**** (four of five stars)
Summary
Miguel and Roman fight as the sea monster hovering above them comes close to squashing them under its descending foot. Miguel manages to maneuver them to safety, but loses his grip on Roman. Roman is carried with the tide and Miguel heads to the surface. Sucking in air, he notices the horn that Roman used to control the monster floating in front of him. He head towards it, just as one of the Atlantean mutates also notices it. The mutate lunges for it, but Miguel manages to snag it with a Web-Line. The mutate leaps to attack him, but Miguel hides under the water and then pounces, sending his feet straight into the mutate's jaw. The unconscious mutate floats in the water as Miguel heads to the monster with the horn. Meanwhile, at St. Pat's, Gabe and Father Jennifer swim through a trap door into the dry attic, wondering how long until it, too, floods. Outside, the monster rages and Miguel worries not only about flooded Downtown but also the possibility of the monster taking out the supports that hold up Uptown, destroying the whole city in the process. Before he can act, however, Roman reappears and lunges at him. Miguel manages to dodge him and then uses a Web-Line to climb up the monster. He blows a note on the horn (that he hopes says, "Go the shock home"), but it only causes the monster to roar. Miguel keeps trying until he manages to find the right one. As the monster heads to the sea, the Public Eye arrives and opens fire on the mutates, who flee. Roman returns and demands the horn. Miguel accuses him of wanting it to destroy more innocent lives, but Roman says that his mutates guaranteed that no one died during the "incursion." He then rails against the surface people selling their souls to Alchemax for momentary safety, swearing that no one is safe from "the wrath of the Sub-Mariner." Miguel then bites Roman with his fangs, injecting a poison into him that disorients him. Miguel punches him, sending him soaring off the monster. However, Miguel grabs him with a Web-Line, to prevent him from plummeting into the ocean, as the monster continues to depart New York, taking the water with it. (Miguel hypothesizes that it had some sort of telepathic control over the water, keeping enough depth to support its mass.)
At Alchemax, Conchata orders a Public-Eye officer appearing via a hologram to find Miguel; the officer observes that Miguel shouldn't have gone to Downtown without protection, but Conchata just orders him to return Miguel in one piece. At that moment, Tyler arrives and Conchata reminds him that Miguel evicted him. Tyler suddenly remembers the shooting. He tells Conchata that he didn't recognize her without her gun. He taunts her that she wants to shout out the fact that she shot him and she makes it clear that she does, telling him that he tormented Miguel and destroyed Dana. He tells Conchata that he loved Dana, but she ignores him, saying that she's going to Miguel's office and that he should be gone by the time that she returns. Tyler calls after her, telling her that Miguel knows that he's his father.
Elsewhere, Xina tells her hitchhiker that she doesn't know where she's running but that she's doing it on borrowed time. The hitchhiker tells her that he left behind a life years ago that still seems hazy, but that he now remembers his name, John Tensen. Before they can talk further, Dana almost runs them into a truck around a tight corner. Tensen uses his power to create a teleportation gate, moving them past the truck safely. Xina says that the portal shorted out her car and Tensen tells her that he's a meta-human who can protect her from all harm.
In New York, Roman tries to break free of his prison tube as Miguel tells him that he was going to try to negotiate with him and give New Atlantis a break. However, after Roman's attack, he's issuing an ultimatum: everyone in New Atlantis must surrender and give up his property. Roman asks, "Or else what?" Miguel simply walks from him and Roman screams that New Atlantis withstood Tyler's posturings and that Miguel's almost as bad as Tyler. Miguel then goes to his office, where he finds Conchata holding a gun to Tyler's head. Downtown, Gabe asks Father Jennifer to hold a trunk for him until "things settle down." She says that they were fortunate to survive the deluge and that God has further plans for them. Gabe asks about his dreams as he leaves and she suggests that he pray for guidance. She opens his trunk to reveal the Goblin costume and observes that the suggestions that one receives from God might not always be what one expects. At Alchemax, nervous lab technicians fear that Roman is going to break free of his enclosure so they gas him, while, in Miguel's office, Tyler tells Miguel that he came to Alchemax to give him one last chance to turn over the reins to him. He says that he'll tell the authorities that Conchata shot him if he doesn't. Conchata reminds him that Alchemax is the authorities, thanks to him, and reminds him that she knows where the bodies are buried and what he did to his wife. She tells Miguel to let her end it and Tyler taunts him, telling him that, if he does, he'll "put the lie to [his] moral posturing once and for all." Miguel tells Conchata to call the lab and order them to release the Sub-Mariner and escort him to the ocean. However, before she can do so, he breaks free. A Public-Eye officer appears in Miguel's office via hologram, telling him that the Sub-Mariner has escaped but that they have him him pinned in Lab 27. Miguel observes that Lab 27 is where they have Venom and, on cue, Roman bursts free of Alchemax, now bonded to the Venom symbiote and announcing that Miguel won't life to see 2100.
In Miguel's office, Conchata prepares to fire, but Miguel uses a Web-Line to grab the gun, causing her to miss. Conchata looks at him in shock and Tyler says that he knew that Miguel was Spider-Man from the beginning. He says that he kept it to himself, but all the cards are on the table now and everyone can know where they stand. Miguel agrees and opens fire. The bullets pass through Tyler, revealing that he was appearing via hologram. As his image fades, Tyler announces that Miguel's as ruthless as he'd hope. Conchata screams about Tyler playing a game and Miguel says that he knew that it was a "holovid" because it didn't cast shadows. Conchata asks if Miguel knew that before he shot Tyler and Miguel responds, "I hope so." Conchata tells Miguel that no mother ever loved her son more than she did right then because no mother ever had a son so much better than she was. Miguel cries and suggests that they take off the rest of the day to have lunch. As they depart, he wonders if Conchata always knew that he was Spider-Man, just as Tyler did. He contemplates the future, but comes to the conclusion that everything will fall in place if he can just come to some sort of understanding with his mother and that the "curse of Spider-Man' will prove to be more of a blessing than he'd been prepared to admit.
The Review
Wow. We really got a thrilling and unexpected ending here. Sure, it felt a little rushed, probably the reality of David feeling the need to provide a valediction to Miguel after he decided to leave the book when Marvel fired Joey. But, David still wraps up the Atlantis issue in an intriguing way and builds to the confrontation between Conchata and Tyler in a way that maximizes the suspense. It's hard to believe that we only have two issues left in this series, given how much we're likely to leave on the table.
The Really Good
1) OMG, Venomariner! Crazy. I totally didn't see that coming. I can't say if it was really necessary, but it doesn't matter if it was. It was pretty damn cool either way.
2) The denouement of the Conchata/Miguel/Tyler story was amazing, if only because David made it clear that we couldn't really trust anything that anyone said. Did Tyler really know that Miguel was Spider-Man, or was he just trying to cover up his shock? David was almost heavy handed at the start of this series with the idea that Tyler knew, but he appeared to back off that position in later issues; in fact, in issue #35, Joey said in the letters column that Tyler was more clueless than we were. Moreover, did Miguel really know that Tyler was just a hologram or was he really willing to kill his father? I tend to believe the former, since Miguel has had ample opportunity to kill Tyler before this confrontation. But, then again, Tyler threatening Conchata certainly upped the stakes, so maybe Miguel did decide that enough was enough. Finally, we've gotten Conchata's numerous threats about knowing where the bodies are buried and what Tyler did to his wife. Given that we're established that Conchata is cray-cray, it's unclear if Conchata really does have this information or if she just thinks that she does. The ambiguity in the motivations of all three characters just make this scene all the more fascinating.
The Good
I always love when Miguel uses his more infrequently used powers, so I cheered a little when he poisoned Roman with his fangs.
The Meh
1) John Tensen. The Net Prophet is John Tensen. I had no effing idea who John Tensen was, but Google tells me that he's from the New Universe.
2) The Gabe resolution is a little anti-climactic and confusing. It's anti-climactic because David doesn't necessarily confirm that Gabe is the Goblin here, but he does up the stakes sufficiently to mean that he'd have to have a really clever twist up his sleeve if he's going to reveal that it's someone else. It's confusing because Gabe came to Father Jennifer last issue to seek guidance about his dreams, without any obvious trunk in tow. But, now, it seems that his whole point was leaving the trunk with Father Jennifer. (How did the trunk miraculously survive the flood?) Why did he give her the trunk? Is he giving up his role as the Goblin? Does Father Jennifer plan to take it? Why did Gabe decide to trust Father Jennifer? Sure, she seems trustworthy, but it's not like he was that close to her. His ex-girlfriend dies and suddenly he decides to tell her sister that he's a super-villain?
The Unknown
So, what happens to Kron if he no longer possesses the symbiote?
The Bad
OK, the only bad thing here (and the reason why I honestly couldn't give this issue five stars) is that the Atlantis story definitely gets sacrificed to David's need to wrap up his time with Miguel. First, I'm not sure why Roman revealed in this issue that he had ordered his mutates to save the residents of Downtown from drowning, given that last issue he announced that his intent was to rule the surface world for its affront to Atlantis. You can't really make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. But, David doesn't really get a chance to reveal Roman's real motivation, making this entire exchange all the more confusing. Second, why did the various mutates just disperse after Roman was captured? Why would they let Alchemax capture their leader? I get that the sea monster was the main threat, but I'm surprised that the Atlanteans simply retreated when Miguel "convinced" it to depart. Finally, although I love the Venomariner, I do wonder why David felt the need to do it. Roman seemed like enough of a threat in his own right that he didn't need to be super-sized, essentially. Essentially, I felt like the Atlantis story needed the full attention of this issue to be fully explored and it unfortunately didn't get that. David still managed to make it gripping, but the issues that I've laid out here makes you realize that it could've been even better if he had more time.
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