Better cover than last issue by Harris. The history of comics has me so used to referring to issues as “last month” or “next month,” but from this era forward, comics are sometimes out two and three times a month, and that’s not really applicable anymore. ASM 58 is, indeed, a month after 57, but 57 was only 2 weeks after 56. From a remove of 20 years, who can keep up? Well, at any rate, Dormammu is here, as this issue opens with a splash of him to compliment last issue’s ending with a splash of him.
J. Michael “I wish I was writing Dr. Strange” Straczynski, back in action. Thing leaps in clobberin’, and the rest of the boys follow suit. Sue is notably absent. Why only ¾ of the FF? What is this, 1965? Strange, meanwhile, goes after Dormammu, and they have a big ol’ wizard fight while the Mindless Ones continue endlessly pouring into the city. We zero in on Spider-Man, not fighting monsters, but saving as many people from danger as he can, until he gets a look at the wizard fight and wonders again what happens if Strange loses.
As the wizard fight intensifies, Mindless Ones try to tip the scales, and Spider-Man gets in the way. But one of them uppercuts him into the big ball of energy the wizards are fighting in, and guess what, Strange says his presence has disrupted the spell, what a surprise, and there’s a huge explosion.
Strange “reconstitutes their physical forms in a place outside the physical,” talking about how the only solution he had was to sacrifice himself. Spider-Man says he’s glad he messed things up, because nothing is worth throwing your life away, but Strange disagrees.
Our man swings into action, but not fast enough to keep MJ from being killed by a Mindless One. Then, in his grief and rage, he’s slammed into a wall. Only it’s not a wall.
So, as Strange said, Spidey’s all over time, the future and the past. And as the caption says, next issue is the 500th issue of ASM. Seems like it’s time for an oversized anniversary.