Only one identity left, and they spoiled it in TAC 256, because this title can’t do anything right.
Prodigy! The most heroic of the 4. JM DeMatteis, Luke Ross, Al Milgrom & Dan Green and John Kalisz are still the team on this book. For a few more pages. We open on the ambassador from a fake Middle Eastern country and his wife preparing to board a helicopter in New York when they’re accosted by a small army of goons. They’re being kidnapped on the order of “Conundrum,” and have overwhelmed the couples’ guards. They’re trying to steal the helicopter with their captives in it, but it suddenly stops moving as Prodigy grabs onto it from below. Everyone who witnesses this is shocked and amazed.
Your basic Superman-type, in a decidedly un-Superman getup. How is he bulletproof? Where did Peter & MJ get bulletproof material to make a suit out of? How rich are they? Later, JJJ has The Bugle with Billy’s photo of bullets bouncing off Prodigy on the cover. JJJ is quite taken with this upstanding hero. And so is Norman Osborn, who gives Billy some very uncomfortably compliments about his photography and reporting skills, and then wants him to tell Norman all about Prodigy. He’s hoping to turn Prodigy against Spider-Man, like he was with Hornet. JJJ questions the timing of these 4 new heroes popping up at once. ARE there 4 new heroes? Ricochet is getting into business with the mob and Dusk is Trapster’s new best friend. Norman waves this off, citing the explosion of heroes in the 60s.
Nice to see Flash doing so well. I don’t remember how things wind up with him when this status quo ends, or how things wind up between him & Betty. Well, it’s time to meet our truly bizarre villain.
For a plan not intended to succeed, it sure would have if Prodigy hadn’t shown up. Who’s this, now? I don’t remember this at all. Elsewhere, we see Prodigy landing in an alley to change into Peter Parker before going home. The most nonsensical, bizarre part of this entire stunt is his face. It looks like he’s just wearing a mask, sort of like Black Panther’s, but for some reason, the part inside the metal frame is Peter’s face painted gold, with a fake nose on. Why? How is that a good idea? And why doesn’t it look like that when he’s in action? He doesn’t have pupils! Why not just make it a mask? So when he gets out of that suit, he has to remove a fake nose and wash his face, which somehow does in a dirty alley way? Why is it not just a mask?? He does a lot of ruminating on how everyone loves Prodigy’s uncomplicated good guy routine as he walks home.
F… fishmonger?
Weird face on Peter at the bottom.
Well, that’s a nice moment for them. Almost all their interactions have been so stupid since they started living together, it’s nice for them to have a real human moment. And of course it’s JM who provides it. I wish he wasn’t so hung up on wallowing in misery and/or the world’s least funny comedy. He’s capable of good stuff. Well, anyway, you might think Conundrum is coming for that hand, but it’s JM’s personal version of Jack O’ Lantern. Haven’t seen him since TAC 248. He manages to ramble about being immortal and all that and seemingly do supernatural things as he steals the hand. Then, Peter & MJ are watching TV when he learns the ambassador’s daughter was kidnapped and the to-be-ransomed hand has been stolen, so it’s time for Prodigy to hit the scene.
Must be an echo in there. As Norman plots to use Prodigy against Spider-Man, Prodigy plots to get into Norman’s confidence and try to get evidence against him. He then leaps into the distance to go after Conundrum. How’s he doing that, too? Spider-Man can leap about 30 feet. Certainly impressive, but not nearly enough for these Hulk bounds he’s doing. This character makes no sense. The stupid make-up, the bulletproof suit, the jumping-for-miles bit. Meanwhile, in an abandoned Irish pub (Really), Mad Jack is talking to his cat about the old days when Conundrum appears in a whirl of smoke. It appears they know each other, and Jack stole the hand because he wants to girl to himself.
A lot of hints are being dropped about a lot of things in these issues. I wonder how much they actually knew about what’s coming. In a recent letter column, they mentioned they’ve been talking to “some interesting people,” and that their own plans for future stories “may well become moot.” Why would you admit that, first of all. But with that in mind, I have to wonder how solid the roadmap is with 7 months to go. Anyway…
And so we have an undeniable cliffhanger. Couldn’t play ball for just 2 months. But I suppose JM doesn’t care too much, because this is, abruptly, his last issue. In the middle of a story! Sal didn’t get to finish his last story back in TAC 237, and JM didn’t, either. Weird situation. And what a time to bring back his stupid, immortal version of Jack O’Lantern, only to bounce before revealing anything about him. Well, at any rate, he’s out of my hair for a little while. And despite this cliffhanger, I’m reading the books in the order they were intended, so we’ll finish up with Hornet next time.