SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #26 - April 1998

Signs of the Times

Credits:  Todd Dezago (writer), Todd Nauck (penciler), Andrew Hennessey (inks), Gregory Wright (colors), Comicraft’s Kiff Scholl (letters)

The Plot:  Hoping to collect the $5 million bounty, Hydro-Man holds a group of civilians hostage inside a water tower.  Sandman sees the news reports and confronts Hydro-Man before Spider-Man can arrive.  Spider-Man tries to rescue the hostages while Sandman keeps Hydro-Man preoccupied, but he’s hindered by the NYPD and another group of bounty hunters.  Sandman stops Hydro-Man by merging their bodies together and allowing Silver Sable to freeze them.  Spider-Man changes into Peter Parker and leaves with the last hostage, who passed out earlier.  He leaves behind a web-dummy clothed in his costume, which is promptly shot by the bounty hunters.  Later, Spider-Man asks Hobie Brown for help.

The Subplots:  Anna Watson teaches Hope sign language.  Neither are Spider-Man fans.  MJ tells Peter she’s sick of the drama surrounding Spider-Man.  At the Daily Bugle, Peter realizes the blonde that’s been looking for him is Ben Reilly’s friend Desiree.  He’s not able to have a real conversation with her because he has to rescue Hydro-Man’s hostages.  Meanwhile, the Vulture is released from prison.

*See _________ For Details:  Sandman and Hydro-Man previously fought, and merged together, in Amazing Spider-Man #218.

I Love the ‘90s:  Billy Walters to Peter, who’s distracted when he spots Desiree across the room:  “Uh…Pete?  Yo, Dude…What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”  There’s also a reference later on to being “deked,” as in “tricked,” but I have no idea if this is forgotten slang or something Todd Dezago invented.

Review:  This begins the month in-between “SpiderHunt” and “Identity Crisis,” the next event that has Spider-Man adopting four new identities in order to avoid Norman Osborn’s bounty.  Why we’re getting this month break is a mystery to me; it’s not as if the reader needs four separate stories to set up Spider-Man’s decision to briefly change his superhero persona.  Not surprisingly, when left with a month in-between events, most of the titles promptly go into filler mode.  There’s nothing egregiously bad about this month’s Sensational, aside from Todd Nauck’s disproportionate balloon heads, but there’s nothing to get too excited about, either.  Dezago touches base on a few of his subplots, but the only real advancement is a hint that Desiree’s psychic powers allowed her to feel Ben Reilly as he died, which somehow explains why she’s seeking out his only known relative.  I would much rather the Ben Reilly supporting cast return to obscurity, but there is a hint of a good idea in here -- how exactly does civilian Peter Parker deal with mutants, especially one that can read his mind?

The action plot assumes that the audience really wanted to see Hydro-Man again so soon, which is hard to believe, especially when his scheme this issue is so uninspired.  The plot’s structured so that the entire fight stays between Sandman and Hydro-Man, while Spider-Man is left rescuing the hostages.  I like Dezago’s consistent focus on Spider-Man’s commitment to helping people, as opposed to constant fistfights, but it would be nice to see the title character have more to do.  Also, Sandman’s plan is utterly ridiculous.  I thought merging his body with Hydro-Man’s was supposed to be one of the most horrific experiences of his life, so why is he so eager to do it again?  His plan also involves being frozen in that state with Silver Sable’s special gun…why?  Sable makes a joke that he’s doing this for the overtime, but honestly, what kind of a plan was this supposed to be?  I understand that some people view the Sandman/Hydro-Man fight in Amazing Spider-Man #218 as a classic, but I don’t think this is the sequel they wanted.

SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #24 - February 1998

A Christmas Story

Credits:  Todd Dezago (writer), Todd Nauck (penciler), Andrew Hennessey (inks), Gregory Wright (colors), Comicraft’s Kiff Scholl (letters)

The Plot:  After stopping by the Daily Bugle, Peter is unexpectedly given a gift by Billy Walters.  That night, Spider-Man scours the city, thinking of the perfect Christmas present for Billy.  His thoughts are interrupted by the Hydro-Man, who has caused a commotion in the streets.  Spider-Man tries to stop him, but Hydro-Man escapes after he pushes Spider-Man through a department store window.  Eventually, Peter realizes the perfect gift for Billy -- a private meeting with Spider-Man.  

The Subplots:  Peter has purchased “The Joy of Signing” for Aunt Anna, who has become fast friends with the Parkers’ deaf neighbor Hope.  He sells Uncle Ben’s collection of vintage comic books to buy MJ’s present, a weeklong trip to an exotic location.  Meanwhile, Glory leaves word for Peter that a mysterious blonde woman was looking for him.

Web of Continuity:  A Daily Bugle headline declares that the paper has upped the bounty on Spider-Man to one million dollars, even though that’s always been the bounty since this storyline began.  Also, the recap foldout gets ahead of itself, claiming that Spider-Man is on the run for events that won’t happen until next month’s “Spider-Hunt” crossover.  

Creative Differences:  The previews for this issue originally said the story would feature Peter and MJ in the Caribbean on a cruise, along with SHIELD and the Looter.  Instead, we have a Christmas story.

I Love the ‘90s:  Peter checks his messages on the “freelancers’ modem,” which appears to be a PC that everyone in the office shares.

Review:  Wow, it’s already time for another Christmas issue.  Time flies within the compressed chronology of the Marvel Universe, doesn’t it?  Since Dezago can’t claim that this is the “first” Christmas after losing Aunt May, he has to find another hook for the story.  He instead focuses on what Peter is getting his friends and family for Christmas, which is a promising start for a story, but the execution feels a little unfocused.  MJ and Aunt Anna’s gifts are “easy” for Peter to figure out, his gift to Jonah is left unrevealed, and the rest of the supporting cast doesn’t rate a mention, except for Billy Walters.  Peter has no idea what to get Billy (and has a wonderfully awkward moment with Billy, as he realizes Billy’s bought him a present but he hasn’t even thought of buying Billy anything), until he realizes that “arranging” private one-on-one time with Spider-Man would be the perfect gift.  I don’t recall Billy being established as that much of a Spider-Man fan, and moving him in this direction doesn’t do a lot to dissuade my belief that he’s Jimmy Olsen transplanted into the Marvel Universe.  I think Billy’s scenes work best when Peter’s unintentionally hurting his feelings, but I guess we’re supposed to be happy that Billy’s finally catching a break now.  It is nice to see some attention paid to the supporting cast, an element this era of the books couldn’t quite figure out, even if Todd Nauck’s not really suited for these scenes.  He’s still extremely cartoony at this point, so much so that Peter looks around four feet tall on some pages.  Nauck’s “chunky” style isn’t so bad when drawing Spider-Man, by the end of the issue he’s found a decent handle on the costume, but his human figures are so goofy looking it’s distracting.

As far as Christmas stories go, this is decent enough, but the inclusion of Hydro-Man is an awkward fit.  He only appears in four pages of the story, offers nothing to the plot, and doesn’t provide much of a fight scene either.  What’s the point?  And if you’re doing a Hydro-Man story set during Christmas, aren’t you kind of obligated to have him turn into snow at some point?