“No Turning Back” reaches its climax, but is it a worthwhile finish?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Marvel:

• “No Turning Back” comes to an epic conclusion as only one man on Earth has a chance of helping Spider-Man stop the Lizard. And his name is Curt Connors.

• Plus a shocking development that will set things in motion… for AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #700!

• Be sure to pick this issue up fast, because you can bet it’s going to be VERY important later. You’ve been warned!

When this story arc first began, I honestly didn’t think it would end well.  I figured that after years of pitting Spider-Man versus the Lizard, this set of issues would finally force our hero to kill his scaly foe.  Thankfully, the end result of this little narrative is exceptionally more interesting than my little prediction.

Dan Slott uses this issue to evolve the Lizard to an interesting level while not sacrificing the action or the drama in the process.  Overall the characters act and respond as they should, but there are moments where dialogue feels over inflated and wholly unnecessary, as overly wordy explanations bog down the pace.  Putting that gripe aside, the narrative structure and the end result of this comic book work well enough to allow fans to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Giuseppe Camuncoli once again handles the art and if you’ve enjoyed his work on the book, you’ll love all the panel work he gets to do here.  To his credit, the script is absolutely tailored to him as he uses dynamic action shots and strong pencil strokes to inform a kinetic energy the resonates on each and every page.  Simply put this issue shows off the artist in his best possible light.

Ultimately Amazing Spider-Man #691 is a very good comic that stumbles a bit on the way to its finish line, but nonetheless earns a more than solid recommendation.

4/5