Alex seems off his game on this cover. Spider-Man’s legs are weird and out of proportion. I wonder if he’s supposed to be foreshortening. I know nothing about this. I read Infinity Gauntlet, and I followed Infinity War well enough to know the broad strokes, but only bought the first issue. By the time we got to Infinity Crusade, I absolutely couldn’t be bothered. Especially hot on the heels of spending most of my comics money on Maximum Carnage. So I didn’t buy the event or these tie-ins. The Infinity Gauntlet tie-in in Spider-Man 17 was pretty huge to young me. Infinity War (Whose big bad was the Magus, Adam Warlock’s evil twin) spawning what were a bunch of temporary evil twins of various characters somehow wound up putting Doppelganger inthe Spider-Man titles for years, despite no one ever explaining why he was the only evil twin to hang around. I’m not sure Infinity Crusade had a lasting impact on much of anything, but let’s see how it goes. Alex is just on breakdowns this month with Don Hudson finishing, no doubt needing a breather after 3 months of 40 characters running around a war zone. Spider-Man is fighting “The Bedrocks,” the dumb gang from Web 101, saying he’s been hunting them since MAximum Carnage ended (Why, exactly?) and then The Goddess appears in a blinding light, saying she knows Spider-Man suffers and “a new breed of here must be born today.” No idea what her deal is or who she is. Ok, so I thought she might be someone else, but she is apparently a new character, created when Adam Warlock used the Infinity Gauntlet to purge both good and evil from his soul so he could be a logical, impartial god. His evil became the Magus (Even tho he fought the Magus way back in the 70s?), and his good became The Goddess. This all apparently happened in Infinity War. Now that The Magus has been defeated, I guess we gotta deal with the good side.
Well, if the Web art team was looking for a breather after Maximum Carnage, they are really, really out of luck.
Fantastic Four, Avengers, Avengers West Coast, X-Men, X-Factor, Alpha Flight, New Warriors, various space guys, loners like DD, Moon Knight and Hulk, the gang’s all here. Well, all in those 2 places. I guess Paradise Omega must be on Counter-Earth, a copy of Earth created on the opposite side of the sun by The High Evolutionary and rotating in parallel. Ain’t comics great? Warlock has a history with the place, and I think it was The Magus’ home base in Infinity War.
Well, ok. Spider-Man being so deeply involved seems like a real problem for this series. One assumes anything of true importance will happen in the main book, and we’re tying in for 3 whole issues? Back on Earth, JJJ and Robbie have a late night argument. The Goddess’ influence has essentially halted evil on Earth, and JJJ is furious there’s no newsworthy bad news in tomorrow’s paper. Robbie, obviously, tells him that’s stupid and leaves… to meet Betty. They’re up to something, but it begins to be implied it’s not an affair, which is nice. Not sure what it is, tho. Back in space, The Goddess offers more vague platitudes and entreats her followers to pray for her, and Spider-Man flashes back to how he got here, having a rooftop chat with MJ. They’re discussing the friction between them recently about Spider-Man. I guess. The dialogue is pretty weird.
Spidey thinks his lifelong passion for science leaves him enough room for doubt to question all this, and as the heroes silently break up, he follows Moondragon toward some kinda gigantic cathedral. She notices, cuts his web line with a mental blast, references a bunch of stuff from Infinity Crusade #2, which I obviously don’t know, and says “The Goddess is unavailable for the duration of the rapture.” Ok! I am really confused. I hate these mega-events.
I literally don’t know what’s happening. Why are they fighting? Is Spider-Man filling the traditional Wolverine role here of being the only hero who hasn’t been captured/brainwashed/etc? This sucks! I’m so glad I didn’t buy it as a kid, I would’ve been even more upset then. As he chases Moony, the floor disappears, replaced by a raging fire.
Man, is he gonna fight the ghosts of his dead loved ones? Again? Please say he’s not. I guess only dedicating half of each issue to the crossover is one way to deal with it. When the cover said “From the pages of Maximum Carnage: Nightwatch!,” it turns out they meant he stars in a backup story. But I don’t give a shit about Nightwatch. Half my Spider-Man comic is dedicated to Fake Spawn. I am SO GLAD I didn’t buy this as a kid. Nightwatch inflicts some Traditional Spawn Violence on some guys stealing an “ancient Macedonian deathmask” from a museum, and when confronted, their leader puts it on, apparently becoming a villain called Deathgrin. I literally do not care. 2 more issues of this!