Web of Spider-Man 60 - Acts of Vengeance

Spider-Man's cosmic adventures continue as he faces ever bigger foes but also the curse of awkward continuity.

Web of Spider-Man #60

Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Alex Saviuk
Inker: Keith Williams
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colourist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

A glance at the cover suggests that Alex Saviuk did not receive complete information about the lead villains in "Acts of Vengeance" as Magneto is depicted in the costume he wore for a few years in the mid to late 1980s rather than his more traditional garb which he had recently returned to. Inside Magneto is in the right costume but Gerry Conway  also seems to be somewhat misinformed as he writes the Kingpin, Dr Doom and Magneto as all working together out of a specific headquarters rather than meeting as a central committee and otherwise largely carrying out operations independently of one another as has happened elsewhere in the crossover so far (though some villains have been shown as rather more active than others). It wouldn't be the first or last time that a big crossover event saw inconsistency on the details, but these things do erode the ability to appreciate the story as a coherent whole.

Rather than simply finding a foe of the week for Spider-Man to fight before the other titles bring further developments, here we get some right now. Spider-Man now discovers he has the ability to fire energy blasts from his eyes whilst Doctor Doom finally manages to start analysing the cosmic powers. Peter also seeks Aunt May's advice about how to handle having power over life and death, a poignant subject for a woman whose fiancée (Nathan Lubensky) has a terminal heart condition. Amidst all this the latest goings on around the Daily Bugle as Thomas Fireheart continues to push a pro Spider-Man line seem trivial.

Once again Spider-Man has fought this issue's foe but not in this form. He's been Power Man, the Smuggler and now Goliath, with the complication that two of those names have also been used by heroes at various stages, but his previous fight with Spider-Man came before either of them received their current powers. And so we get a battle between a cosmically powered webslinger and a giant, then in the rematch later in the issue Goliath absorbs Spider-Man's energy blasts to grow ever larger, albeit at a risk to his heart. This story is taking on the concept of ever greater power quite well as Spider realises both he and Goliath are becoming ever greater dangers.

This chapter of the story is that surprisingly rare thing - an important issue of Web of Spider-Man. It shows that when a determined effort is made the series can turn in important developments and handle them in an effective style. It's just a pity there's a noticeable discontinuity between here and other parts of the crossover.

Web of Spider-Man #60  has been reprinted in:

• Spider-Man: The Cosmic Adventures (1993)
• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Cosmic Adventures (2013)