I obviously didn’t have this one as a kid, and I am genuinely shocked to see this guy come back. And to bring back this Steve Grant created character in the book he just left or was kicked off of or whatever happened. Odd timing. Mike Lackey is on writing duties, so I got rock bottom expectations. We begin on Spider-Man in the rain, recapping Pursuit and MJ getting shot at and how he’s so sad and angry he’s not gonna be there for her, and how being Spider-Man and being Peter Parker sucks. Really going right into it. Meanwhile…
Who needs Ravencroft if this is “the last stop for the worst of the worst?”
So this IS Ravencroft? What is going on??? Pretty violent for Sal, there.
Tarantino? What is up with the dude’s ear? Maybe it’ll… come up… Spider-Man’s swinging around being tremendously boring and angry until a semitruck blows a tire on a bridge and almost goes sailing off of it. Spider-Man webs the truck and pulls for all he’s worth, saying the driver could be a family man, and “no kid ANYWHERE is going to be orphaned like Peter Parker was if SPIDER-MAN can help it!”
Elsewhere, Master of Vengeance is putting his suit on, thinking about how is wife left him for being a deranged superweirdo, and making sure we know he’s way crazier than before. He says his plan is to just start blowing stuff up until Spider-Man shows, and he does, and he does.
“Hi, stupid!” Some real A-class banter. There follows a 2-page spread of Spidey bouncing all over the street and this dork rants about Spider-Man’s actions causing his “rebirth” and calling Spider-Man his father. This is some real bargain basement JM DeMatteis stuff.
There’s a lot more yelling and whatnot and it’s dumb and then Spider-Man webs the guy’s energy gauntlets off him and puts them on. MoV says he doesn’t have the guts and he’s a loser.
Maybe leave the philosophizin’ to JM, man. I wonder what I was like talking about these garbage comics back in 2019. I was trying to be nice back then, before I’d forced myself to sit through so much dreck. It’s pretty easy to hit the limit now.