This issue is awesome! Seriously! Awesome! It's possibly even better than the "Avengers" movie in terms of feeling like an action movie!
First, Yost continues to portray Otto (much more interestingly) as a guy with a significantly weaker commitment to being a hero than Slott portrays him. Otto manipulates his way onto the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier for the express purpose of breaking out the Chameleon, part of his ongoing (yet still unclear) plan of assembling the Sinister Six in his secret base. However, a group of Russian terrorists attack the helicarrier at the same time as Otto puts his plan into action, seeking to take out the Chameleon before he can spill Russia's secrets. Otto does show some signs of being a hero here, since he feels guilt for the people that the Chameleon killed in his escape. (Yost at some point should probably make clear if it was just "Parker luck" that resulted in the Russians appearing at the same time as Otto shutting down S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems or if they knew somehow that it was going to happen.) But, in typical Otto fashion, he decides that it was the Russians' fault that everything went haywire and engages them in combat.
Not only is it a pretty great plot, but Yost really builds the tension well, in part due to excellent characterization and great dialogue. It feels like a horror movie, where you watch the cast blunder into an unexpected trap. We begin with Otto crowing over his cleverness, as he sends out his spider-bots unnoticed to take over the helicarrier. Otto's interactions with the other characters are amazing, in part because Yost has such a clear sense of them. They're not just background pieces moved around a board, but equal participants reflecting back Otto's actions. Hawkeye's suspicious, Widow's concerned, Fury's confused, Coulson's annoyed: it all helps to show the sense of disequilibrium that Otto has injected into the system with his unexpected presence.
But, things get really fun when everything goes to Hell. Otto is totally rattled and it shows us why he's so bad at these plans, since he doesn't know what to do when something doesn't go exactly how he thought it was going to go. After all, did he really not plan for the fact that he might not be standing right in front of the Chameleon's cell when the energy field dissipated? Did he really not expect the Chameleon to kill someone, take their identity, and try to escape? The beauty is that these failings aren't Yost's; their Otto's, because you absolutely believe that Otto is in fact that arrogant not to anticipate those things. You can only imagine his shock when he's not only fighting the Russians but the Hulk suddenly appears at the end.
Seriously, this issue was a tone-perfect romp, from the excellent characterization of all the characters to the steady way that Yost built the tension. It's also a great issue to get if you know nothing about Spider-Man, but just want to enjoy a good time. In other words, it's highly recommended to everyone.
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