SM 20

Now that’s a 90s cover. The fact that Larsen brought back Solo made me think he must’ve co-created him as a kid. Which is flimsy, but he was the only person I’d ever seen draw him. I was quite surprised much later to find out he appeared in Michelinie’s Web run first. Just like I was surprised to learn Chance and even Venom, to a degree, also started there. Ol’ Dave really added a lot to the Spider-mythos. From the obvious like Venom and Carnage to these other, more minor characters who nevertheless keep coming back over the years, like Cardiac and Chance. Pretty cool legacy to have. Anyway, what’s going on on this cover? And how will these other heroes get involved? Let’s find out. Page one sees Nova kneeling to ask someone if they’re alright.

Well, that’s that for that. But wait, there’s more on page 3:

Deathlok! Not seen on the blog since Bill Mantlo’s exhausting time travel fiasco in in MTU 46. I’m not sure this is the same Deathlok, tho, I think this is a different guy who died and got turned into a corpse cyborg who looks just like the original, believe it or not. What about Solo, tho?

4 guest stars in 4 pages! But then there’s this 5th page…

Don’t worry, they patch up this absurd argument on the next page. I mean, I very much appreciate Larsen giving MJ SOME kind of reason to exist, unlike McFarlane, but that was silly. But there we see Peter in the rare moment of using his scientific know how. Soon, Spider-Man is on the prowl, now with a big backpack-mounted webshooter device linked to each wrist. He once again swings by The Bugle, and once again is flagged down by someone, this time Solo, also assuming being there would help him find Spider-Man. That’s funny. Spidey calls him “my second favorite intense, gun-toting loner,” which I also very much enjoyed as a kid. Solo announces his desire to kill The Sinister Six, and you know how Spidey feels about that, so he declines the team-up and swings away. And then Solo pulls a Spider-Man and tosses a tracer on his back. Not having that Spider Sense is a problem! So Spidey follows the tracer he put on Hobgoblin and Solo follows the tracer he put on Spider-Man and it’s a nice lil game of follow the leader. Spidey’s had lead him to a “private research institute” that’s “made tremendous discovered in experiencing other dimensions.” His plan is to go in there, cover the place in web with his new web cannons, and wrap this up before the baddies can beat him to death.

That sure didn’t go too well.

Solo guns down everyone but Doc Ock as Spider-Man takes down the leader with remarkable ease.

I know Spider-Man heals fast, but two brutal beatings in 2 days? Seems like a lot! All those guest stars ultimately didn’t do much. It’s almost like they’ll probably be showing up again later! And speaking of showing up again, we have the 2nd story to close out, which picks up in a place that doesn’t make a lot of sense compared to the end of last issue.

Diablo is a wild and weird Fantastic Four foe from the 60s, a 9th Century alchemist imprisoned until “today” who the FF first fought in Transylvania, of all places. Diablo recaps his origin, for some reason, despite being in many comics since then, as he blinds Spider-Man with a flash of light and then keeps him busy with some mystical doubles while he gets some stuff out of that cask and mixes up a potion.

Spidey’s in trouble and Diablo is escaping, so he grabs a loosened power cable, lets go of his web at the right moment, and its the electricity and the “electroll” cancel each other out in a big zap.

Spidey is blinded again, but still manages to web the cask into the fleeing Diablo and then web him up. So, the villain hilariously spits a tooth out of his mouth like 50 feet into a window, which “transmutes” the glass into…. What would appear to just be broken glass. Alchemy! Spidey is buried in a pile of glass shards, but pops up under a web shield. But Diablo has escaped, and security gets in just in time to see him standing in the rubble.