Big finish for this wacky adventure. This issue’s splash page is a different angle on the last panel of the previous issue, so it’s right where we left off.
I just really like Spidey’s battle cry there. Not to save his own life, but to stop her from becoming a murderer. Very on point by The Thomases. Compu-screens, tho. The baddies all flee in time for the cops to show. Meanwhile, at… wherever The Avengers West Coast hang out… The Avengers West Coast are hanging out, being yelled at by Julia’s husband (Who still doesn’t know about her or their daughter and only wants them to be at the next campaign rally) while Hawkeye & USAgent are getting patched up at the hospital when Deathweb teleports in and starts stomping them again. Just for a second, tho.
Instead of a bomb, it’s a hologram projector so The Manipulator chan show them he has the kid, tell them the Spiders are dead, and say the girl will join them if The Avengers are at that rally. Mr. Carpenter freaks out, begging them not to go to the rally, which is nice. He’s been nothing but a jerk this whole story, good to see a bit of humanity. Meanwhile, back at the now collapsed warehouse, the fire is out and the firefighters are leaving, and yer not gonna believe this, but Spider-Man and Spider-Woman are trapped beneath A Very Heavy Thing… together!
Ya did it, guys, ya rehashed the thing. Later, Galvan is giving his big, dumb speech, and Julia’s husband is worried sick backstage, but guess what?
Rough. Things get worse as Deathweb teleports onstage right behind Galvan and Arachne gets him in the neck with one of her needles. But it turns out the cops on hand are Living Lightning and Wonder Man undercover, the Spiders told The Avengers what’s up, and now they’re on the scene, too. And despite Deathweb stunting all over them before, they’re mysteriously easy prey for the same team with 2 members in the hospital this time, as Spidey dropkicks Arachne, Living Living Lightning shorts out the mechanical guy and…
Deathweb tries to teleport out, but The Avengers thought of that, too, and have Wanda use her hex to make them teleport right back into the room to continue getting whupped. But Galvan is dead, and his running mate seems to turn him into a martyr a little too easily, leading the heroes to wonder if this is all him. Meanwhile, The Manipulator pops up in the parking like trying to re-kidnap Rachel. To his credit, her dad tries to fight back, but…
Manipulator takes that as his cue to leave, dropping an old fashioned smoke bomb and everything, and that somehow works despite our hero’s Spider Sense. But then Julia sees what happened to Larry.
Rough ending. But an ending it is. Kind of a wild one. I appreciate that they kept Spider-Man pretty central to things without letting him take over the title. Pretty good work on a guest spot. Maybe they did the same with Wolverine the very next issue. Issues 80-82 of this book tied into the gigantic, hilariously named Operation: Galactic Storm event, a 19-part fiasco running through the Avengers titles and many of the members’ solo books and what have you. Then there was a one-off. Then 3 issues of Spider-Man. Then 2 with Wolverine. A lot of attempts to boost sales in a row, seems like. I guess it didn’t work, tho, because despite 2 more event tie-ins, a guest appearance by then-very-popular Darkhawk, and a return of one of Thomas’ biggest contributions to the Marvel canon, Ultron, the book was cancelled with #102 to be relaunched as Force Works with a new creative team, hideous art, and a very 90s brand of “ATTITUDE.” And then that was inevitably cancelled in just 22 issues. Man. “Force Works.” Hilarious.