Spectacular Spider-Man 148 - Inferno

Betty Leeds and Flash Thompson encounter demons and not just the ones who've come from Limbo.

Spectacular Spider-Man #148

Script: Gerry Conway
Art: Sal Buscema
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Betty Leeds has been staying with Flash Thompson since she was rescued from a cult. She has a vision in which her former husband Ned rises from the grave along with Gwen Stacey and Spider-Man who admits he isn't even dead. Coming to her senses she and Flash opt to stay in the flat, the only occupants of the building to do so, and keep out the demons. Flash tells her not to use the gas heater from his camping equipment indoors because of the danger. He goes up to the roof to board up the door only to be attacked by Spider-Man. Down in the apartment the decayed corpse of Ned breaks through a window and chases after Betty. Flash is webbed to the television antenna by Spider-Man who removes the connection to the lightning rod so that the next bolt to hit will kill Flash. Flash releases himself with a screwdriver and realises this isn't Spider-Man. He pulls off "Spidey's" mask to reveal a monstrous face. In the flat Betty hides in a living room and remembers the men she depended on who died including her brother Bennett and then Ned when she sees an image of Ned's ghost telling her she can't depend on them and she has to save herself. She determines to take control and confronts the corpse form which reveals itself to be a demon impersonating her husband. Flash and the demonic Spider-Man crash off the roof and into the flat whereupon Betty shoves the camping gas heater into one of the demons and tells Flash to run as she's broken the valve. They get out just before it explodes, killing both demons. Outside they see things returning to normal and the Empire State Building its regular size. Spider-Man swings by in the distance and they realise they were saved not by heroes outside but the heroes within them.

The final Spider-Man issue of Inferno is an oddity, detached from the rest. Was it a product of confusion over the schedules or did somebody feel that with so many other members of the supporting cast given moments throughout the crossover it was right to look in on Betty and Flash? Either way we get a very close and personal tale in which the star of the book only appears in one panel. Instead there's a focus on two individuals and how they have developed.

Betty Leeds (née Brant) has not a good time over the years. She was Peter's girlfriend but his responsibility as Spider-Man kept coming between them. Her brother was shot dead right in front of her. She married Ned Leeds but it was an unhappy marriage and she twice had affairs. Then she discovered was the Hobgoblin and he was killed not long after. She had a breakdown and ended up in the hands of a cult until Spider-Man and Flash rescued her. It's been a pretty rough ride for her and time and again she's come to rely on others, losing so many along the way. Now even Flash isn't present when the demon comes into the flat. The scenes as she realises that only she can save herself are strong though tempered by inspiration coming from what appears to be the ghost of Ned but could just be her subconscious speaking.

Flash also gets some good moments as he thinks about both the situation in the city and his own situation, reflecting on how he's come from the days as a high school sports star but also that he regrets some of the choices he took. Spider-Man is still his hero which makes the demon taking his form all the more hurtful. The demon plays on how he clings to past glories and his hero worship of the real Spider-Man. But Flash proves he still has what he needs as he manages to break free of his bonds and then use his sports experience to fight the demon (who unmasked looks rather like Spider-Carnage later would - was this where the inspiration came from?) and dodge the attacks. Again it's a tale of personal discovery.

This is a surprising good little tale that could be easily overlooked. It doesn't contain big name villains or major developments but instead gives two of the longest standing supporting cast members their own chance to shine in a situation where there's no help coming. It shows that you don't need flashy moments or big names but just good well told stories and strong characters.

Web of Spider-Man 48 - Inferno

The All-New All-Daring Jason Macendale the Replacement Hobgoblin pursues Spider-Man into the sewers.

Web of Spider-Man #48

Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Alex Saviuk
Inker: Keith Williams
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: J. Cohen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Spider-Man briefly hallucinates about the demons and flees the Daily Bugle. Coming to his sense he realises New York is even worse then he imagined and sets off to find Mary Jane. Others deal with the demons in their own way. Gloria Grant's date Eduardo Lobo takes out a fork-lift truck with a pipe, winning her affections. The Kingpin punches a demon into oblivion, irritated by the distraction. Meanwhile the Hobgoblin is struggling with the changes inflicted on him and thinks he's mad when he sees a giant lizard the size of a man. Spotting Spider-Man he follows him as the wallcrawler reaches the studio where Mary Jane had a session then goes down into the sewers where the model and her crew are under attack by demons. The Hobgoblin catches up with Spider-Man and is now much faster and more powerful, with Spider-Man at times barely able to sense his foe's blasts. Meanwhile Mary Jane comes up with the idea of setting off a gas explosion to deal with the demons and when Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin come into view the latter's cape proves highly flammable. Out in Queens Aunt May sees the storm over Manhattan and worries about Peter.

Although Inferno still has two more Spider-Man issues to go we've come to the climax of the Hobgoblin part of the story. However with so much else going on in the issue we get little more than the Hobgoblin coming to terms with how he's been changed, with his face taking time to become truly demonic, and then a brief fight with Spider-Man. But it's sufficient to establish the Hobgoblin's new enhanced powers and gives the character a sense of dignity and menace for about the first time since he took over the costume. It somewhat puts the character's weakness in earlier issues in perspective as they have been setting up his search for strength and greater power whilst it also provides a personal angle to the conflict as the Hobgoblin blames both Spider-Man and Harry Osborn for the events that led him to become a demon and now seeks revenge.

There's a few scenes of other characters with some interesting moments. Harry Osborn pops by Aunt May's and from his thoughts it seems as though he knows Peter helped him last issue - so has he remembered Peter's identity? It's a subtle moment not touched upon for a while. Another mystery comes with the strange super strength of Eduardo Lobo but the standout moment has to be with the Kingpin. Coming out of his office to find his henchman the Arranger and various thugs cowering from a demon in the reception the Kingpin calmly destroys it with one punch and then tells his subordinate to get back to day to day business whilst he makes further plans for dealing with Daredevil. Despite being less than two pages long the scene is promoted on the cover and provides a fantastic moment that is all the better for its briefness.

This issue is struggling to balance the immediate needs and the ongoing storylines but manages to provide a good set of moments to bring a satisfactory conclusion to the Hobgoblin saga that serves to re-energise the character and make him a viable threat going forward.

Spectacular Spider-Man 147 - Inferno

Spider-Man teams up with J. Jonah Jameson whilst the Hobgoblin tries to deal with demons.

Spectacular Spider-Man #147

Script: Gerry Conway
Art: Sal Buscema
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Sharen & Wilcox
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Hobgoblin is frustrated after his battle with Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. Still seeking power and encountering the Limbo demons he decides to try seeking it from them. He goes to N'astirh and offers his soul for the power of a demon. N'astirh laughs at the idea he would want such a soul but rewards him for the amusement. A wounded Spider-Man staggers into the Daily Bugle office where he finds Jonah leading the staff in defence against demon attacks and the two find themselves fighting side by side. Elsewhere both Mary Jane and Harry Osborn see off demons whilst Robbie Robertson faces down a panicking neighbour.

This is another multiple cast issue again looking at how many of the supporting cast are handling the ever growing menace. And many are standing their ground firmly with especial courage shown by both Jonah and Mary Jane. When the demons attack the newsroom it's fun to see Spider-Man and Jonah teaming up but there's also a monologue about many of the frustrations of urban living and how for the staff this is just another thing to get through. I don't know if Gerry Conway was still living in New York when he wrote this issue but it does feel like a statement of defiance and pride in a city that had a lot of problems at the time.

But the big focus in this issue comes with the Hobgoblin. Let's cut straight to the chase - Jason Macendale was a lousy loser even long before he first donned this costume. As Jack O'Lantern he frequently screwed up and got his butt handed to him. He couldn't even take down the original Hobgoblin (as he and everyone else thought at the time) himself but had to resort to hiring assassins. As the second Hobgoblin his career so far has consisted of blundering through, getting chucked about to establish the credentials of new villains like Tombstone, equipment malfunctions and so forth. Other underworld figures openly mocked him including to his face. And he spent a lot of time whining about his situation including at the start of this issue.

It's now well established that this situation did not come about by design as briefly discussed when looking at Web of Spider-Man #47. To put a bit more detail the original Hobgoblin's identity was a mystery that got tangled up as multiple writers and editors came and went with their own plans that either made it impossible to establish intended characters as suspects or else ruled them out and the revelation issue was effectively a fill-in commission between regular writers with Peter David discovering to his horror that all the clues led to Ned Leeds who had just been killed off and no other suspect fitted. So came the unusual revelation that the Hobgoblin was Leeds and a replacement was hurriedly found in the form of his killer. And thus the legacy of not one but two of the biggest villains in Spider-Man's history was now held by a loser.

The Inferno issues of the Spider-Man titles seem to be trying multiple ways to resolve this. Putting Harry Osborn back into the Green Goblin costume may at first seem a one-off to allow for a long expected battle and set the Hobgoblin up for the next stage. But it might also have been a deliberate plan to have Harry back as the Green Goblin permanently though as it turned out this would take a little while to happen. However either way something still needed to be done up the Hobgoblin. And the end of the issue shows that's he's been changed by his meeting with N'astirh. Giving him enhanced powers seems a natural step. Having him transformed by a demon is a bit far out from the normal run of Spider-Man foes. Although the crossover provides the opportunity for it to happen, it does seem a rather odd route to go down. But how the changed Hobgoblin will work is a matter for later issues.

Otherwise this issue continues the pattern of Spectacular Spider-Man doing a lot of the subplot and character work whilst the other titles carry the main action. The battle in the Daily Bugle newsroom is hardly essential to the grand scheme of things but provides for a fun encounter and some great moments between Spidey and Jonah. Sal Buscema continues to provide the best Spider-Man art for the period able to capture the full range from the comedic to the dramatic with an especially strong final page as we see the Hobgoblin's face beneath the mask. This is a title living up to its name.

Web of Spider-Man 47 - Inferno

The series finds a writer who will last a good while.

Web of Spider-Man #47

Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Alex Saviuk
Inker: Keith Williams
Letters: R. Parker
Color: J. Cohen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Whilst New York continues to experience random demonic madness and Peter and Mary Jane briefly stay with Aunt May, placing Kristy with her for a time, the Hobgoblin is searching for something first at the ruins of the Osborn chemical factory and then later at Harry Osborn's home out just outside the city. Peter is visiting Harry to find him obsessed with finding something when the Hobgoblin attacks demanding Harry give him some unspecified formula. Peter becomes Spider-Man and fights back but the Hobgoblin is only sent away when Harry claims the formula can be found in the safe at his factory. The whole situation is contributing to Harry's anxiety as he realises the face in the mirror was his own.

Web of Spider-Man had long been the runt of the litter. Launched back in 1984 as a replacement for Marvel Team-Up (at a time when team-up books where generally fading away; reportedly this was because it was one of the concepts that did not transfer well from the newsstands to the direct market) it soon got into a creative mess. A glance at the credits would suggest that a new Spider-Man editor ditched the initial creative team of Louise Simonson and Greg LaRocque (carried over from Marvel Team-Up) too rapidly then struggled to find not only replacements but also a purpose for the book. There was a brief period when it focused on Peter Parker going out of New York with reporter Joy Mercado on assignments for Jonah's magazine but that ended after a terrible story involving the Troubles in Northern Ireland with David Michelinie and Marc Silvestri hurriedly moved on and the series then drifted into an almost permanent fill-in without even making a virtue of being a showcase book. The presence of Spider-Man's name in the title kept it as one of the top sellers but something had to give. By this time the series had finally found a lasting penciller with Alex Saviuk having reached nearly a year (albeit with the odd issue skipped for other projects) and he would go on to chalk up nearly seven years in total on the book but no writer had done more than seven issues in a row. Until now.

At first glance it appears that this and the next issue were simply assigned to a regular writer on one of the other Spider-Man books simply to make it easier to co-ordinate the crossover. But after one further issue by a passing writer Conway would stay around for nearly two years and together with Saviuk the title would finally get some stability. Perhaps some warning siren should have sounded that only two lasting Spider-Man writers could be found at any given time and maybe there should have been a reassessment of the need to have three separate Spider-Man titles on the market although it probably wasn't commercially viable at the time to simply cancel one and permanently double the frequency of another. But for now big things were finally happening in the title.

This is the second Hobgoblin and already signs of problems with the character are apparent. How the original Hobgoblin's identity was revealed and the situation that led to the character being killed off and replaced by Jason Macendale (previously Jack O'Lantern) has been discussed in many places as a sign of the general editorial mess in an earlier period of the title. It's not worth going into detail here save for noting that one consequence was that one of Spider-Man's major foes was now a character generally treated as a loser whose incompetence often led to his downfall. Here it's notable that he charges in on the attack and doesn't stop to specify just what he is searching for. A more rational approach would have been to capture Liz and little Normie Osborn as hostages then calmly present his demands to Harry. This is basically what the original Hobgoblin had done although by that stage the only secrets of the original Green Goblin to be discovered was a notebook with a duplicate list of hideouts already raided. But this Hobgoblin was never written as being on the same level as the original. Instead he was all too often a mindless thug to hit first, think later and was sometimes used to demonstrate other foes' strength such as when Tombstone had thrown him out of the Kingpin's window in one of his earliest appearances. Although he presents a clear danger to civilians such as the Osborns and does make good use of some new weapons such as a tear gas sprayer, one way or another something needed to be done about the legacy of the Green Goblin to have a more dangerous goblin foe.

The Hobgoblin's not the only one who doesn't think things through too carefully. Peter is very concerned that Harry may come to remember his identity as Spider-Man yet he changes into costume to deal with the Hobgoblin all too quickly and makes no attempt to protect his identity such as suggesting he's been following the goblin or declaring that he's got Peter to safety. At the end he swings away to go to Manhattan with no indication that Peter would make a further appearance. It may be a convention of the genre that those around the hero don't notice such things very often but this is in a storyline when Peter is especially concerned about keeping his secret.

This issue serves to reintroduce the Hobgoblin and set him up as a threat to Harry Osborn but also demonstrates well how something needed to be done to get past the mess that had been left by replacing the character in the first place. It also shows a Spider-Man surprisingly casual about his secret identity. This may have been a rush assignment given the wider problems on the book but it isn't the best start for a permanent writer.

Spectacular Spider-Man 146 - Inferno

Harry Osborn is attacked by his factory pipes and a face in the mirror.

Spectacular Spider-Man #146

Script: Gerry Conway
Art: Sal Buscema
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Spider-Man deals with a ventilation pipe that's come to life then heads home where Peter and Mary Jane are continuing to handle the problems of having MJ's young cousin Kristy living with them. Joe "Robbie" Robertson has decided to plead guilty to charges of not speaking out about a murder twenty years ago. A lot of mob lieutenants are found slaughtered in a sign someone is gunning for the Kingpin. J. Jonah Jameson is not happy with his acting editor-in-chief's choice of headline for the Daily Bugle. Glory Grant literally bumps into a man who sweeps her off her feet. Harry Osborn has moved his family back to his old home on Long Island but is suffering nightmares from a face in the mirror. Outside the Hobgoblin is flying around. He meets Peter at his New York factory when suddenly the pipes come to life and attack him. And it seems his memories of the past are returning.

This is an issue mainly advancing subplots. It had been less than a year since Gerry Conway had returned to the title and already a huge number of plot lines are in motion. Some will come to the fore in Inferno but others would run on afterwards. One that particularly stands out is Robbie's impending trial. Earlier issues had revealed how in his youth he had become aware of Tombstone's activities but pulled a story due to intimidation. Later he witnessed Tombstone murdering a man but did not report it at the time. When Tombstone re-emerged Robbie collected and supplied evidence of his crimes to get him sent down but found himself charged with "accessory to murder after the fact" or "misprision of felony" over his failure to report the murder twenty years earlier. There's something that doesn't sit right about the way a witness is prosecuted for being intimidated even if he has gone on to reach a highly respectable position in society. Robbie's acceptance of the situation and decision to plead guilty just makes it more awkward.

Other plots are more simmering and show Conway has a good grasp on the supporting cast. Together with Sal Buscema's artwork, which I much prefer to Todd McFarlane's over on Amazing Spider-Man, this gives this title quite a traditional feel that's also using the current situation to the advantage. Getting married usually doesn't bring just a spouse but also in-laws and so it's good to see Peter having to deal with the situation of one of Mary Jane's relatives staying with all the complications of having to conceal his identity at home and also with the problems she brings with her. There are also some fun moments, especially when Jonah comes onto the Bugle's editorial floor to berate acting editor-in-chief Kate Cushing about the headline and shows her how it should be done.

But the main focus in this issue and indeed of the Spider-Man Inferno issues as a whole involves Harry Osborn and the Hobgoblin. Harry has come to terms with his father having been the Green Goblin but long suppressed the memory of having taken on the role himself despite the original Hobgoblin having twice come after him. Now though his dreams are bringing memories back to the surface and it's not helped by the way his factory comes to life to attack him. The shadow of his dead father is looming again and the issue ends with him seeing the Green Goblin's face in the mirror.

This is very much a calm before the storm issue, building up the characters and especially re-establishing the backstory to Harry Osborn and the Green Goblin. It's good to see the series in such strong hands with a fantastic cliffhanger.

Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 8 - The Evolutionary War

Spider-Man faces new revelations about the Original Clone Saga.

Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #8

1st story: Return to Sender
Script: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Lettering: Rick Parker
Inks: Keith Williams
Color: Bob Sharon
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The High Evolutionary is making a couple of final investigations in this penultimate chapter of the event. He goes out into space to investigate the Young Gods, a group of twelve humans genetically advanced by the various pantheons on Earth and taken away by the Celestials, but judges them "only children with god-like powers" and leaves to continue his plans. However Daydreamer reads his mind and discovers his plan with the Young Gods dividing in two over whether they should seek to stop him or not interfere in human destiny. One faction goes to confront the Evolutionary on Earth with the other following to stop them. Meanwhile Spider-Man encounters the Purifiers chasing a woman and is shocked to discover she resembles his dead former girlfriend Gwen Stacy. He soon realises this is her clone and catches up with her when she is captured by the Purifiers. Transported back to the Evolutionary's base Spidey gets caught up in the battle between the Purifiers and the Young Gods whilst the Evolutionary makes a careful study of Gwen's clone and comes to a startling revelation.

There's a lot going on in this annual so let's get the biggest problem out of the way first. The Young Gods simply do not fit into Spider-Man's world. They are a very obscure group of characters originally introduced by Gerry Conway in his early 1970s run on Thor with a later writer refining them and adding the Celestial connection. They have had very few appearances over the years, primarily because few other writers have touched them and Conway was either not at Marvel or working on inappropriate series. Here they just stick out like a sore thumb and it's easy to see why there was no great demand for them to return or be given their own series. The fight scene in the Evolutionary's headquarters (now a giant submarine) could have featured any group of heroes for all the difference it makes. And Daydreamer's role at the end doesn't match her powers which are given in the "Fact Pages" later in the annual as "Limited precognition, verbal and telepathic thought control, the ability to create 'visions'". None of this explains how she is able to neutralise and reverse the effects of a genetic virus that transforms a person "on a cellular level into a near duplicate of the original" and restore "Gwen" to her true self.

This brings us to what the annual should be notable for as the retcon here should by rights have completely stopped one of the most notorious Spider-Man stories of all time. Contrary to myth the heavy retconning of the events of the Original Clone Saga began in the 1980s before anyone had heard of Ben Reilly. The clone of Gwen Stacy had not been seen since the end of the original saga (which was also Conway's last issue of Amazing Spider-Man) when she made her peace with both Peter and what she really was and there was never any real need to bring her back. But here we get the revelation that she isn't a clone after all. The Evolutionary reveals that he wondered how a university professor could have come up with cloning (clearly forgetting that in the Marvel Universe numerous academics have been able to access and develop all manner of advanced technology) and instead that he had developed the genetic virus then kidnapped another woman similar to Gwen and infected her to create what appeared to be a complete genetic duplicate. (Incidentally the name "Joyce Delaney" doesn't appear in this annual despite what some synopses online state.)

There is so much about this that just doesn't make sense. Firstly why is the Evolutionary so concerned about the work of a long dead university professor whose work has left only one remaining clone around? There is nothing indicating that his plans for genetically advancing the human race can be derailed by this. Secondly if cloning was beyond the ability of Warren then how did he come up with the genetic virus? Thirdly if Gwen Stacy wasn't a clone then what about the others? Who was the Spider-Man clone? Carrion claimed to be a clone of Warren gone wrong so who was he actually? Finally if Gwen's clone was actually another woman then how come her disappearance wasn't noticed?

Some of this would be resolved in a forthcoming issue of Spectacular Spider-Man but it began the trend of partial retcons of the Clone Saga that didn't cover every detail and which would require further stories & retcons to clean things up, often including explaining how Carrion fitted into the new version of events. But it's also notable that the revelations in this annual should have closed off the possibility of bringing back any other clones as the genetic virus could simply have been purged from the system. (However instead the annual was largely ignored for much of the Clone Saga with the revelations here simply brushed aside until a persistent assistant editor managed to get the only issue of Scarlet Spider Unlimited to address them. But that's a story for another day.) It's a pity as the genetic virus approach would have been a much easier way to get the story settled once and for all.

It's not clear why (presumably) Conway felt the need to revisit the Clone Saga at all. Was it because there was growing public awareness that cloning did not lead to fully grown identical duplicates being made in laboratories? Was it to shut down the possibility of other writers bringing back the clones? If so then it was spectacularly unsuccessful. But the result is a big retcon of a story from thirteen years earlier that could have just left things there and then.

(On the subject of continuity this story also repeats a common continuity error by Conway. For some reason he repeatedly got the details of Peter's high school years wrong, here claiming that Peter and Mary Jane knew each other then when in fact they didn't meet until Peter was at university. Time and again he would make this error and also imply that Peter had dated Liz Allen in high school with Mary Jane disliking her then. This has appeared so many times and so clearly in his Spider-Man stories from both the 1970s and 1980s that it can't be a mere misinterpretation.)

This annual would have worked a lot better as an earlier chapter in The Evolutionary War when it would have made more sense for the High Evolutionary to be exploring genetic anomalies as he is a natural character to use to explore the truth behind Warren's experiments. It doesn't feel like a penultimate chapter at all and instead feels like a fill-in marking time between the two Avengers annuals. The obsession with the Young Gods also weighs this story down further. However there are some good moments such as the two scenes between Peter and Mary Jane as they face the memory of Gwen and just what it says about their relationship with each other. But overall this is a mess of a story weighed down by a disproportionate focus on inappropriate guest stars and a needless retcon that makes little sense.


2nd story: Opposing forces
Writer: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inker: Mike Esposito
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharon
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Several of the Young Gods have travelled to Jerusalem where they discover an ancient robot buried in the hills that feeds off anger and is triggered by the presence of the Young Gods and an Israeli army patrol fighting a group of teenage Palestinian protestors. The Young Gods argue over whether to get involved and charge in but only achieve success when several come together to form the Uni-Mind.

Rather than a back-up focusing on some Spider-Man characters we instead get a solo tale for the Young Gods that shows off the differences in their philosophies about getting involved with human affairs as well as a demonstration of their powers and a rather forced message about the power of working together. This tale just shows why the Young Gods have not interested other writers as they're a rather dull cliched set of characters. Putting the story here along with five "Fact Pages" about them just adds to the sense that they've taken over Spider-Man's annual unnecessarily. It ends with a caption announcing "To Be Continued... Watch future issues of Spectacular Spider-Man to find out where!" but instead they wouldn't be seen again until a multipart story in Marvel Comics Presents in the early 1990s. And it's easy to see why. This is just a waste.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: Kindred Spirits
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Breakdowns: Ron Lim
Finishes: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Chief: Tom DeFalco

This chapter tells of how the High Evolutionary returned to mortal form albeit far more advanced than contemporary humans, the creation of Counter-Earth and his relationship with Adam Warlock. The Counter-Earth saga has a notably more scientific approach and veers away from the Biblical parallel of the original story whilst there's also a retelling of the final (for then) showdown between Warlock and the High Evolutionary.

Once more the saga is retelling past Marvel stories though the encounter with Warlock was another flashback due to his own title ending before it could happen (although it was prophesised) and he was soon after killed off. That was one of Mark Gruenwald's earliest pieces of continuity surgery so with this chapter he has now come full circle. Also coming full circle is the way the Evolutionary starts and ends the chapter in his energy thought form, almost as though anyone missing this annual (such as someone who read both Avengers books but not the crossovers) would not feel they were missing something. However it's a pity that the reasons behind Warlock's false belief that Counter-Earth has been destroyed is not explained here beyond speculation that his Soul Gem is interfering with his perception. Otherwise it's a straightforward summary of a distinct period of the Evolutionary's appearances.

Other material includes "The Young Gods Fact Pages!" outlining their origin and each of the characters. Yet again it reinforces the idea that this annual wants to be a Young Gods annual. For some reason a lot of 1980s Spider-Man annuals have a tendency to forget who was the star of the series and suggests that many creators were longing for the days of Marvel Team-Up. This is especially disappointing given how important the revelation in this annual should have been for Spider-Man continuity in the long-term.

Web of Spider-Man 65 - Acts of Vengeance

"The Last Act of Vengeance" is the title of this issue and many readers (and perhaps even some editorial staff) were no doubt going "We hope!" It concludes as the group of villains seek money from the Kingpin whilst Spider-Man has to find a way to get back down to the ground.

Web of Spider-Man #65

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

Spidey's solution of webbing a plane and then clinging to it until it lands and Graviton's power wears off is somewhat on the fantastical side but, as often with Acts of Vengeance, there's a famous Silver Age precedent, here Spider-Man's mission to repair a space capsule in the very first issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Elsewhere the Chameleon has abandoned the hideout and left faked documents implying he's working with the Kingpin, causing the six villains to go and seek the money they expect from him. It's such an obvious ploy it's amazing that they fall for it, but numerous villains have been gullible over the years.

After some localised subplots about the Daily Bugle building having been so damaged as to have to be condemned and Mary Jane discovering that Harry Osborn has the Green Goblin costume and equipment stored in his flat, we get to the final battle. Once again Spider-Man takes advantage of some of his foes' lack of experience of working with each other to pick them off one by one and it's a pretty straightforward fight. Strangely there's a moment where Titania leaps on Spidey and they both fall a long way before he breaks clear and leaves her falling, assuming she's strong enough it will only stun her. However on landing she gets hit by a bus and there's nothing in the story suggesting Spider-Man's even aware of this yet it's the classic type of situation that would give him a major guilt trip. The Kingpin watches the fight bemused, unaware that this is all a set-up by the Chameleon to destroy his rival's reputation.

This issue is ultimately almost as light as something Graviton has used his powers on. There's not much substance, the team-up between the six villains doesn't provide any further insights and Spidey quickly proves he's able to take each and every one of them down with greater strategy. This epilogue is ever more distant from the big crossover and it's a relief that this is the final book with an "Acts of Vengeance" banner on the cover.

Web of Spider-Man #65 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

Web of Spider-Man 64 - Acts of Vengeance

Three months after the conclusion of "Acts of Vengeance" came this issue of Web of Spider-Man with "Acts of Vengeance is Back!" on the cover. This issue and the next provide a further epilogue to the series. The story sees the Chameleon arrange the release of several of the villains Spider-Man defeated in the saga and then offers them $500,000 between them to kill Spider-Man.

Web of Spider-Man #64

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

It's yet another throwback to the Silver Age where numerous villains sought to defeat Spider-Man in order to cement their position as the leading crime lord in the city. This time the Chameleon isn't bothering with trying to do it personally but has instead made an offer to a group of foes with mixed powers who all want revenge now that Spider-Man no longer has his powers. The villains are a motley group - Titania, Graviton, Goliath, the Brothers Grimm and Paste Pot Pete the Trapster - but they prove sufficiently willing to work together for a mutual goal, given leadership and incentive. It stands in stark contrast to the squabbling committee of the leading super-villains during the crossover.

As Peter Parker, Spider-Man is facing further problems as Nick Katzenberg, the sleazy rival photographer at the Daily Bugle, produces photos showing Peter dressed as Spider-Man for a shoot, leading to editor Joe "Robbie" Robertson sacking him with a rant about journalistic ethics, perhaps because of his own lingering guilt at having failed to report Tombstone in his youth that recently put him in jail. It's often been speculated that Robbie has deduced Spider-Man's identity but keeps it to himself, but his reaction here, even disagreeing with J. Jonah Jameson who is willing to overlook it all as it isn't a news photo, suggests otherwise. Peter storms off and has an angry confrontation with Katzenberg before storming off.

The later battle shows some repeat tricks, with Graviton once again lifting up the Daily Bugle building, but also the need for better leadership in the field as Spidey manages to trick the Brothers Grimm and the Trapster into taking each other out, but Graviton's powers proved rather harder to defeat with strategy.

This is an odd issue. After such a long crossover there wasn't really a crying need for yet more "Acts of Vengeance" issues. These also came out in the run-up to a major story in Amazing Spider-Man entitled "Return of the Sinister Six", reuniting more conventional Spider-Man foes so yet another story involving a group of villains teaming up feels repetitive even if it did manage to come out first. Nor does it present much of a lesson in how teams of villains can work effectively, since Spider-Man is able to play off the limitations and lack of expectations. This is just another demonstration of the problems of having three monthly titles for one character without distinctive purposes, leading to a speedy rehash of recent events.

Web of Spider-Man #64 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

Web of Spider-Man 61 - Acts of Vengeance

We come now to the penultimate Spider-Man issue in the crossover, though we'll be seeing Spidey rather more than just one further time in this crossover. However this chapter has all the hallmarks of a filler designed to mark time.

Web of Spider-Man #61

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

As noted before, Web of Spider-Man was often the series that didn't seem to know just why it was there and this especially shows here as we get a chapter putting the hero through a classic cycle of quitting his role only to come running back at pretty much the first sign of trouble. It's easy to lose track just how many times this has been done with Spider-Man now. Sometimes it works as part of a broader plot or even relaunch. But at other times it becomes all too simple a plot device. There is admittedly the added complication that he's struggling to handle the additional powers he's gained, but Peter should know all too well by now that no matter how often he tries, he can never ditch the web slinging for good. And it seems his foes know this as well, with both the Kingpin and Doctor Doom doubting the Wizard's reports of what he's heard. Nevertheless the Wizard decides to use a discarded mask as a scent to send Dragon Man to find and destroy Spidey.

(Noting the continuity errors surrounding the leading villains can be tiresome but two things stand out here. Firstly it's not clear how the Wizard could just casually bring Dragon Man to the meeting room and hide him behind a curtain, especially given the Red Skull's failure to bring the Controller into the room. And the Mandarin is wearing his hideous bare-chested costume rather than the blue armour he donned nearly a year earlier and which he wears in most of his other appearances in the crossover.)

The actual fight with Dragon Man is extremely straightforward with Spidey ultimately just exhausting the android's flames before webbing it up, though it's good to see a positive reaction from the people he's saved. But otherwise this issue advances a number of plots, with Doctor Doom trying to assimilate the energy that Tess One absorbed from Spider-Man, a plan that worries the mysterious stranger who assembled the villains. Doom's plans reach a conclusion here but it's such an anti-climax it's as though developments in the main parts of the crossover were suddenly brought up, necessitating a speedy resolution. Elsewhere we get a scene with Mary Jane and her bulimic cousin Kristy. This was a storyline that seems to have started out with good motives, though appears to have been targeting a non-existent part of the audience and so fizzled out. It's a pity as one of the features of Peter and Mary Jane's marriage should have been to introduce complications from the in-laws but Kristy seems to have been about the only one ever used and fading out fast rather than hanging around a good while and becoming another obstacle for the secret identity to navigate.

This issue is clearly just marking time before the conclusion of the cosmic powers story and it's a pity, though it continues to confirm the problems of giving one hero three titles with relatively little to distinguish them.

Web of Spider-Man #61  has been reprinted in:

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

Spectacular Spider-Man 160 - Acts of Vengeance

The cover of this issue demonstrates one of the more irritating features of early 1990s Marvel covers - slapping a "TM" next to just about every single named character. Did someone genuinely think that Shocker (TM), Rhino (TM) and/or Hydro Man (TM) would one day star in their own series and they needed protection just in case?

Spectacular Spider-Man #160

Script: Gerry Conway
Art: Sal Buscema
Lettering: Rick Parker
Colour: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

It's also another sign of the continuing discontinuity between the Gerry Conway written issues and the rest of the crossover as the Shocker has already been taken down in an earlier Fantastic Four issue and Hydro Man appears in one that went on sale the same day as this one. Conway's handling of continuity hasn't always been the best and it can sometimes create awkward story points - two that spring to mind in this era are the changing of the nature of the clones that then had to sort out explaining the Carrion saga and revealing that Mary Jane had known Peter was Spider-Man right from the start which does significantly alter the understanding of their relationship. In this regard his use of foes being used elsewhere and continuing to present the core alliance operating in a different manner from the rest of the crossover aren't such major things, but they do stand out when read altogether.

Such is the nature of Spider-Man's powers that even though the three villains are prominent on the cover, inside they're taken down in just two pages. But his powers are making him cocky and not realising how the public is turning against him because of the sheer destruction that comes from his fights. Into this mess comes Doctor Doom's latest tool, Tess One, a Second World War era android built for Total Elimination of Super-Soldiers. The backstory is interesting as it shows that during the war the government was concerned about the creation of super-humans and wanted safeguards in place lest their creations turn on them. One of the big missed opportunities of the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover has been the failure to really play up in a consistent way the public concerns about the dangers of having such powers in their midst. Doom receives a message that Magneto and the Kingpin are concerned about attitudes in Congress, but other than the odd reference like this there isn't a great deal of attention given outside of the Fantastic Four issues. Thus Spider-Man's actions and the fear it creates almost operates in a vacuum. It seems he'll get renewed attacks as J. Jonah Jameson steps up his plans to launch a new magazine with sleazy photography Nick Katzenberg supplying the crucial photographs. (The scenes here are made worse by comments about Katzenberg dating a lawyer. There's a bit too much information.)

Spider-Man's powers continue to grow, with a hint of their origin as he starts to be drawn with the aura of another being around him and hears whispering in his ear. The actual fight with Tess One is a walkover as Doom expected, but it extenuates Spidey's cockiness with the public getting increasingly scared of the menace. Even Mary Jane is getting concerned, leading to a row. Sal Buscema continues to draw some amazing scenes, with Spidey's destruction of Tess One doing well to convey the sheer power involved.

This storyline has had some weaker moments due to its length but is clearly now building towards a climax with a more logical progression of events. Despite some minor poor continuity, this issue is overall a good instalment that brings the series back on form.

Spectacular Spider-Man #160  has been reprinted in:

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

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)

Spectacular Spider-Man 159 - Acts of Vengeance

The next Spider-Man chapter in the saga sees him put up against the Brothers Grimm, one of the more obscure pairs of super-villains in Marvel. The original brothers first appeared in the original Spider-Woman series, but these are the second pair who have been used so sparingly that it's actually a surprise to find they consider Iron Man to be their arch foe. Meanwhile Spider-Man is continuing to explore his new powers and keeps thwarting the attempts of Doctor Doom to discover more about them.

Spectacular Spider-Man #159

Script: Gerry Conway
Breakdowns: Sal Buscema
Finishes: Mike Esposito
Lettering: Rick Parker
Colours: Bob Sharen
Edits: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is another issue that feels like it's treading water and isn't even fully in sync with other things happening. Early in the issue Spider-Man is astonished to discover that he can now fly, yet he discovered this power in the previous chapter of the sage (Amazing Spider-Man #327). It would have been so easy to modify this to his powers getting out of control again, but this part of the script hasn't been fixed. There are also a couple of subplots shown in the title, but both don't really advance. One sees another conversation about the possibility of getting Joe Robertson a pardon, but this is a storyline that has dragged out interminably and the angle of his lawyer being interested in a sleazy Daily Bugle photographer is something that we could just do without. Meanwhile J. Jonah Jameson has plans to launch a new photo journal magazine in order to get himself back into news publishing and is trying to recruit Peter to the project. Although it has long-term possibilities, at the moment this just feels like a distraction.

The battle itself feels rather too much like a throwback to the Silver Age, but then this issue is written by the man who once did a story of Manhattan Island being stolen by terrorists and then dragged back into place by Hercules. So in this regard the Brothers Grimm using the Wizard's anti-gravity disks to raise the whole of Madison Square Gardens isn't the silliest thing to have appeared from Conway's pen (and Sal Buscema has certainly had to draw some nonsense in his time). But it's not only ludicrous but also highly repetitive after Graviton also used his powers to float a building in an earlier chapter in the same arc. "This is getting ridiculous" declares Spider-Man but "getting" is the wrong word. Spider-Man's powers continue to be difficult to control, as shown when he declares he's taking charge, only to immediate overact and destroy yet another of Doctor Doom's spy cameras when he wanted to examine it.

It is an unfortunate case that this storyline feels insufficient for the number of issues assigned to it. Consequently we're getting inconsequential chapters that do next to nothing to really advance the story and just show the problems of having too many series for a character all trying to tell the same tale. If this was a deliberate attempt to show why the three books should be running their own stories (as indeed they largely did for the next three years) then it proved the point. However I think it instead reached that by accident.

Spectacular Spider-Man #159  has been reprinted in:

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

Web of Spider-Man 59 - Acts of Vengeance

The problem of finding villains who haven't fought Spider-Man recurs in this issue, though here there is explicit acknowledgement that Spider-Man and Titania have fought before in Secret Wars, although not their subsequent encounter a few years later. But it makes a mockery of Doctor Doom's claim that Spider is "a less-familiar opponent - against whom you will be equally fresh, unsuspected and irresistible."

Web of Spider-Man #59

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

Rather this issue sees Titania again trying to overcome her irrational fear of Spider-Man that has made it difficult for her to beat him on previous occasions. It's also interesting that this time round it's Doctor Doom who sends a foe after Spider-Man, after the Kingpin and the Wizard dispatched Graviton and Paste-Pot Pete the Trapster in earlier issues. Maybe the leaders of the alliance are rotating who takes charge of dealing with a particular foe or maybe there's a taxi-rank principle that sees the next one available step in. But also Spider-Man's new powers have already attracted Doom's attention and he seems personally interested, suggesting the alliance leaders are not quite all working for the same ends.

Meanwhile the Daily Bugle has been making itself even more of a target since it was brought out by Thomas Fireheart, aka Puma, as part of his attempt to repay a debt of honour to Spider-Man, with the result that it is now running ridiculously pro-Spider-Man coverage and this makes Doom suggest it as the best target to draw the wall-crawler out. The eventual battle is rather disappointing, with the complications of Puma intervening, Spider-Man still struggling with his enhanced senses and Titania being unknowingly boosted by one of Doom's devices. As a result Spider-Man comes across as confused and clumsy, only winning through because of his new powers and ultimately lashing out in a rage.

This issue is from about a year into Gerry Conway's run on the title and two from Alex Saviuk, bringing a stability it had previously lacked but there's still a real sense that this is one Spider-Man title too many, existing purely for the sake of having a third title on the stands. It also means that Spider-Man's new powers are being developed at a frankly tedious pace. Historically it was actually quite unusual for the different Spider-Man titles to run the same story at this stage - including three sets of annuals this is only the eighth time it had happened and five of those (including two sets of annuals) were part of wider Marvel crossovers. Perhaps it would have been better to allow each series to handle the concept in its own way rather than putting them all together for such an extended length.

Web of Spider-Man #59  has been reprinted in:

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

Spectacular Spider-Man 158 - Acts of Vengeance

We come now to one of the biggest moments in comic science since a spider decided to wander around a radiation experiment.

Spectacular Spider-Man #158

Writer: Gerry Conway
Breakdowns: Sal Buscema
Finishes: Mike Esposito
Colourist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Rick Parker
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Okay since he appears on the cover, let's tackle the first problem with this story. Spider-Man has fought the Trapster before, including in this series (#42), three times as part of the Frightful Four and once solo. And both Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema were present for one of those encounters (Marvel Team-Up #2 and #58 respectively). But then it is particularly difficult to find villains that Spider-Man hasn't encountered before, given his multiple titles, former team-up book and many guest appearances have meant he's been around the Marvel universe far more than just about any other hero.

However this isn't the only continuity error that sticks out here. Although much of the chronology of "Acts of Vengeance" is debatable, the three Spider-Man books have a clear order as established by previous crossovers (which have been surprisingly few; it wasn't until 1993 that the Spider-Man books began routinely running multi-part storylines across each other). Thus it's strange to see the Kingpin here recruited to the central alliance (otherwise so far consisting of Doctor Doom, Magneto and the Wizard) when in Amazing Spider-Man #326 he was said to be the one who sent Graviton to deal with Spider-Man and thus already a part of the scheme. This lack of co-ordination within the Spider-Man office is not a good sign and more broadly there will be a number of questions about the order of involvement of the leaders of the alliance and their various hidden motivations. Now is not the best time to discuss the presence of Magneto as he's not a major presence in this issue and there are ones coming up that are more appropriate, but overall it's an interesting start to the scheme by bringing together three major villains plus a has-been like the Wizard.

The Wizard isn't the only one with a poor reputation. The Trapster took on his current name nearly a quarter of a century earlier, but he's never been able to shake off the ridiculous initial one "Paste-Pot Pete", with both Spider-Man and the Kingpin using it. His abilities have also long been mocked yet here he overpowers Spider-Man in the space of just three pages using a mixture of paste and grease. He's been specifically picked by the Wizard so it's understandable that he's gone in with weapons to overcome Spider-Man's ability to stick to walls, yet it's an astonishingly quick and one sided encounter, with no real distractions to explain how Spider-Man can be taken down so easily. This is the problem with deliberate defeats to set up subsequent encounters and it stands out the more when the foe comes with all the baggage of an acknowledged loser that the Trapster has.

But this is only a prelude to a major transformation. Doing some work in a science lab, Peter Parker gets exposed to an energy burst which enhances his sense and powers. He becomes invulnerable to electricity, starts generating giant sized hands made of webs, fires energy bolts from his fingers and can sense just about everything for miles until he gets that under control. It's an interesting step-up in his power levels and leaves Spider-Man scared of what the consequences might be. For a crossover event in which the balance of power is going to be deliberately altered, it's actually quite appropriate for one of the heroes to be suddenly more powerful than usual, making the encounters more unique which is handy given the already mentioned limitations of finding foes Spider-Man hasn't fought before.

This issue also briefly touches on the later stages of one of the more bizarre Spider-Man stories from the period where Joe "Robbie" Robertson was sent to jail for not having reported a crime when he was a young reporter. The problem with the story has always been the absurdity that a witness gets jailed for being intimidated into silence. The judge may have been corrupt but a judge is not the whole system and it shouldn't have to take a presidential pardon for such an absurdity to be overcome.

Overall though this is a fairly solid issue that brings some local mysteries alongside the wider event, helped by some always spectacular artwork.

Spectacular Spider-Man #158  has been reprinted in:

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

Essential Tomb of Dracula volume 4

Essential Tomb of Dracula volume 4 is a change from the norm, containing material in narrative rather than publication order from Tomb of Dracula Magazine #2 to #6, Dracula Lives! #1 to #13 and Frankenstein Monster #7 to #9. Bonus material includes some pin-ups from the magazines and also from a calendar, unused pencilled artwork from the multi-part story planned for Tomb of Dracula #70 to #72 before it was condensed into a single giant-size issue, and finally a couple of one-page stories. The Dracula stories are written by a wide range of writers including Marv Wolfman, Roger McKenzie, Peter Gillis, Gerry Conway, Doug Moench, Gardner Fox, Roy Thomas, Tony Isabella, Mike Friedrich, Jim Shooter, Steve Gerber, Len Wein and Rick Margopolous. The art is by Gene Colan, John Buscema, Neal Adams, Vicente Alcazar, Frank Robbins, Steve Gan, Sonny Trinidad, Yong Montano, Dick Ayers, Alan Weiss, Frank Springer, George Evans, Tony Dezuniga, Paul Gulacy, Rich Buckler, Jim Starlin, Alfonso Font, Mike Ploog, Frank Robbins, Alfredo Alcala, George Tuska, Val Mayerik and Ernie Chua. The Frankenstein Monster issues are all written by Mike Friedrich and drawn by John Buscema. With such a large number of creators there are not one but two separate labels posts.

One of the less often commented features about reprints is that they aren't always exactly the same as the original publication. Cutting pages or even individual panels to fit a smaller page count or different size format and modifying footnotes to reference other reprints are the best known but there's also a long history of amending dialogue and visuals to suit different sensibilities. Just to add to the confusion the state of the archives isn't always the best so the material available or ordered up is sometimes identical to the original printing, sometimes a modified version from a later reprint and occasionally an earlier prepublication one that was modified before it first went to the printers but with the unaltered version hanging around in the files. The Essentials have had a mixed record on source material over the years, with the earlier volumes often relying on other reprints whilst the later ones developed better techniques for going straight back to the source material. But even then some things were still changed. Usually these changes aren't too well documented but this volume, released almost at the mid point of the Essentials, has had some changes made to the artwork to cover up nudity, especially on the first story with Lilith.

Were this not known about it wouldn't affect readability at all - the changes focus on hiding nudity, mainly by extending existing clothing. (There are some comparisons between the original and modified panels at The Groovy Age of Horror: Censored Essentials? - be warned the nudity is clear.) Marvel of course has every legal right to do this (the US doesn't have the concept of creators' moral rights to object to tampering with the work) and whether this was the company's own decision or a response to the modern standards of distributors and booksellers is unknown, but the alternative may have been no reprint at all. But it's a pity that it was deemed necessary to make the modifications as it does ultimately mean this isn't quite an exact reprint (and that means even more when most of the material was in black and white to start with). And the market for reprints of old Dracula stories shouldn't have a problem with it. Certainly there's other material with pretty adult themes such as pirates attacking a village, including rape (the word is actually used) and their female captain is shown using sex to beguile and control her crew, with one crewmember shown being rewarded and later others promised "Hellyn's reward will be given to all who score with a thrust!" when facing Dracula. Yet despite this the story finds itself unable to say "bastard" and has to use the euphemism "fatherless dog".

As for what's actually been printed here, this is very much a mishmash collection of material. It starts off with a couple of tales from Tomb of Dracula Magazine, continuing where the last volume left off, before running through a whole set of historical adventures from the various magazines and another character's comic, then finishes off with the present day tales from Dracula Lives! magazine that ran parallel to the early issues of the Tomb of Dracula comic. The result of all this is that the volume jumps around. Reading between the lines it becomes clear that Marvel didn't really know what to do with the ongoing adventures of Dracula now that the 1970s horror fad had passed and Marv Wolfman had left the character (and was in the process of leaving the company altogether). Consequently it's unsurprising that the magazine ended after just six issues and there's nothing in the early stories that suggests any real direction with the most significant development being an ending of sorts as Lilith is separated from the body of Angel O'Hara and then finds she is unable to kill her father. The other early tale is a more typical piece of what is to come, with Dracula preying on an innocent woman, here a ballerina, and transforming her. She eventually commits suicide and is not the only female victim to do so in these pages.

The historic adventures of Dracula show no development at all, being just a succession of tales in different historic periods. Reordering them chronologically helps to disguise the lack of direction but it also exposes some inconsistencies in the basic vampire mythology, most notably as to whether a transformed victim needs to wait three nights or not before rising again, whether Dracula needs to spend the day in a coffin full of Transylvanian earth or not, and whether he needs to be invited in before he can enter a public dwelling. Each of these rules is both adhered to and broken throughout the course of these tales, with Dracula's precise vulnerability to crosses also fluctuating somewhat. This just reinforces the mess these tales are.

By and large the historic adventures either fill in the core history of Dracula, although the adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel is conspicuously absent, or else place the vampire in a particular period setting as he wanders across Europe and occasionally beyond, but always ultimately returning home. There's a variety of stock characters and situations including hordes of Turkish warriors, witches, pirates, court nobles, American Civil War soldiers, cowboys, gangsters and wartime Germans. And there are attempts to do more with the formula than simply preying on women and evading their menfolk. But something just doesn't feel right about these stories. Dracula is ultimately a late Victorian Gothic creation, even if he was named after a historical figure from the fifteenth century and has since had that historical character fused into the fictional one. Seeing him placed in other historical settings just doesn't feel right and few of the tales are able to really rise above the limitations. As a result the only historic stories of any real significance are the early ones which tell how Vlad the Impaler became a vampire in the first place and also how the centuries long war between Dracula and the Van Helsings began. There's also a particularly dark tale as Dracula encounters and brings down the notorious real life serial killer Countess Elizabeth Bathory, here depicted with all the gruesomeness of bathing in the blood of virgins to restore and maintain her youth. It's a particularly dark tale that shows Dracula up against a woman who is immune to his bite, forcing him to resort to more devious methods to bring her down, making for a good homage to what is believed to have been one of the influences upon Stoker. Otherwise these tales are really just back-up filler that don't work when collected together in their own right. Early on a text piece entitled "Bloodline: A Probable Outline Of The Career Of Count Vlad Dracula" summarises all the adventures and material from various flashbacks and that contains probably everything that could be needed to cover his historic career.

The three Frankenstein Monster issues are set in 1898 and appear to be Dracula's first appearance after the Stoker novel, which is given a very brief one page summary here. The issues show Frankenstein's monster on a search for the last of his creator's family and encountering a travelling gypsy circus on the way but one of the gypsies has ulterior motives. It leads to a rather dull conflict between two of the greatest horror creations who each deserved so much more. As is so often the case with these tales we get Dracula preying on innocent women in an isolated settlement and clashing with the local men, with some suspicious townsfolk thrown in who bring a gruesome fate to the gypsies. We also get what is becoming an increasingly routine occurrence whereby Dracula ends the story seemingly slain but his killer lacks either the knowledge or time to perform the necessary actions to destroy the corpse before the vampire can be brought back to life. Though we sometimes see Dracula resurrected, such as here when an old gypsy woman tricks the monster into unsealing a tomb, the succession of deaths and unexplained resurrections work to undermine the overall impact of the stories by disrupting the narrative flow and removing the impact of danger and destruction to Dracula.

The final part of the volume is only slightly more coherent, being taken up with the present day adventures from Dracula Lives! and so at least publication and chronological orders coincide. But apart from a vague narrative as Dracula comes to the States in an unsuccessful search for his old foe Cagliostro before heading back to Europe, this is much the same as before. Dracula wanders through a succession of scenarios, ranging from becoming addicted to drugs after biting a junkie to a battle with an eighteenth century man who has been transformed into a stone gargoyle that only comes to life at night. A visit to New Orleans sees the Zombie passing by but there's no interaction between the two horror characters and instead the focus is on an encounter with Marie Le Vau, the "Voodoo Queen of New Orleans". Elsewhere in Hollywood Dracula challenges a has-been actor who has been portraying him and suffering delusions that make him believe he is the actual vampire. Dracula's nastiest streak comes to the fore at times as he sets traps, especially when he bites a terrorist and sets him up to be exposed to sunlight without realising what will happen. A particularly favourite trick is to set a foe up by biting an expected acquaintance in advance who in turn becomes a vampire in time to attack. A number of women are drawn to Dracula over the course of these stories and he will sometimes be drawn to them in return but ultimately will never settle with any of them, leaving them lonely and, in one case, suicidal. The biggest addition to the mythology is the Montesi Formula, a spell that can destroy vampires permanently which leads Dracula to risk invading the Vatican in order to dispose of both Cardinal Montesi and the formula before it can be used permanently. Otherwise these tales are just more of the same.

This volume primarily serves as a companion piece to the three earlier ones, collecting together material from the supporting series and guest appearances that never fully fitted alongside the ongoing narrative in the monthly comic. And this patchwork shows even without being reordered into a chronological framework. There's no development or recurring cast beyond Dracula, whilst a lot of the situations bear a strong similarity to one another. All in all this volume is pretty inessential.