions the characters have towards the death.
The church in particular plays a rather depressing role in hindsight. During the time this issue was released, the Ultimate universe would be involved in an even more significant death relating to Ultimate Spider-Man, one that comes with a funeral in a very similar-looking church in "Ultimate Fallout".
After that, we have the dream sequence. This part of the issue left me with a bit of mixed feelings. This is hardly the first time Spider-Man has gone through this phase. Someone dies, he grieves, he becomes embittered, he becomes darker and turns into either "the Spider" or "Back in Black", and eventually, he returns into his light-hearted self once more. It's a familiar phase that can get a bit eye-rolling after seeing it this often. But familiarity isn't always a bad thing when certain differences are added, and this is one of those cases. This particular sequence focused more on Peter feeling guilty for not killing the bad guys, letting them get away to murder the next innocent victim. And it certainly didn't help that he has already killed anyway - Charlie, that one woman, the one single life Spidey has ever taken in the one-shot, "Spider-Man vs. Wolverine". A lot of Spider-Man books seem amnesiac about this single very important manslaughter Peter committed, so it's nice to see Slott utilize this grim part of Spidey's history effectively here.
So by the end of the story, once again, Spidey's committed to preventing tragedy no matter what it takes. Unfortunately for him, as we could see from the final panel of the tale, that's not going to be easy. I love how that ending is such a slap to the face for Spider-Man after he proclaimed his "No one dies" statement. The irony stings.
