Warning: Spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man #59!One of the most deceptively scary superheroes on Marvel’s roster is Spider-Man. It’s easy for his enemies – and maybe even his readers on some level – to underestimate Spider-Man’s abilities when he’s so funny nine times out of ten. After all, he’s the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but he’s not always friendly.
Peter Parker reminds readers how unfriendly he can be in The Amazing Spider-Man #59 by Zeb Wells, John Romita Jr., Scott Hannah and Joe Caramagna. This issue picks up right after the previous one and is all about one of the most brutal and exciting comic book fights of the year between Tombstone and Spidey.
The brutality of the fight—and seeing everything Spider-Man cooks up during it—reminds how Peter’s rage unleashes Spider-Man at his full strength. not allowing sympathy to make him hold back at all. And Spider-Man, who doesn’t hold back, is a terrifying sight.
Spider-Man unleashes his rage on Tombstone
Breaking down one of the best Marvel fights of 2024
At the final trial for Tombstone’s crimes, Lonnie Lincoln is shocked to learn that the star witness at the trial will be his own daughter Janice Lincoln (the classic Spider-Man legacy villain, the Beetle). Throwing aside all his morals and ethics regarding family, as well as the possible redemption arc that had been hinted at, Tombstone arrives at Janice’s apartment, ready to kill her. Instead, he is soon greeted by Spider-Man in a confrontation that quickly escalates into a violent sequence. Their fight escalates into the street and then eventually into a New York City subway station.
The longer the battle goes on, the more frustrated Spider-Man becomes. Perhaps this is a sign of his anxiety over how long and grueling the battle has become, or perhaps it has to do with Peter’s disgust that Tombstone is willing to kill his own flesh and blood just to protect himself. As it were, Spider-Man stops fighting rationally and begins to express his emotions through his physical body.. The moment Spider-Man and Tombstone agree. “finish this” This seems to be the moment when Spidey decides to stop holding back.
This isn’t the first time Spider-Man has found himself in such a trance that he can’t control his full power.
Peter ends their quick fight with a flurry of fists pounding into Lonnie’s chest. For a moment Spider-Man squeezes—or more accurately, crushes—Tombstone’s hands. to the point where Lonnie can no longer even make a fist with either hand. The fight escalates as both men bleed each other until Lonnie is nearly hit by a train. This is enough to snap Spider-Man out of his trance-like rage and save Lonnie’s life. This isn’t the first time Spider-Man has found himself in such a trance that he can’t control his full power.
Time Spider-Man killed someone with one punch
How he fights people with superpowers
Spider-Man doesn’t always show off his strength, tending to spin webs instead, so it’s easy to forget that super strength is one of his superpowers. This strength is actually stronger than the Hulk’s, but most readers don’t know this because Peter doesn’t always demonstrate it. It can be concluded that since Spidey knows exactly how strong he is, he makes a conscious effort to restrain himself from causing as much devastating damage as he is capable of doing. But just like the Hulk, Spidey can only hold back when he’s angry..
The full extent of Spider-Man’s strength, especially when he is angry, can be seen in Spider-Man vs Wolverine #1 by Christopher Priest, Mark Bright, Al Williamson, Petra Scotese and Bill Oakley. Logan’s friend Charlie begs Wolverine to kill her so she doesn’t have to suffer the inevitable Gulag. Spider-Man refuses to let Wolverine kill anyone, so a fight ensues. To put an end to this (and herself), Charlie places her hand on Spider-Man’s shoulder, knowing that he will mistake her for Wolverine. With one blow, Spider-Man smashes Charlie’s face, killing her.
Given the immense strength with which Spider-Man prepares for Wolverine before striking, it’s safe to assume that even when enraged, he reserves his strongest blows for beings with superpowers that he knows can handle his furious fists. That he finally decided to ignore this restriction is a testament to how angry he is with Tombstone. It’s worth noting that right before the fight, Wolverine mentions that if Spider-Man has the power to break X-Man’s neck if he wants to.. Wolverine is one of the strongest X-Men in Marvel, and even his strength can’t compare to Spidey’s.
Anger is Spider-Man’s secret weapon, making him infinitely stronger.
Evil Peter is practically an alter ego
The previous example and the central story involving Tombstone show what happens when Spider-Man finally lets go, but this is a side of Spider-Man that readers are familiar with if they’ve read his black suit stories. The black suit Spider-Man originally existed to signal a change to his costume after acquiring the Venom symbiote. But when he gets rid of the symbiote, Spidey acquires a cloth version of the black suit. The black suit has since been recontextualized as a manifestation of Spider-Man’s wrath..
Connected
As such, this is a costume that Spidey takes out of his closet only on rare occasions to place him in the mental space and inflict pain and punishment. He does just that during the “Grim Hunt” story arc by Joe Kelly, Stefano Gaudiano, Michael Lark, and others. Enraged as Kraven the Hunter’s family targeted the Spider Family, killing its members one by one, Peter dons his black suit in the name of payback. He delves into what the black suit means to him earlier in Wells’ Spider-Man, saying that wearing the suit means “I don’t have to pretend anymore.” Losing control represents the darker, more evil side of Spider-Man.
What happens when the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man stops being friendly?
Eventually the Quippy façade must go
Peter essentially confirms that Spider-Man realizes that he has a dark side and a mean side.but he also knows how much damage he can do with his power if he stops pretending, bringing everything back to the fight with Tombstone in 2024. Spider-Man is not only furious, but beats up Lonnie out of necessity, as if he’s trying to knock some sense into him before he does something he’ll regret for his daughter. At the very least, he must think that beating Lonnie senselessly is the only way to stop him.
Spider-Man’s responsibility is to keep his powers under control, and that prevents him from venturing into dark territory.
The extent of Spider-Man’s power is ultimately determined by how friendly he wants to be at any given moment. Standard Spider-Man is the classic, witty Spidey, good-natured and showing mercy to his villains. Containment reduces his power level, but the consequences could be worse if he allows anyone to use this power, and Spider-Man knows this. Returning to his most iconic motto: Spider-Man the responsibility to keep his powers under control, and this prevents him from stepping into dark territory, while revealing a cruel, merciless side of himself.
The Amazing Spider-Man #59 available now from Marvel Comics.