That’s a very old school looking cover. This issue begins with…
Making Peter’s identity secret again was obviously a good idea, but stealing it even from Norman is actually great idea. If you can get past the idea that almost every interaction they’ve ever had in the past now makes zero sense, that is. But Norman was a wildly unpleasant villain because it was too personal. Sure, it was shocking and exciting once. Maybe even twice. But Norman, and then Harry, had to keep getting amnesia and forgetting they were the Goblin, because if they didn’t, they’d be the villain in every issue. Venom is the same problem. A villain who knows Spider-Man’s secret has to either die, “die,” or have some convoluted reason they don’t just keep coming after him until one of them is dead. And all those people not remembering Peter is Spider-Man creates an absolute flood of continuity problems, but what you get in return is maybe worth it. Also, Songbird seeming pretty ok with this seems very out of character.
Like, Songbird is a good guy. Fated to become an Avenger in the future, according to the great Busiek/Perez Avengers Forever miniseries. She could at least look conflicted. One really has to wonder what on Earth Norman’s opinion about Peter could be now. They had no relationship before he found out Peter was Spider-Man. Spider-Man and the Green Goblin are their whole lives together. Now Norman’s forgotten it. This is followed by Vin coming in, somehow not having seen any stormtroopers outside, not alarmed by Peter’s beaten face, and saying “What did I tell you? No parties!” to the destruction in the apartment. Asinine. Ludicrous. Terrible. While that stupid end to an otherwise interesting scene is playing out, we go back to the FEAST center, where Eddie Brock comes to tell May and Martin Li he’s cancer free. Eddie can’t stop crying from relief, which is really nice, actually. A rare human moment for a character who’s never had a personality.
So does Martin Li not know he’s Mr. Negative? Man, that’s even more reason to have kept it a secret! I will never understand.
I really can’t with this crap. Radioactive Man one time Soviet saboteur, man of the people. I want to know the official story of how incarcerated murderer Norman Osborn is suddenly leading an apparently beloved crimefighting task force made up of fellow murderers (And Songbird) and everyone loves it. I just can’t buy it. But I guess it helps sell Norman’s post-Secret Invasion status quo better than I remembered, at least.
I do not get the Colbert thing! Joe Quesada had a thing for him, bad.
I think Romita was trying to give Norman a high’n’tight, like a military haircut, and Dean White is just not coloring it that way. At first, I thought maybe John was trying to de-emphasize the baffling Ditko hair, but he makes no such choice with Harry. Curious. Well, Harry blows up at Lily for trying to be nice, Osborn-style, and storms out. Lily tells Carly she’s never seen him like that. Meanwhile, Norman arrives at “Osborn Manor, on Columbus Circle, the newly constructed residence of Norman Osborn,” which is also serving as the Thunderbolts’ HQ at the moment. Why does he need a fancy new address in New York when he’s always in Thunderbolts Mountain? Osborn has the curiously small number of Thunderbolts he brought with him out canvasing known Spider-Man areas. Venom says “we’ve be in his had, in his soul. We know that meatbag from the inside out.” So, like, how does he not know that meatbag is Peter Parker? It doesn’t hold water. Shouldn’t he be wracking his brain trying to figure out why he can’t remember who that meatbag is under the mask? Norman wants to know where Peter Parker is, but no one knows. He says Peter “has a line on the bug” that he’s “exploited in the past.” What on Earth does that mean!? This is so messy, man. So messy. Well, they can’t find Peter because Spider-Man is breaking into the building. As he does so, he hypothesizes that Norman and Crowne are behind the Spider-Tracer Killings. I mean, I guess that’s as good a guess as any.
Man I love this art team! But Spider-Man has webbed the entire floor, so the goons are stuck, and then he does a cool trick where he’s webbed some bolts from the walls and swings them around, knocking all the goons out. Norman recalls his Tbolts, but Venom is refusing to come in, because he’s been hunting Eddie Brock instead of Spider-Man, and he’s found him.
Romita’s art kind of feels like a “best of all eras” phase at this point. There’s bits and pieces and flourishes from all his major evolutions in these 2 issues. I am loving it. Venom goes smashing into FEAST, looking for Spider-Man, somehow? Li tells everyone to remain calm, since Venom is a licensed hero, and Venom himself makes fun of that as he smashes the place to bits talking to Spider-Man.
Buddy, that makes zero sense.
Fart sound. Yes, Anti-Venom. What a ridiculous development. What a ridiculous name. What a strange place to do this. But it speaks well of this period that, in a story about Spider-Man vs. the Thunderbolts, there’s so much going on in the periphery that this can happen. And my feelings (slash beef with various specific story choices throughout his 10 years on the character) aside, there’s really no question that Dan Slott is the top guy in the “brain trust.” Gale and Guggenheim were nonstarters, and Zeb Wells hasn’t gotten to do much yet. Slott’s done the best stories and is the first to get a 6-parter. It’s no wonder he’s the only one standing when the “brain trust” era ends.