Issue(s): Amazing Spider-Man #329
Cover Date: Feb 90
Title: "Power Prey"
Credits:
David Michelinie - Writer
Erik Larsen - Penciler
Andy Mushynsky - Inker
Glenn Herdling - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
Last issue, Sebastian Shaw became worried about Spider-Man's power after Spidey defeated the Hulk. And in this issue he's reviewing a new batch of Sentinels...

...that have been developed for Project Nimrod.

But Shaw is afraid that Spider-Man's powers will interfere with that. To that end, his employees have located Dr. Lubisch, who they've learned was working on tapping into unknown energy fields at the same time that Spider-Man got his powers. Shaw goes to Lubisch and forces him to build something that will negate Spider-Man's powers. Shaw has dirt on Lubisch from when he worked in Germany.

Meanwhile, cheesecake.

And then... whatever the hell this is.

And then Graviton learns that Spider-Man didn't actually die when they last fought, and he goes to rectify that but instead gets thumped.

But the real threat of the issue is caused by Loki, who wants to leave a parting gift for the Earth after being defeated in Acts of Vengeance.

So he merges Shaw's three Sentinels into a Tri-Sentinel.

Man, i bet the Masked Marauder, creator of the Tri-Man and the Tri-Animan, is kicking himself right about now. The Tri-Sentinel is a hilariously awesome concept worthy of the craziest stories of the Silver Age. I hope we're not supposed to be taking it seriously, but it sure is fun.

Spider-Man's fight with Graviton caused his energy signature to flare up, so Shaw and Lubisch are able to locate him and try Lubisch's negating ray. But instead of cancelling his powers, it brings the Captain Universe entity to the forefront.

Hee hee hee!

Madness!

The Tri-Sentinel is in the process of destroying a nuclear power plant, and even Captain Spideyverse wasn't going to be able to stop him in time, so Shaw decides to cut his losses and pull a deactivation switch, stopping the Sentinels. The button is pretty hilarious, too. It doesn't just deactivate the Sentinels. Shaw's failsafe is designed to pull the old trick of convincing the Sentinels that they are in fact themselves mutants.

Spider-Man then is able to finish off the Tri-Sentinel. And it turns out that this was the threat that the Enigma Force actually bestowed the Uni-Power to Spider-Man for, so it now departs. Just a lucky coincidence that Spider-Man was able to beat up a good portion of the villains of Acts of Vengeance in the meantime.

For the past few issues, there's been a running joke about the bad girlfriends that Flash has been getting involved with. This issue ends with him introducing his new girlfriend, Felicia Hardy (the Black Cat to us and Spidey).

I do wish Larsen wasn't carrying on McFarlane's cheesecake tradition, and i'm afraid to ask about the "hongry" guy, but once we get to the action, this is great. Anyone picking up this issue at random must have thought the book was completely off the rails. Not only is Erik Larsen's art getting more stylized and crazy, but the story is just nuts. But it's a really fun kind of nuts; a fun that's been missing from the title for a while.
Quality Rating: B+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This story takes place over a series of days, with an opening sequence that begins "three days ago" compared to the rest of the story. This is an "Acts of Vengeance Aftermath" issue, but it doesn't necessarily take place directly after Acts of Vengeance. Loki's appearance in Thor #414 probably takes place prior to this. And so does Spider-Man's appearance in Quasar #7.

References:

• Loki is seeking er, vengeance for his Acts of Vengeance plot failing in Avengers West Coast #55.
  
• Graviton defeated Spider-Man, but didn't kill him, in Amazing Spider-Man #326.

Crossover: Acts of Vengeance

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Ah yes, Captain Universe Spidey, also known as "The Costume That Makes Spider-Man for Playstation A Cakewalk".

The idea that Flash was dating Felicia without realizing who she was makes no sense, since Felicia's identity is public knowledge and that was shown to be the case as recently as Moon Knight 4-5. In Spectacular Spider-Man 210, Steven Grant had Flash claim that he always knew Felicia was the Black Cat but that makes no sense, as we'll see- Flash clearly didn't know and Felicia was introduced to reporters, etc, without them recognizing her.

Wait, Flash DIDN'T KNOW? I didn't read after this, but I thought that he knew who Felicia was and just didn't care (I mean it's not as if Spider-man ever did.)

And yeah that angle we're viewing MJ is a bit too "TMZ level" for my taste. And when is girlfriend gonna ditch the damn perm already?

Outside of that, This was one of the earliest Spider-man comics I read and enjoyed it as a kid, even if I didn't quite understand all the Captain Universe stuff (although even then, I knew this wasn't Spidey's usual power-set.)

When Michelinie was writing, Flash didn't know. When Steven Grant took over, he acted like Flash knew who Felicia was all along and didn't care, but Felicia didn't realize that he knew.

Yeah, that bit with the fat black guy was… weird. I feel like that might have been a reference to something, but if so, I have no idea what.

In the Spidey-Tr-Sentinel fight pic above, Spidey tries to contain the Tri-Sentinel in webbing which he then converts to steel only to have the Tri-Guy rip it apart "like dental floss."

But why the fuck did Spidey even bother with steel, we saw last issue he had no problem converting his webbing into adamantium. And no way in fuck would Tri-Guy be able to rip that apart.

Instead we have Spidey do sumthing stoopid becuz the plot demands it. Thanks Michelinie!