And we’re back. Castle’s still falling, heroes are recapping, it’s all happening. Archangel, being all tough and mean since he got transformed by Apocalypse, thinks they should just leave, but Cyclops won’t leave Power’s goons to die, and also worries the castle will fall on people. Spidey and Beat set out to try to find a way to stop their fall as Angel goes outside to see what’s what, discovering that, naturally, they’re headed straight for a town below.
An honest-to-goodness superhero adventure that even has actually funny comedy bits? Are we sure this wasn’t ghostwritten?
Nevermind, DeMatteis has tipped over into his usual Komedy territory. SHIELD shows up to tow away the castle, Spidey and Beast quipping it up on the ground. The X-Men thank him for his help, and he hitches a ride on a train back to the city, sleeping most of the way. He thinks about how he’s always liked Hank due to their similar senses of humor, and that’s a good point, I guess that’s why people pair them up somewhat often. Leaving the train, he swings back into town, thinking about his folks, thinking about what it would be like if he let his guard down and it turned out to be a scam, like when Gwen came back. Which is an unusually reasonable thing for a superhero to do. Like, every hero has died and come back at this point, and yet everyone acts so sad when someone dies still. Give it a month or two, they’ll be back. It makes perfect sense not to trust this miraculous return.
It’s funny, I’m obviously not what you’d call a fan of this DeMatteis, but I also try to be objective and give him points when he’s cooking, and even I have been thinking this parents story would be better suited to his interests than the other writers. And I mean, look at this. This is the most impactful scene since they came back. Someone’s finally really digging into what a messy, strange situation this would be for everyone involved beyond Peter just thinking, “Gee, I hope I can trust them!” and them being nice all the time in ASM. This is a glimpse of what this story should have been like. And Sal played it very well, too. All points to the team here. We next find Peter on a train back into the city, too exhausted to swing, ruminating on how much he’s always loved the subway, until some creep starts bothering a lady across the way. Peter speaks up, the guy gets in his face, and Peter grabs him by the wrist a little too hard. Everything he’s just been through has gotten the best of him. He thinks about that as he walks into his building and takes the elevator up… and then his Spider Sense goes off just before the door opens.
Fun time couldn’t last too long in THIS title! Naturally, this leads to Peter and MJ having a huge fight over him wanting her and May to leave town and her not wanting to go, and MJ storming out and Peter throwing a bookend through the wall. Had to get that shadow of doom back over the book ASAP! Peter thinks Harry’s not going to do this to them again.
Aaaand we’re all set for an oversized and overpriced grand finale. Will it have a shiny foil cardstock cover? Of course it will!