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The seven part “War At Home” storyline comes to a conclusion of sorts in The Amazing Spider-Man #538. In the previous issue, the Kingpin hired an assassin to take out Peter Parker, Mary Jane, and Aunt May. This issue picks up where the previous one left off, with Mary Jane and Aunt May in the killer’s cross-hairs while Spider-Man fights side-by-side with Captain America’s renegades against Iron Man and his pro-registration forces.
The art by Ron Garney is great throughout. I especially enjoyed the two-page spread illustrating the big super hero battle in midtown Manhattan. However, the overall story seemed pretty light; mainly, this can be attributed to JMS dancing around what happens in Civil War #7. While we get glimpses of what occurs in the concluding issue of the Civil War mini-series, nothing in The Amazing Spider-Man #538 spoils what happens in Civil War #7--and The Amazing Spider-Man #538 suffers because of it.
During the “War At Home” storyline, Peter’s search (intentional or not) for a father figure has been a primary theme. Over the course of the arc, Peter rejects Iron Man’s rationalizations and instead comes to admire Captain America’s sense of duty and self-sacrifice. That theme surfaces again in this issue, with Peter watching Captain America in battle and thinking, “All I know ... is that now that the final battle has started, I can’t stop… won’t stop… until and unless [Captain America] stops. And he won’t. He’ll never sacrifice what he stands for. Not as long as he lives.” Several pages later, the fight is over, Peter is back home and no indication is given of how the final battle went. The story feels incomplete because we have no idea emotionally where Peter stands after the battle. Even worse, this seven-part storyline concludes with a cliffhanger which makes the issue and storyline feel inconclusive.
The Amazing Spider-Man #538 is not a bad issue, but it’s not a great one either. Oddly, the most emotionally satisfying sequence doesn’t involve Spider-Man or any of the main characters; instead, it features J. Jonah Jameson staring at his wall of headlines ("CAPTAIN AMERICA DEFEATED!”, “IRON MAN DEFEATED!”, etc.), debating which one to run in the aftermath of the Civil War.
The Amazing Spider-Man #538
“The War At Home, Part 7 of 7”
Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Pencilled by: Ron Garney
Inked by: Bill Reinhold
Colors by: Avalon’s Matt Milla
Lettered by: VC’s Cory Petit
