Goodness, who could that POSSIBLY be?? As with the issues in the grim-dark emo days wherein Ben Reilly was supposed to be a mystery man, Sal isn’t too good at making Peter Parker not look like Peter Parker. Sal’s art has been looking pretty weird this block, I don’t think I have to tel you. Sal Buscema is 60 years old as this is being published. It’s wild that he is STILL drawing a monthly comic. Not just working, but outputting more pages than most guys in their 20s do today. But the man is 60, and he just ain’t got it like he used to, and on top of that, this John Stanisci guy has been straight up abusing him on inks, and this month, Sal’s only handing in breakdowns for Stanisci to finish, leading to a stunningly amateur hour comic that begins with Peter Parker, dead and gone in his hospital room.
Holy CRAP. This is horrid. There’s another silent page of Ben & MJ leaving the room in tears, which is probably for the best, because…
“Huh.” really does not feel like the correct dialogue there. Peter wakes up as his muscles begin spasming and he completely trashes his hotel room. Everyone rushes back in at the sound of the destruction, so…
I can’t fathom how Pete & MJ get out of this hospital bill without ending up in debtor’s prison. Maybe they’re pondering that themselves as we shift our focus to The Daily Bugle, where Glory Grant & Robbie Robertson investigate the wreckage of JJJ’s office. Robbie finds a Rand/Meachum folder prominently placed, but then an intern or something runs in and says something’s wrong with the teletype, “which is just repeating the word “ONSLAUGHT” for some reason. It’s doing this because the event called Onslaught is about to happen, but why is it doing… this? It makes no sense. Meanwhile, Curt Connors wanders through his commute, thinking his return to New York has shown him that mankind is only more corrupt and evil than ever, and something must be done. Cue The Lizard, I’m sure. But not yet! Time for Spider-Man to finally appear in this Spider-Man comic.
Graydon Creed, human son of X-Men villain Sabretooth, has become an anti-mutant crusader in the X-Titles of the era. Sure is a good thing a guy campaigning on nothing but paranoia and hatred could only have a successful campaign for president in the wacky world of superhero comics, huh? Spidey swings by a crime scene that seemingly adds Stilt Man to the list of Z-List nobodies suddenly pulling crimes again, but as he swings away, he sees somebody else…
Have at thee, indeed. They have a 2-page fight that ends with the lizard scampering off no worse for wear, and Ben realizing he’s headed for the hospital. The hospital where, at this very moment, Curt Connors is with his impossibly healthy patient! Whaaaaa? Peter says he feels better than he ever has in his life, but then they hear a KATOOM outside and run to the window for a look.
Ben continues to get all beat up outside until Peter shows up in scrubs and a surgical mask, just like on the cover, to knock The Lizard away and give Ben a breather. Not only is Peter not dead, but his spider powers are back now, too. Somewhat.
What’s going on? We’ll find out! Later. It’s not as To Be Continued as it might seem.