Aunt May still doesn’t remember Peter. Cormac convinces everyone, including May, that she’s better off staying with him. MJ stops by to remind us that other people know May besides Peter, Cormac and Big Ric, who dodges a memory-erasing bullet. All of this, plus … Peter goes to get help from … Norman Osborn and the Scarlet Witch?
(Last issue I thought this was meant to be a giant photograph, but maybe it’s a giant window?)
CREDITS
Writer: Joe Kelly
Artist: Pepe Larraz
Color Artist: Frederico Blee
Letterer: vc’s Joe Caramagna
PREVIOUSLY IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …
Aunt May was at the hospital but didn’t remember Peter. Cormac comforted Peter before going full-supervillain and transforming into Ravage, revealing that he caused May’s stroke and memory loss, and he planned to erase all of Peter’s memories of May. Spidey and Ravage fought, with Ravage realizing that Peter was “responsible” for Ben’s death, causing him to decide to kill Peter and any innocent bystanders that got in his way. Ravage got away, leaving Spidey ready for round two.
Oh, and there were backups. A lot of backups.
SUMMARY
Spidey races back to the hospital, stopping by a gift shop to buy some clothes (since Ravage destroyed his when he attacked him in the chapel). He arrives at the hospital to find Cormac waiting for him outside (with his arm in a cast). Peter tells Cormac to *fix* May but he says he already did, since exhuming Peter from her life has improved her life.
(“Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to … make you fix her.”)
Aunt May is escorted outside by Big Ric, a nurse, and some police officers (there because of the Spidey/Ravage fight). Peter tries to convince the police that Cormac is not to be trusted and that May is not in her right mind, but she speaks up, convincing everyone that she is competent (she just doesn’t remember Peter, and that she wants to go with Cormac.
(“If you look closely you can actually pinpoint the exact moment his heart rips in half.”)
May leaves with Cormac and Big Ric. Just when things look the worst for Peter, MJ shows up and asks about May. Peter hugs her, saying that she helped just by being there.
(MJW? More like MVP (of this issue).)
After quickly telling MJ that May’s son messed with her mind and caused her stroke(1) Peter leaves, changing into Spider-Man, realizing that he has to understand his enemy.
Spidey visits with Norman Osborn, who says that as Ravage, Cormac has likely used his powers to accumulate his wealth and eliminate his enemies. Norman tells him that because of Cormac’s resources, he can’t be negotiated with, and this will not end until one of them is dead.
(Voice of reason, Norman Osborn.)
Later, Spidey realizes that Ravage’s powers seem magical, so he goes to the Sanctum Santorum. After being caught by the house’s defenses (and seeing a vision of a burning house), he is confronted by the Scarlet Witch, the new Master of the Mystic Arts.
(Was I the only one who didn’t know that “Scarlet Witch, Sorcerer Supreme” was a thing? I thought it was Doctor Doom.)
Spidey explains the situation to Wanda, who says she will check the archives to see if she can help him.
At Cormac’s mansion, he is putting May to bed. He and Big Ric go off to have a drink. As Big Ric trash-talks Peter and compares him to his no-good niece, Cormac prepares to use his powers on him when he hears a noise and goes to find Spider-Man.
((in monotone voice) “Oh no, not Big Ric, won’t someone please save him, he’s such a great character.”)
Spidey and Cormac go outside where Cormac says (as he transforms into Ravage) that he and Peter don’t have to be enemies, that he’s still family, and that even though May will never feel any love for him again, he can still visit her at Christmas. Spidey waits for him to finish speaking before he attacks.
(What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again.)
INITIAL RESPONSE
Well, it’s better than last issue.(2)
Not a lot happens here – it really feels like an issue right after big things have happened at the start of a story, where a lot of things get moved into place, but that’s not a bad thing. There is a lot of tension here as Peter realizes the situation is even more hopeless than he thought it was.
Also, I read this online today – can’t remember who said it – but this should have been issue #999. The ending here would be a great cliffhanger leading into the 1000th issue.
WHAT I LIKED
I like that Peter is driven to fix this problem, thinking that it *is* fixable, even when all the evidence says it’s not (do we even know if Cormac can undo his memory erasure?). He’s willing to just beat Cormac to a pulp until he agrees to fix May, but he knows that likely won’t work so he’s “doing the math” to find other solutions.
(This image has nothing to do with anything, I just like using it.)
Cormac is more villainous and dangerous outside the hospital than he was in all his Ravage scenes in the previous issue. Peter is realizing how terrible this situation actually is, and that even Aunt May is against him, which is the hardest blow of all.
(You can just feel the slime oozing off of Cormac here. And Peter’s face says “Where is your other hand, Cormac?”)
Most of Spider-Man’s villains are *Spidey’s* villains. We don’t have a lot of costumed supervillains who are villains of *Peter* instead, which is a nice change of pace. Ravage isn’t a foe of Spider-Man – his plan has nothing to do with Peter being Spider-Man. It’s Peter that he’s targeting.
Just when things seem their worst, Mary Jane shows up. Her appearance is easily the high point of the issue. Where has *this* character been?(3)
(Easily the best two pages of the issue.)
Spidey is smart enough to realize that Cormac’s wealth and influence make him untouchable, so he goes to the one person he knows that can understand that – Norman. Usually I haven’t liked Peter and Norman being buddies, but this seemed right. Peter went to Norman because he knew that Norman was also a rich businessman who used his wealth and influence to hide a secret identity. This time it makes sense to go to him for advice.
(To paraphrase Kyle Reese, “He can’t be bargained with, he can’t be reasoned with, he doesn’t feel pity or remorse or fear, and it absolutely will not stop… EVER, until you are forgotten!”)
Because Cormac’s abilities seem magical in nature, it also makes sense to go to the Scarlet Witch.(4) She doesn’t really provide any help, but Spidey’s vision of the burning house seems to be setting something up here. And Wanda may show up later with a magical assist.
Spidey sneaking into Cormac’s house and them just walking outside was very eerie and moody. I liked how they both knew that, despite Cormac’s olive branch, it was going to end in a fight.
(This gave me Kraven’s Last Hunt vibes.)
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
For being the focus of this story, May doesn’t really *do* anything or have any agency here. The plot happens *to* her, and she never questions anything that Cormac tells her. She remembers that he entered her life only a few weeks ago, right?
(According to the Marvel Wiki, “Jewel” is an invention of this issue.)
Hey, remember in the previous issue when Ravage learned that Peter was *responsible* for Ben’s murder and decided to kill Peter (instead of just erasing his memories of May)? Or when he went full super-villain and put a tramcar of innocent bystanders in danger, not caring if anyone died? None of the characters – or Kelly – do. Cormac is acting here like he was in the first few pages of the previous issue – all friendly to Peter, like they can find a compromise, and that he didn’t just try to kill a tramcar full of people – or Peter.
(Parts of this issue that follow up on Ravage choosing to kill Peter and a bunch of civilians in the previous issue.)
Mary Jane shows up, and she mentions Aunt Anna, which made me wonder … where has Anna been? She has been May’s best friend for years! May has a stroke and Anna doesn’t visit at all? What about the rest of May’s friends? Everyone from FEAST? They all should be saying “Hey, it’s awful that you forgot Peter because he’s been your family for decades.” Also, if I had a stroke and the only people that came to see me were my son, nephew and significant other, I’d be disappointed.
While I loved Mary Jane’s appearance, and I understand Peter’s sense of urgency, she was gone all too soon. I wanted Peter to explain everything to her and have her give him some advice. Also, Peter seems to be the *only* person in May’s life that knows what’s really going on with Cormac.
(Does MJ know anything about Cormac? Does she know he exists?)
While I enjoyed Spidey going to Norman and Scarlet Witch for help, in the end, neither of them offered Peter any actual help. So you could almost say it was a waste of time (likely it will pay off in upcoming issues).
During the previous issue I was really hoping that Big Ric was going to be instrumental to resolving this situation. But no, he’s fully drank the Cormac Kool-Aid and is completely fine with May being taken to stay at Cormac’s home instead of his and May’s home. He really is the worst.
(Big Ric teasing me, making me think he might actually respond reasonably to this whole situation.)
We know that Cormac has memory-erasing powers, but how is he able to physically fight Spider-Man? What are his other powers? What is his origin? At least when Venom introduced himself to Spidey in ASM #300 he took the time to recap his origin. But we know nothing about how Ravage is able to physically fight Spidey, what other powers he has, or how he got like this. Also, Ravage’s costume is still ridiculous.
Finally, do you wish this issue had been longer? Like, it had 7 more pages of story? Well, too bad! We had to have 7 pages at the end of the issue advertising Iron Man, Maximum X-Men, a New Avengers book, and a Marvel/Star Wars crossover.
And I know I’m continuing to be a broken record(5) here, but thank you Hellgate for waiting around doing nothing while your planet is on the verge of being destroyed.
(What Hellgate has been doing.)
LETTERS PAGE SHENANIGANS
Hey, did you – like me – assume this Spidey vs. Ravage storyline was going to go on for awhile? That there’s no way they could wrap this up in 3 issues? Apparently not, because according to Lowe, next issue is the conclusion of this story, which seems way too soon. Although Lowe indicates that while this *story* ends next issue, the Cormac/Ravage story will continue, which makes no sense.
WHAT THIS ISSUE MEANT OVERALL
This issue was all about moving the plot along without not much happening, which isn’t always a bad thing. These parts are necessary in stories. And this did a good job reinforcing how terrible a situation this is for Peter, how it’s actually worse than he thought, and how unless Cormac chooses to undo what he did to May (or Peter finds a magical way to undo it), there may not be a solution to this problem.
GRADE
B-
Nothing much really happens in this issue – it’s all about setting up how worse the situation is, and building up to round 2 between Spidey and Cormac. But it was done well, much better than last issue.
NEXT TIME, IN AN ALL-NEW ISSUE OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …
(Spider-Man vs. … Birdman?)
FOOTNOTES
(1) Does MJ even know anything about Cormac? That May and Ben have a son? This is what happens when you make (one of) your best supporting character a superhero and put them in another book.
(2) By which I mean “the main story in last issue”, not the backups.
(3) Oh right, she was shacking up with Paul. And being Jackpot. And being Venom. And just being an unrecognizable version of Mary Jane. Sigh.
(4) You know what would have been nice here? An editor’s note to explain to the many readers that don’t read other Marvel books (like me) that Wanda is now the Master of the Mystic Arts, and how this happened.
(5) Ask your parents what this phrase means, kids.
