Credits: Story and pencils by Howard Mackie and Tom Lyle, inks by Chris Ivy and Danny Fingeroth editing.
Cast: Peter ‘Spider-Man’ Parker, Ben ‘Scarlet Spider’ Reilly, Kaine, Spidercide, Dr Miles ‘The Jackal’ Warren, Mary Jane Watson-Parker and the clone of Gwen Stacy.
Plot: Ben battles dozens of clones of Spider-Man as Kaine visits MJ to question why Peter wasn’t fighting for the life that Kaine can only dream of. At the lab The Jackal sends Peter to get the clone of Gwen.
At Peter’s flat, Kaine gives his origin story. He was the first attempt to clone Peter, but suffered degeneration along with massive enhancement of Spider-Man’s powers. He was shunned and from the shadows saw the second clone (Peter) try to make a life and he felt only pride. But as Peter gives up, Kaine is unravelling and his fear at the thought of MJ’s impending death feels pointless, Meanwhile Peter finds Gwen who willingly follows Peter to The Jackal’s lab.
Kaine, having fled the Jackal’s lab finds Mary Jane so that he can find out why Peter has abandoned his life to despair and to work with the Jackal. Mary Jane takes him aside and points out that he is also a person, he can do good and prove himself by his own actions, use the power, take the responsibility and save Ben.
Ben is outside the Jackal’s lair, after battling many of the clones and sees that the lair was under the factory with the smokestack he was left in after the first clone saga. All of a sudden there are more clones and his life is once more in danger. Then he senses a change in the fight, it’s easing up and he sees Kaine has arrived and is helping him? Kaine announces that he’s here to help his brother and end this once and for all.
Notes: The plot gets going again and we get people changing sides and new developments are coming. Peter leans more into the Jackal’s villainy as Kaine is shown the potential hero inside himself. His changing sides to help the person he has tormented and threatened made me think of Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons (it’s where I got the title) going from being the big bad to saving Bart from his brother, the new big bad. Kaine is shown here as a classic anti-hero in waiting and in one issue gets much of the depth he was missing and I’m here for this. Part four brought me into the excitement of this story and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Verdict: Writing 4 out of 5 – A great plot and a script that keeps up with it, the third act twist is telegraphed, but not in a bad way. We are waiting for Kaine to make a move and here it is, he faces the fact that he too is a person, a thought that never came from anyone else and just that is enough for him to turn towards a man who he’s spent half a decade trying to torment or kill. It feels earned and propels the story that bit further.
Art: 3 out of 5 – The pencil work is the same quality we usually get from Tom Lyle and his story-telling is once again on point, but he’s let down by an inker and colourist that take away rather than add to.
Overall: 7 out of 10 – A solid score for a part 4 of a 6 part series and an integral part of the story.
Next Time: An astonishing finale
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