Writer: Dan Slott
Penciller: Ryan StegmanInker: Michael Babinski
Colorist: John Rauch
Letterer: Joe Caramanga
Assistant Editor: Ellie Pyle
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Crossroads
After having been a fan of Spiderman longer than I can remember I had walked away from the book when Peter made a deal with the devil to fix his problems. To me it violated everything that the character was about and after having stayed through all of the other poor story decisions to hit the Spiderman titles in the last several years, but for me that was it. I recently decided to give the book another chance.
After a mild adjustment period I can now count Spidey as one of my favorite titles once again and issues like this are why. The story did not focus on Spiderman vs a villain, it was a personal story that affected his life as Peter rather than as Spiderman. The issue has a few very emotional moments, especially between Peter and Aunt May. May convinces him to abandon his revenge and be there for his best friend when she needs him. Even MJ is amazed that he was able to let Peter come before Spiderman. Although Spiderman does get to do his part later.
The friendship between Peter and Betty adds a humanizing element. His reaction and his guilt over not having been there bring back to the surface his guilt over Uncle Ben's death. Even May makes a parallel to that event. The lengths that Peter went through to find the man who hurt his friend sent the entire New York criminal underground running scared. This is typical behavior for Peter as he had a similar reaction when Aunt May was shot due to his identity having gone public. He hunted the shooter and the man who gave the order, Wilson Fisk, and reigned fury upon him humiliating him in front of the criminal world.
We also see May and her new husband leave New York and head out to Boston. I had long thought Aunt May to be irrelevant to the books once Peter grew up, but I changed my mind when she learned his identity and became a part of his world and the story rather than someone it was all hidden from. I was disapointed when her memory was erased also as she went back to a side character who didn't quite gel anymore. Since they don't seem likely to let her know again I think this is the better route to take and remove her from the focus of the story without killing her off... yet.
COMING SOON
Spider Island!
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