Amazing, Spider-Man.

Amazing Spider-Man #655 was probably THE single best issue of Spidey that I've read since I started reading his adventures again three years ago.  To start, the cover was literally...well, amazing.  It said so much...in so little.  All the white space surrounding a genuflecting, sorrowful Spider-Man was beautiful and really set the tone for the story inside.

The story is set after J. Jonah Jameson's wife Marla dies at the end of issue #654.  As I opened the comic, I found page after page of wordless panels.  I studied each and every panel, as they all told a story.  The message was extremely powerful and well "written."  The image of J. Jonah Jameson lying in bed alone with his wife's side undisturbed.  Him getting up to turn off the alarm clock that was still on her side of the bed.  The wedding ring he still sported.  The dual bathroom sinks no longer being used simultaneously.  These images were so striking.  No words were even necessary.  It was a refreshing change of pace to see JJJ humbled, even under these unfortunate circumstances.  

I won't reveal anything more about this issue because I think it speaks for itself and should be read in full to really appreciate it.  This was the kind of story that Spidey has been missing for a long, long time.  Thank you, Dan Slott, for coming in, taking on consistent writing chores for ASM, and providing us with such a memorable story that will surely go down in Spidey history as a classic.