This issue begins with Ben looking at a copy of Legacy of Evil, being apprehensive about where this is taking him. Then…
Jessica dreamed of an adorable, sparkling child chasing a butterfly in front of a nice country home. Luke is distressed that he wasn’t in the dream, but he has to go stop a drug deal, so they hang up. Jess sees Ben quietly heading into the stairwell, and…
Bendis doesn’t even write a mainline Spider-Man title and is somehow already responsible for like 95% of all the curse words he’s ever said in print, I find that funny. And, again, it bears repeating, that is visibly not Ultimate Spider-Man.
Continuity!
We’re in the period where continuity is beginning to be a dirty word, and yet here we are, with this really charged, crackling scene that is only possible with references to DD, Vol. 2 #34, to Legacy of Evil, to TAC 254, to ASM 121, and so on.
The intensity of this ruled. Still does. The team really sells it that this is the all-or-nothing moment in the long, weird Spider-Man/Green Goblin saga. Which is pretty insane considering how the actual Spider-Man comics tried to do that twice in the preceding couple years and failed miserably. Now it’s taking center stage in what was expected to be the Jessica Jones book. Kind of weird. But I wasn’t complaining, I was much happier with Bendis driving this than anyone else, and with Bagley & Hanna, no less. So, thus informed, Ben goes to find Sheryl Doser, and has the sad duty of informing her that Terri is dead. He wants to know what they talked about last night.
Ben says he’s going to talk to the cops, and Robbie goes to help him decide how to present his info. JJJ tells Jess to go with Ben. He says everyone else is too involved, it’s too personal, that she can be the clear-eyed perspective to get this done right. Then we jump to Ben, Jessica, the detective who was sassing him so bad last issue, and a boatload of uniformed cops at the receptionist’s desk at Oscorp. There’s some nervous chatter, and then Ben asks if anyone smells smoke.
It all comes to a head next issue.