Slott is doing his best, but it's clearly becoming a struggle coordinating all the various tie-in issues in a way that not only stays consistent with the stories that they're telling but also the characterizations of the characters that appear in them. For example, Morlun in portrayed as "Jessica's" loving boyfriend in "Spider-Woman," but he treats her as little better than the help in this issue. We also see Peter return with Spider-Girl and Spider-Gwen with three new Japanese Spider-Men, despite the fact that we never actually saw that mission. It seems weird at this point that we've got an entire mini-series dedicated to following the Clone Club (Kaine would hate that name), but we're barely following Peter's story. Moreover, we're just introducing Spider-Totems willy-nilly now, with no attempt to identify their Earth or their personalities.
Slott tries to address this chaos by making it clear that Peter feels equally overwhelmed by it as well. I'll admit that it more or less works (even though it doesn't account for the varying characterizations). Slott also tries to sell us on the idea that some of the coincidences and lucky breaks that we've seen throughout this event (like Jessica's counterpart on Loomworld being a member of their household staff) are a direct result of the Weaver's interference. It's the sort of argument that works if you don't think about it too hard. If you do think about it, then it sort of unravels. I mean, it took the Weaver millennia to get Spider-Woman to the Loomworld, but then he managed just to whip up two prophesy scrolls? Again, it's better not to think about these questions.
Slott hints at a larger plan afoot, implying that the Inheritors want to do more than just kill the Totems. In so doing, he seems to clarify why the Inheritors have started their crusade now, since their goal appears to be forestalling the prophesy that seems to be in play. But, we're going to have to wait to get more information.
In other words, this issue isn't as carefully constructed as Slott's issues normally are. Now, I have to admit that he sets a usually high bar, so I don't want to be too hard on him. Plus, every event has an issue where everything gets a little hard to follow. But, I think it's time to start giving us some answer so that we can drop the tie-in stories and focus on the main event. Let's kick some Inheritor ass, shall we?
** (two of five stars)
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