Well, there’s a situation you don’t want to be in. They promised us this story would be the worst day of Peter Parker’s life. When longtime Amazing Spider-Man editor Nick Lowe said something like that, the story never came close to delivering. And he seemed to have to say it about almost every story for like 6 years. But this is USM. Will they deliver? That gun looks pretty familiar…
This was, in some ways, perhaps inevitable. I mean, where else could this bit go? We hop back to 2 hours ago, where Peter is helping MJ with a video assignment for school when Shocker bursts out of a business, doing his thing. Peter says he has to beat this guy up once a week, and tells MJ to film this instead of what she was doing for her project.
So, Shocky started firing into the crowd, bundled the unconscious Spider-Man into a van, and drove off, leaving a distraught MJ in his wake. In the present, Shocker is ranting and raving about his a kid has cost him so much, occasionally zapping Peter for emphasis. Back at the scene of the crime, cops are trying to find out what happened, and a panicking MJ calls her nemesis, Kitty Pryde, to ask for help.
So, we see Kitty go to a “Captain Quaid” with the NYPD, who oh-so-conveniently is a friend of Wolverine’s, and she uses that to get in with him and explain the situation. She wants him to use the tape to find Spider-Man, whose secret must be maintained, and then tell her where he is so she can save him. Quaid isn’t so keen on letting her do the leg work, but wants to see the tape.
Peter certainly has a point there.
We have reached… the exposition.
Shocker turning out to be more fuel for Bendis’ long-running Roxxon thing is a nice touch. A surprising connection to a totally unrelated runner. Shocky finishes up by freaking out and zapping Spider-Man some more. Too much more. And the chain breaks, freeing our hero and knocking down Shocker. When he gets up, a very angry Spider-Man is standing over him.
When I read superhero comics, and somebody gets Buscema punched like that, especially post-2000 “realistic” comics, I just can’t help thinking “that guy’s dead.” A kid who can lift a bus punches you that hard? His skull is a liquid now.
Neat and tidy. Was this the worst day of Peter Parker’s life? I mean, obviously not. He’s watched friends die, he lived through the clone saga, this was just an unpleasant evening. But it was an entertaining issue. And also the end of the Shocker running gag. It had run its course. And kept going. Repeatedly. One assumes Spider-Man kept catching him over and over, but we don’t see it anymore. Now, as tends to be the case, palate cleansers over, it’s time for another big story.