From The Archives: SpiderManCrawlspace Application Sample.

Originally submitted for an application at SpiderManCrawlspace.com, I wouldn't be able to tell you if I was rejected because I have yet to get a response from Brad. Big shoutout to his site and to the crew, I think they're pretty cool. This may have been altered a bit.

The Amazing Spider-Man #655. Written by Dan Slott, drawn by Marcos Martin, colored by Muntsa Vicente, and lettered by VC's Joe Caramagna.

Previously, Marla Jameson, wife of J. Jonah Jameson died in the hands of Alastair Smythe.

The cover shows Spider-Man, completely grief-stricken over the events of the last issue. There is so little in this cover, yet it says too much.

7:00 AM, J. Jonah Jameson is waking up to an empty bed. It's very easy to notice Marla's absence. Jameson is getting ready for her funeral.

We also see Peter Parker getting ready for the day, he puts on his Spider-Man clothes under his regular clothes, but then he decides to not wear it for the funeral. What follows is everyone at the church, mourning the recent loss or Marla. These pages are beautifully drawn, and they say so much with no text. You can clearly see that everyone is saddened and most importantly hurt by this loss. 

After the funeral, it's 2:00 AM at Peter Parker's apartment, who is ready to go to sleep. In his dreams, though, he remembers all the people that had died around him. First, he sees Uncle Ben getting brutally shot by that burglar he let go, but then Ben tells him that Peter's parents are there to see him. To his surprise, though, they are now faceless, representing the fact that Peter has almost completely forgotten about them. One person he didn't forget was the burglar that took the life of his uncle. The Parker house turns into an airport as they all start to leave in the airplane that took the lives of the Parkers. 

Aunt May shows up in the dream, but Peter cannot let her go. Her face quickly turns into Marla's. She says that it's okay, because supervillains always come back. But when Peter tells her that she wasn't supposed to be a villain, she accepts her fate. 

The next scene shows Peter walking around a twisted dream vision of New York where he sees all of the people that have died ever since he became Spider-Man. He sees the one person that Spider-Man has accidentally murdered. Charlie, Wolverine's friend. While mourning for her loss, the scenery changes to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge, where Peter relives the death of Gwen Stacy. 

After that, the scenery changes to show the many villains that have been killed in previous Spider-Man stories. The scenery changes once again to show a diner, where many superheroes are killing supervillains. He spots a nearby television playing footage of Sentry killing Carnage in space. Sentry tells Peter that he should've killed Carnage LONG ago. The scenery changes one last time, Peter finally has the chance to stop that burglar before he takes uncle Ben's life, so he brutally beats him up. Flipping to the next page shows that Peter has actually brutally beaten up his beloved uncle. This represents the fact that in his dream, Peter has broken the promise of not killing anyone. He promises once again to never come to the point of becoming a murderer, but the faces of all of those who died around him show up once again right before he wakes up. over at a nearby water tower, Peter decides to promise to the world that whenever he's around, no one dies.

The issue ends with a nearby hostage situation. 

This comic is just incredible, it is beautifully written and beautifully illustrated. Really shows you that death in comics can be permanent sometimes. It also really captures how dreams can be at times; they can be very trippy, and they can really make you think about your life sometimes. 10/10. I think it's a real good example of how good Dan Slott's Spider-Man writing can be at times.