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by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey   Cover Date- February 1989 Price- 50p Script- Gerry Conway Art- Sal Buscema Lettering- Rick Parker Colour- Sharen/Wilcox Editor- Jim Salicrup Editor-In-Chief- Tom DeFalco Publisher- Marvel Comics synopsisThe strange phenomenon known as "Inferno" continues to plague Manhattan and terrorise its residents, including Jason Philip Macendale and Peter Parker. Things come to a head for our friendly neighbourhood web-slinger at the offices of the Daily Bugle, whereas for the man formerly known as Jack O'Lantern, a deal struck with the demonic N'Astirh leads to unexpected consequences. (K) Dave That's some crazy cover for issue 147 of Spec Spidey. The strangest tag-team in history? Kev Definitely. I quite like this cover, actually. Spidey fighting side-by-side with J. Jonah Jameson is an odd tag-team, alright. The rest of it is ridiculous, what with all the 'Inferno' demons and everything, but it has that trademark Buscema kinetic energy to it and it's a nice image of Spidey. Dave I agree. The Spidey outfit stands out a mile amongst the more muted colours in this cover, but it is a wacky cover, for sure. We get to see that Jonah is no pushover in combat as well. Kev Oh, for sure. You don't mess with the Daily Bugle. Whether you're a demon or not. It's Jonah's baby. He'll mess you up, big style. We're treated to yet another, typical Conway/Buscema splash page. This time, it's of a mewling Hobgoblin, who's talking to himself and being Mr. Basil Exposition here, in addition to basically admitting that, as a character, he's just a rip-off of the Green Goblin. Dave The opening full page panel is so odd, it is just the whining, petulant rant of the Hobgoblin. Who was the Hobgoblin around this time? Kev At this point, it's Jason Philip Macendale. Dave I cannot remember him and judging by his behaviour in this issue, I wouldn't want too. Kev I quite liked him in the run-up to this. He was originally Jack O'Lantern, then essentially leapt into Ned Leeds' grave to be the Hobgoblin after Leeds was killed. He seems to have a halloween fetish and an inferiority complex though. That's a nice action scene by Buscema on page 3, with the Hobgoblin's skirmish with the demons.  "What are you supposed to be, some kind of a cosmonaut?" Dave Yeah, I like how he blasts the Spidey billboard. As odd as it is, I will say that this issue is actually quite a good read, as it is having a bit of fun with the whole suspension of disbelief required for 'Inferno.' I was a bit unsure in the first few pages, but it started to grow on me. Kev This issue is a tough one for me. Much like last issue; I like all the Spider-Man and the supporting character bits, but the whole 'Inferno' storyline, I could do without to be honest. Maybe you're right though, perhaps I just need to suspend my disbelief a bit more. Well, a lot more. Dave The demons that attack Hobgoblin remind me of the monster Zuul from 'Ghostbusters.' Kev Yep, even N'Astirh is just a horsey Zuul. Dave Look at the panel where the ghost-like apparitions are chasing the people down the street, total 'Ghostbusters.' Again, we see that Buscema can draw some memorable looking extras.  "Please. Please. Let's make some. I believe it's magic." Kev It really is just 'Ghostbusters,' isn't it? Yeh, Buscema's superb. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find new ways of praising him, actually. Dave Yeah, Buscema is a very inventive artist. It is an interesting mixture of colours used in this issue. Plenty of green, yello, muted blue and even the background colours all blend in. It's really only Spidey's strong colours that stand out in this palette. Kev Yeh, the palette is quite "sickly" looking. Like you said, lots of greens and yellows. Interestingly, Bob Sharen has a bit of assistance on colouring duties this issue, from John Wilcox. I wonder if his sensibilities lent themselves to him being tapped to help out here, or if it was just a deadline pressure thing? Dave I suppose there is always a tight deadline to get these issues done, which can suppress the creativity a tad and this issue is just non-stop chaos throughout it. Kev Yeh, totally. Give the creative team their dues, they really manage to convey that sense of chaos, alright. I love that first panel on page 9, of Jonah looking like a bad-ass with the stick and the cigar, just holding court and directing traffic. He shows himself to be a natural leader, once again. Even Urich is thinking, "For all his bluster, that man is a born leader." Although, even JJJ is terrified on the inside, by these events.  "I think we better split-up." "Yeah, good idea." "Yeah, we can do more damage that way." Dave This issue gives Jonah a redeeming quality, it proves that when the shit goes down, he's ready to put his fists up and go for it. Kev Definitely. Especially when they're messing with his beloved Daily Bugle. I like how Conway conveys that MJ's Egyptian-motif photo shoot as feeling pretty lame to her. It shows that MJ's seemingly glamourous job is not always what it's cracked-up to be and that she's all too aware of how ridiculous the fashion world is. Dave Yeah, MJ does not seem happy with this modelling gig. But then, MJ's character is often shown by her admitting she puts on an act, which she is very good at. Kev Yeh, she's getting in on the action here too, whilst getting a couple of not-so-subtle digs in on Wexler, the advertising agency rep. She's shown to be the hero in her situation and her environment here, just like Jonah is in his. They're all heroes, in a way, are the Spidey supporting characters. Dave Spidey gets well messed-up in this issue when he gets attacked by that Zuul lookalike and then collapses in Jonah’s office. Makes you wonder why Jonah didn't take his mask off. Was this an oversight by the writer perhaps, or are we supposed to look for some deep psychological meaning to Jonah's behaviour, ie. his fear prevented him? Kev I reckon Jonah is just a bit preoccupied by the madness that's going on around him at this moment. If Spidey collapsed in his office under different, calmer circumstances, I reckon that mask would've been off tout suite. Dave Yep, this issue does give the supporting characters a chance to shine while our friendly neighbourhood wallcrawler is not doing as well. Kev He's really not, is he? Neither is Harry though. He's completely deluding himself as to his reasons for wearing the Goblin outfit here. He's also doing a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of exposition. The Goblins must be on exposition duties this month. Dave All whilst he is being attacked by a giant toilet flush with red eyes. Right enough. There seems to be some deep, inner searching going on with the Goblins in this issue. You've got to give the artist and creative team their dues though, they are certainly not going for the conventional. It actually it reminds me of those water fountains that shoot the water upwards.  "Generally you don't see that kind of behaviour in a major appliance."  "Oh my God. Look at all the junk food." Kev Ha, ha! The toilet flush monster. I like that. Conway, and in particular, Buscema are certainly being allowed to cut loose in this issue, that's for sure. And like MJ and JJJ, Robbie gets his opportunity to show his hero credentials here. He's got some moves with the cane, but he's also starting to get a bit full of himself. Not everything is about you, Robbie. Joking aside, Conway has had to put his own plots on hold for this massive crossover event, yet he's still reminding readers where they're up to. However, they are all feeling somewhat static at this point. Robbie comes across as such a good dude though. The sort of man you could easily look up to. Dave The character arcs are still covered in this issue though, such as Robbie's sense of confidence returning. Kev Oh, definitely. They're not completely abandoned. Conway's been showing Robbie's confidence coming back to him, bit by bit, over the past few issues. He's certainly recovering somewhat from his ordeals with Tombstone. Dave This feels like a slight homage to those George Romero horror movies of the 60's, 'Night of the Living Dead,' etc. Kev Ah, that's a good point, man. That hadn't occurred to me at all, but yeh, you're spot-on. And we get a far more blatant reference to it next issue as well. Perhaps it was a favourite of Conway's. Kev I like this N'Astirh. He's feisty in his dealings with the Hobgoblin. "Amuse me..... I'm not laughing yet, by the way." Dave I'm going to go for another movie similarity to N'Astirh; the first panel of him reminds me of Tim Curry as The Lord Of Darkness in 'Legend' from 1985.  "Gozer the Gozerian? Good evening." Kev Yes. Another cracking spot, Sir. Dave He is not too impressed by Mr. Hobgoblin’s offer anyway, "Still you made me laugh...and that's worth something." I suppose even monsters who speak perfect English need to be cheered up now and again. Kev Ha, ha! Apparently so. I like how he just launches Hobgoblin back across Manhattan with one blast. Dave Yeah, I also like the scene where Ben Urich is being attacked and Spidey comes around and injects his usual humour into the proceedings. Kev Yeh. The last panel on page 20 is more evidence of Sal Buscema changing his Spidey to fit the new model. Those eye lenses are getting bigger and bigger. Dave That was one the things about Spidey; I remember, depending upon who drew him, the lenses would always change size. Kev In particular with McFarlane, the eye lenses would often change size, dramatically, between panels. Dave Who was resident artist on 'Web of Spider-Man' at that time? Kev Alex Saviuk. He was superb too. Dave Those were three different styles of Spidey, which was a great variety for reading. Kev Yeh, it was a period where all three of the Spidey titles at the time had artists who were just killing it. And you're right, they each had their own distinctive style. Dave Spidey is relishing his moment with Jonah, when the two of them are teaming up. I like the mutter and grumbles from Jonah after Spidey jokes, "I always thought we'd make a good team, you and me." Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, this is the last thing JJJ would want. And so we have the Demon Goblin. I really liked the Hobgoblin up until this point, with Flash Thompson suspected of being him, Ned Leeds actually being him, then Macendale taking over from Leeds, I enjoyed all of that, but the demon stuff just didn't appeal to me at all. I suppose though, with the Green Goblin coming back via Harry Osborne, they needed to do something with the Hobgoblin to differentiate him from the Green Goblin, otherwise he just continues to seem like a pale imitation of the original. Not sure I would have gone demon like, but y'know? Dave Yeah true, but I'm kind-of enjoying this issue now. I can imagine the action scenes being accompanied by some good ole rock 'n' roll/heavy metal soundtrack to add to the fun of this, 'cause it is chaotic from start to finish. Kev Ha, ha! Some good hair metal. Yeh, I must admit, to start with, I just couldn't be bothered with all this 'Inferno' stuff. It just seemed like an inconvenience that was getting in the way of the main story, but now that I've had a chance to sit with it and look back over it, I've come to enjoy it quite a bit more. It's decent enough, eccentric fun. And God forbid a comic book would be fun. Dave I like the old woman smashing the monster with a massive book, then in the next panel another woman is smashing them with a typewriter. This is fight choreography to make Jackie Chan proud.  "Rivers and seas boiling." "Forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes." "The dead rising from the grave."  "Dogs and cats, living together..... mass hysteria!" Kev Definitely. Talk about using your environment, eh? Dave I like the narration during the office panel by Conway, it's quite humorous. While this onslaught of carnage is going on, it's referring to New York's daily troubles, "power blackouts, stalled subway trains and check out cashiers whose primary language seems to be an obscure sub-dialect of Serbo-Croatian.” I never picked up on that bit before. Fresh perspective I guess. Kev Yeh, not sure about the "Serbo-Croatian" bit though. That hasn't aged well. It sounds a bit off, to say the least. Dave Definitely. Nowadays you wouldn't get away with that. Kev Nope. You certainly wouldn't. Dave That panel of Spidey where he is laughing, causing Jonah to bite his cigar in two is quite funny. Again, the eyelids become very expressive. Kev Yeh. Those three panels of Jonah dropping the cigar from his mouth are really good. A nice little bit of comic relief at the end of all the crazy horror. Dave Plus, Jonah is actually showing some concern for Spidey when he collapses again. Kev That's true actually, yeh. He does. Dave What do you make of the last two pages with Hobgoblin's transformation? Kev As I said earlier, I'm not a huge fan of the demon Hobgoblin, but those two pages, as a sequence and a big reveal, are outstanding. Superb storytelling by all involved. Dave It’s a good round off to this issue. That's the thing about good writing; it has to keep the reader interested. Find a new cliffhanger, take things in a different direction. Kev That's a good point, actually. Yeh, you're right. And Conway's a pro at this.  "What a lovely singing voice you must have." (D) & (K) Next: 'Night Of The Living Ned.' 
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