Wow. I have rarely read a Spider-Man story that both manages to feel this original while also staying true to the past.
Waid and Robinson do a remarkable job throughout the story of keeping you guessing whether Teresa is Peter's sister or not. They accomplish this feat in part because they don't take a neutral approach to the subject. I realized by the middle of the story that I really, really wanted her to be. It's a testament to how well the duo built her character, a significant accomplishment given the short period of time that they have to do so. Plus, she's not only a great character in her own right, but I was also excited by the doors that she could open on future stories. I was suddenly imaging Peter working with Teresa in the "family business" in a separate series focused entirely on their adventures as spies. Although I had never previously thought of Peter as a spy, Wade and Robinson make his participation in the duo's world-wind tour of Europe so much fun that you wonder why no one's ever proposed such a series previously. Moreover, Waid and Robinson accentuate this desire for Teresa to be a Parker by making it clear that Peter himself wants her to be. It's here where I wished that Waid and Robinson had more time to build the story and explore the pair's relationship. They somehow manage to sell Peter's emotional connection to Teresa in the few pages that they have, but it would've been nice to see it happen more slowly.
Of course, the fact that Marvel launched Teresa in a graphic novel, a medium that it generally doesn't favor, gave me the sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't change up Spider-Man's status quo here. While I can't say that I wasn't disappointed with the revelation that Teresa wasn't Peter's sister, I felt it coming from the start. But, Waid and Robinson make you feel like Peter knew it, too, and, in that way, we share in his grief and in his fury at the Kingpin for making us believe it.
In fact, the only missed note of this story is the fact that Waid and Robinson end it implying that Teresa may be Peter's sister after all, as we see Mary and Richard discussing her pregnancy in their Swiss chalet. I would've preferred embracing either answer -- she was or she wasn't -- rather than dragging out the story over the next few years, eventually killing it of its emotional potency by reducing it to some sort of "Clone Saga" redux. Wade and Robinson leave us wanting more, but I'm just worried what that "more" is going to entail.
Despite that complaint, though, I heartily recommend this story for any Spidey fan out there, even at this price. It's a truly gripping read; Dan Slott isn't wrong in his introduction when he says that you feel like you got thrown into Teresa's sports car with Peter and taken for a ride. Given Spidey's long history, it's always been fascinating that few authors have taken up the mystery of Peter's parents, with the only story that ever really dealt with them focusing on LMD versions of them that Harry Osborn used as revenge on Peter. Although ostensibly about Teresa, this story allows us some insight into Peter's thinking about his parents that we rarely get, and we watch him realize that he's not mad at them in part because he had Aunt May and Uncle Ben. It's a touching moment, and it doesn't in any way diminish his wish to connect with their memories, if not them. In fact, it makes you wonder if they're really dead...
**** (four of five stars)
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