As we open part 2 of the Dusk saga, Trapster has been visited by a gang of assassins called The Waiters, who all dress like waiters. This is pretty funny, kind of a “The Warriors” thing. But they didn’t know they just glued themselves to the floor, and then Dusk emerges from the shadows and takes them all down.
Hijinks! Anna thinking about leaving the book, eh? Could there be a reason for that? And the next page was for all the ladies who’d suffered through 30 years of cheesecake (And, presumably, some of the guys also)…
But don’t worry, MJ’s in her underwear on the next page, comics are still comics. As they get ready for bed, they discuss their very tight financial situation. Peter says he’ll try to get some extra work at The Bugle, but MJ says she’s been known to be the breadwinner in this family, too. Goodness, what could that mean? The next day, Peter ad Paul Stacy have an argument about the quality of Peter’s research in front of the students they’re taching, which is cool, and then Professor Howard calls Peter outside to mention his work has been less than stellar lately and kind of suggest he should quit. Who’s this guy? Has he been in a book before? No one’s given any real consideration to Peter’s schooling since 1982. It’s like they feel like he has to be in school, but no one wants to write about it.
Love it when Romita does a panel like that bottom one. Ever since I first saw him do it in ASM 290. Later that night, Dusk is at Arthur Stacy’s, getting wired to try to get Trapster on tape confessing to the murder of Joey Z. Then Jill comes in, and Arthur panics, but Dusk has vanished. Jill says Paul hasn’t been taking his medication, and then Paul comes in to be a jerk about it. Paul essentially disowns them, which seems like good news for them, and leaves. Arthur tells Jill she’s been overdoing it since she was shot, and won’t listen to her trying to talk about pinning George & Gwen’s murder on Spider-Man. This whole business has been so haphazard. Arthur was reintroduced wanting to bring Spider-Man to justice, then that shifted to Paul, and now it’s shifted to Jill. When she leaves, we learn Dusk is still there, and he asks if he & Arthur should stop working together, but Arthur won’t hear it. So…
Trappy’s idea of fun is to break into one of Norman’s facilities, take out some guards, and sneak right up on him. If Dusk knows this is what they’re doing, he doesn’t let on. Suddenly, Trappy & Norman are face to face.
No way that tape makes it out of this issue alive.
Trapster surprises Norman by quickly encasing him in glue, even his face. He’s ranting about how rich guys in suits are the real supervillains (No argument there!) and about to kill him when Dusk intervenes. Trappy can’t believe it, and even shoots some spikey glue sticks at him, saying if he’s not with him, he’s against him. Dusk tries to grab him, and gets elbowed in the chest, which surely broke the recording equipment.
Another one ends with no real reason for Peter to stop being Dusk. Very strange. Next up, we have to finish off Prodigy, but with whom, since JM has fled the sinking ship?