Siege started this month, by the way. With ASM’s publishing schedule, the last 2 issues and this one all came out the same time as Siege 1. Also Web of Spider-Man 4, Jackpot 1, New Avengers 61, USCM 6 and Ultimate Enemy 1, for those keeping track at home. Nine Spider-Man-related comics this month, no big deal. No market saturation here! Well, Mysterio appeared on one page of his alleged part of this story, maybe he’ll get to do more this time. But first, we’re off to a flashback.
“Carlie Cooper’s dad is soooooo cool! He hung out with the only 2 other Marvel Universe cops anyone can name, he’s so cool! and you know who else is cool? Yuri Watanabe, Spider-Man’s latest pal on the force! Look at her, right in there with ’em. So cool!” Come on.
What a shock. If only we knew or cared anything about Ray Cooper. But look how cool he was! Anyway, a few feet away, Silvermane is really mad at Hammerhead for jumping the fence. Of course, he didn’t, really, he’s under Mr. Negative’s sway, but he’s such a company man that Silvermane being mad at him actually starts to upset him. He decides to just charge through a wall and run, and the approaching Spider-Man sees this (And says, “Common sense, tingling! I must be in the right place,” which is actually pretty good).
She’s so cool! Weren’t they already working together? Am I confused? Is this a bit for the other cops? Look at Marcos Martin’s Spider-Man. As weird as Ditko, as slick as Romita, as solid as Romita, Jr. It’s no wonder he joined the ranks of so many people’s favorite Spidey artists basically overnight.
I’m kind of a mark, I guess, seeing Spidey fight Silvermane again is pretty fun, despite how stupid Silvermane’s whole deal is. Well, all the goons are shooting the other goons’ feet off, as ordered, and we pull back to the guy who started all this, Bruno Karnelli’s right hand man, working with Mysterio, controlling the mob remotely. Also, Silvermane is a robot? Are they all robots? Mysterio is treating this like he’s directing a movie, of course, and says he always plans for Spider-Man, and has “Silvermane” throw our hero into position.
All praise where it’s due, Dan Slott has come up with a Mysterio plot that isn’t stupid. No more “Spider-Man is afraid of the tiger walking on the wall.” This actually works. Well, anyway, Carlie’s dad vanishes on her, so she reveals herself, and Yuri wants her to ride with the guy Spider-Man killed all the way to the morgue, because she smells a rat. And then Carlie says she’s already seen this guy in the morgue, years ago. And, lest we forget Mr. Negative has made Aunt May a jerk…
I completely forgot about Harry Osborn and the Reillys.
That’s a whole lot of Spider-Man blood! The recurring plot device that somehow never goes anywhere, which began in ASM 547. Maybe now’s the time. Well, anyway, our man is really rattled about killing a guy, and finds his way to a big damaged fence that leads him to the next part of Mysterio’s trap.
So, now he’s killed a whole buncha guys, impossibly, and the wounded Big Man takes off his mask and reveals he’s the not-actually-dead George Stacy, and that’s the last straw. Spider-Man instantly knows he’s been set up and by whom, and starts yelling threats at Mysterio through the robot. And, again, nothing but respect for this resolving quickly and cleanly. Twenty years prior, Spider-Man would’ve spiraled out of control thinking George was really alive, probably in a JM DeMatteis comic. Kudos all around. But Mysterio has Spider-Man freaked out and angry, and thinks he still has the upper hand.
The imagine Mysterio’s crystal ball is makin’ my brain itch. I feel like it’s an homage. A Wolverine drawing? Punisher? I can’t… quite place it… Well, Mysterio apprarently runs the Maggia now, that’s punching above his usual weight class. So far, he seems like the most successful and most necessary upgrade in “The Gauntlet.”