In my clearly failing memory, Gwen’s death went into the Wolverine story and then right into this, the latest Goblin story. Those last 4 issues, I forgot them entirely. This, I remember. I remember it not being very good. Maybe I’m wrong! Unexpectedly, to say the least, under a “NINE MONTHS AGO” caption, this issue begins with the moment Peter got bit by the spider. Which is actually quite interesting as Bagley, 5 years later, way more interested in the material, working under a different inker and colorist, recreates the sequence of the bite, the spider landing on MJ, Kong killing it, etc. Familiar but very different. Then a slightly extended version of Peter & MJ going home after, and then…
Everything you know is wrong! Did Bendis have this in his back pocket at any time in the past? Harry and MJ were very chummy in the 2nd Goblin story. It’s a shocking development, for sure, but he lands it, I think. Well, in the present, we find Spider-Man, held by the neck by an Ultimate Killer Shrike in a high tech Roxxon lab, where Shrike is bragging about having beaten Spidey and demanding “the adamantium” or he’ll kill our hero, to which a scientist says, “we don’t know him. Go ahead.” Then Spidey quickly trounces the Shrike, revealing he was playing possum, but that guy took the fun out of it. He doesn’t know what adamantium is, and no one’s interested in telling him, so he just takes off. Across a 2-page transit spread, he complains he was just trying to go get his paycheck during his school lunch, and now he’s missed eating. He wants to remember to look up “adamantium” later as he arrives at school, then starts beating himself up for doing bad in the fight, being sad Gwen is dead, blaming himself because she & Ben died in his house, and then someone calls his name.
Trouble in paradise. Peter arrives home later to May working on packing, and asking how his packing is going. She is very excited that they’re moving tomorrow. Peter’s not excited about much of anything as he descends into his basement to keep packing it up. He broods about how, the last time he saw Harry, he promised to kill Peter and the Ultimates (In Ultimate six #7, of course), and now he acts like nothing happened. He wonders if he can rust Harry. Or himself, after how mean he was to MJ. Then someone off panel asks him where he thinks he’s going.
Weeeeeeeellp. No good can come of this. Especially since the arc is called “Hobgoblin.” We’ll see how things deteriorate more next time.