Marvel Just Proved Exactly What Spider-Man Fans Need

It’s no stretch to say that Spider-Man comics are controversial. While Spider-Man is Marvel’s most popular character by a spider-enhanced leap, his actual comics are almost always caught in the crosshairs of debate and discourse. It all started with the near-universally hated reset with “One More Day,” which stripped away decades of stories and development in a misguided attempt to keep Peter “relatable.” However, while most despised retcons eventually fade to the background on some level, “One More Day” continues to be the most talked-about thing with Spider-Man. If anything, fans are angrier today than when it happened. It’s festered for nearly two decades now.

No matter how far ahead Spider-Man pushes in making good comics and great stories, there is still a divide in the community that will not heal until “One More Day” is repealed for good, if that ever happens. However, while this is not the perfect catch-all to fix their problems, Marvel has officially introduced a fantastic answer to this issue. The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn is a series set in Peter’s earliest college days, and issue #3 just showed us that this is exactly the type of Spider-Man story that we need more of.

A Return to Classic Spidey Adventures

So far in Torn, Spider-Man’s attention has been split between his competing feelings for Gwen and MJ, as well as a new villain showing up and being transformed into a monster. Evangeline was a thief hired to steal an ancient tome from Empire State University, only for it to turn her into a demon after it absorbed her soul. Issue #3 started with Spider-Man and Evangeline duking it out in the streets. Evangeline can track the book, which Peter kept in his backpack, leading to the villain interrupting Peter and MJ’s date. She eventually gets the upper hand and dives for the book, but it absorbs her, transporting her to some kind of different realm.

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Peter snuck back to MJ and Stacys, who had appeared on the scene during the scuffle. Gwen and her dad insisted they take Peter to the hospital, to which MJ also pushed for, even as she walked away in tears, feeling like she was losing Peter to Gwen even more. Needing advice, MJ went to see the wisest woman she knew, Aunt May. MJ talked about how she loved Peter, but loving him was hard, especially because of how distant he could be. May explained that Peter struggled with letting others carry his burdens, and how college was a time when everyone was torn between who they are and who they’re becoming. She told MJ to follow her heart and give Peter a chance.

Back at his and Harry’s apartment, the best friends awkwardly talked about their rather abysmal love lives. Harry knew that there were still unresolved feelings between Peter and Gwen, and while he wasn’t angry about that, it made it difficult for him to connect with Gwen, especially with all the things going on with his dad. For his part, Peter finally realizes that he loves MJ, even if part of his heart is still reaching for Gwen. He’s never been able to let go of the past before, but he wants to try for his and MJ’s sake.

Stories Without Complications

Much like Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn is a comic that revisits Peter’s early years with modern storytelling philosophies, which is exactly what Spider-Man needs more of. While modern Spider-Man stories suffer from strict editorial oversight and messy continuity, this comic does not. Spider-Man’s early years are universally agreed upon to be some of his strongest, rife with fresh characters and plenty of the soap opera drama that he was famous for. Setting a story in this era allows fans to experience the type of Spider-Man stories that they miss while also adding extra depth and angles to already beloved eras.

This comic is the perfect mix of nostalgic and new. It offers fans who are angry with Spider-Man’s modern direction a chance to still get their fill of the Web-Slinger in a way that is in no way connected to what makes them mad, and gives fans who haven’t read the older comics a window into how much Spider-Man and his cast have changed over the years. This comic is Spider-Man at his freest and most open, and this era of Peter’s character isn’t given nearly as much attention as it deserves, so it’s even doing a great service there. This comic is the answer to one of the biggest Spider-problems in Marvel right now, and I highly recommend it to every Spider-Man fan.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #3 is on sale now!

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