SPIDER-MAN VS. VENOM (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #315)

Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey

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​​Writer- David Michelinie
Artist- Todd McFarlane
Letterer- Rick Parker
Colourist- Bob Sharen
Editor- Jim Salicrup
Editor In Chief- Tom DeFalco

Published 12/01/1988
by Marvel Comics

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Synopsis

Peter and Mary Jane have been evicted from their luxurious condo apartment on account of MJ spurning the advances of her stalker landlord, Jonathan Ceasar, and as a result have moved into the Forest Hills residence of Peter's Aunt May, who has turned his childhood home into a boarding house to alleviate her own financial troubles.  May is also somewhat romantically involved with once of her residents, the gambling addicted, mobster money owing ray of sunshine that is Nathan Lubensky.  Peter has even more problems with his new living arrangements, as his wife's cousin, Kirsty, who is battling issues of her own in the form an eating disorder, also has designs on her cousin's husband.  Oh, and there's some "fights in tights" stuff in here as well.  Honest.

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Dave
So, now we are jumping forward to May ‘89 and onto ‘A Matter of Life and Debt,’ the next part of the collaboration of David Michelinie and Todd MacFarlane.  What do you make of the cover?  I’m kind-of just seeing it as another bog standard cover for an issue.  It’s a bit misleading, as Hydro-Man doesn't feature much in this issue, and he looks like a bulked up Peter Parker.  This is the first of many stylish Spidey poses by McFarlane that run throughout this issue though.


Kev
Yeh, I think the cover is fine.  It's certainly not a classic in the way next issue's is.  It's just Spidey being drowned by Hydro-Man.  Imagine drowning someone in your own matter.  Yuck!  I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for old Morris Bench.  He was featured in a story I read prior to this (in an issue of Spider-Man and Zoids, if I recall correctly) which I really enjoyed, so I've always had time for him and his B-Grade villain tomfoolery.  Amazing Spider-Man really is the Todd McFarlane show by this point.  We’re just over a year into his run, and the title is very much revolving around him, but I totally understand why this is the case.  Continuing with our ongoing wrestling comparisons and references, when a talent is over with the audience, you push them to the moon.  Like Oba Femi.  Even the corner box has been updated to feature a more modern, McFarlane, rendition of Spidey, and it won’t be too long before he starts mixing it up in the lower corner box with his renditions of key characters as well.  Speaking of which, even back in 1989, when I was all of 11 years old, it felt like Michelinie was crafting his stories with the express purpose of letting Todd have a crack at Spidey’s classic rogues gallery.  I didn’t mind it then, and I don’t mind it now either.  Even at this point, they’re using Venom to sell the comic, as they feel the need to shoehorn him onto the cover, informing us that this issue features “.....the long awaited return of Venom.”  Calm down lads.  It had only been a year.  In saying that, a year feels a lot, lot longer when you're a pre-teen than it does in middle-age, right?  But that’s how much of an impact the character had, and how popular he had already become.  Marvel knew they had something a little bit special with him.  For context; by 1989, Spidey had been around for 27 years.  In 2026, Venom has been around for 38.


Dave
The full splash page, of Eddie Brock killing Hugh Taylor in his escape, is fantastic.  Brock's physicality is really getting emphasised, and to be fair it works well, just to heighten his menacing presence.  It is a visually striking image, with the colours working well together, the yellow in the background, to Brock, in contrast, with his blue/black colours.  There is a horror element to this in the way Venom kills, and the large imposing, threatening character, but it is not done in an overly horrific manner.


Kev
Yeh, I would say this portrayal of Venom was “horror inflected,” rather than straight-up, full-on horror.  I 100% agree about the horror of the death by suffocation though.  I also like how it is immediately followed by the guilt both Eddie and the symbiote feel inflicting it on an “innocent.”  It's a fascinating contrast, which helped adds layers to the character, and make him more interesting as Marvel started to pivot with him, and turn him more into an anti-hero “tweener.”  And I love the little kiss on the forehead after he’s killed Hugh here.  It’s an almost sweet gesture.  You're absolutely right about the amount of McFarlane Spidey poses in this issue though.  There's a ton of them.  “The non-mutant superhero” caption really took me back.  This was sort-of Spidey’s USP at this time, and they were really leaning into it.  We were firmly in the era of anything with an X in the title, or anything even remotely associated with mutants, selling like hotcakes, so putting a bit of focus on the fact that Spidey was a little different in that regard, was a clever little piece of counter programming marketing.  The architecture of The Vault is interesting.  Kind-of Brutalist, yet with four equally imposing concrete, cylindrical pillar towers, which give it something of a southern European vibe as a contrast.  And Venom's teeth are starting to take shape too.  There’s definitely an H.R, Geiger, Xenomorph influence here.


Dave
Yeah, the little touch of guilt felt by Brock is layering him a villain.  The Venom pose as he swings away is great.  The whole panel is good in terms of colours as well, the cherry red ceiling for example, and I would say light brown walls work as a colour palette, as those colours help to highlight Venom.


Kev
It works so well against the so black he's blue of Venom, doesn't it?


Dave
Oh yeah, absolutely.  Why does Hydro-Man look like a puffed up Peter Parker on the top panel of the next page?  And we get another cracking Spidey pose from McFarlane here.  This is another great panel, and the return to Spidey's original outfit works so well against the darker colours of the villains.  The blacks highlight Spidey’s bright red and blue outfit.  In fact, that page has three cracking Spidey poses.  Do you think this issue should be renamed ‘Spidey Pose?’  Hydro-Man has a manic look on his face on the last panel on that page.  It's another caricature expression that McFarlane drew regularly.

Morris Bench; looksmaxxing since 1989.

Kev
Fair enough; forevermore McFarlane’s run shall be referred to as ‘The Amazing Spider-Pose.’  Ha, ha!  That smug grin on Hydro-Man's face in that top panel cracks me up.  He looks so pleased with himself, the big, dumb lug.  Yeh, the red and blue tights just pop against everything else, and off the page as a result, don't they?  I’ll give McFarlane credit for that, actually looking back on these issues has made me remember just how much fun they were, and he really manages to imbue these comics with that sensibility through his art.  It’s dynamic, it’s kinetic, and it’s humorous all at once.  It’s an absolute joy to look at.


Dave
He is not going for conventional looking people in his artwork, there is a real quirkiness to his faces when he draws them.  It's kind-of like he is drawing them in the style of a B-grade horror movie/grindhouse aesthetic, purposely emphasising the unusual features of people, yet it has a style of its own, and it’s certainly different to what the other Spidey titles were going for.


Kev
Yep.  It's a completely different look, and vibe, to both Sal Buscema's work on ‘Spectacular Spider-Man’ and Alex Saviuk's work on ‘Web Of Spider-Man,’ which were both being published at the same time.  I like the fact that not all McFarlane's characters are good looking.  Despite being really cartoonish in certain respects, they actually look more like real people rather than a bunch of models.  Page 53 is just an absolute masterclass in how to draw Spidey, and exactly why McFarlane became a rock star comic book artist.  Like you said earlier, those poses, Man.  Michelinie is also doing an excellent job in bringing us up to speed with where we are in Peter and MJ’s lives, which is particularly effective, and helpful to us here, as we’ve skipped 14 issues just to get to the next Venom appearance.  Every comic could be someone's first, and all that.  Or, a pair of lazy, old jerks might not be arsed to read the intervening year’s worth of comics just to get to this point.  I’m especially enjoying being reminded of the whole Jonathan Ceasar saga.


Dave
Those 4 pages of Spidey battling Hydro-Man are superb. The quality of the artwork is amazing, and also the colours jump off the page.  They’re so bright and eye-catching.  There are too many great poses in those pages.  McFarlane is earning his pay in this issue, for sure.  The first panel, of Spidey climbing up the wall on page 53, as we see it close up and everyone is looking up, reminds me of a shot from the ‘70’s Spidey series, as we often seen close-ups of Fred Waugh high up a building and the camera showing the people down on the ground looking up.  Yep, that whole page is just excellent.  The poses are fantastic.


Kev
Funny you should say that, I thought exactly the same about that panel.  Of course, it could be that I stick that soundtrack on when I'm re-reading and taking my notes on these issues for these reviews.  That could be the reason for it reminding me of that, right there.


Dave
I like that Michelinie has brought us straight up to speed with what's happening in the life of Pete and MJ, and he is capturing the complexities of the everyday life of Peter Parker while not being Spider-Man.  His writing talents are great.  The top panel on page 54 needs a mention for Spidey poses.  I don't need to say any more.

Now THAT is what you call a "superhero landing!"

​Kev
Definitely.  "Say less," as the kids have probably already stopped saying.  Yeh, part of the reason Michelinie gets away with that sort of exposition is, the now, unfortunately, out of fashion internal monologue in thought bubbles, but also the fact that McFarlane is making Spidey web swinging across New York to get home to Forest Hills so visually interesting.  Arresting even.  This really captured my imagination when I was an 11 year old lad.  It all seemed so exciting.


Dave
MJ’s hairdo is like a lion's mane, isn't it?  Again, McFarlane draws Pete and MJ with a distinctive style, and it's kind-of funny how, on page 55, in the middle panel, Pete looks like a Teddy Boy with his haircut.


Kev
Ha, ha!  You've nailed it.  I was wracking my brain, trying to think what Pete's haircut, his whole look actually, reminded me of, but the closest I could get to an answer that satisfied me, was that he looked a bit like James Dean.


Dave
Is it just me or are Mr. Chekhov's ears, on the bottom panel on page 55, a bit larger than the average human ear?


Kev
Ha, ha!  Just a little bit, yeh.  More of those McFarlane cartoonish stylings that we were referring to earlier.  I’ll be honest, I’m a complete sucker for the domesticity of all this.  The having to move back in with Aunt May, and May herself having to take in lodgers, just to make ends meet, I like that none of these characters are wealthy.  It made them 100 times more relatable to someone who was growing up in a scheme in Dundee in Scotland than say, a billionaire with a manor and a butler.  I also like this cast of characters in May’s boarding house.  I’d read a comic about their exploits.  It could be like a cross between ‘Cocoon’ and ‘The Golden Girls.’


Dave
That's a good crossover analogy.  I really like how this issue doesn't make the central focus Spidey Vs a villain of the month, as Hydro-Man was quickly flushed out of the story.  This is a testament to how good a writer Micheline is, he is grounding this story in the life of Peter, and how he has to deal with his current circumstances, as well as the whole relationship interactions and dynamics.  This is great for a Spidey story, and proof that less is actually more in terms of storytelling.


Kev
".....flushed out of the story."  Very good, Sir.  Well crafted.  Yeh, for me, Peter and his supporting cast should always be around 50% of the story.


Dave
And the choice of colouring on the top panel of the next page, as Rose and Victor are having a little squabble, where they are highlighted in blue to show the coldness of these people when they are not performing the put on social behaviours, is an excellent piece of visual storytelling.

Yeah, leave him alone, Rose. You shit!

​Kev
That's a really good point about the colour work on that panel, particularly when contrasted against the warmer tones of Peter, and the decor in May's house.  Again, Bob Sharen doing his usual bang-up job.  He's been a constant highlight of a lot of these Spidey stories that we've covered over the years.  Especially of late.


Dave
I vaguely remember MJ’s cousin Kirsty, but I forgot about her being in this issue.  That goofy Pete expression makes, as he awkwardly tries to evade Kristy's flirtatious advances, is another example of how McFarlane goes for those exaggerated, quirky expressions.  Nice little panel next to that one of Pete walking through the shadowed-out hallway.  It’s those little panels that are a conscious choice to elevate the look of an issue.


Kev
Yep, it's the little things, eh?  The devil is in the detail, as they say.  “Land sakes, Kristy.  You put away so many homemade cookies, it’s a wonder you stay as slim as your cousin, Mary Jane!”  I forgot about this subplot with Kristy and her eating disorder.  Which is interesting, because it did strike me that MJ had been portrayed as being significantly slimmer on the previous page than when we last saw her in #300.  Props to Michelinie and McFarlane on that one.  That is an outstanding attention to detail.  Michelinie was maybe even a bit ahead of the curve here, because although eating disorders in teenage girls were nothing new, we were still a couple of years before the “heroin chic” trend that caused a massive increase in them.  Kristy is an interesting character, alright.  She’s involved in two subplots here that would be considered uncomfortable even now.  Perhaps more so even.  I miss superhero comics tackling these kinds of social issues, but in an age of intense social media scrutiny and potential backlash, not least litigious, I can understand the reluctance to steer clear of such potential powderkegs.


Dave
And Pete catches Nathan up to some shady activity.  The penny is starting to drop that all is not what it seems with this guy.


Kev
Yeh, I love Peter having non-Spider-Man problems, such as protecting his aunt from an ill-advised relationship with gambling addict Nathan Lubensky here.  In fact, I sometimes prefer it when they don’t necessarily cross over into Spider-Man territory at all, but I can see why Michelinie and McFarlane would want to set the scene for another Spidey action scene a bit later on in this issue.  Spidey’s name is above the door after all, and that is what kids buy these comic books for.


Dave
Then back to Venom and, again, the horror element comes through here, as he tortures another victim with a devilish grin on his face.  You're right enough about what you said earlier; the H.R. Giger look for Venom is really apparent here.  At least his pearly whites are looking a bit more crooked now.  He clearly doesn't bother with a dental plan.  Even this guard's face has an exaggerated style to it.


Kev
Yeh, they really were pushing the notion of Venom being quite a horrific character, ”...but he will never sleep soundly again…”  You're right, he doesn't quite have those "Turkey Teeth" sort of perfectly white blocks of tombstone veneers that he seemed to have last year.  Maybe the dental care in The Vault leaves something to be desired.  “Sure hope I set the timer on my VCR right.”  More examples of how this comic is a relic of a bygone age.


Dave
Oh yeah, setting the timer on a VCR.  That's a thing of the past, alright.  What a Spidey pose that is on page 58.  It’s rich in colour and detail, it instantly catches your attention, and the background colours, again, help to centralise the focus on Spidey in the panel.

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The solution to all your financial woes is staring you right in the face, Pete. You, photographer, Mary Jane, feet.

Kev
Yep, McFarlane’s use of a Spidey web-swinging shot never failed to open a new scene, did it?


Dave
Okay, so who's this guy in the background on the last panel of 58?  Is he off to a fancy dress party as Adolf Hitler?  That’s a poor choice of outfit.


Kev
Ha, ha!  He does look a bit like the old Fuhrer, doesn't he?  Nathan’s fury looks a lot like Spider-Sense on the last panel of page 58, actually.


Dave
Good point.  Or maybe he's got Fuhrer-Sense instead.


Kev
Well crafted, Sir.  Well crafted.  Nathan Fuhrer.  Anyway, let's move swiftly on, before we get ourselves demonetised.  Ha, ha!  Like we've ever made a single penny off the back of this. 


Dave
Another thing I have noticed in the look of this issue, is that it kind-of has that grainy film stock from ‘70’s, and certainly ‘80’s movies, look to it.


Kev
Ah, it really does, doesn't it?  That’ll be the Ben-Day Dots.  Which might also be a massive part of the reason why I love the look of it so much.  See what I mean about longterm, slow-burn subplots?  Lubensky was beaten up due to his gambling addiction over 40 issues ago.  That’s over 3 years.  And was way before we really got into collecting Spider-Man comics.  But it didn’t matter to us then, you just read Jim Salicrup’s editor’s note for the merest shred of context, and you moved right on.  This has become a bit of a lost art, both for comic creators, and comic readers too, I think.  Have we become hooked on accessibility, and on the immediate gratification that it provides, so much so that we have lost a lot of our patience, and our imagination as well, as a result?


Dave
That's a good point.  Or perhaps we were just content to pick up from wherever the story was when we jumped aboard.


Kev
I think you're right.  I think we were smart enough, and the publishers had enough confidence in us to be smart enough, to just pick it up and fill in the blanks.


Dave
Page 59 is a visually stunning bunch of panels, each very distinctive in colour choices, with close-ups of Pete and Nathan, and again, the contradicting colours are making each of them stand out on their own merit.  Also, the choice to have shadows on the characters, or an overly bright background on the panels, such as when Nathan explodes at Pete with the red background to highlight his anger, is an excellent one.  Much like I mentioned earlier, with the Rose and Victor panel, the use of colour matches the emotion, and the bottom panel of Pete and Nathan with the plain black background, emphasises the darkness of feeling inside Nathan.


Kev
Yeh, Bob Sharen's work is excellent, no doubt about it  I do love it when the colourist is using their work for storytelling too.  


Dave
And page 60 is another collection of interesting panels in terms of look and composition.  This issue is not lapsing into any form of laziness in presentation, and I have to take my hat off to the creative team for constantly finding new ways to keep it interesting looking.


Kev
Yeh, for example, those vertical panels are a really effective way of breaking up the look, and flow, of a comic book issue when used correctly.  And that “Parker Luck,” Man.  Peter just cannot catch a break.  Especially not with money, and certainly not when he’s always trying to do the right thing.


Dave
It helps to show just how he is as much of an everyday person as the rest of us.

"All the pictures had all been washed in black, tattooed everything."

​Kev
Ain't that the truth?


Dave
That’s a funny bit, on page 61, when MJ asks Pete if he wants to talk, and a nosey Kristy gets excited, before being ushered off by Aunt May.


Kev
Ha, ha!  I liked that little bit of business as well.  


Dave
And also, it’s just dawned on me; is Kristy the human version of Ms. Lion from ‘Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends?’


Kev
She certainly looks like it, yeh.  Seriously though, don't bring up Ms. Lion to me.  She gives me the rage.


Dave
Oh yeah, could there be a more annoying character in the history of animation than Ms. Lion?  Can you even watch an episode of that show?


Kev
I can.  It's a bit of a struggle though.  It hasn't held-up as well as I would have liked.


Dave
Jeez, I think we have found out why Venom’s white gnashers are different in this issue; look at that panel of Nathan on page 62 as he gets caught.  Venom’s loaned Nathan his pearly whites.  McFarlane really goes for heightened characteristics on his characters' expressions throughout this issue.


Kev
Are they sharing a set of dentures then, yeh?


Dave
Maybe that was the dental plan he was on, you get a new set of gnashers every week.


Kev
Or at least every issue.  Hey, it's a decent plan then.


Dave
The Turkey Teeth, or the row of condemned houses look.  Either way, weekly is a good money saver.  Maybe you could alternate between them.  Venom gets then one week, Nathan the next.


Kev
Ha, ha!  It shares the cost of the dental plan, I suppose.  Those first two panels on page 63 are outstanding.  I love the heavy use of black ink.  It really makes it look, and actually feel, like night time.

"All the love gone bad, turned my world to black, tattooed all I see."

Dave
I was about to say that the change in colours really highlights the change in mood and tone, and the attention to detail is top notch.  Did Dennis Farina make a small appearance on page 63, with the sun glasses (at night time?) and hat, as a heavy in this issue?  Straight off the set of ‘Crime Story.’


Kev
Ha, ha!  Could be.  Farina is always welcome in any comic I'm reading.  Or in anything I’m watching, for that matter.


Dave
Just saying, the resemblance is pretty close.


Kev
Is it too close to be a coincidence?  Are we in photo reference territory here?  We've suddenly gotten a lot darker, and grittier, and more realistic here, haven't we?  I like Nathan’s DIY armoury, a steak knife, a can of bug spray, and a bag of flour.  You’ve got to admire the old guy’s ability to improvise, and use whatever he has at his disposal.  He's like an OAP McGuyver.


Dave
Nathan can put up a good fight, given his circumstances.  McFarlane is going back to his gore from ‘Batman Year Two’ with the knife slash here.


Kev
Ah, good spot.  Does that make Nathan Lubensky The Reaper?


Dave
Page 64 is very kinetic, and every panel is strong in terms of look and colour, as well as having an obscurity to it visually.  And, of course, another Spidey pose at the bottom, which steals the page.  The scuffle on page 65 battle verges on slapstick.  Notice the resemblance to Venom, as Spidey looms over the goon in a menacing pose.  Plus, we get some 1960's Batman TV show-style fight captions.

Mo' Better (Red And) Blues.

​Kev
Yeh, that Spidey pose on page 65 takes up the remaining real estate on that page in such a cool, and stylish way, and the layout of page 65 enhances the storytelling in such a quality way.  So simple, yet so effective.  And a Three Stooges reference to boot.


Dave
I love the urban setting, as we see Spidey leave the scene (another cool pose), and the blue background contrasts so well with his bright colourful look.  It’s a nice little touch to set it on a basketball court, which is a staple of New York urban life.  I’m loving the night visuals in this issue, they really stand out.

Allegations of flopping in the NBA got so bad, that costumed vigilantes had to step in to dispense some justice.

Kev
Yep, I'm always up for a game of basketball.  Even at night.  Particularly as the NBA Playoff Finals start this week.  And New York have made them for the first time in over a quarter of a century.  Speaking of shadows and a lack of light; that middle-left panel on Page 65, where Spidey’s face is obscured by shadow, is the sort of thing McFarlane loved playing around with, hinting at a darker, more brooding, arguably closer to the Batman output of the time, Spider-Man.  Which, of course, is something he would explore in much greater depth when he was afforded his very own Spidey title, “the adjectiveless” ‘Spider-Man.’  In fact, he immediately set out his stall in this regard with ‘Torment.’  “Doom!  Doom!  Doom!”  You can almost see him trying out ideas for what would become his own creation, in Spawn.  We should maybe cover ‘Torment’ at some point, for our sins.


Dave
That top panel on page 67 is worth a mention, and no Spidey poses this time, as Pete wheels Nathan away.  I love the attention to detail in it, with the building and the colour contrasts, but also Pete and Nathan are highlighted in a red colour.  As the mood between them is getting warmer and more connective, the red highlights a potential shift in their relationship.

"No need to run and hide, it's a wonderful, wonderful life."

​Kev
I love that panel.  I love McFarlane's rendering of the suburban environment.  The greens of the trees contrasting with the heavy inks of the night, just looks lovely, in my opinion.


Dave
Of course, Nathan was never going to quit gambling, he has an addiction.


Kev
No, Nathan was never going to get that monkey off his back, and his addiction is a pretty downbeat note on which to end what has generally been a really fun issue.  There’s no happy ending here.  Just a foreshadowing of more dark times ahead.  I’ve said it before, and on more than one occasion, but I do love it when we get that soap opera style drama to Peter’s life.  That, to me, is how you make the most of an ongoing Spider-Man series.


Dave
In that wide angle panel, the last one on 67, it’s also worth noting the sense of isolation on Nathan, with him shadowed out, the white and blueish background, and his glasses lens highlighted.


Kev
And a suggestion of a cloud over his head with McFarlane's linework.  He looks completely dejected, doesn't he?  Peter’s a badass in this scene though; using bribery to shut down a bunch of loan sharks.  Check him!


Dave
Yep, that was good for Peter.  He played them well.  He's supposed to be Spider-Man, not Robert McCall ‘The Equalizer.’


Kev
Ha, ha!  Of course, we get our little, one page, epilogue to set up the next issue here, where Venom will step fully into the spotlight, once again.


Dave
Yeah, the last page brings us back to Brock's travels, as some unsuspecting family has given him a lift.  It’s simple, but it leads into the next issue indeed.


Kev
Never pick up hitchhikers, Man.  Have these do-gooders never seen 'The Hitcher?'  


Dave
Indeed, some people just don't know any better.  That final image, which is actually split into three panels, captures his menacing tone.


Kev
Yeh, those last three panels are excellent, aren't they?  Like a camera panning down Eddie's face to his teeth. Teeth have been a recurring motif in this issue, no doubt about it.

"The spiders all in tune, the evening of the moon. Dreams are made, winding through my head."

Dave
So, that's another issue in the bag.  I’ve got to say, I thought this issue was great, and it was such an engaging story to read.  Firstly, I’d like to point out that David Micheline’s writing was superb.  He wove, or "webbed," together a brilliant, grounded, Spider-Man, story.


Kev
He certainly wove a good web of a story, that's for sure.  Ooofffttt!  That's a bit laboured.


Dave
Haha.  We are certainly spinning them out today.


Kev
Ha, ha!  Yep, this is exactly what I miss in ongoing comics these days; self-contained, episodic, A stories that also function well as chapters in a greater arc, with B and C subplots that unfold over a greater period of time.  And ones that I don’t necessarily expect to be resolved within the 4-6 issues it takes to be collected in a trade.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed rereading this issue as an old man, but I’m not so sure I would have appreciated it as much as a pre-teen.  I suspect this would have felt like filler to me, whilst I was waiting for the big rematch between Spidey and Venom that we know is coming in the next issue.  I don’t think I’m going to be around long enough to read it in another 37 years, but if I am, I wonder if I’ll relate more to Nathan Lubensky than anyone else by that point.


Dave
Oh yeah, it's like I said earlier, this is proof that you don't always need a Spidey Vs a supervillain story to have a good issue, there is so much you can do in terms of storytelling.  I think, as kids, we would not have even remotely appreciated all the storytelling elements of this issue, as we were just waiting for them to build up to the rematch.  I've said enough about the art and colouring in this issue, so I'm not going to repeat myself (for a change) but, all in all, this is a standout issue for me.


Kev
​Me too.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Far more than I thought I would have.  And for an issue that is essentially a transitional, connective tissue to the next one, that is a testament, and the highest of compliments, to the creative team of Michelinie and McFarlane..

(D) & (K)

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