Spectacular Spider-Man 228: Don’t think MJ is ever going to let this one go, welcome to the spare room.

Credits: Plotted by Tom DeFalco, scripted by Todd DeZago, breakdowns by Sal Buscema, finishes by Bill Sienkiwicz and edited by Eric Fein.

Cast: Peter ‘Spider-Man‘ Parker, Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Joe ‘Robbie’ Robertson, Vance ‘Justice’ Astrovik, Angelica ‘Firestar’ Jones, Robbie ‘Speedball’ Baldwin, Micky ‘Turbo’ Mushashi and Alex Power.

Plot: Peter is awakened by a nightmare he is having about Kaine killing Mary Jane, only to discover Peter’s own face under Kaine’s mask. (I suppose we’re going to overlook that Kaine already did have Peter’s face? Okay, we are.) So Peter wakes in a cold sweat, then hides that there’s a problem from his pregnant wife. They both leave home to go about their professional lives. Peter heads to the rebuilding Daily Bugle building where he fails to get a photo assignment and is gushed over by up and coming new photographer Angela Yin. Dejected, Peter walks on, mildly hallucination about the Jackal and not for the fist time today. Peter gets to the roof and into his Spider-Man outfit to clear his head, Mary Jane is at a photo-shoot, modelling maternity wear and the designer is looking for a more ongoing contract with her and her agency,. Peter is above the city and the hallucinations becoming pains and then finally the reveal of a post hypnotic suggestion from the Jackal, a codeword/phrase that would if triggered, would compel Peter to murder the person he loves most and all Peter has left is his wife.

When an ebullient Mary Jane returns home, Peter warns her to run. He manages to explain the Jackal having programmed him, he warns her to smash him over the head and run! She does and her first thought is Ben. She calls a place he may be, the Crash Pad, the headquarters for the New Warriors, a group that Ben has recently joined up with. Justice, the current team leader takes the call and after a quick back and forth, arranges a place to meet at a subway station. MJ gets onto the train, but Peter (now masked) is in hot pursuit. There’s a tense chase and just as Peter catches up to her, the New Warriors arrive and they see Spider-Man grabbing MJ, but begging them to stop him.

Notes: There’s little new and interesting in the ‘hero is controlled and must be stopped’ trope. So it’s not an exciting bit of story here either. Peter’s descent into the Jackal’s puppet is quick and does what it’s meant to, sell the idea before heading straight to the scared loved one, running from the title character. In this, the story works really well, but more on that in a bit. There’s a gentle push to old married person Peter and MJ, Peter feels he is no longer the new hotness in photography, daring and dynamic he ignores, but when he’s called consistent, well that’s him being passed his prime and a sign he may want to give up the freelance gig and as that happens MJ’s career may be heading in a good direction too. Meanwhile Ben’s joining the New Warriors? You can see the editorial staff moving towards something here.

The chase is well paced and despite my continuing issue with the art, there’s a claustrophobic quality to it all. All you see is her fear and the oncoming danger, devoid of mercy or even humanity. It’s put across well that Mary Jane is terrified, because you should be terrified. When the New Warriors show up, you don’t really feel that the day is saved, just that there’s 5 more people in danger and that is a good cliff-hanger.

Verdict: Writing 3 out of 5 – It’s a bit over-talky and thought-balloon heavy, much of the story taking place in the character’s heads before the plot starts, but once it does, the writing sells the danger so well.

Art: 2 out of 5 – Dead horse time, you know why. Great artists, not a great team and Sienkiwicz is not suited for this strip, that said, I would give this one, but the mood of the chase is so fantastically handled that it moves the needle across one.

Overall: 5 out of 10 – A solid start with a great cliff-hanger that makes you want to get the next one straight away and that is how this should be done.

Next Time: The penultimate issue 4 as Factor-X closes it’s run.