Now we drop back in on Spectacular Spider-Man, where the team is still technically Peter David and Rich Buckler, but Rich seems to miss a lot of issues. This month, he’s credited with “storytelling” as Dwayne Turner is on pencils. 4 inkers are here (Bob McLeod, Del Barras, Keith Williams, Joe Rubenstein). Something went wrong. Nel Yomtov colors. As Spider-Man is still missing, we’re given a reprieve from David’s uncharacteristically dour and angry take on Peter Parker (Out of character for both Peters), but we’re not saved from Black Cat’s completely insane new costume.
Good summary of the last 2 issues since it’s been awhile, but my God, Magnum.
In a time when costumes were still generally very simple, someone put pyramid spikes on her. What… in the world… is the deal with her hair? Is that a giant rat tail? I mean, Black Cat was perhaps due for a little dignity. Mark Beachum sure made it plain how hypersexualized she could be. But this? This is not the solution. Also: “Ye Gods?” Really? This is gonna be a weird one. We check in with the kid from the last few issues who somehow got superpowers and seemed to vaporize his abusive father. He’s on the run, afraid of the repercussions and recapping. Then we cut to his Mom, worried sick, not sure where either her son or her husband are, vacuuming up the ashes that would seem to be what’s left of said husband. The, still another subplot to check in on…
But at least this one’s a going concern for the Spider-Cast. What about another subplot?
Man, this title has a lot of irons in the fire. And Black Cat’s security is almost asn absurd as her new look. That would be The foreigner, emerging from the shadows and looking pretty silly. We have now finally seen all the material this issue is going to juggle. Dr. Strange’s house keeps finding new ways to kick Felicia out. Also:
Randy’s right, tho. Introduced as a crusading firebrand for the people, a line of work that’s all about helping people does make a lot of sense. Later, via a conversation between Joe and Martha, we get the disappointing revelation that Joe thinks “mixed couples are subject to overwhelming prejudices” and “Randy should think long and hard about what he’s getting into.” I don’t think it’s out of the question for Robbie to think that, really, a man of his age with his experiences, it’s just complicated. Back at Doc Strange’s house, he finally confronts Felicia in his astral form, saying her powers haven’t vanished, just mutated, and he’d like to examine her.
Ye Gods, I forgot that stupid gold notebook is STILL a thing. But Felicia announces she had it melted down and made into part of her new look, which… ok. When she tries to attack, Foreigner vanishes, appears behind her, and karate chops her to the floor (It’s the 80s, after all). Elsewhere, that guy talking to the kid who’s name I don’t remember naturally has ill intentions, and so does his friend who pops up, but they don’t know the child they’re trying ot prey on is super, and he blows up their car. He also accidentally blows up a power station behind it, blacking out Manhattan. In the dark, Robbie starts choking on a piece of apple, and someone gives him the Heimlich Maneuver to save his life. You’ll never guess who!
Ominous! I must say, having encountered Dwayne Turner’s art for the first time in the 90s, this is unrecognizable. Looks quite a lot like Rich Buckler, in fact. Between Turner following Ruckler’s breakdowns and the inkers being a team of old schoolers, maybe the jagged, raw style Turner would later be known for was smothered. Or maybe it just didn’t exist yet. The last page is still the last page of Web 17. But, now it’s time to finally get to Web 18 and see how this shakes out.