Very informative, cover copy, thank you. I wonder why Ock’s suit is green on the covers and white inside. WIth this issue, David Mchelinie is the sole credited writer, and that certainly explains the punny title “Spouse Trap.” Loves ‘em, that guy. Colors are credited to “Sharen & Co.” Chaos behind the scenes! Ock is still threatening JJJ would holding MJ hostage, saying he’s got one minute to agree to give him the 20 million. Down below, Spider-Man is still trapped under all that rubble, watching the countdown.
Jonah’s office got huge all of a sudden! Ock appears to be carrying Mary Jane around by the throat, and thus I’m not sure how she’s still alive. Down below, I have been anticipating Spider-Man Must Lift A Heavy Thing since last issue, but…
Well, ok. Back up top, The Wild Pack depoy what would appear to be one of The Wizard’s gravity discs, tho he is not mentioned, but Ock just crushes it, shocking everyone with the strength of his arms. He’s pretty excited about the coming explosion, except it doesn’t happen. Down under the building, Spidey has found the machine just had an on/off switch. While this is pretty funny, his assumption that Ock was certain no one would ever find his machine is actually a pretty reasonable excuse. So he’s now racing to the top of the building to see what’s going on as The Wild Pack deploy “concrete foam, laced with titanium threads, developed by Stark Enterprises for riot control.” But it just looks like Trapster’s goop. Did Sal think The Wild Pack had access to The Frightful Four’s stuff? Did Conway plan for them to? Anyway, Ock’s encased in the stuff, but he’s still got MJ by the throat. And that’s how Spider-Man finds the scene as he arrives.
Day saved, issue over. Oh wait, it’s not. Ock broods in his lair, which is actually under the Bugle, thinking how hard Spider-Man fought for that woman he didn’t know, and how much harder someone would fight for their wife. Peter & MJ reunite at home, where Peter is frustrated by how JJJ can be so good to regular people and is so mean to Spider-Man. While they talk about that, Ock kidnaps Marla Madison.
Morbid, but reasonable. One has to wonder why Ock has singled out JJJ as his cash cow. Even in 1990, newspaper owners weren’t exactly the richest people in the world. This plot feels like it’s from a simpler time. Which makes sense originating from Conway. The next day, Peter Parker arrives at The Bugle to be told JJJ has frozen all expenditures and put the paper up for sale. When he walks out with a big briefcase, he’s too distracted to be rude to anyone, which lets Peter know something is definitely wrong.
How many times in his career did Sal more or less draw that last panel. Like a million times.
Hard to imagine this guy wanting to save Spider-Man’s life a few years from now. That rang so hollow and false. This is who Ock is. A rampaging psychopath. He is a Villain. No shades of gray, no sad backstory. Which makes seeing him beaten by the hero pretty rewarding. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to just watch good triumph over evil. Speaking of which…
Marla runs for it, and 3 different times, Spider-Man stops Ock inches from grabbing her. After the 3rd time, he flies into a rage and forgets about her, concentrating on killing his old foe. Spidey exposed himself to a lot of abuse making sure Marla got clear, and is not in fighting form as Ock smashes him to the ground. Marla watches all this, wishing she could help instead of running. Then Ock throws Spidey into the water beneath a drain pipe.
So that whole drowning thing on the cover lasted exactly one panel. Wow.
Ink has been smeary on most pages this issue. A serious printing problem. But, there you go. Even Jonah has to admit he owes Spidey now. For a few minutes, anyway. As of this month, Danny Fingroth takes back over as editor of ASM, TAC & WEB, making sure he’ll be around to make the continuity of the opening cloe mystery just as messy and terrible as the continuity of the black costume saga.. Jim Salicrup continues to edit McFarlane’s Spider-Man, at least for now. They also make it official that Conway is gone. But who will replace him? There’s a couple of fill-ins before the answer, which will push it to the next block for this period. Conway’s 2nd run in the Spider-Office is no match for his first. Nowhere near the impact, and overshadowed by 2 different titles every month by the end. But he did some entertaining stuff, and made some important moves, like reforming Molten Man, making Hobgoblin a demon, and making Harry Osborn succumb to Goblin madness again, among other things. It was a respectable run.