*** (three of five stars)
Favorite Quote #1: "Getting some fresh air and stepping out of my 'box' might be just what the ---" "Spider-Man! There you are." "--- Iron Man ordered." -- Spidey and Iron Man, with some unintentional banter
Favorite Quote #2: "Who is this? And how'd you get this very private --" "Y'know darn well who this is. It's Spider-Man." "Hey, boy wonder." -- Alpha and Spidey have a moment
Favorite Quote #3: "Mrs. Parker! Hold on, I've got you!" "It -- it's Parker-Jameson." "What?" "I got married." "Falling out of the sky and that's what she's worried about." -- Spidey and May also have a moment
Summary
Andy's parents call his apartment, leaving a message telling him that he should come home or at least talk to them. Andy can't answer the call because he's in Tokyo with his lawyer, where he receives a call on his "very private number" from Peter Parker, who yells at him for missing his weekly appointment at Horizon. Andy promises to come twice the next week and hangs up the phone. Peter is at wit's end after having spent every waking moment trying (and failing) to find a way to remove the alpha-energy from Andy without killing him. At La Guardia, JJJ, Sr. and May prepare to board a private jet, with May expressing disappointment that Peter isn't there to say good-bye, as he promised he would be last issue. JJJ, Jr. watches from the terminal, telling Glory that he'll be happier when his father is in Boston. Back at Horizon, Pete decides to head to La Guardia (Spidey-style) to say good-bye, hoping the fresh air will do him some good. However, he runs into the Avengers (who think that he's answered their call) and finds himself confronting Terminus and his army. Cap tells Spidey to call Andy and Spidey objects, saying that he's not ready. Cap asks if Spidey has been training him and, when Spidey confirms that he has, overrules him, saying that Alpha is one of their biggest guns and they need him. Spidey makes the call, telling Andy that he's been called to the majors. Andy then flies to New York, stunning the Avengers by arriving in seconds, and attacks Terminus. Pete notices that Andy used his super-speed and flight at the same time and realizes that his one constraint -- that he could only use one power at once -- is gone.
Iron Man interrupts this reverie by announcing that one of the blasts that Terminus deflected has shut down all commercial aircraft in a ten-mile radius. Cap stays to keep an eye on Andy while the rest of the Avengers scramble to save the planes. Spidey hitches a ride with Captain Marvel, who slingshots him to Jay's private jet. Spidey rips open the door and grabs Aunt May as she is being thrown around the cabin. He then webs up the hole he caused and realizes, thanks to his new Web-Fluid Meter, that his Web-Shooters are almost completely spent. He now can't create Web-Chutes or a Web-Cushion to soften their landing. Spidey and Aunt May make it to the cockpit, where JJJ, Sr. yells at Spidey for depressurizing the plane. Spidey tells him that alpha-energy shorted out the plane and that he should restart it, which works. Meanwhile, Alpha lays it on Terminus, but Thor tells him to stop his attack. Cap shouts at Thor to stop Alpha, saying that the kid doesn't know what he's doing and he's going to get everyone killed. Proving Cap's point, Andy's power once again shorts out the plane and Spidey takes control of it, hoping that his Spider-Sense will direct him where he needs to go. Aunt May calls Peter to tell him that she loved him like her own son, but Spidey gets distracted since he's also hearing her call in his earpiece. He yells at her to turn off her phone ("F.A.A. regulations") and JJJ, Sr. tells Spidey that they need to bring in the plane for a landing. Spidey agrees, but they notice a problem with the landing gear. Spidey heads under the plane, where he discovers that "an entire strut's missing from the assembly." Spidey uses his body to replace the strut and the plane lands safely. JJJ, Jr. pushes his way through the rescue crew and an exhausted Spidey expects a berating. Instead, JJJ, Jr. thanks him for saving his family. Peter asks about Aunt May and JJJ, Jr. tells him that her leg's injured but he's getting her the best care in the city. When JJJ, Jr. asks who's responsible, Spidey tells him a teenager and swears to stop him.
Meanwhile, the Avengers have defeated Terminus. Cap notes that Andy played a part in that, but wonders at the cost. (He also observes that Andy has left.) Captain Marvel and Iron Man ponder what to do with Terminus, with Iron Man suggesting that they store him in the Negative Zone. He mentions that they should send his energy lance to Project: Pegasus, but Spidey arrives in time to dissent. He says that he needs it because it didn't just deflect Alpha's energy, it redirected it. Later, Alpha comes to Horizon for his test and finds Spidey instead of Pete. Spidey turns on the usual machine, telling him that he made some alterations. (He also stresses that Pete and Horizon had nothing to do with these "alterations.") After getting zapped by the machine, Andy says that he feels weird and Spidey reveals that he's depowered. He tells Andy that he wasn't able to remove all the energy, but he drained most of it. Andy bursts into tears and Spidey tells him that the fight with Terminus was a test and Alpha failed. He says that Alpha is now "repeating my class." Spidey ends his Alpha days, sends him to his parents and returns him to school. Spidey says that it'll sting to be a guy who used to be somebody, but everyone will forget, including guys like the Jackal. But, Alpha and Spidey will know that a little of that power is growing in Alpha and someday they may try the superhero thing again, this time with a mask and not as Alpha. Later, in the hospital, Pete visits Aunt May, learning that she'll need to walk with a cane due to the fact that she no longer has full use of her leg. The doctor stresses the importance of physical therapy and Pete says that she and JJJ, Sr. should return to New York where she can get the support she needs. Elsewhere, a cargo ship arrives in New York, bearing Roderick Kingsley.
The Review
This issue had some funny moments and I enjoyed it. But, I'm concerned where we're going with a few plot points. I think the Aunt May development represents a step backwards, but we'll see. Overall, though, Slott did what he intended to do with this arc celebrating 50 years of Spider-Man. By exploring the difference between him and Alpha, we were reminded of what made him special: the response of responsibility instilled in him by Uncle Ben, his failure to stop the thief who would later kill Uncle Ben, his fear over his role as Spider-Man bringing harm to his family and friends. Alpha lacked these experience and he became a threat because of it. It really was a remarkably clear way to remind us of where we've been and I really salute Slott for it, even if I'm nervous about where we're going in the next few issues.
The Good
1) I love sexy, scruffy, cranky Peter!
2) I did not see Terminus coming!
3) Spidey TOLD Cap that Andy wasn't ready. He shoulda listened.
The Unsure
1) We don't really see an answer to the ethical dilemma MJ raised last issue, namely whether it was Pete's responsibility to remove Alpha's powers or not. Alpha makes a pretty compelling case why he's dangerous here, given the fact that he fails to consider the repercussions of his actions and endangers thousands of lives when his entrance disables all aircraft in the vicinity. Plus, Pete more or less gets the Avengers' approval, since he makes it clear that he's going to use Terminus' weapon to find a way to depower Alpha. Maybe that's the answer?
2) I'm not really sure where Slott is going with Aunt May. First, he sent Aunt May to Boston so that Pete wouldn't constantly be worried about her, removing an over-used plot device that I was frankly happy to see to go. But, now, it appears that Slott has brought back Aunt May as the new incarnation of a similarly over-used plot device; although she isn't the same source of worry for Pete that she had been (since she now has JJJ, Sr.), she seems set to become the character who reminds Pete of his inattention to his personal life. I'm assuming that Slott has been forced to use her in that role since Pete doesn't have a girlfriend (the usual device for this particular plot), but it leads you to wonder why we even need it in the first place. After all, if Pete isn't dating anyone, why shouldn't he be allowed to sequester himself in his lab to solve the world's problems? It seems like the only real reason to re-introduce this device, this reminder that Pete can't do it all, is to inject some drama into the series. I get that, but using Aunt May in this way just feels forced to me. It seems like it would be better to have him ponder his inability to hold down a girlfriend or something. The only other reason to return her to New York seems to be if she's playing a role in the upcoming Armageddon that Slott is planning for issue #700, and I can't say that I'm enthused about that possibility. Seriously, I hope she doesn't die again. That shtick has gotten old.
The Bad
1) It seems pretty irresponsible to me that Mr. Fantastic and the other "smart" superheroes just wrote off Alpha as Pete's problem. After all, Alpha got his name after Mr. Fantastic referred to him as Earth's most powerful potential threat, so you think that he'd be more engaged in helping Pete address it. Lest we forget, the Avengers and the X-Men just fought a war with Dark Phoenix, who almost destroyed the world; you'd think everyone would have a little more perspective on the subject of "alpha-level threats" than usual. As such, the absence of Mr. Fantastic and the others rings hollow to me, like Slott had to invent some sort of reason not to strip Alpha of his powers too soon and getting them to put all the responsibility on Peter was the only one he could invent.
2) The end feels a little rushed. Spidey suddenly announces that Terminus didn't deflect Alpha's energy, but redirected it. However, Slott never really explains the difference, despite the fact that the whole resolution of the issue depends on it. Plus, from the moment Pete reveals the importance of that revelation to Alpha losing his powers is just four panels. Given how much of a threat he was hyped to be, it seemed pretty anti-climatic just to have Pete trick him into a machine that stripped away his powers.
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