PETER PARKER, SPIDER-MAN #93 - July 1998

Reborn Again

Credits:  Howard Mackie (writer), Javier Saltares (penciler), Scott Hanna (inks), Gregory Wright (colors), Comicraft (letters)

The Plot:  Inside Cypress Hills cemetery, Ghost Rider emerges again.  Elsewhere in the city, Spider-Man is trying to fix his tattered reputation.  When Ghost Rider races past, his hellfire out of control, Spider-Man follows.  Ghost Rider and Spider-Man have a brief confrontation that ends when the street is ripped open, exposing a group of terrorists in the sewers.  Spider-Man confiscates their bomb, as Dan Ketch emerges from the crowd.  Ghost Rider convinces Dan that he’s incomplete without him.  They merge together once again, using their supernatural powers to deaden the impact of the bomb’s blast.  Spider-Man’s webbing insures that no bystanders are hurt.  The next morning, the Daily Bugle accuses Ghost Rider and Spider-Man of being terrorists.

The Subplots:  Spider-Man offers to discuss the details of George and Gwen Stacy’s deaths, but Arthur isn’t in the mood to hear it.  Paul Stacy is moving out of the Stacy home for unknown reasons.  Peter playfully snatches MJ out of the streets and takes her to a rooftop, but is called into action a few minutes later when Ghost Rider races by.

Web of Continuity:  Ghost Rider claims that the revelation that he’s Dan Ketch’s ancestor, Noble Kane, was a lie.  Apparently this ties into some controversial continuity from the final days of the ‘90s Ghost Rider series.

Forever Young:  Peter and MJ’s conversation is another forced reminder of how young they are.  “We're young, in love...”  “Let's start acting our age for a change.  Sometimes I feel like we act as though we've been married for a thousand years.”

How Did This Get Published?:  Heed the words of the world’s sleepiest terrorist:  “You are too late, Spider-Man.  The time has come for this city to be cleansed in fire.  No more mutant or super-normal aberrations such as yourself.  A new age is dawning.”

I Love the ‘90s:  Spider-Man to the terrorists:  “Give me a break! You're WAY too early for the millennium!”  (I guess the premise of the joke is that all terrorists in the late ‘90s have ties to the new millennium, but even in comics, was this very common?)

Production Note:  John Romita, Jr. is incorrectly credited as the penciler on the cover.  He did draw the cover, but not the interiors.

Original art compared to the printed page, from http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1105112

Review:  I remember this issue getting more of a promotional push than usual from Marvel, since it reunited the original creative team of the popular ‘90s Ghost Rider revival.  I also recall that the online response to the issue was overwhelmingly negative.  Apparently, Howard Mackie viewed this issue as a means of clearing up Ghost Rider continuity, and as the Clone Saga taught us, Mackie’s solution for handling continuity problems is to toss out a few lines of dialogue and then brush his hands together and call it a day.  I’m assuming that his goal was to retcon the revelation that Ghost Rider was someone named Noble Kane, and to go back to the status quo of Dan Ketch and Ghost Rider sharing the same body.  This is accomplished by having Ghost Rider babble for a few pages about Mephisto lying, then Dan Ketch and a convenient group of poorly-defined terrorists literally appear out of nowhere, and finally in a heroic act of sacrifice, everything’s back to the old status quo.  Never mind that none of this has anything to do with Spider-Man, of course, and Mackie doesn’t even seem too fluent in the continuity he’s disrupting.  Ultimately, what was the point of this?

Can the subplots save this one?  What do you think?  We’re blessed with a few pages of Peter and MJ having the same repetitive conversation they always have in this title, a conversation scene that has MJ flip-flopping from nagging to supporting her husband over the course of one page.  Oh, and did you know that the Parkers are really young?  The rest of the issue deals with the Stacy family, which is always death.  Jill Stacy, we’re told this issue, is obsessed with Spider-Man and discovering his connection to her uncle and cousin’s deaths…information that has never come up before, or was buried so long ago I’ve totally forgotten it.  Jill is an absolute blank slate of a character, we don’t even know what her college major is, so if this obsession was the one thing we do know about her, shouldn’t it have played a role in any of her previous appearances?  Arthur Stacy, we know, is obsessed with George and Gwen Stacy’s deaths, which hasn’t really gone anywhere, but at least has been repeated enough times for the reader to get the idea.  This issue, he finally has an opportunity to learn the truth directly from Spider-Man, but he’s too depressed to speak.  He’s upset because his grown son, who’s so caustic and antagonistic he can’t make a single friend, is moving out…for mysterious reasons.  This title’s record for actually paying off storylines, and giving the Stacys anything to do, doesn’t give me a lot of hope for the future of Paul’s story.  (And if the goal of “Identity Crisis” was to have Spider-Man come around and embrace Arthur as an ally, that’s another plot point Mackie communicated very poorly.)

Visually, the issue is an improvement over the majority of the fill-ins of this era.  Javier Saltares, not surprisingly, draws an excellent interpretation of Ghost Rider and his Spider-Man feels like a nice callback to guys like Gil Kane (although Saltares seems unable to draw Spidey’s eyes consistently throughout the issue, a common problem in this era for some reason.)  I’m not sure what was going in Sensational #30, but the combination of Saltares’ pencils and Scott Hanna’s inks this issue creates on-model, attractive versions of the supporting cast.  No ape-people this time.  The visuals actually do a lot to sell the story, which on a very basic level isn’t even that bad.  Ghost Rider’s powers out of control, with Spider-Man caught in his wake, rescuing the innocent civilians…that’s a fine starting point for an issue.  Once you throw in the garbled continuity, stilted dialogue, lame subplots, and half-hearted ending, that’s a disappointing comic.

SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #30 - August 1998

Cat & Mouse

Credits:  Todd Dezago (writer), Javier Saltares (art), Gregory Wright (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

The Plot:  Spider-Man and Black Cat awake in Murderworld.  Arcade promises them that if they can make their way through Murderworld, he’ll release Dougie from captivity.  Spider-Man and Black Cat outwit his traps, and eventually dupe Arcade with the robotic replica he’s created of the Black Cat.  Arcade tells them where to find Dougie, before Spider-Man leaves him webbed up for the police.  They discover Dougie inside a room filled with deceased drug dealers.

The Subplots:  Billy Walters gives Jonah Jameson a paper trail that connects Norman Osborn with his corporate spy, Allison Mongrain.  When Jonah tries to thank Billy, Billy informs him that he isn’t going to like what he says next.  Later, Peter talks to Hope and realizes that she was actually afraid for him when she saw Spider-Man leave his bedroom.  Relieved that she never suspected his secret identity, Peter explains to her that Spider-Man is a hero.

Web of Continuity:  The drug dealer that Arcade’s trash truck caught along with Spider-Man and Black Cat is never mentioned this issue.

How Did This Get Published?:  Hope’s handwriting is clearly a computer-generated font.  It’s also so off-center that it’s falling off of her notepad.

Review:  How is it that a trip to Murderworld results in such an utterly bland issue?  You would think that the previous chapter, which mainly consisted of Spider-Man and Black Cat trashing drug dealers in back alleys, would’ve been the dull setup, but instead it’s the finale that reads like wallpaper.  For some reason, the story avoids almost all of Murderworld’s unique attributes, leaving Spider-Man and Black Cat to fight their way out of an indistinct landscape that Javier Saltares can’t seem to stay awake drawing.  (Saltares, by the way, has an annoying tendency to draw Cro-Magnon faces this issue.  The difference between the Saltares art inked by Scott Hanna in PPSM #93 and what’s printed here is staggering.)  I judge all Murderworld stories by the standard set by the Claremont/Byrne two-parter in Uncanny X-Men #123-124, and to say that this one isn’t in that league would be an understatement.  Murderworld is supposed to be a carnival of death, not a series of empty rooms and random speedlines filling in the background.  This is a massive waste of a fantastic setting.

The tone of the story is also a problem, with Dezago making the peculiar decision to throw in a dark ending after an issue’s worth of low-stakes superhero adventuring.  Yes, Dougie is saved, but did we have to discover that he’s been trapped in a room filled with dead drug dealers this entire time and that he’s probably scarred for life?  Also, what drug dealer hires Arcade to take out his rivals?  This might not initially seem ridiculous in the Marvel Universe, but the issue reminds us that Arcade’s price is a million dollars a head.  Arcade’s killed a few dozen dealers at this point, all for jobs that Bird and Wee-Bey could’ve easily pulled for a fraction of the cost.  That’s just bad business.  

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN Annual #5 - October 1989

Warzone: New York

Credits: Gerry Conway (writer), Javier Saltares (penciler), Randy Emberlin (inker), Rick Parker (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four team up to fight the Atlantean invasion of New York. During the battle, the Deviants’ leader Ghuar kidnaps the Invisible Woman. As the Atlantean army gains ground, Atlantis is bombed by its former ally, the Lemurians. When Attuma receives the news, he ceases fire. The shocked Atlanteans are placed into custody, as Mr. Fantastic vows to find his wife.

The Subplots: None.

Web of Continuity: This is a chapter of the “Atlantis Attacks” crossover, which ran through the 1989 Marvel annuals. The Fantastic Four of this era actually consists of five members, as Sharon Ventura joins the team as a female Thing.

*See _________ For Details: This story is continued in West Coast Avengers Annual #4.

I Love the ‘80s: Spider-Man says he’d give up his Pee Wee Herman doll to see Mr. Fantastic turn violent.

Review: Following a team-up with She-Hulk against the Abomination in the Amazing annual, and a team-up with Cloak and Dagger that stopped one of Ghuar’s schemes in the Spectacular annual, Spider-Man makes another starring appearance in the “Atlantis Attacks” crossover. This is one of the consequences of doing a crossover that involves virtually every title in the line; not only do you have to find a story that can comfortably fit the Silver Surfer, Punisher, Thor, and the X-Men, but popular franchise characters like Spider-Man end up with a disproportionate number of appearances during the storyline. This year’s Amazing annual was just lighthearted action (featuring early art by Rob Liefeld, who got the job on Todd McFarlane’s recommendation), while the Spectacular annual had Spidey teaming up with Cloak and Dagger to stop an alleged rehab clinic that was turning patients into snake-people. Plus, Gerry Conway penned the “Atlantis Attacks” Daredevil annual, which guest starred Spider-Man and featured more victims of the phony rehab clinics.

Now, Spider-Man shows up yet again to stop the Atlantic invasion; this time teaming up with the late ‘80s, improperly named, incarnation of the Fantastic Four. The invasion turns out to be a dud, as the Atlanteans are distracted by the annihilation of Atlantis, which presumably sets up a future event in the crossover. The Invisible Woman is also kidnapped as a potential Bride of Set, which is followed up in the Avengers and West Coast Avengers annuals (Jean Grey is also kidnapped as a would-be bride in the 1989 X-Factor annual, which features a John Byrne lead story inked by Walt Simonson). And, yes, none of this has anything to do with Spider-Man. Conway still gives Spidey a firm personality and allows him to perform a few heroic deeds, but the crossover is so deep into its storyline by now that Spider-Man barely has a role to play. I imagine Conway knew the extended fight scene could get dull, so it’s broken up with constant bickering between two sparring newscasters. The reporter in the field is risking her life to document the invasion of Manhattan, while the idiotic anchor is obsessed with trivial facts and celebrity gossip. These exchanges are actually the highlight of the story, which is unfortunately the weakest Spidey chapter of “Atlantis Attacks.”

A Random Miracle

Credits: Gerry Conway (writer), Steve Ditko (penciler), Al Milgrom (inker), Rick Parker (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: ESU professor Evan Swann is endowed with the powers of Captain Universe, which he uses to fight the Quantum Mechanic. After the Mechanic disappears in a flash of light, the Unipower leaves Dr. Swann.

Web of Continuity: The Unipower bestows the cosmic powers of Captain Universe to people in the right place and the right time. After the specific disaster is averted, the power leaves its host.

*See _________ For Details: After gaining the power, Dr. Swann instantly remembers Captain Universe’s previous appearances in Micronauts #8 & #35, Marvel Spotlight#9-#11, and Incredible Hulk Annual #10.

Review: Steve Ditko might refuse to draw Spider-Man again, but he was still willing to pencil these annual back-ups. Aside from technically getting Ditko stories between the covers of a Spider-Man comic, these back-ups also granted us the odd experience of seeing Ditko draw characters like Captain Universe and Solo. This is filler material that’s supposed to be a quick read, but Conway does add some depth to the story by centering it on sub-atomic physics and the Uncertainty Principle (the Quantum Mechanic is ordered to strip the universe down to its basic components and fix its basic “relativity displacement”). And why is a Captain Universe story showing up in a Web of Spider-Man annual? The answer is coming, but not until the conclusion of Marvel’s next line-wide crossover…

A Mute Prayer for Deaf Ears

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Mark Propst (penciler), Andy Mushynsky (inker), Rick Parker (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist)

The Plot: Wild Pack operative Kuryova is killed in battle, yet Silver Sable refuses to grant his widow his pension due to Kuryova’s cowardice and insubordination. Sable reflects on her cruel father, and the impact he’s had on her life.

I Love the ‘80s: The story is told against the backdrop of the Iran/Iraq war. Iraqis are also spelled “Iraquis,” which I’ve never seen before.

Review: This is another early Fabian Nicieza job, which tries to humanize Silver Sable while also emphasizing how heartless she can be. Revealing that she has daddy issues isn’t the most original take in the world, but I’m assuming this was already an established aspect of the character, and Nicieza gets enough out of the idea to justify ten pages. The rest of the issue consists of another “Saga of the Serpent Crown” back-up, which ran in all of the 1989 annuals, and a few Fred Hembeck pages. Hembeck counts down some of Spider-Man’s more “dubious” friends, foes, situations, and accessories. “Dubious” used to mean teaming up with Howard the Duck, and not having his eye ripped out and eaten in front of him, learning Gwen Stacy had an affair with Norman Osborn and gave birth to his children, or making a you-know-what with you-know-who. Oh yeah, he was also supposed to be a clone for a few years there, too, wasn't he? Anyone out there interested in a Fred Hembeck Destroys the Past Twenty Years of Spider-Man Continuity miniseries?