I accidentally got ahead of myself and read a whole block of 32 comics about Secret Invasion before realizing the material in this block happened first, so now I’m doing this. None of that would be visible in the end product here, but I’m saying so, anyway. Welcome to an unusually short block of ASMs.This one is strange because it features a story arc I’ve read! After swearing off the book entirely! We’ll get to that when we get to that. Right now… sigh… the Freak is back. And I think I’ve been a pretty good person and don’t deserve this, frankly. This cover kinda sums it up for Brand New Day so far. Sadly, Bob Gale is back alongside his terrible, terrible creation. Along for the ride is Barry Kitson, a guy whose art I could best sum up as “unoffensive.” Nothing exciting, but not bad, either. Sorry, Barry. I first saw him on a Batman/Punisher team-up in the 90s, and haven’t seen him in too many things since. He’s inked by long-term Alan David inker Mark Farmer and colored by Avalon Studios. The splash page is… unusual…
It’s a dream, you see.
How very old school. As old school as having an opening splash. But, Brand New Day is very 1970s, so why not?
That’s pretty good, at least. 
Curt is very old school, also. If I wanted to read 70s comics, I would go back to reading 70s comics. “Damn this one arm!” Get serious, man. Not a great Spider-Man from Kitson, either. Shouldn’t Spider-Man deserve top tier, A-list talent? I mean, again, I’m not trying to be mean, but this title could and should be able to do better. Spider-Man has a phone now, huh? Seems like it would be convenient. Well, Curt tells him if he finds the Freak, he’ll have to kill him. Then he says he doesn’t REALLY mean kill him, but that he’ll have to apply lethal force to make him go into a chrysalis again. He points out that Freaky went into hiberbation due to bullets and fire before, and so is now immune to those (How does he know that???), and recommends suffocation or strangulation. Spider-Man says that goes against everything he stands for. But he knows it literally won’t kill him! That’s stupid. Curt points out he’d be protecting innocent lives, and Spider-Man has no retort. I am so ready for this to be over. Well, our hero heads to the FEAST center to cover the political speech, hoping it’s much more boring than his last one. Meanwhile, this especially wretched take on JJJ comes home…
“How dare she not be here what I come home!?” The worst JJJ ever. Marla says she won’t talk to him about it til he’s fully recovered, and he rages so much he picks up the TV to smash it, but when that unplugs it and cuts her off, he just stands there being sad. Suddenly seems like JJJ is probably a domestic abuser. Bob Gale has got to go. Well, at FEAST, Martin Li endorses Bull Hollister before introducing him. We cut quickly to opponent Randall Crowne, whose name might as well be Randall Bade Guye, who is furious that Li didn’t take money to endorse him instead. Then Hollister begins his speech, and Peter, shooting for the DB!, notices Vin Gonzales and chats him up a bit. Naturally, Curt calls, saying he’s located the chrysalis and is on his way to it, but Peter can’t just walk off the job. And then, also naturally, Menace shows up at the FEAST Center.
Terrible jokes in panel 1.
Spider-Man before Brand New Day: John Romita, Jr. Mike Deodato, Jr. who, despite my opinion, was and is very popular. Ron Garney. Joe Quesada. Now that they’ve “fixed” it, we get some real Spider-Man Unlimited looking art. A SWAT guy announces to both of them that there’s snipers in position to shoot if they don’t leave in 10 seconds.
I hate this comic. “Who’s your daddy?” I can’t. I think the Spider-Man-hatin’ cop from this whole run is Vin Gonzales, but I honestly can’t tell by looking at him. He looked basically white a few pages ago, is that really him? Well, our guy gets down to the Brooklyn Salvage Yard JUST in time for Freak to emerge, what luck.
At least his design isn’t so terrible anymore, I guess. Mother-in-law jokes. Bob Gale is an 80s guy, after all. Spidey and Freaky mix it up as those two guys get in some more “hilarous” banter as the exit, stage right. Internally, Spider-Man is thinking he doesn’t have a lot of options for subduing his foe, what with all his immunities and his super strength. But he spots a crane suspending a ton of debris over the yard, and decides to drop it on him.
I hate this comic. The worst villain ever goes into his stupid chrysalis, and then Spidey covers him in the stuff he just snorted, and they say that’s that. Is it? I don’t care.
Boy, there’s a lot to unpack there. If Peter’s so suspicious of Harry… why doesn’t he seem worried about him in any previous issues? And why would Oscorp want Freaky? I hope they dissect him and he never comes back, but I can’t imagine I’m that lucky. Screwball, eh? I know her from the Spider-Man video game. She’s pretty annoying in that. Let’s see how she is in comics…