First thing’s first – don’t forget this issue is part 2 of a 2-part crossover with Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #2. Click here to read the review of Part 1!
“Sibling Rivalry Part 2”
Writers: Chris Yost & Erik Burnham
Art: K-Studio’s In-Hyuk Lee
Dream Sequence Art: Olliffe, BIT & Loughridge
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artists: Stegman & Delgado
Editor: Tom Brennan
Senior Editor: Stephen Wacker
THE STORY: The Jackal, having Ock and Kaine captive, has harvested Peter Parker’s DNA again and has basically the same plan he did in 1995. Kaine breaks his chains by the power of being awesome and he and Ock team up to fight mutant spider-clones again. Ock decides to blow the place up, and does so, wiping out his DNA sample and killing the Gwen Stacy clone as collateral damage. Kaine is still too stupid to realize this isn’t Peter, so he just punches him and leaves. In the first of two epilogues, Kaine is back in Houston and when he looks in the mirror, finds his clone degeneration scars are returning. In the second epilogue, the Jackal retrieves DNA samples he’d taken of Kaine and declares, “Who’s ready for Spidercide 2.0?”
MY THOUGHTS: Wow is this one very mixed bag. On the one hand, I love me some Clone Saga, I really do. On the other hand, this feels less like reading a 2013 comic book about characters from the Clone Saga and more like reading a comic book that was actually published in 1995, and I do not mean that in a complimentary way. Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider are in the Jackal’s lair, he plans to overrun the world with clones made from Peter Parker’s DNA, they have to fight through a bunch of disposable clones, and in the end they’re at odds. I’ve read this one before. And what’s worse, it wasn’t one of the better parts of the Clone Saga.
And let’s go ahead and address the elephant in the room – that second epilogue. This was about my reaction when I read that:
“Who’s ready for Spidercide 2.0?” – The Jackal
“F***ing NO ONE. NO. F***ING. ONE. That’s who!” – Me
Immediately after, I texted Zach Joiner this: “Ok, I love the Clone Saga as much as anyone who loves the Clone Saga loves the Clone Saga, but…Spidercide 2.0? Kill me now?” And it turns out that’s the one thing he didn’t like about the issue, either. Look folks, if you’ve read the old issues, I’m pretty sure you’re already there with me. If you haven’t, let me just tell you: no one who liked the Clone Saga remembers Spidercide fondly. He basically represents everything that was bad about the story, everything that went off the rails. He screams 90s so loudly he makes huge guns and shoulder pads look like solid fashion choices. Spidercide is, in a nutshell, why I totally understand people that hate the Clone Saga. And frankly I don’t care how much the concept is going to be changed for this “2.0” – it could be, and hopefully will be, a TOTALLY different thing – the problem is that this was the tease. The last page of this comic, an epilogue to get people looking in for the SSMTU crossover excited, was a tease with the name Spidercide. What an incredibly wasted opportunity that was. Minimum Carnage might have been a patently awful crossover, but at least it showed off the Scarlet Spider book in a way that made Venom readers want to keep giving it a try (we know this for sure because former Venom reviewer, CrazyChris, was one of them). But if I was an SSMTU reader trying Scarlet Spider with this crossover, I have to admit – I’d drop it like it’s hot after this. The story wasn’t that great to begin with, and if Spidercide’s what you’ve got to try to hook me, I’m out.
But it wasn’t all bad (just most of it). The first epilogue was actually quite good. Kaine’s been living a different life for awhile than he’s ever gotten to live before. Since his body was healed after Spider-Island, he’s been able to live as a normal man, and he’s made friends and gotten to see what a real life is like. This has helped immensely on his journey to redemption. So if his clone degeneration is back and his face is hideously scarred again, how will that change what he’s been building in Houston? How will that affect his journey of redemption? I can’t say for sure, but this is a solid tease because it gets me wondering and eager to find out. Had the teases at the end of the book stopped here, I would have said the issue did an EXCELLENT job of trying to hook new readers. If only.
The art in this issue is interesting, and very different from what we usually see. In-Hyuk Lee’s colors are pretty damn incredible, and the textures of things, most especially the heroes’ costumes, just look absolutely phenomenal. This looks like real material that I could actually feel on the page if I touched it. It’s almost surreal how realistic it is. His facial acting of the characters, though, leaves a lot to be desired. When the characters even have much in the way of expression, they tend to be really over the top in not very believable ways. Check out Kaine’s “I’m breaking chains and bursting blood vessels” face on the fourth preview page. So in general I feel like I’d like to see Mr. Lee as a great colorist over a stronger penciler/inker. Also on the art side, there’s oddly just one page done by Pat Olliffe. I like Pat Olliffe, and being the first Spider-Girl artist he has strong Clone Saga ties, but I just wonder why they brought him in for one page. Particularly since he’s credited with “Dream Sequence art,” and in reality the dream sequence seems to carry on halfway through the following page (Note: those two pages are actually the first two of the issue, but the preview pages Marvel released start at page 3, so you don’t see them here). Had he done the first two pages it would have made more sense to me. Actually the first page and a half would have made the most sense, but I can see where you might not want to mix the two art styles on one page, considering how DRASTICALLY different they are. Still, nice to see a bit of Olliffe.
Now about the Jackal. I get that he’s a semi-classic spider-villain. I get that he created Kaine and so he’s very important to this book’s history. I don’t love the character in general because he mostly comes off as a more annoying Joker rip-off with Bond-villain-level megalomania, but I get it. I had no problem with the idea of using him in this story when it was solicited. But honestly, if he can’t come up with a new plan, we really just need to leave him alone at this point. If anyone’s feeling the drama of “Oh no, he might really overrun the world with Parker clones and then we’re all screwed,” I’ve got some nearly 20-year-old comics you’re going to love. But good lord, if the character and his plans haven’t progressed past kidnapping Peter Parker again to harvest some more DNA, it really is past time to just kill him or forget about him. It wasn’t a strong plan or motivation the first time and it has not held up over two decades. And it makes this story feel very dated and well-worn, which is exactly what Scarlet Spider as a book and a character should not be and have not been to this point.
Less of a huge gripe for me and more of an annoyance is the guy in Jackal’s posse that is apparently a clone of Miles Warren (original recipe). This guy appeared on that last page of Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #1 standing behind the Jackal and a Miles Warren clone was one of my top guesses for who he was. Then he appeared in part 1 of this story in SSMTU #2 and had no lines and still wasn’t named. Then in this issue, he had all of a sudden shaved off his mustache and taken off his glasses, and he still had no lines and wasn’t named. The only reason I know for sure who he was now is because in the second epilogue the Jackal finds his glasses (that he hadn’t been wearing all issue) and says, “Well we’ll certainly need a new and less crispy Miles.” What exactly the heck was the point of him? He stood behind the Jackal a few times, unnamed, did nothing, and died. I would submit to the writers that this is why people don’t like clones – because a new clone of the human Miles Warren should be a character but is entirely disposable here. Those of us who like clones like them because of how great Ben and Kaine are. We don’t want a bunch of disposable versions of characters hanging around.
And then, of course, there’s Otto. He acts perfectly normal for him in this issue and that’s fine. No real issues with his characterization here. My issue is that we’ve now stretched way, way past the point where I could possibly be ok with him not being found out. Kaine is a clone of Peter Parker. He is a CLONE of him. He has all of Peter’s memories from before the cloning. He has met Peter since then several times. It’s hard to say anyone knows Peter better than his own clone. And yet Kaine can’t figure out that this is not Peter when he randomly attacks him, rants like a madman, and blows up a clone of Gwen Stacy, calling her collateral damage after ranting during the issue about clones being nothing. And if all that wasn’t bad enough, in part 1 when Kaine is being attacked by Ock, Kaine protests that he’s paid his debt to him and Ock responds, “Anything you did you did for HIM. For SPIDER-MAN.” Yes folks, he outright tells Kaine that he is not the Spider-Man he’s known. And then proceeds to act out of character for another full issue and a half. And this man, this clone of Peter Parker, doesn’t ever consider that hey, maybe this isn’t Peter. No, he just punches Otto in Peter’s face and goes back to Houston.
I think you can tell by now, this is not exactly the Scarlet Spider/Superior Spider-Man crossover I would have wanted. Frankly the Jackal and his minions could have been left out altogether and we could have had a much more interesting two-part story focusing squarely on Kaine and Otto. But to do that, they may have had to risk Kaine figuring out that something is up and actually impacting Superior Spider-Man’s ongoing story, and clearly that was not allowed. So keeping these two books in the storytelling ghetto of the spider-books really negatively impacted this whole thing and sadly left a bad taste in my mouth.
GRADE: D This story really didn’t accomplish any of what it set out to do and in the end failed to be a very entertaining story at all. Some cool art and a few good moments buoy an otherwise useless meeting between these two characters that should have amounted to so much more.
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You sir may have just saved me $ 4. i had this issue in my pull file more out of curiosity and the art, but that break down really does sound bad if Kane doesn’t question the identity of Spock at the end of this.
You called him a waste-of-life.
@33 Uhhhh…. No I don’t think that’s harsh at all. People who wrote or tweeted him that they would shoot him or burn down the marvel building with him in it…. THAT is harsh.
@34 What, the part where I changed his last name? I’ve seen other people here write worse then that about the guy here on the site.
So After giving it a lot of thought, and beginning to write my review for Spidey-Dude.com, I promised Kevin I would comment on this review.
Josh pointed out to me that Otto SHOULDN’T remember the actual event of Kaine killing him. The way the scene is played out, it seems that way. While I don’t disagree, a simple, addition to the word would be: Didn’t he kill me? HE KILLED ME RRRRAGGEEE. That would’ve been in Continuity. (Because of the mechanics of Otto 90s return, he didn’t remember the last several weeks before he died. This was to ensure that Otto didn’t remember Peter Parker was Spider-Man, likely due to the powers that be at the time.) Kevin is absolutely right when he complains about the dropped ball of Otto and Kaine dymanic.
The fact that Kaine doesn’t see something wrong is disturbing to me, and doesn’t work.
Overall however, I enjoyed this issue for what it was.
Perhaps its my inner Clone-Fanboy in me, but I enjoyed the hell out of Otto and Kaine going at it. And Yost remembering their history. 98% of Marvel wouldn’t reference their previous meeting, but it was a pivotal moment in the Clone Saga and one of the better stories in the early days. Jackal is consistent with his characterization from Hashtag to the 90s. I did enjoy the fact that Otto tired to blow everyone up. I feel that’s in Otto’s Character. (Despite the fact that I feel it hampered the character of Kaine as mentioned above.)
Personally, there were parts to this story that I thought were cool, such as when Kaine started to let loose and Otto was taken off guard. THAT worked for me.
The art is spectacular thoughout the issue. Couldn’t have got a better duo than we got for these two stories.
Like Kevin said, I HATED the Spidercide 2.0 Bit. That knocked the whole damn thing a letter grade for me.
C-
@32. OH HELL. NO.
You will NOT talk like that here. First warning.
@32 – I can’t remember for sure but when Peter was in jail for murder in the clone saga and Ben switched places with him, didn’t Kaine see Peter out of jail and instantly know that it wasn’t Ben? I have a vague memory of that happening, so if that’s the case, he should be able to meet Spock, and even though it’s physically Peter, instantly know “this isn’t Peter.”
Of course if that never happened in the clone saga, then ignore this entire comment.
@32-Jesus dude that’s a bit harsh isn’t it?
You can feed me all the bullshit you want about how carlie, MJ, the avengers and even AUNT MAY can’t tell it’s Peter…. but his own MOTHER-F@#$%&^ CLONE can’t tell it’s Peter???!!!
I know Dan Slutt didn;t write this…. but I still hate that waste of life for starting this horrible chain
#31-In hindsight wouldn’t it just be easier to say Dreamweaver temporailly altered her appearence because she was trolling
@28 – I don’t mind “essential” one-shots and maybe this was just my local comic shop not making it as available as all other Spidey one-shots but I never heard of this at the time. If it was advertised in Marvel at the time (Soapbox, Bullpen Bulletins, Marvel Age, etc) I would have gotten it. As for the Gwen clone, she was physically transformed into Joyce Delayney by Dreamweaver at the end of the the Spec annual. It wasn’t just hair length/style, there was an actual physical transformation that Warren originally did and Dreamweaver undid. All it would have taken in Web #125 would be a mention of “Warren Miles found Joyce and undid Dreamweaver’s physical transformation” but I guess Marvel though “she looks exactly like Gwen except her hair’s curly instead of straight, that’s all Warren has to undo”
@hornacek- It was revealed in Web #125 that the New God called Dreamweaver lied to the Gwen clone by telling her she wasn’t a clone but a woman called “Joyce Delaney”, because she thought that would give the Gwen clone peace of mind or something. So basically it was a retcon, making the “Joyce Delaney” Gwen clone just a Gwen clone all along.
@25 and 27-The Gwen who married Warren Miles was the same one from the 1970s and Maximum Clonage. That one shot was a terrible, continuity murdering disgrace which homage the cover to ASM #149 but for some reason drew Ned Leeds as Gwen Stacy. Your experience with this one shot sounds like the one you had with the Osborn Journal. Essential reading; not in the main title. Also there was nothing to explain in Web #125. Joyce Delany didn’t transform into Gwen Stacy randomly Joyce Delany was just gwen Stacy with a haircut. She grew her hair long again, that was it.
@26 – Ok, for this Gwen clone, who was the genesis of the entire clone saga, to be killed off in a one-shot, not even in the main title, is just a travesty. Speaking as someone who used to buy all of the SM supplementals and mini-series, I never heard of this comic.
Ah, Web #125. It’s coming back to me. Now I remember, they explained that Warren Miles found Joyce Delayney and “somehow” transformed her back into the Gwen clone (how? magic) and she was the one that appeared in the 90s clone saga when the Jackal fell of the Bugle and “died” and then she wandered off.
So this one-shot killed off this Gwen and then explained “yes this is the clone from ASM #149 and everything after but she we’re killing her off and her murderer is the never-before seen *first* clone of Gwen”? Man, no wonder some people hate the Clone saga. 🙂
@hornacek: The “Joyce Delaney” Gwen clone was killed at the beginning of Spider-Island in The Jackal one-shot. She was murdered by a prototype Gwen clone called “Abby-L”, who was undergoing massive degeneration and was also killed in a lab explosion at the end of that same issue. Which makes this the third Gwen clone to be killed in a span of 3 years. Ouch.
As for the Gwen clone revering from her “Joyce Delaney” persona, it had something to do with a New God playing a trick on her to falsely believe she was a real person called Joyce or something. This fact was revealed in the same book Web of Spider-Man #125 by Terry Kavanaugh, as the one where it was revealed she was married to Warren. The Comics Should Be Good had an entire entry on the history of the Gwen clone through the years-
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/04/07/the-abandoned-an%E2%80%99-forsaked-so-is-she-a-clone-of-gwen-or-what/
@20 – I’ve never heard of this one shot. From what I remember (and correct me if I’m wrong), the Gwen clone wanders off in ASM #149 and we don’t see her until the Spec annual (#7?) during the Evolutionary War when the High Evolutionary tells Spider-Man that Warren worked with him and stole ideas about cloning but it wasn’t real cloning, that he could only infect people with DNA of other people, which is revealed what he did to this unnamed woman to turn her into the Gwen clone. At the end of that issue the HE reverts her to her original persona, she thanks SM and leaves (“I never even got her name!”).
In Spec Spidey #149 SM finds Warren’s journals and finds out the SM clone was Anthony Sebra and the Gwen clone was Joyce Delayney.
Then we don’t hear about the Gwen clone again until Smoke and Mirrors where SM confronts the Jackal and say “I read your journals! I know all about Anthony Sebra and Joyce Delayney!” and the Jackal laughs and we eventually find out he really did clone people but the HE was jealous of Warren (what a big baby) so he faked the journals. Later in the Clone Saga the Gwen clone returns (wait, how was she reverted from her Joyce Delayney appearanance/persona? I kinda remember this happening but not sure), she beats her firsts against the Jackal on the Bugle roof, tries to shoot him, and then wanders off. And that was the last we saw of her, still wandering around in the Marvel universe.
Wait, what about the Gwen clone that was married to Warren Miles? Was she the original Gwen clone? Ow, my brain!
Help us, Clone Saga Chornicles staff!
@19-I get that they didn’t remember who he was but like, only their memories of who he was erased were gone right? E.g. Chameleon remembers unmasking Spidey in the 90s but doesn’t remember what he looked like or what his name was. He remembers going to Forest Hills and threatening Mary Jane though so from that he should be able to figure out who Peter is.
I just think the Gwen clone can generate a lot of conflict if used sparingly.
@20-I thought the original Gwen clone WAS Joyce Delany. She shot herself?
#19 — which means that hundreds of thousands of electronic recordings of Peter unmasking, stored worldwide, had to have been magically erased.
“Who’s ready for Spidercide 2.0?” – The Jackal
“F***ing NO ONE. NO. F***ING. ONE. That’s who!” – Me
This 100,000 times, I concur.
This SSM loaf has a definite shelf life, and mold spots are already appearing. It has a certain bizarro appeal, but a bit like one of those old ABC Movies of the Week — 90 minutes is fine, but you don’t really want to see an on-going series about Kim Darby turned into a demonic gremlin and tormenting people in “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark: The Series.” That line about SpOck wearing a hand-painted sign that says “I actually Dr. Octopus in Peter’s body” is funny — “What does it really mean? Must be an allegory….”
The “Joyce Delaney” clone of Gwen Stacy was killed off in the introduction of the “Spider-Island: Deadly Foes” One-Shot Jackal story from two years ago. She was shot by the “original” Gwen clone who was suffering from clone-degeneration.
@17 – I think Dr. Strange said that the blind-spot is gone but people that knew before before didn’t get their memories back (otherwise everyone would suddenly remember that Peter was Spider-Man since he unmasked on tv) but that if anyone found out from now on without Peter intending them to they would not be psychically blinded to it, if that makes any sense. So anyone that finds out on their own, since Spider-Island, will not have their memory wiped of it. In other words, “oh oh oh it’s magic!”
As for the Gwen clone, I guess it could be seen as not a big deal, but to me it was a huge dangling thread that needed to be resolved. She was the start of the entire clone saga and to let her just wander off without any resolution to her character just seems like a letdown. Like if in Return of the Jedi they had left out the part about Luke returning to Dagobah to talk to Yoda again. You still could have reached the same end – Luke and Vader defeat the Emporer, the rebels beat the Empire, but it still would have felt as if there was a plot thread that had never been wrapped up.
@#17 but….doesn’t that mean they could figure it out like Carlie did? Also couldn’t the bad guys figure it out based on the gaps in their memory? E.g. Chameleon attacked Aunt May in Avengers tower and remembers doing that but he just can’t remember why except he does remember he was annoyed Spider-Man unmasked? I thought the blindspot was still in place but if it’s gone this kind of thing should be happening shouldn’t it?
Yes. I know people wanted it resolved and Conway was mandated to wrap it up, but I don’t see the need. Why is it an issue? Peter is not interested in her, she isn’t really Gwen, she has her own life so why not leave her alone and use her very, very occasionally to stir up trouble?
@16 “Wait so why doesn’t everyone know PP is Spidey now?”
When the mind-wipe was “broken” it didn’t mean that everyone remembered, just that it was no longer in place and people could find out again.
“I never thought there was anything to resolve with her, but yes she is dead”
Having a clone of Gwen wandering around was a big unresolved plot thread from the original clone saga. From what I heard/remember people kept saying “You know, that Gwen clone is still wandering around somewhere in the Marvel universe, when is she going to meet Peter again?” Conway tried to resolve it in his second run (the Spec annual where she was revealed to be Joyce Delaney) but in the 90s clone saga when they retconned that retcon I’m sure I heard somewhere that one of the things Marvel wanted to do in that storyline was end her storyline/character. But then in Maximum Clonage Omega (?) she just wandered off and was never seen again.
Spidercide 2.0……..no. No. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I LOVE that Yost knows his clone saga continuity but he doesn’t have to use all of it. Wait a minute, I thought Kaine’s clone degeneration was supposed to be ‘regeneration’ so why is this an issue?
Sorry to be a dick but Frenz was actually the first Spider-Girl artist. He drew her first appearance then Oliffe took over.
To #4-but he’s never met Spider-Man anyway so he’d never be able to tell
To #6-I’d back up being a hollow shell of her former self but even Post-OMD Mary Jane should be able to figure shit stuff out
To #8-Wait so why doesn’t everyone know PP is Spidey now? Also I agree with everything you said
To #13-I never thought there was anything to resolve with her, but yes she is dead
This story was awesome. You’re all nuts. This had a great throwback to the clone-saga with Kaine fighting Jackal again and Doc Ock wanting revenge for killing him. A cool dynamic between Scarlet Kaine and SpOck, two men taking on new identities after years of villainy. And gorgeous art to boot.
Man I didn’t think I could get any more angrier at slott but low and behold he is now infecting my comics with his nonsense. If scarlet spider does get cancelled I will point to this as the #1 reason. I know yost wrote this but he had no creative freedom the whole story it is frustrating and disgusting that yost has to write within certain boundaries so that slotts precious spider-faux doesn’t get ruined. Not only is ruining spider-man now he’s got to ruin the other titles as wel. I can’t wait to see what they come up with in infinity since I’ve seen his spider-faux is involved. I can see it now the builders and even thanos will aaaaaaalllllmost figure out that spider-man is not spider-man and then some miraculous event will happen that makes them lose all brain power.
“and killing the Gwen Stacy clone as collateral damage.”
Is this the original Gwen Clone? From the original Clone Saga? Is she really dead? This was one of the hugest dangling plot threads from that story and the 90s clone saga and it seemed crazy that they let her exist for so long without resolving her story.
No wonder the sales have been so awful for this book. Slott wants the revelation of SpOck’s identity to be on the scale of an event, so of course ANY book that’s even remotely related to Spider-Man is going to be dragged out just because Slott has to be the one to bring an end to this Superior nonsense.
So how long until Scarlet Spider crosses over with Superior Foes?
This book has been held back by crossovers for months. It’s infuriating. The actual plot just keeps grinding to a halt so Kaine can team up with other heroes while the writing goes south. You want to get a book cancelled? this is how you do it
Slott would probably only let blind characters near him at that point…
Why do I get the feeling that if SpOck were wearing a flashing sign around his neck that repeatedly blinked the message “I am really Doctor Octopus,” nobody would be able to figure it out?
#5 Doc Strange’s spell is useless at this point. The good doctor told PP that if he were to reveal to anyone that about his alter ego, even so much as drop hints, the spell would be rendered useless. If you’ll remember in Spider Island when the avengers were getting pummeled by Spidey thugs, PP rallied the good citizens of NYC to come to their aid by using their new powers. This was broadcast live around the city. Like any piece of new media, it’s stored on the web or in archives readily available for future use…Thus meaning that anyone who saw that recording/broadcast would now be able to see through the spell and know PP was Spidey.
What kills me about this is Kaine completely falling to the plot armor that Slott has created. It’s bad enough that Carley, who figured out that PP was Spidey just based off of the way he had no learning curve to using his spider powers during Spider-Island hasn’t managed to put two and two together yet. Yet Kaine is made to be one step more ignorant?! He clearly ignored SpOck shouting that his debt was paid to “Him”. What’s more is Kaine learned Spider-Fu by watching the footage of PP fighting during Spider-Island. Fighting sytles are just like fingerprints. SpOck has done nothing but flail around and placed more stock in his tech. What’s ironic is that Slott in his attempts to layer SpOck in plot armor placed this significant chink in the armor by deleting PP’s memory. Yet if that’s not enough evidence for Kaine to see through there’s on glaringly blatant flaw. Yes, even one more blatant than SpOck dennouncing that he’s not really PP under the mask. He blew up Gewn Stacey’s clone. Clone or not, Gwendy has always been PP’s greatest failure and perhaps strongest tug on his emotions next to Mary Jane. How can Kaine watch SpOck blow up a clone of the women that meant everything to him and call her acceptable casualty. Especially since he knows on better than anyone how much PP loved her. I’m not sure about the rest of you but I’m ready for some new writers…
Yost has been disappointing as of late; the Wolverine team-up and this crossover were very lacklustre. Wth Venom seemingly cancelled as of #42, the Spidey satellites are on thin ice.
Thank you! This review finally gave words to my impression of this issue: it was underwhelming and just wasn’t what I was hoping for from a Yost-written Scarlet/Superior Team-Up. I was hoping for Kaine’s presence to impact the direction of Otto’s story, but it didn’t. I was hoping that the Jackal had something NEW planned, but he didn’t. I was hoping that Marvel would let Spider-Man’s story grow oprganically, but this just felt so forced. And so finally, for the first time since ASM #700, I find myself fed up with the fact that someone close to Peter is not allowed to figure out that something is wrong with him. I can let MJ go because she’s just a hollow shell of her former character since OMD. I can let the Avengers go because they’re a bit too preoccupied with whatever 5 new plot threads Hickman has introduced into their book this month. But Kaine: come ON. He’s Peter’s CLONE. He’s studied Peter (and Ben), dogged their steps for years. He knows what kind of people they are.
When I saw the preview for this story I was excited, because it showed Kaine slipping into Otto’s apartment and completely taking him off guard. It excited me because someione had finally bypassed Otto’s seemingly omniscient “Master Plans” and nearly caught him with his pants down. Otto and Kaine’s fight was great and it would have been greater had Kaine taken his brother’s strange words and actions to their logical and organic conclusion, but it seems like someone (Yost? editorial? the Powers-That-Be at Marvel?) had a different plan for Otto in mind that did not include the discovery of his identity in his secondary/spin-off title. Thus this team-up was utterly dissatisfying and disappointing.
POTENTIAL SPOILER
I dont think the degenerescence is back. Since Kraven is advertise in the next few issues, i believe it was some sort of halucinagenic dart that stung kaine in houston, not mosquitos.
END OF POTENTIAL SPOILERS.
As for the issue, what if doc strange spell that no one remembers who pete is would force people not to be able to put 2 and 2 together? I mean, we can as well use a bad story plot point to explain another bad story plot point can t we?
Hopefully spider-man 2099 won’t be infected with the same virus, stupidity
I just re-read the Jackal’s rant; I’m almost surprised he didn’t say, “I did it thirty-five minutes ago.”
Hmm I thought it was Captain Stacey for some reason until the last epilogue.
Honestly, I liked the initial fight in team up because it was from Ocks point of view. So it made sense for Ock to bash the shit outta him. Then this issue was just bad, simply because Khaine didn’t even react once, I was hoping for a MJ like scene from the last Superior issue but we got nothing, simply because of Satellite syndrome. Even if Khaine doesn’t know what it is he should at least suspect but it just doesn’t work. Same as when Superior turned up in Daredevil, Matt should have known what was going on but can’t.
Yost has genuinely disappointed me.
Jackal was totally a Joker rip-off in the 90’s (really, to the point where artists were just drawing the Joker and replacing his white skin with green), so it’s nice to see him back to his original look…only with pants instead of a friggin’ speedo!