Amazing Spider-Man #61 is one of the most highly anticipated Marvel Comics of 2024. Part of this anticipation is due to the creative team, Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness. Both are beloved for their previous work with the wall-crawler, and the definitive Deadpool run they created together. Yet this issue is also notable for kicking off the 8 Deaths of Spider-Man event.
Surprisingly, the opening pages of this issue do little to tease the grand adventure that is in store. Indeed, Peter Parker is having an average day, with his plans disrupted due to the antics of an amateur villain called Burnout. Unfortunately for Peter, the Amazing Spider-Man has been chosen by Doctor Doom to assist him with a matter of cosmic import.
The main cover and first six pages of Amazing Spider-Man #61 may be viewed below.
(Image Source: Marvel / Ed McGuinness)
The opening pages of Amazing Spider-Man #61 set the status quo for the benefit of new readers. Peter Parker has a hard-knock life, despite being able to do whatever a spider can. He’s tight on cash, short on time, and trying to date a woman he rarely sees. Still, he is a good man, who dotes on his Aunt May and tries to help people, in and out of costume.
It is for this reason that Doctor Doom chooses Peter Parker to act as his champion. Not because Doom thinks his nobility is admirable, but because he can be trusted not to refuse the challenge. For the Sorcerer Supreme must face a yearly battle with a dark god and his scions for control of the Earth. It is a test that Doctor Strange took upon himself every year, but Doom has little use for such paltry tasks.
The good news is that Peter will not be going into this trial unarmed. He is provided with a new costume by Doctor Doom and a set of eight extra lives. The bad news is that Doom foresaw he would need those extra lives. And even with that and the armor, it may not be enough to win.
Amazing Spider-Man #61 arrives in comic shops everywhere on November 13, 2024.