On the Panel

Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #4

Original Sin catches up with Spider-Man and he finds out about a long hidden secret in his past. It's an idea that has so much potential because there's so much that Peter has had hidden from him over the years so I was interested to see what would be done here.

Sadly, the result doesn't quite live up to that potential. Many will know of the controversial One More Day storyline that had Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane erased in favour of the single, loveable loser that he hasn't been for many years, for more information on this story follow this link. The best Original Sin tie in for me would be for Peter to find out about that, can you imagine the story possibilities of a Peter Parker who knows about the life he once had but gave up? I can think of so much that could spiral from such a revelation. I get that many people want to forget One More Day ever happened but it seems that Marvel don't share such a hangup considering the mixed bag that was One Moment in Time.

All that being said I'm not here to critique the story that might have been, I'm here to critique the story that we got so I'll get on with that. The Original Sin revelation for Peter Parker is to be faced with the knowledge of the young woman who was bitten by the same radioactive spider that gave him his powers all those years ago. This revelation comes as no surprise to those who have been reading the relaunched comic as she has been appearing in small cameos. The girl's name is Cindy Moon and she's been held locked up in a secure facility built by Ezekiel -I'd rather revisit One More Day than this spider totem nonsense that brought destiny and all that rubbish to Spider-Man's world but that's a rant for another time- who had built secure rooms for both Peter and Cindy to protect them from the murderous Morlun (sorry for all the cross referencing) who this issue more than hints at the return of. This is not something I'm likely to enjoy, the idea was stupid to begin with and I'm not sure it's possible to make it any less stupid but Dan Slott has surprised me many times so maybe he can do it.

Turns out Cindy has gone a little insane at being locked up for so many years. Who can really blame her? Her introduction is actually really good, I like that she's leaping around like an animal just released from a confined space and really curious about everything. It's great that she's so free spirited that Peter can't keep up with her or get her to listen, it reminded me of some of the earlier Black Cat interactions when she was first introduced to the comic -she makes a cameo in this issue- and it seems that Peter's relationship with Cindy (who goes by Silk) will be somewhat similar. There are some questions raised about her too such as her ability to produce organic webbing when the same spider bite didn't extend Peter the same ability or what is meant by referring to her as "The Spider Bride". All will be revealed soon I imagine. The cliffhanger ending left a lot to be desired for me but it does make sense.

Overall, an interesting introduction to the character of Silk who is off to a good start. I'm guessing she's about to become a major fixture of the overall story arc and I wonder what the plans are here. I did enjoy this book but my Original Sin tie in desires were in a completely different direction than this one. None of that is the fault of this comic though and I still rate it highly. I can't wait to see what happens next.