Why did I have this issue? Why am I asking this question so often in this block? No idea. The fact that this series isn’t going to have a regular creative team for another 14 issues remains kind of shocking to me. I guess they were thinking it would be sort of a place a variety of people could drop in and do short stories, which isn’t a bad idea or anything, it’s just very uncommon. Comics companies and fans tend to want a “regular team.” Maybe they figured a character with 4 monthlies could sustain a kind of odd one. At any rate, Kevin Tinsley swaps into the colorist chair as we open on Dr. Hope rattling off more of his pseudo-science as Mad Dog 2020 turns into a real monster.
That is… a lot.
Captain Zero’s attempt is far less successful, leading to property damage and a burst dummy. All the red ink spilled on the bottom of these pages is unusual. Spidey encourages Zero to keep practicing and leaves, realizing he’s an hour late to meet Maggie Lorca from last issue. He rattles off some crazy excuses, but she’s not buying it. She implies that he’s lying because he can’t face who he really is as they enter the hospital Dr. Hope is in. She’s tracked him to this place. Peter is wondering if all his lying really is bad or just a way to protect his loved ones as they go in. Meanwhile…
Weird, weird stuff. Back at the hospital, Maggie is really laying into an administrator, saying they’ve been getting the runaround for hours and there’s obviously a coverup going on as she and Peter depart. And once they’re gone, said administrator make a phone call to have her “stalled” so they can transfer Dr. Hope’s project out of the building. So, the guy running Hope tells him to send MD2020 after Maggie. Hope says he’s nowhere near ready and would spin out of control, but is overruled. MJ is waiting to meet Peter for lunch, which he’s forgotten, and sees him walking with Maggie, gets jealous and storms off. But a tingle of Peter’s Spider Sense leads him to…
MD is rambling similar stuff to what Hope was saying about him earlier, and mentions the doctor’s name as the battle continues. Spidey realizes this guy must be one of Hope’s projects, and that this isn’t his fault, and tries to go easy on him, but he’s kind of a giant lizard man with cybernetic parts, so that’s easier said than done.
A bad day for MJ. Back at the fight, Spidey saves himself with a web, slamming into a wall, but the mental powers Md was hitting him with have him seeing his loved one shaming him for being a liar all the time. He’s totally distracted as Mad Dogg comes at him again. Spider-Man launches into full Bugs Bunny mode as he evades some attacks, but then…
Not sure why this character needs 2 supernames, but what do I know?
Trapped in a cement mixer is an unusual cliffhanger. Not that anything in this story has been “usual.” This one’s a lot wilder than the original. A lot more fight-y. I wonder if that’s just an attempt to match the times.