Back to the good comic, and that cover looks like it’ll be something, eh? Back in Brooklyn, the kids have gotten up onto a building, looking down on another stunning Stuart Immonen rendering of a destroyed Manhattan, now with a giant tornado of purple energy exploding out of Dr. Strange’s house. Kitty wonders if Peter is ok. MJ looks very angry.
Ouch. Ouch all around. Poor Kong. But they shouldn’t worry, Peter is doing fine, having a chat with Dr. Strange. Just kidding, it’s a flashback to months ago, sometime after USM 110, although I’m not sure when, as Spidey seems to be in a pretty good mood. They talked about how Daredevil sucks (Ouch), and Strange was happy to show him the Orb of Acmantata, a big ol’ globe he says houses all the evil stuff from other dimensions that shouldn’t be here. Spidey became nervous about this, but both Strange and Wong assured him the house was protected by various spells and it would take an act of God to break into the house. So, then, obviously…
Must this entire comic be 2-page spreads? I mean, really.
Well, there I go. Wouldn’t it be funny if all of this event turned out to be Nightmare making people think New York blew up and everyone died? Could’ve happened in a Bill Mantlo comic! Well, Nightmare makes Hulk confront all the people he’s killed, which sends him into an even Hulkier rage, while Spider-Man encounters monstrous versions of the Sinister Six Five. When he protests to Nightmare that this is all fake and he doesn’t have time for it, even-more-evil Doc Ock grabs him by the head and throws him through a wall. Cut to Hulk drowning in a sea of dead people blaming him for his crimes, and then, in a very memorable bit…
Goes from very funny to very not in 5 panels.
Spidey’s monstrous rogues gallery expands to include Carnage and Daredevil as our man is so beaten down he begins to think nothing he ever did made a difference.
Nighty really miscalculated when he upset a giant unstoppable rage monster. Hulk chases the fleeing Nightmare and keeps on smashing, eventually catching him and bashing him right into the ground with a big piece of concrete, which…
…may not have been the best choice. Next time, we’ll start to wind this debacle down…