I had really warmed to this series, so I'm disappointed to say that I don't feel like Gage really stuck the landing here.
Flash's "Hail Mary" play is actually a pretty solid one: he uses Spidey's sonic suit to get past the Queen's scream and then has the symbiote take possession of her. (On the downside, the cover totally spoils that surprise.) The symbiote does as Flash asks, and it's actually a poignant moment: it knows that it's sacrificing itself, and it does so because of its bond with Flash. In possession of the Queen, it jumps off the skyscraper where the heroes have been fighting with her.
The problem is that this outcome is the exact opposite of what I expected it to be: the Queen somehow survives and the symbiote dies. Since when does a fall destroy a symbiote? It's not like the rules of physics have ever seemed to bother them. Conversely, no matter how strong the Queen is, how could she survive that sort of fall? It just made no sense to me.
Moreover, the ending is a stretch, with Gage alleging that everyone lives happily ever after since they've all embraced their mutated states. Instead of the Utopia that we see here, with everyone loving each other and playing together, I think you'd be much more likely to have some folks fraying at the seams. After all, it's a pretty big deal to suddenly find yourself a vampire.
Overall, it was a solid tie-in series, but I do wish Gage had found a way to use the license to do anything he wanted to give us a better ending. I sort of thought that this series might be the one where the heroes lose, and I'm disappointed that they didn't, as weird as it is to say that.
** (two of five stars)
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