From the preview, we know that Amazing Spider-man 613, continues exactly where ASM 612 left off, with the exact same art style. The last scene in the preview shows Spider-man has escaped the angry mob and changed back into simple old Peter Parker.


We also see that poor Electro is seriously suffering from his own powers and is seeking a cure from the Thinker.

The story

Electro, in desperate need for money in order to pay for treatment to cure himself, is blackmailing Dexter Bennet, owner of the DB - 'give me money or you die.'

Electro succeeds in getting the required amount of money from Dexter and heads to the Thinker's base for treatment. That night, Peter Parker returned to his apartment staying up all night inventing an 'Electro tracer.'

I must mention that the story here is nothing all that impressive. As such it is not surprising that Spider-man tracks Electro down, just as he is being upgraded into Electro 2.0. As if Spider-man's timing is ever better, he comes in just at the right moment to disrupt the machine, making Electro an extremely powerful source of electricity. The Thinker and his associate manage to escape without being noticed.


The story ends with Electro posting another video on YouTube. Encouraging the public to turn on every light in the city to give him enough power to bring down Dexter Bennet and the DB. It is at this point that readers, I suppose, will stop feeling sorry for poor old Electro and will begin reading more about the Electro they have grown up reading about.



Personal Thoughts

In the past 11 issues or so, there have been meaningless glimpses of Aunt May and Jonah Jameson Sr. appearing every now and then. This is one of those issues in which they appear for a short period, adding no value to the story line. They appear, hoping to surprise Peter, only to be greeted by a barbaric looking Michelle, who is not impressed to see Peter's aunt.

Regarding Dexter Bennet, I understand that Dexter Bennet was in no position to negotiate terms when Electro broke into his house to 'rob' the poor man. Nonetheless, Dexter must have been rather silly to think that Electro was going to stick to his word and not come after him again. Especially after he powers up and becomes invincible.

Wouldn't it be simple however for Dexter to inform some authorities and have the power supply shut down for the night. Spider-man can then think through how he is going to take down this new Electro.

The issue is short, and there really is not anything fantastic about it. So far this 'Gauntlet' is going no where further than how the Amazing Spider-man cartoons in the 60's went. Moral of the story, start following New Avengers for better Spider-man stories.

Overall rating for the story: see below



But better than Amazing Spider-Man 611 or Amazing Spider-Man 612.