If this is gonna swerve, the cover sure isn’t tellin’. Aunt May has a huge yard! Look at all that empty green space. Does Aunt May own a car? I don’t think so. We start with Vulture recapping how he’s dying and trying to balance the scales of his life to Aunt May, and saying they have unfinished business.
Hey, alright. Good for you, Adrian (And also JM).
Full marks for everybody. “I didn’t know it was him” is a bit rickety, but that’s David Michelinie’s fault, not this team’s, and they really sold his remorse and Aunt May’s righteousness.
That was a nice interaction, too, but the mood is ruined when May tells Peter what just happens, and he flies into a defensive rage. Spider-Man goes flying out of their window, thinking that their life seems to be falling apart, referencing Harry on the loose and all that craziness with The Rose and Richard Fisk. He knows MJ is scared of Harry, too, and is just putting on a brave front. He then thinks maybe Harry put The Vulture up to this. Maybe he sold Vulture his identity. Vulture, meanwhile, has just smashed through the window of JJJ’s office. JJJ tries to act tough, but he’s soon behind dangled out the window, forced to make tomorrow’s headline The Vulture’s proclamation of his intent to kill Spider-Man for all his years of humiliation and interference. Right-o.
Well, he had to Dematteis it up eventually, I guess. On the one hand, May being more hurt by Nathan’s death than was let on is fine, she should be, but on the other hand, no one wants to see Aunt May saying she’s dead inside, fer cryin’ out loud. She goes to sleep, and Peter is downstairs reading, but The Vulture returns. Peter’s Spider Sense lets him know, and he rushes upstairs as she screams his name. But she’s alone, saying he flew back out the window.
Getting pretty tense there. Peter goes downstairs, internally saying he’s gotta get a grip, but then his Spider Sense warns him The Vulture’s getting up, and he’s got to let him grab him by the throat to keep up appearances. Vulture says it was a lucky shot, but repeats that he didn’t come here to hurt anyone. Before he can say why he did, though, May appears with his discarded gun.
Messy. The cops see he has a hostage and don’t shoot as Vulture flies away. And MJ pulls up in a cab just in time to see it happen.
Peter is moved by Vulture’s sincerity. He thinks he’s just been waiting for the chance to somehow escape and become Spider-Man, but he really feels for Vulture… until he sees the broken corpse of Gregory Bestman. Then all bets are off. Peter charges at Vulture.
Except for the whole “Aunt May feels dead inside” thing, this is a pretty good one. I wonder how I’d have felt about it if I didn’t know Vulture won’t actually die. DeMatteis’ penchant for killing off vital characters is one of the things that bugs me the most about him. But it’s strong stuff. Melodramatic, but not in the usual sadsack way. Vulture being deadset on both no harm coming to the Parkers and hoping Spider-Man has loved ones to mourn him is nice. I’m curious how it’s gonna end.