Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #29 (470) Review

Amazing Spider-Man #29
PLOT: For no reason whatsoever Peter is again totally convinced Mary Jane is alive. We finally get to see who is holding her: some nut case who hears everyone else’s thoughts. He explains to MJ that ever since Spidey saved him from falling debris during a Spidey/Goblin fight he formed some kind of link with Peter . He not only knows everything about Peter’s life but can experience everything Peter does. He then explains to MJ that he drugged her with a lollipop and in disguise removed her from the ill-fated airplane as she appeared to be sick. Probably due to their “link” Spidey is drawn to the hideaway where he finds MJ and is ambushed by the wacko.
LIKES: MJ’s back! MJ’s back! MJ’s back! Lee Weeks subs for John Romita, Jr. on pencils here and does a nice job as Joe Bennet did last issue. This is Mackie’s last issue! This is Mackie’s last issue!
DISLIKES: If this was issue 15 or 16 and if there was any foreshadowing at all you might have the making of a pretty good story arc here. However, the stalker/kidnapper comes out of nowhere. We were never given an inkling of his existence. He’s essentially a character who prior to this was a mysterious blank slate who disappeared for about 15 issues. This leaves us with the suspicion that Mackie had nothing planned when the stalker storyline began and only now, bowing to pressure to bring MJ back, made up this part. After all the trouble and issues with Peter accepting MJ’s death he now mysteriously becomes convinced she’s alive again. Talk about rendering the bulk of over a year’s worth of stories irrelevant. Will we ever find out what was in the box that convinced Peter MJ was dead? What kind of lame reason will Mackie come up with to explain why MJ had to be held captive for so long? Will he sluff that off on poor Paul Jenkins.
RATING:  web-heads out of 4: would be much higher if there was any decent foreshadowing and the story came about 10 issues ago.