Scarlet Spider #17 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Holy crap, this issue was AWESOME.  Seriously, it was full of action, banter, and intrigue.  What more could you want?

I rolled my eyes at first when I saw the cover, because the idea of Kaine fighting Logan felt so 90s, when Wolverine was used to boost flagging series' circulation by appearing all over the place.  However, Yost really sells it.  By having the Assassins Guild call in the favor it secured from Kaine in exchange for not killing his friends, Yost gives us a pretty plausible reason why Kaine would find himself trying to infiltrate the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning to kill a guy who's pretty much impossible to kill.  Plus, it's clear that the Guild (or someone) is double crossing Kaine, so Yost makes sure that the plot isn't as cut-and-dried as it first appears.

The fight itself is really well scripted.  Yost has a good read on the characterization of the various X-Men and I thought he did a great job showing Beast and Iceman go from bantering to serious as it becomes clear that Kaine is more of a threat than he first appeared.  Plus, Aracely makes it clear how powerful she is as she pretty much single-handedly takes down the School's telepaths.  But, part of why the fight is so enjoyable is that the momentum does move between the sides, with Kaine and Aracely occasionally faltering under the X-Men's counter-attacks.  It was really unclear who was going to win the fight for most of the issue (which appears to be an almost impossible accomplishment, since most authors rarely make you feel that way).

Speaking of Aracely, I do (heart) her.  I love that she gets a costume and a codename in this issue.  Yost hasn't rushed that moment, even though we've been obviously heading in that direction for a while.  But, infiltrating the School is the type of thing that Kaine would clearly need Aracely's help to do, so it makes sense why her costumed-hero career starts here.  (I also love the name, Hummingbird, a nod to her constantly buzzing around Kaine, as she does throughout this issue.)

All in all, I'm glad this issue is returning to form after the weird Other excursion.  Plus, if you're not a long-time reader of this title, it's pretty easy to start here if you're intrigued by Logan's appearance.  You won't be disappointed.