Poor Peter.
Once again, Slott does a great job showing how vulnerable Peter was in his early days as Spider-Man. One of the main complaints that people that aren't fans of the Web-Slinger have is that he's excessively whiny. He's a little better now than he used to be, but it's definitely a valid point. However, Slott reminds us why he actually used to be whiny in the first place. Losing your friends, job, mentor, and reputation all in one fell swoop because you swiped some equipment to stop a madman is unfair. It probably seems even more unfair as an adolescent, particularly one who also just lost his father figure. Slott underscores that loss by having Peter narrate this issue from Uncle Ben's gravesite, since, after all, he can't tell anyone else why he stole the material. If a 16-year-old talking to his dead uncle on his grave about losing everything to be a good guy doesn't remind you of how hard Peter had it, I don't know what will.
I'm finding myself hoping that we're going to encounter a grown-up Clash after this mini-series concludes. Clash out-sciences Peter here, something, as Peter says, that's never happened to him previously. It really opens up your imagination, leading you to wonder how Peter would fare against a grown-up Clash. I had assumed Clash would wind up dead or incarcerated at the end of this series to explain why we haven't heard of him. Now, I'm hoping that it's the latter and he finally gets released to seek his vengeance on Spidey. That feeling just shows how well Slott has done in creating his character in such a short time.
(For those playing at home, Slott places this issue around the events of issue #2, where Peter combats the Vulture and the Tinkerer. Man, I'm glad I read those issues a few years ago!)
***** (five of five stars)
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