Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide vol. 1

Parker Industries has gone global!  What was once a struggling startup has now become the hottest new name in cutting-edge consumer technology.  After all these years Peter Parker has finally managed to not only have a new business venture that didn’t immediately blow up in his face, but become a worldwide success as well.  Also, a target for the international terrorist syndicate known as the Zodiac.  They’ve got their sights set on Parker Industries and all of Peter’s skills — and partnerships with Mockingbird, the Prowler, Nick Fury Jr., and most of S.H.I.E.L.D. — will be needed to stop them.  It’s a different kind of “Spider-Man” story, one that feels even a little more surreal than Dan Slott’s “Superior” run because this is actually Peter  being thrust into the kind of role that has been occupied by Tony Stark in the Marvel Universe.  What makes the difference here is that the title character’s selflessness still shines through in his CEO role, and the whole hard luck aspect of his character is still intact.  You wouldn’t catch Stark giving a major press conference with his fly down after all.

The action and overall style is still very much in the same vein as what Slott has been delivering with the character for several years now.  So even though the setup here is drastically different, chances are you’ll still enjoy it if you like what the writer has been doing with the character after all this time.  It’s also nice to see semi-regular artist Giuseppe Camuncoli finally topline the character’s latest relaunch and he brings effortless style and energy to the large-scale action in the main story.  There’s also plenty of hints and foreshadowing for future events and storylines crammed into this volume.  You get the inevitable return of Norman Osborne and the “Dead No More” event teased in the main story, while a character introduced in “Renew Your Vows” is primed to make their mark on the mainstream Marvel Universe.  As long as you’re not completely put off by Spidey’s new status quo, there is quite simply a ton of stuff to enjoy here.