It seems slightly surprising that the story of Spider-Man's cosmic powers has just run over the end of "Acts of Vengeance", especially as this arc has had a few too many chapters. It would have made more sense to follow the structure of "Inferno" and limit the main multi-part storyline to a handful of issues with others doing their own thing on the side, rather than padding things out so much and then needing an extra issue.
Amazing Spider-Man #329
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciler: Erik Larsen
Inker: Andy Mushynsky
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colourist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Still this final part does a lot to wrap things up, including a climax on the power stakes. Both Graviton and Sebastian Shaw are continuing to pursue Spider-Man, but the former is put off with a single blast. The latter is more cunning, opting to investigate just how Spider-Man got his powers and locating the scientist who was doing energy experiments at the time. From a modern perspective it's surprising that Shaw is able to blackmail Dr Lubisch by threatening to reveal to the board of Empire State University the details of how Lubisch was sacked from Heidelberg after performing a "rather unorthodox experiment". It seems strange that basic background checks were not performed, especially as by 1989 communication was already sufficiently advanced that universities would be able to contact one another quickly. Still it works that Shaw would turn to the same scientist to produce an "energy negator" to try to cancel out Spider-Man's powers - and that it instead cancels the block in the original transfer that led to Spider-Man acquiring them only slowly.
For Spider-Man has the powers of Captain Universe and now adopts the traditional look, albeit with a red webbed mouth mask. The Enigma force has detected great danger to humanity and empowered Spider-Man to defeat it, though why the powers to him so early is unclear, though Lubisch's experiments are the cause of the delay in fully adoption. One could also wonder if the danger was just the Tri-Sentinel (as Spider-Man's newfound cosmic awareness implies) or the "Acts of Vengeance" as a whole. The robotic menace turns out to be an after-effect of the Acts as Loki, looking rather freer than he was at the end of the final battle, opts to make a final mark on Earth by merging three prototype new Sentinels together. Given the steady step up in power levels of the foes encountered through this arc, a super robot enhanced by the magic of a deity makes sense as the ultimate threat level. And the Tri-Sentinel also evokes one of the classic Silver Age images, Spider-Man with six arms which was the very final panel of Stan Lee's original hundred issue run.
Three is a recurring theme in the issue, with the opening scene introducing the Sentinels set three days ago, Shaw blackmailing Lubisch three hours ago and Loki working his magic three minutes ago. The merged Tri-Sentinel has three faces, making it impossible to sneak up on, though Loki doesn't seem to have thought to reverse one set of arms for fighting in both directions. There's also a fusion to the logic circuits, so Shaw is unable to trigger a failsafe that would make the Sentinel turn in on itself. Instead it's down to Spider-Man to finish the task he received the powers for. Then the power departs, leaving Peter wondering if he could have done more with it to improve the world, a thought that we'll come back to.
At first glance, cosmic powers and Spider-Man are not a natural combination. But this storyline has taken the core philosophical line of the character - "with great power there must also come -- great responsibility" - and asked what happens when greatER power comes? As a one-off event it's been an excellent way to explore the character. The storyline may have had a few too many issues but the finale works in providing a clear explanation for the situation, delivering an ultimate threat and handling the foes who weren't previously captured. The art effectively captures Spider-Man's moves and the sheer scale of the Tri-Sentinel, making for a strong finish.
Amazing Spider-Man #329 has been reprinted in:
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