Is this the end of Peter Parker’s corporate dream?

(Panini Books)

Swapping the career of a photo-journalist for that of the CEO of a pioneering scientific research company hasn’t really made life any easier for Peter Parker, aka the web-slinging Spider-Man.

Having entered Parker Industries into the battle to develop a new supervillain containment facility, despite the reservations of his colleagues, Peter finds his company targeted by corporate saboteur the Ghost, who is in the employ of the morally dubious firm Alchemax…

With Parker Industries literally falling down around him, Spidey must save the lives of his co-workers, protect his secret identity from being revealed, and somehow defeat an adversary who can become intangible…

Meanwhile, in the back-up strip, a newly ruthless Black Cat is determined to escape the limitations of her past by systematically destroying it, piece-by-piece, but reckoned without the involvement of former lover Spider-Man in her plans when she kidnaps his Aunt May and her husband Jay Jameson…

The final ingredient in this collection is the latest Spider-Man Annual, which revolves around the wallcrawler’s sense of responsibility to his company and crimefighting career.

Following on from the dimension-twisting antics of the recent Spider-Verse crossover, this is a reassuring return to basics for the character, and sets things up neatly for a major shift in his status quo following the impending Secret Wars event.

Writer Dan Slott has become the Spidey-writer of his generation, and shows no signs of letting the character go, which is something we should all be grateful for.