Amazing Spider-Man #677: "Devil and the Details" Part 1

*** (three of five stars)

Favorite Quote:  "Look, I need some legal and extra-legal help and you're sorta my go-to."  "Noted.  And you're my go-to for full-grown men whose voices still crack.  Race you down."  Spidey and DD, with the banter

Summary

Peter is walking through the City, moping over the loss of Carlie, a sentiment made worse by the fact that he appears surrounded by happy couples.  He's distracted by a guy who presumably is committing some sort of crime (though the only reason we know that is he's wearing a ski mask), and Pete is even more disappointed when the "criminal" tells Spidey to tell his wife he loves her.  His mood (Pete's, not the criminal's) is improved when he spies the Black Cat.  He follows her, but she rejects his (awkward) attempts to woo her, if you will.  He tries to get her to tell him where she lives, but she also demurs, noting that he's now a card-carrying Avenger who could lead the police right to her.  At home, she's annoyed when she sees a Spider-Tracer on her costume, and, somewhat prophetically, scrambles when the police arrive at her place to arrest her.  At Horizon Labs the next day, Pete learns that Felicia has been arrested for swiping a holograph device that can send images over cellular networks.  Something smells fishy to Pete, and he finds Matt Murdoch, asking for help.  DD meets him on the top of the Chrysler Building, and Pete informs Matt that Felicia couldn't have committed the crime, since she was with him at the time.  (He stressed that she was with him, not "with" him.)  The two head into the night, with Matt preparing to arrange for bail, while, elsewhere, Felicia uses her bad-luck powers to escape from the police.  Spidey is suddenly distracted when his Spider-Sense leads him to a group of armed men holding the scientist who developed the holograph device hostage.  DD, however, notes that the image itself is a holograph.  Frustrated, Pete notes that his Spider-Sense just doesn't buzz for a reason, and the two head into the tunnel below where the holographic image appeared.  However, in the tunnel, an earthquake occurs.  Reaching for a hand-hold, Spidey grabs a live electrical wire...just as he sees the Black Cat standing over him.

The Review

Yay, Daredevil!  I know, I know.  I just spent an entire blog post complaining about the number of team-up issues we had after "Big Time" and applauding Marvel for shunting them to "Avenging Spider-Man."  But, I should've mentioned that Daredevil is the exception to that rule.  Daredevil can pretty much stop by "Amazing Spider-Man" whenever he wants in my book.  Something about the two of them has always made for greater banter and even better stories, and this issue is no exception.  Add the Black Cat into the mix, and I'm a happy camper.

The Good

1) I loved how bad Peter was at flirting with Felicia.  I'm also glad that Felicia told him to take a hike.  I disliked a lot about the "Long-Term Arrangement" arc from "Amazing Spider-Man" #606-#607, which was the last time Peter and Felicia were, um, together, mainly because Kelly characterized Felicia as being something of a doormat, something that Felicia has never been.  (It wasn't all bad, because Kelly does a better job than almost any other author I remember of showing the more complicated adult side of Peter and Felicia's relationship, and not just the fun sexy banter, which most authors portray.  But, I left the arc feeling like Felicia had been sold short and, as a rule, Felicia Hardy is not sold short.)  Waid does a good job here of righting that characterization by having Felicia insist that, if they're going to be together, it's not because Spidey's looking for a rebound.

2) Spidey and DD's relationship is, of course, what makes this issue.  I like the "older brother/kid brother" vibe Waid uses here.  It's been a while (a decade?  two decades?) since I've read a DD/Spidey team-up arc, and I can't remember anyone necessarily portraying their relationship that way.  But, it totally, totally works, and I hope authors keep using it.

The Bad

It's probably a stretch to identify this complaint as a "Bad," but I thought Spidey was a little cavalier about Matt's identity.  Spidey and DD have worked together for a long enough time that I'm pretty sure Spidey would've known that Matt's identity may be public-ish but it's not something about which he likes to remind people.  As such, it was weird to me that he'd call Matt Murdoch "Daredevil" in front of the Assistant District Attorney.  Given Peter's own secret-identity issues, you'd think he'd be ever so slightly more cautious.