Posted - July 2, 2014 | Updated : August 26, 2015

Based on that awful cover I didn't have any high hopes for this issue of Amazing Spider-Man.

Fortunately, I would be proven wrong. It wasn't an exceptional issue but it was a lot better than I expected. There are two subplots here. The first is quiet, sad and melodramatic and it is centered on Aunt May and Mary Jane after the death of Nathan Lubinsky. The second is traditional super-heroic fare centered on a battle between Spider-Man and Shriek.

It's a rare thing for the relationship between Aunt May and Uncle Ben to have any kind of focus. It's usually the relationship between Peter and Uncle Ben that is the subject. But not today.

Mark Bagley does the art. Here's the Bagley Spider-Man

Shriek's ferocity is captured in this panel

Back to the melodramatic part, Aunt May launches into an angry tirade.

She's pretty tough, gone through a lot, and its very rare to see panels of Aunt May, the doting Aunt, angry. What? You didn't come here for the soap opera? All right. Here's Spider-Man's attack on Shriek

Bam!

An attack deserves a counterattack.

Bam!

And look, we meet an old friend .

This comic ends with a cliffhanger panel.

Get your copy here .