Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1989-02-01 00:10:40 |
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Spectacular Spider-Man #148
Issue(s): Spectacular Spider-Man #148
Cover Date: Mar 89
Title: "Night of the living Ned!"
Credits:
Gerry Conway - Writer
Sal Buscema - Penciler
Sal Buscema - Inker
Glenn Herdling - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor
Review/plot:
Poor Betty Brant. Tragedies with her brother and mother, marital troubles, then her husband getting killed and finding out he was the Hobgoblin, then going crazy, then joining a cult. I mean, can we cut the lady a break at this point?
Answer: no! Because this Inferno issue is all about demons tormenting her by making her think that her dead husband has risen from the grave.
Flash Thompson had come by to help her out (which kind of reminds me of when they huddled together in the Casket of Ancient Winters saga in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #96)...
...but he's attacked too, by a demon pretending to be Spider-Man.
Or maybe it's prototyping Carnage.
So it's up to a hallucination of her dead husband as a good guy to help her gather her strength.
Sure, that's good for her long term mental health.
They eventually face their demons and survive, just as Inferno is wrapping up.
And here's the only actual appearance of Spider-Man in this issue:
Quality Rating: C+
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place concurrently with X-Factor #38.
References:
- In her dream at the beginning, Betty also sees the corpse of Gwen Stacy rise from a grave. Gwen died in Amazing Spider-Man #121-122.
- Ned's death was shown in Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1, and we learned that he was the Hobgoblin after that in Amazing Spider-Man #289.
- Betty subsequently joined a cult in Web of Spider-Man #40-43.
- For the Empire State Building reverting to normal, we're given a footnote to X-Factor #38.
Crossover: Inferno
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
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Comments
The point of the hallucination is that Betty FINALLY realizes she relies on men too much, which is an attempt at redeeming her from the insane adulteress PAD left her as.
It's interesting to note that in the issue, Flash thinks that Peter never realized how much it hurt when Peter teased him for not being as smart as him.
I find it hard to sympathize with Flash. He has "feelings" when it suits him. When did he ever think about Peter's feelings when he constantly bullied him during High School?
The ending of this takes place concurrent with X-Factor #38 where Madelyne dies and the Empire State Building is restored at dawn so that would place it after Daredevil #265, which ends shortly after the demons are sucked back into Limbo by Magik which takes place in New Mutants #73 (Before Uncanny X-Men #242-X-Factor #38)
I agree, Jay. I've swapped this with DD #265.
Poor Flash will end up getting a more central role in Las Vegas' own equivalent of Inferno during Circle of Four that'll leave a lasting demonic impression on his life.
