Amazing Spider-Man 313 - Inferno

Multiple searches for family members see the unexpected slithering in.

Amazing Spider-Man #313

Writer: David Michelinie
Art: Todd McFarlane
Lettering: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharen & John Wilcox
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Peter and Mary Jane take a taxi out to Aunt May's house in Queens, narrowly avoiding a giant shark swimming in the air of the Midtown Tunnel. In Queens they learn Aunt May has headed off to Manhattan to find them so Peter sets off again, missing Aunt May who returns as public transport is down. Meanwhile Martha and Billy Connors are driving into New York to see their estranged husband/father who has recently got control over his transformation into the Lizard. However in New York Curt Connors has lost control amidst the Inferno. Spider-Man searches for May and concludes she may have gone to the university campus so heads there, dealing with a giant parade balloon of himself that has come to life on the way. On campus a possessed security guard lures Martha and Billy into the library and unleashes demons from the card catalogue but the Lizard intervenes as he wants them for himself. Then Spider-Man arrives, knocks out the Lizard and administers the formula to cure him. At first it doesn't work and he realises he needs an electric shock to reinforce it. The Lizard's left arm proves to be under the control of Connors and grabs a cable and applies it to transform him back. Curt tells his wife and son they must stay away from him and he will make arrangements through an intermediary. Mary Jane arrives by cab and tells Spidey May is safe at home. Meanwhile in a prison Jonathan Caesar consults a lawyer about a plan to destroy Mary Jane.

It's hard to shake the feeling that the Inferno issues of Amazing Spider-Man were structured in part to allow Todd McFarlane the opportunity to draw a number of classic Spider-Man villains, many of whom haven't been seen in the title for a very long time. It's also hard to ignore the feeling that the Amazing issues are deliberate action heavy whilst the Spectacular and Web ones have many subplots due to the respective artists' strengths and interests.

The Lizard is one of the more difficult villains of the Lee-Ditko era to do much original with. Curt Connors only rarely transforms into him and his reptilian form is rarely able to engage in subtlety or planning. Instead a typical Lizard plot see Connors become the creature who terrorises those around him whilst planning some scheme to have lizards overrun humans often through transforming them. Spider-Man fights the Lizard and administers a serum to revert him to Connors who is seemingly permanently cured but a later story will show that is not the case. The main obstacle to development seems to be the determination to always rescue Connors from his reptilian form which means the latter can never do anything long term or have time to imagine. This issue follows much of the same pattern and indeed from Spidey first encountering the Lizard to Connors re-emerging happens across just five pages.

There are some other moments in the issue such as a random shark appearing in mid air or a parade balloon of Spider-Man coming to life and attacking some kids (including the winner of a competition to appear in an issue) that also requires McFarlane to draw Spider-Man's traditional look that he'd otherwise deviated from. And the final page is a set-up for an interesting plot that sought to solve the objection that Peter shouldn't be married to a high flying model and living in a luxury apartment - by having an obsessive stalker take revenge to get Mary Jane blacklisted in the industry and the couple evicted. It's brutal but it's a much better way to solve that objection than a deal with the devil.

Overall this is another issue that's big on images and light on original plot which was becoming all too common amongst books drawn by some of the future Image founders. McFarlane draws a great Lizard but the story follows the same pattern as many before making for a rather unimaginative outcome. Still it's nice to see the artist made to conform to house style at least once.

Amazing Spider-Man 312 - Inferno

Inferno brings out the goblins in more ways than one.

Amazing Spider-Man #312

Writer: David Michelinie
Artist: Todd McFarlane
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Harry's memories of having been the Green Goblin have returned and he once more dons the costume to protect his family. Meanwhile Curt Connors is wondering if he still has the Lizard under control and Mary Jane is modelling as Cleopatra when gold snake jewellery comes to life. Spider-Man comes across the battle between the two goblins.

It's amazing to realise that the Green Goblin hadn't been seen outside of flashbacks for over a decade at this point. Instead an alternative had been created in the form of the Hobgoblin and although the original had twice confronted Harry Osborn over his father's legacy, Harry had got little further than picking up some pumpkin bombs to throw back. But the goblin legacy was always there and it was probably only a matter of time before someone realised what a mess of a character the second Hobgoblin was and looked elsewhere.

However at this point Harry is only concerned with protecting his family, nothing more, and shows no sign of remembering Spider-Man's identity or seeking revenge upon him. He scoffs at the suggestion that New York could use another crime fighter, declaring he has responsibilities as a married man. It's also clear he is utterly unready for this battle. Time and again he thinks how he's no longer insane and how that had given him an advantage in the past until he eventually realises that rationality could be the way out. The Hobgoblin is clearly the superior fighter but constrained by the intervention of Spider-Man and overconfidence to the point he doesn't realise the Green Goblin has outmanoeuvred him for an aerial bombardment. The Hobgoblin also continues to demand something without actually saying what until the end when Harry tells him it was destroyed years ago and "You're an idiot." A narrative caption adds "Sometimes -- the truth hurts!" Although not too blunt it continues the habit of treating the character as a fool and of little danger to a competent experienced foe.

Neither goblin is the original and with Harry having only just got back onto the glider there's a clear limitation to this battle that reduces the impact. But an eventual confrontation between the different heirs to the Goblin legacy had been much expected for several years and it's good to see it finally happen. A rematch when both have had further development is naturally anticipated here.

This is very much the action issue with limited development of subplots beyond showing that the Lizard is returning for a future issue and a surge of demons coming into New York to make things even worse. Presumably this is a deliberate structuring to put the main battle in the series with the future Image artist drawing a lot of splash artwork and leave the more character and plot focused developments to the titles with more traditional artists. As a result the main attraction is the long awaited battle and the art doesn't disappoint.

Amazing Spider-Man 311 - Inferno

Spider-Man must deal with the consequences of the death of a would-be hero.

Amazing Spider-Man #311

Writer: David Michelinie
Artist: Todd McFarlane
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharen & Evelyn Stein
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Outside New York's main library two lion statues come to life and Spider-Man tackles them. Swinging down an alley he rescues a couple from a mugging when a wall suddenly turns into a giant and attacks him. One of the couple tries to help by hitting the giant's ankle and gets crushed into the ground. Spider-Man destroys the giant by throwing a car through it but the man's death eats away at him and over the next day Peter is permanently distracted. Then at a bar he steps in to help subdue a bully and Mary Jane explains that like the man in the alley Peter stepped in to help regardless because that's who he is and the man died of his own choice. Peter comes to accept the situation and as Spider-Man he goes to retrieve his camera from the alley - only to discover there's no sign of the fight as if it was all an illusion. After getting information from the mugger he locates and overpowers the true cause - Mysterio.

Up to this point the Spider-Man titles had generally avoided crossovers especially those that required the creative teams to all work together. Kraven's Last Hunt and Mad Dog Ward were each done by a single creative team and run over all three titles instead of in just one. Secret Wars II crossovers had dipped in and out of the three series but never involving more than two at any given point. The crossovers with Inferno were thus the first time all three books would come together to tell a linked story though at this stage the only hint is on the final page as Harry Osborn deals with dreams about a goblin not realising another is watching his house. It was quite a significant step forwards though it would take several years before all then four titles would regularly crossover for years on end. Reportedly it was also unpopular with some readers at the time who either only subscribed to one of the series or who didn't have all three easily distributed in their neck of the woods which in part explains why it remained a rare thing. But it makes sense to tie the series together when taking part in a bigger crossover rather than giving three separate storylines within one big event.

This first issue is surprisingly tame though and rather working through the obvious. In a scenario where everyday objects are suddenly coming to life and attacking people there's an obvious suspect within the Spider-Man rogues' gallery. So it makes sense to get him out of the way. This is a pretty straightforward Mysterio story in which he fakes a situation to make Spider-Man doubt himself with a showdown on the set of a science fiction movie ("Star Fight IV: The Return of the Sequel") with some special effects. It's perhaps over simple with the scenes with Mysterio over focused on splashy art at the expense of plot, a sign of what would come to be called the Image style growing in prominence at the time. As a result this is a rather dull start to the Spider-Man part of the crossover.

Amazing Spider-Man 328 - Acts of Vengeance

This is the last issue of the series drawn by Todd McFarlane and it's not hard to spot his is the greater influence on the story than David Michelinie. The issue is devoted to a fight between Spider-Man and the Hulk, whom McFarlane had previously drawn at Marvel. It could well have been his final issue at Marvel overall, and thus going out by drawing both the characters he'd made his name on would stand as a strong legacy. (Instead he succeeded in getting to draw and script a new Spider-Man series but that's another matter.)

Amazing Spider-Man #328

Writer: David Michelinie
Artist: Todd McFarlane
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colour: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

McFarlane's art is a pretty polarising subject. As someone who discovered it long after the event for me it's always been a part of Spider-history rather than an active debate but it's certainly very different from the house style that came before and indeed which both Sal Buscema and Alex Saviuk use on the Spectacular Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man issues here. It works well enough, though it does seem to be pushing Spider-Man in an ever-darker direction reminiscent of other heroes, something the script picks up on with a scene where Spidey lifts up a criminal who asks, "Who are you?!?" and the reply begins "I'm Bat..." Well it was 1989 but it’s another needless homage. The cover is also a little odd in that Spider-Man seems to be lifting the Hulk up by his genitals, perhaps explaining the latter's bright green tongue.

The main plot is driven by the committee of villains having made an offer to Sebastian Shaw, recently deposed from the Hellfire Club. Shaw has the mutant ability to absorb energy and use it to enhance his strength and speed, which might have made him a good match for Spidey earlier in the storyline when the powers were still slowly developing. However here it would be a one-sided walkover - and Shaw realises as much, noting that Magneto is involved and suspecting this is really an attempt to dispose of an enemy once and for all. So Shaw instead hires the Hulk to do the job.

This is still the grey Hulk with a mercenary aspect and he accepts the task, though the battle is constrained by the sun rising hours earlier in New York than Las Vegas, with the result that the initial confrontation is aborted when he starts turning into Banner. The following night things are more brutal, with the Hulk seemingly larger than usual and Spidey really not wanting to hurt him until two children are threatened, resulting in a memorable single punch that knocks the Hulk into orbit. Comic fans have long debated who would win in a fight between Superman and the Hulk and at the time this would appear to be the nearest substitute given the difficulties of arranging inter-company crossovers. The point is even more explicit with one of the children commenting that Spidey needs a cape.

As a final bow out for such an influential artist this issue could have just been an indulgent fight between the two Marvel characters he was best known for. But this also works well in advancing the storyline as Spidey faces increasingly powered foes whilst also adding a new element to the mix in Shaw's interests in the powers. This keeps the storyline flowing well.

Amazing Spider-Man #328 has been reprinted in:

• Spider-Man: The Cosmic Adventures (1993)
• Spider-Man Legends: Todd McFarlane volume 3 (2004)
• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane Omnibus (2011)
• Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Cosmic Adventures (2013)

Venom: Birth of a Monster

Venom: Birth of a Monster is a standalone entry in Panini's Marvel Pocket Book series. It contains Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110 and Amazing Spider-Man #298-300. The Spectacular issues are written by Peter David and drawn by Rich Buckler and the Amazing issues are by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane.

First published in 2007, it is all too clearly a tie-in to the movie Spider-Man 3. But rather than spotlight the film's most heavily featured villains or show the original Alien Costume Saga we instead get the first full appearance of Venom, the two preceding issues which contain cameos at the end, and the classic "The Death of Jean DeWolff" storyline which Venom's origin feeds off. Or not.

By far the most common criticism of Venom (at least before he was so heavily used that charges of overuse could be made) is the rather weak motivation behind his human side. And the problem is compounded not only because his backstory was hooked into an earlier well-known storyline, but also because it changed the details of how that storyline panned out. Collecting both in a single volume just makes the two stand out all the more.

Now I've written about "The Death of Jean DeWolff" before and so I'm not going to rehash my general opinions here other than to say I would have preferred a Venom-focused collection to have instead included more Venom-focused issues. No matter how great "The Death of Jean DeWolff" is, it just doesn't feel like it has to be here. And not including it would have hidden the great continuity error. During this story the Sin-Eater's neighbour overhears some of the killer's plans and succumbs to delusions, believing himself to be the Sin-Eater and he steals a costume and gun then heads off after the planned next target. However he's soon overpowered and arrested, but Daredevil spots the heartbeat is wrong and he and Spider-Man soon discover the Sin-Eater's real identity.

However when Venom appears his backstory is that journalist Eddie Brock of the Daily Globe had been contacted by the impostor Sin-Eater and run interviews with him, concealing the identity until legal advice forced it out. Then soon after the revelation the real Sin-Eater was caught, the Globe humiliated and Brock sacked. Brock had fallen for a liar but blamed Spider-Man for exposing the true killer, reasoning that with an arrest the real killer might have dropped out of sight. Now there's nothing at all in the actual Sin-Eater storyline that supports this chain of events so it's an awkward retcon. And there's no real need to tie Brock's downfall into a pre-existing storyline. There is a huge history of Spider-Man himself being accused of one crime or another, only to prove himself innocent and any case of over-eager journalism could have sufficed. But even then Brock's story feels hollow. In the real world journalistic ethics have had a lot of exposure in recent years thanks to revelations of the means by which some journalists obtained stories and at times interfered with police investigations. Brock's story may have been based on a real world journalist's handling of a purported killer but his attribution of blame on the hero who brought down the real killer rather than himself for being so rash in pursuit of a story feels hollow. Yes numerous other villains have silly origins and motivations, and Brock is shown as angry, depressed and suicidal so probably not in the right frame of mind anyway, but few of the debut stories of other Spider-Man villains went to such depths to try to establish a degree of credibility to the new foe's motivations. With Venom the attempt just comes off badly.

It also doesn't help that Eddie Brock was a completely new character with no established conflict with either Spider-Man or Peter Parker. Starting with the mid 1990s Spider-Man cartoon it became commonplace for retellings of the Venom story in whatever mediums to provide just such a longstanding conflict. The cartoon made Brock a rival photographer at the Bugle who comes to hate both Peter and Spider-Man, but gets sacked when he conceals photographs in order to make Spidey look like a criminal. The film Spider-Man 3 does the same but also makes him a contemporary of Peter and a seeming rival with women - basically Lance Bannon in all but name. Such approaches, and there have been others based around the Ultimate universe approach of making Brock a fellow science student who was once Peter's friend, work much better because the hate feels much more solid and also it reinforces the idea of Venom being a version of Spider-Man gone wrong.

The idea of a villain who shares enough elements with the hero to be a distorted mirror image is fairly standard and often attempts are made to add elements to existing foes to push them in that direction - both the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus have experienced this over the years. It's rarer to introduce a lasting foe who is much more explicitly a distorted reflection, right down to the appearance and powers. And just to add to everything riding on this, Venom was introduced in what was both the 300th issue of the main Spider-Man series and the 25th anniversary celebration. It was an odd choice to use such a landmark issue to introduce a new villain and although he went on to massive glories, on the evidence of just the issues in this collection it seems like a mistake to give him such an accolade.

The build-up in the previous two issues is minimal - just a page or two at the end of each. The rest of issues #298 & #299 are given over to a two-part story involving Chance, a gambling mercenary from Michelinie's earlier run on Web of Spider-Man, and who would be largely forgotten if not for the moments at the end. All three Amazing issues come from the first year after Peter married Mary Jane and featured his continued worries about the fact he makes far less money than her, plus some of the problems of being a married superhero such as having to let his wife know when he'll be late or coming home to find she has visitors and/or cleaners in the flat. Then there's Aunt May worrying that over intrusive relatives can undermine a new marriage and so she's keeping her distance. The final issue also sees Peter move out of the flat he's rented for many years, as he and Mary Jane need a bigger place and after her encounter with Venom there MJ feels she can never be comfortable in the flat again. For similar reasons she makes Peter abandon his black and white costume for good and resume wearing the traditional red and blue version. It's surprising just how much happens in these issues.

Unfortunately this doesn't leave too much space for Venom. We get a flashback as he terrorises Mary Jane, causing Peter to deduce the alien costume has survived, and then a protracted search once Spider-Man has borrowed the Fantastic Four's sonic gun. However the costume is too far bonded to Brock for this to work - but it's a good piece of continuity to establish just why it can't be disposed of as easily as it was before. The encounter between Spider-Man and his dark reflection is quick and establishes the new foe as a force to be reckoned with but nothing too spectacular. Venom's appearance is also restrained here - the pocket book cover by Jon Haward explicitly homages McFarlane by taking some of his famous images of Spider-Man and putting Venom in a similar pose. However it's Venom after Erik Larsen modified the appearance to add features such as the elongated jaw, the large tongue, the spiked teeth, the distorted eyes and so forth. McFarlane's Venom is little more than a bulked up Spider-Man with a visible mouth.

All in all this collection is a little disappointing. "The Death of Jean DeWolff" doesn't need to be here and the Chance issues are forgettable. That leaves Venom's first full appearance but it just shows how underdeveloped and poorly thought through the character was at first. It would have been much better to have included some later appearances to show how he developed as time went on. Still the pocketbook was surprisingly cheap when published - RRP £3.99 - and the real problem is with how weakly conceived Venom was to start with.