A Sense of Doubt blog post #4269 - Some thoughts on The Amazing Spider-Man #1000

SPOILER ALERT - DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ASM#1000 AND WANT TO

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4269 - Some thoughts on The Amazing Spider-Man #1000

Marvel has been hyping The Amazing Spider-Man (ASM) issue #1000 for a long, long time.

One could argue that the ASM schedule over the last several years (feels like decades and maybe it is) served the purpose to push Spider-Man to have an issue ONE THOUSAND as much as or more than just cashing in on Spider-Man's popularity. 

After all, not all that long ago, both Superman (Action Comics) and Batman (Detective Comics) hit the thousandth milestone and are both now well past it with good reason as they have been in publication since the late 1930s.

Young upstart Spider-Man has only been going for sixty-four years (since 1962), and so the ASM production schedule really ran a serious horse race to get closer to even with those nearly NINETY year old publications with a near thirty year head start.

As Matt Morrison at kabooooom wrote, the pressure for a landmark issue is having a landmark story.

In some ways, Joe Kelly and crew added several plot points unexplored in 1000 issues.

First off, the saga of Spider-Man has done very little to explore who his parents were and when he came to live with Ben and May. EVENTUALLY, this was explored in more depth in the 1990s. And because it's COMIC BOOKS and Peter's parents can't just be regular people, we learn that Richard and Mary Parker were agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. After a tease story line in which the return of Peter's parents turn out to be life model decoys, it's many years until a new member of his family is introduced.

And so, a few issues ago, the creative team introduced a cousin -- Cormac "Mac" Crane. And because no one can be just normal, Crane is wealthy in addition to being the long lost biological son of May and Ben Parker, thought stillborn. Classic soap opera trope to introduce a new character, though at least Buffy the Vampire Slayer did this kind of thing with magic.

And so, obviously, Peter is feeling inadequate as May tries to get to know her long lost son who showers her with both attention and money.

And then, the unthinkable.

May has suffered a stroke.

Peter rushes to the hospital.

Aunt May is the center of Peter's world. Though she has had health scares in the past, twenty-three according to reddit.

From early on, it was established that she had a weak heart, a chronic condition. Peter's fear was learning that he is in reality Spider-Man might prove too much for her heart condition. However, to keep the stories going, this issue has been largely overlooked for years and in the recent films, Aunt May has been made younger to be played by Marisa Tomei. 

There were several health crises, such as radiation poisoning from Peter's blood, a fake death orchestrated by Mysterio, a Clone Saga death/retcon, and a cancer diagnosis.

But a stroke?

And to make this situation worse, May suffers memory loss and has no memory of her nephew, Peter.

But of course, she remember her biological son, whom she just met a few weeks ago.

And this would be enough, wouldn't it?

The emotional trauma for Peter to have his defacto mother, his Aunt May, survive a stroke and then lose all memory of him so as to be truly  replaced by this long lost cousin, who also knows that he is Spider-Man, would make for a great story.

Can May get her memory back?

How can Peter be a part of that process, if at all?

How would the grief he experiences in losing Aunt May in this way affect his role as Spider-Man?

What if Mephisto were to enter the picture and offer Peter a deal: give up his Spider powers to restore May's memory?

Or not.

Just tell the very HUMAN and real story of stroke recovery and memory loss.

THAT's a good story for this history and character.

But that's not COMIC BOOKS with SUPER HEROES.

So, of course, cousin Mac Crane is a super villain. and if that's not enough, he STOLE May's memories of Peter to take over fully as her son and force Peter from her life.

sigh.

RAVAGE.

This is not only the least interesting direction for the story but also a very predictable one.

Though publishing comic book critics gave this issue an aggregate 8.5/10 as shown on COMIC BOOK ROUNDUP, users only gave the issue a 5.8/10. Of course, the user reviews for the most part don't explain why the majority rate the issue so low. Mostly they add up to "it's not great," which is literally one of the reviews.

The lowest of the more expansive "critic" reviews is a 6/10, which feels right to me. After all, there is great art by Pepe Larraz.

The set up is promising but the next part (because I can't call it a resolution as that resolution has not yet happened) is very disappointing, unless you're 11-years-old.

Here's two reviews:

https://kabooooom.com/2026/10/03/amazing-spider-man-1000-review/

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1000 / Scripts by JOE KELLY, NOAH HAWLEY, J.M. DEMATTEIS, FRANK MILLER, TRIPLE H, ROB FEE, BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, LARRY LIEBER & DAN SLOTT / Art by PEPE LARRAZ, PATRICK GLEASON, HUMBERTO RAMOS, VICTOR OLAZABA, PEACH MOMOKO, ED MCGUINNESS, STUART IMMONEN, GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI, KLAUS JANSON & MARCOS MARTIN / Colors by FEDERICO BLEE, MARCIO MENYZ, ERICK ARCINIEGA, EDGAR DELGADO, PEACH MOMOKO, MARK FARMER, MARTE GARCIA, RACEHELLE ROSENBERG & MUNTSA VICENTE / Letters by VC’S JOE CARAMANGA / Designs by JAY BOWEN / Published by MARVEL COMICS

The problem with landmark issues is that there is some need to have a landmark story. Failing that, the issue should consider the whole of the character’s history until that point. Amazing Spider-Man #1000 is a failure on the first point and barely manages the second. And even then, it seems more by accident than design.

The main story by current creative team Joe Kelly and Pepe Larraz pays off the current monthly storyline and introduces a shocking new villain. Shocking, that is, perhaps to anyone who has never read a superhero comic in general. Or a Spider-Man comic in particular. Kelly and Larraz have both done better work and this chapter feels rushed and more like an obligation than a revelation.

It is not just that the base concept behind Ravage (i.e. villain tries to replace Spider-Man out of jealousy) has been done before. It is that it has been done before and done far better by stories that weren’t that good. The whole Superior Spider-Man saga and Kraven’s Last Hunt come to mind. Debatably every Venom story during the Lethal Protector days might qualify too. Mostly, however, it reminds me of Howard Mackie’s last storyline in 2000, which featured a nameless telepathic Mutant who tried to fake Mary Jane’s death and take over Peter’s body primarily because they were a blank slate who seemed more like a plot point than an actual character. That’s Ravager in a nutshell.

Talking of Mary Jane, there’s a curious absence of our favorite redhead spitfire in this issue. Even the few stories where she appears don’t include her in an active role and seem to be set out of the current continuity. Chief among these are “Requiem For A Goblin”, which follows up on J.M. DeMatties’ “Best of Enemies” in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. This one is a great story, but Humberto Ramos was an odd choice to provide the art. There’s also the equally excellent yet equally odd “Of Webs and Six-Guns,” which seems to exist only to justify a team-up between Spider-Man and the Rawhide Kid because they’re both motivated by the death of an Uncle Ben.

Strangely enough, the story where MJ has the strongest influence is the one where she’s only seen in a photo. “Still Standing” centers around a retired Peter Parker, whose red-haired grandson has taken over the Spider-Man name, as Peter enjoys his golden years. All well and good, until Peter starts seeing a woman claiming to be Gwen Stacy. Usually I’m not a fan of stories which suggest Peter never got over Gwen and that Mary Jane was his second choice, but this one surprised me with how sweet it was.

Another story that surprised me is the last one, “I Can Never Rest,” by Dan Slott and Marcos Martin. Beyond art and a story that evokes the classic Marvel collaborations of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, this one offers a new perspective on Spider-Man’s origins. Less dramatic but equally touching is “The Gesture” by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen. The fight making up most of the page span is merely decent, but the final page speaks to how well regarded Peter Parker is by his peers

Overall, Amazing Spider-Man #1000 is an okay anthology. There’s enough good here to make it worth a read. However, it will mostly leave you thinking of better stories and wanting to reread those..

https://comic-watch.com/comic-book-reviews/amazing-spider-man-1000-one-thousand-down-two-thousand-to-go

By Henry Davis

 on September 30, 2026

Recap

Spider-Man faces his greatest fear and his most frightening new villain in decades... RAVAGE! Plus, some of the greatest creative minds on Earth honor one thousand issues of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN! NOAH HAWLEY (Alien: Earth, Fargo, LEGION) makes his comic book debut, Frank Miller and Peach Momoko collaborate for the first time, Stuart Immonen and Brian Michael Bendis return to Spider-Man together, and some of the best ASM creators return to the title!

Review

After sixty-plus years and countless adventures, spanning every conceivable medium of storytelling, Peter Parker has finally hit one thousand issues in the book that started it all, The Amazing Spider-Man. The journey here has been an interesting one to say the least, as a mountain of doubt about the current editorial and creative teams behind Spider-Man has left readers anxious about whether this milestone issue could live up to both those that came before and inspire a strong future for the title. 

Packed with eight stories, The Amazing Spider-Man #1000 falls somewhere in between those expectations, a bulk of its stories the kind of backup fodder that has plagued milestone issues for the last decade. However, there are still gems in the mix that make this celebration of the character a worthwhile one.

– – –

RAVAGED

The main event continues Joe Kelly’s run, and while the direction is fairly predictable, it kicks off a story that plays with the decades of love between Peter Parker and Aunt May in a way that carries serious potential. Returning to art duties, Pepe Larraz delivers some of his best superhero work to date, with page after page of meticulously considered storytelling. His pacing shines in both the quieter emotional beats and the larger action sequences, giving the issue a sense of momentum even when its biggest revelations remain just out of reach.

The lack of any truly conclusive shake-ups keeps this from reaching the same heights as an issue like The Amazing Spider-Man #400, but Kelly is laying the groundwork for the rest of his “Ravage” arc in a way that could leave a lasting mark on the character sixty years after his debut. It’s gut wrenching to see Peter’s life with may ripped from her mind, Peter’s undying heroism weaponized against him as Cormac leads him on a trail of violence, hacking away at this soul in every passing panel. 

Cormac’s turn as a nefarious villain looking to replace Peter and push him even deeper into isolation is hardly shocking, but the stakes and unanswered questions surrounding his origins keep the story moving at a thrilling pace. There’s an unmistakable echo of the early Clone Saga here, which also began with a hospitalized May Parker and the arrival of a villain threatening to destroy everything Peter holds dear. Whether that parallel is intentional or simply the result of decades of serialized storytelling circling back on itself, it works as a strong thematic parallel to the last time it felt like the character still had a sense of momentum to his growth. 

That said, the lack of any major revelations beyond Cormac’s predictable turn keeps this milestone from immediately joining the ranks of the all-time greats. Kelly has clearly planted the seeds for something much bigger, though, and if “Ravage” continues to build on what’s established here, this could eventually earn its seat at the table.

REDACTED the other story reviews in this "anthology."

Final Thoughts

The Amazing Spider-Man #1000 may not be the most monumental of the character's milestone issues, but it is one still full of heart and beautiful art that serves as a strong celebration of the character in his sixtieth-fourth year, duds and all.

8.2/10

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- Days ago: MOM = 4133 days ago & DAD = 787 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.