Amazing Spider-Man #396Issue(s): Amazing Spider-Man #396 Review/plot: We learn that Spider-Man has been studying for the "past few nights" to confirm that DD is Matt. Daredevil continues to deny it, but he has some advice for Spider-Man, telling him to "kill" Peter Parker. Spidey doesn't respond directly, but he offers to help Daredevil search for the Owl, and DD accepts. As for the Owl, this continues from the work done in Daredevil #301-303 to show that the Owl has been working for redemption and receiving psychological help. It's said that he couldn't stand the psychiatrists and that the court system - the prosecutors and judges - weren't very sympathetic, so he's broken out. And now he meets the rejuvenated Vulture. And because DeMatteis apparently thinks you can never lay it on too thick, these guys are also interested in subduing their civilian identities. The Vulture's virus actually just kills people, but the Vulture's logic is that if everyone is dead, no one will remember his and the Owl's identities. The Vulture has apparently gotten a lot more dark and twisted in his non-old age. There's said to be no cure for the virus. The Vulture plans to have "my birds" spread the virus all over the city. But the Owl doesn't approve of the Vulture's methods (experimenting on a homeless person and then killing him) or goal. The Owl leaves, and then Daredevil and Spider-Man catch up with him. Spidey is hit by one of the Vulture's virus-carrying birds. The Owl takes the opportunity to flee. The inherently good thing about the Marvel universe is that even when we're in the middle of the Clone Saga, and even when Daredevil is wearing that god-awful costume and pretending against all reasonableness to not be Matt Murdock, we still get fun scenes like this. But this crossover or whatever you'd call it sure is doing its damnedest to defy expectations. After dropping the huge bombshell that our Spider-Man might not be the real one, we've moved on to a regular kind of story where Spider-Man fought Puma and Nocturne, and now teams up with Daredevil to fight the Vulture and the Owl. The two parts have nothing to do with each other except for a vague theme about identity. And despite Nocturne's efforts, we are not Back From The Edge nor dealing with that in any direct way. It's almost like Marvel was putting Spider-Man in perpetual crossover mode just for the sake of sales, and then tying stories together in any random way that they could. Quality Rating: C- Chronological Placement Considerations: This is part three of Back From The Edge. Part four is in Spectacular Spider-Man #219. But this takes place at least a "few nights" after part two. References:
Crossover: Back From The Edge Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (1): showCharacters Appearing: Daredevil, Gayle Watson Byrnes, Mary Jane Watson, Owl, Spider-Man, Vulture Comments"It's almost like Marvel was putting Spider-Man in perpetual crossover mode just for the sake of sales, and then tying stories together in any random way that they could." I always thought that was exactly what they were going for. Posted by: clyde | April 10, 2018 1:44 PM Hm. Has Vulture really used birds before? Posted by: Piotr W | April 10, 2018 7:32 PM I notice that when the TeenVulture is proposing killing everyone who remembers the proper Vulture he is looking directly at us. Also, this marks the point where against sanity itself I started to wish Terry Kavanagh was writing while reading J.M. DeMattias stories instead of the other way around. Examining the psychology of super-villains only works if they actually act like themselves and not the clumsy theme of the story! Posted by: Benway | April 30, 2018 7:36 PM Comments are now closed. |
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