Amazing Spider-Man #5

This 2003 trade paperback collecting J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr.'s *Amazing Spider-Man* opens with a cover that practically pulses with New York City energy — Spider-Man swings confidently through a neon-lit Times Square while a smiling, red-haired woman's larger-than-life face looms behind him on what appears to be a billboard, her green eyes catching the light with an almost mischievous gleam. The busy cityscape of signs and skyscrapers frames the pair in a way that feels both playful and charged with unspoken tension. *Unintended Consequences* is a fitting subtitle for a volume that wears its heart — and its city — right on its sleeve.