Investigative journalism is taking the spotlight in Amazing Spider-Man: Daily Bugle from Marvel Comics. “The Hanging Judge, Part 1 of 5,” written by Mat Johnson with layouts by Mack Chater and Francesco Mobili, sets the stakes for the staff at the notably-diminished Daily Bugle, a newspaper marginalized in a digital landscape where the publisher struggles for legitimacy.

Journalism has long performed a crucial role in Marvel Comics, and there is a considerable record of the press in both the Marvel Universe and in the comic book genre in general. The Daily Bugle popularized in Spider-Man comics was preceded by DC Comics’ Daily Planet in Action Comics #23 from April 1940, (originally known as The Daily Star in Action Comics #1 in 1938). The integration of journalistic principles and techniques allows comic book characters, and heroes alike, to research and investigate crimes and wrongdoing, and to speak truth to power within a legally sanctioned and constitutional framework. And the institution of the press protects sources and methods, enabling reporters to scour the underworld and lean on contacts for vital information – without needing a superpower to stay alive. And it’s that institution Amazing Spider-Man: Daily Bugle is returning to the front lines of Marvel’s Universe.

The press has featured prominently in classic Marvel titles like Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and Daredevil. Not to mention leading a litany of special comic book events, including the mini-series Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, Civil War: Front Line, an 11-issue, limited series from 2006’s Civil War arc, and 2009’s Spider-Man Noir, an morally-ambiguous mini-series set in the 1930s. The Daily Bugle’s erstwhile publisher J. Jonah Jameson, Editor-in-Chief Jospeh “Robbie” Robertson, reporter Betty Brant, and investigative reporter Ben Urich have played principal roles in the Marvel Universe for decades and, in Amazing Spider-Man: Daily Bugle, the newspaper reinvents itself for the digital age.

With the Kingpin Wilson Fisk now Mayor of New York, Robbie Robertson announces a “shift in focus" for the Daily Bugle, and tasks Ben Urich, photographer Peter Parker, and reporter Betty Brant, as well as Glory Grant, Senior National Desk Editor and City Editor Kate Cushing, with a new mandate, “in-depth, original investigative work.” Robertson hopes his vision, a re-prioritized and more agile Bugle, will draw an apprehensive public’s attention toward malfeasance and corruption the Fisk administration would rather keep hushed up. And the Bugle’s newest journalist-in-training, Chloe Robertson is eager to make her mark on the notorious institution with her social media acumen —and quite possibly guide it towards a more viable future. If she survives her first Daily Bugle assignment. Read on for the full issue details and plot synopsis below:

  • Amazing Spider-Man: Daily Bugle #1 Written by: Mat Johnson Art by: Mack Chater, Francesco Mobili Cover Art by: Mark Bagley “Spinning Out Of Amazing Spider-Man! The journalist must speak truth to power—whether or not it’s wielded responsibly. Helmed by Peter Parker’s mentor, Robbie Robertson, the Daily Bugle staff is at last chasing stories that matter. And in a city under Mayor Wilson Fisk, keeping the public informed is as essential as it is dangerous. Weaving between events in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and DAREDEVIL, Mat Johnson (Hellblazer Special: Papa Midnite, Incognegro, Loving Day) and Mack Chater (BLACK PANTHER AND THE CREW, Briggs Land) are following a lead into Kingpin and Spider-Man’s past that will change the way you look at the webslinger now, and as his story continues.”

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