Spider-Island #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

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)

Spider-Island #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is solid, even though it's hard not to feel like Gage stalls for time at the end:  Peter stops the heroes from killing the Queen and thereby gives her enough time to evolve into a greater foe.  That said, Peter would oppose killing an opponent and he would have the cachet to make the rest of the team at least pause before they do so.  Moreover, if Gage had ended the story here, it would've felt rushed, since he wisely spent the early part of the issue setting up the team's attack on the Queen.  (Amazingly, Stegron uses his device not to rescue the infected minions of the Queen, but to animate the dinosaurs of the Museum of Natural History to create a distraction.  It certainly raises the question why we can resurrect the dinosaurs but not cure the mutates.)  Even though this series has had little to do with the main plot of "Secret Wars," it really does feel like the realization of a Doomsday scenario "Spider-Island."  (It's definitely stronger than other series in this category, like "Age of Apocalypse" or "Years of Future Past.")  I can't wait to see what Flash's final "Hail Mary" play is!

*** (three of five stars)

Spider-Island #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Gage improves on the story that he's been telling over the last two issues, mostly by delivering the sort of characterization that some of the weaker tie-in series, like "Age of Apocalypse," have failed to muster.

The team escapes the Queen's headquarters, and, later, Flash and Peter marvel at the revelation of each other's secret identities.  Peter refuses to take the mantle of leadership from Flash, telling him that he's already failed at saving them so Flash is the quarterback to get them over the finish line.  Showing why Peter has faith in him, Flash does a great job rallying the troops, with a Goblinified Tony and Stegron working on the "Retro-Generation Ray" and Peter whipping up as many batches of the Lizard's formula that he can.  However, the Queen sucker punches them by sending spiderified Betty Brant, Sharon Carter, Carlie Cooper, and Mary Jane Watson after them.  Rather than using the Lizard formula on superheroes (the smart play that Flash originally advocates), an emotional Peter and a paranoid Tony convince him to rescue the ladies.  They do, injecting them with the Lizard's formula, but they also wind up leading the Queen's forces to their HQ.  (After all these years using Spider-Tracers, Peter never thinks to check the ladies for tracking devices?)  Tony sacrifices himself to buy time, deciding to die before the Goblin Formula fully takes hold of his mind and hoping that it redeems him for his years as a war profiteer.  The team escapes, and Flash feels confident that they can save New York.

Gage might not be telling the most enthralling story of the tie-in series, but it is a solid one, full of emotion and uncertainty.  As Flash himself says here, the return of Peter is the first time that hope seems to come to this corner of Battleworld.  Since it is "Secret Wars," we're going to have to wait and see if it really means that they can defeat the Queen.  But, this issue goes a long way to making me care about the outcome, raising this series in my estimation.

*** (three of five stars)

Spider-Island #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Cap-Wolf.  The Iron Goblin.  Lizard Hulk.  Carol-acula.  It should be cheesy as hell, but somehow Gage really makes it work.

I think the reason is that he takes the time to build the story and sell it.  Flash has to expose the spiderized heroes to a variety of metamorphic agents -- Morbius' blood serum, Curt Connor's reptilian serum, Osborn's Goblin Formula, etc. -- because they're the only way to break the heroes' connection to the Queen.  (Gage established in the first issue that a cure is considered impossible.)  It definitely falls into the category of "a plan so crazy that it might just work."  Once he's got his crew of mutant Avengers, Flash can then lead an assault on the Queen's base to get Stegron.  Even Vision questions why Venom is focused on Stegron.  But, again, Gage has an answer, and Flash delivers it in a way that doesn't feel excessively expository.  The Queen used Stegron's genetic expertise to replace the Jackal, so Flash figures that he's the last hope at finding a way to sever the Queen's hold on the population.

Flash is even rewarded with some unexpected good news:  the Queen has been keeping Spider-Man alive but unconscious.  I loved Flash not knowing what surprised him more:  that Spider-Man was still alive or that he's really Peter Parker.  I mentioned last issue that even the best-case scenario in this story was a grim one:  without a cure, Flash's best hope was just returning free will to a population of spiderized humans.  But, we established last issue that Gage is really telling a story about how heroes like Spider-Man can pull off the impossible.  With him in the game again, could the Queen be totally defeated and a cure found?  Given how "Secret Wars" is going, it's probably unlikely and Gage is just raising Flash's hopes to make it all the more tragic when they're dashed.  But, we'll see.

*** (three of five stars)

Spider-Island #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Gage doesn't even pretend to care about the larger "Secret Wars" continuity in this inaugural issue.  Whereas some authors half-heartedly include references like, "May Doom save us," Gage instead focuses entirely on telling his "What If...?" story, where Spider-Man and his allies fail to defeat the Spider-Queen during "Spider-Island."  The good news is that the story is sufficiently strong that I didn't really care all that much about the lack of mention of the larger "Secret Wars" story.

Gage makes Flash the hero of this story, and it totally fits.  Flash survives the final encounter with the Queen only because he was forced to flee after her sonic scream robbed him of the symbiote.  With Spidey's death and the Queen's victory, essentially everyone in New York, including superheroes, remains spider-creatures.  Flash runs a limited resistance with Spider-Woman and the Vision, though Flash admits that the death of Spider-Man basically robbed them of the only person capable of the sort of last-minute save that they need.  Gage is telling a story about how essential certain characters like Spider-Man are in preventing the tragedies that could have happened in most events.  He's reminding us that a darker reality where the heroes aren't able to save the day every time is possible.  After all, Venom tries a Hail Mary pass in this issue and manages to (maybe) get Cap, Captain Marvel, and the Hulk on his side, but it accomplishes little else.  Everyone believes that a cure is off the table, so it seems that the best-case scenario is that they defeat the Queen and allow the spider-creatures that used to be the residents of New York to regain their faculties (if not their humanity).  It's not exactly a happy ending.

Speaking of "not happy endings," the Spider-Girl back-up story is equally grim.  May Parker is still reeling from the death of her father during "Spider-Verse," but she's distracted when the Dream Team (a group that seems pretty similar to the Avengers, despite them appearing elsewhere in this story) attack her for no reason.  I say "no reason" not just because we're not told what the reason is, but because it's also possible that they, too, don't have the reason.  After all, May's ally Stinger suddenly attacks her, declaring her to be an impostor.  I'm not really sure where DeFalco is going with this one, but I guess we'll see.  I know that a lot of people love the "Spider-Girl" continuity, so it's probably just nice for them to see her in action again.

Overall, it's two solid stories that may not set my world on fire like "Amazing Spider-Man:  Renew Your Vows," but do the job that they mean to do.

*** (three of five stars)