JR Jr. is back on Spider-Man after four years away! And he’s being inked by my favorite all-time inker (and one of the only ones I always tag as a creator), Klaus Janson!
Peter is unemployed and there’s a lot of story around how he needs money, all of it is fun to read–especially when his own friend Harry Osborn won’t hire him because he’s so undependable.
For the main story, Harry’s father Norman brings the Thunderbolts to New York City to capture or kill Spider-Man. And they show up in Peter’s apartment.
Both Norman and the Venom Symbiote have known Peter is really Spider-Man, but of course Brand New Day erases all that. As a reader, though, seeing that cliffhanger…I wasn’t sure.
But no, they don’t know he’s Spidey. They do know that he takes a lot of pictures of Spider-Man, though, and want Peter to summon the hero. He doesn’t, of course, and they trash his apartment–adding to his financial worries.
In #568, Mark Waid and Adi Granov check-in with Eddie Brock during his treatment for cancer. It looks like he’s recovered from Stage Five, and the reason may that he still has cells from the Venom symbiote in his body. This ties in to the main story, because while Spider-Man is fighting the T-Bolts, Venom crashes into the FEAST homeless shelter (where Aunt May works).
Brock is there, and has been talking with owner Martin Li who seems to have some kind of power…
…Li touches Brock on the shoulder, and when the danger arrives at FEAST, Brock transforms…
…Into Anti-Venom. Martin Li is the secret identity of Mister Negative, who we’ve only seen in small bits and glimpses so far.
Brock fights the new Venom, hosted by Mac “Scorpion” Gargan, and weakens the symbiote.
Spidey rushes to help since Aunt May is there, too. But the symbiotes don’t want him around.
The rest of the Thunderbolts arrive and now it’s a party. The Spider-Man vs Bullseye is particularly good.
Honestly, the fighting is pretty much nonstop. This has all the action of one of Mark Millar’s good comics.
Venom vs Anti-Venom, both vs Spider-man, with the Thunderbolts also vs Spider-Man and also vs Anti-Venom.
During the fight, Anti-Venom senses that, like Eddie Brock himself, Spider-Man still has a little bit of Venom in him. Apparently, that happens to anyone who served as the symbiote’s host. Brock tries to cure Spidey by drawing out the symbiote cells, but in doing so also starts to cure him of the radiated blood that empowers him. Spider-Man is forced to flee.
Brock also is able to poison the Venom symbiote–and its host, Mac Gargan.
Throughout all this, we’ve seen Menace continuing to, well, be a menace. During the big fight, Norman Osborn is observing from a nearby rooftop and for the first time confronts the copycat.
Norman still has control over the stolen equipment used by Menace, and so Osborn is able to kick Menace’s ass. Menace escapes, though.
Another subplot worth mentioning: FEAST owner Martin Li is protecting some Chinese immigrants who have been experimented on by Osborn. We also learn that Osborn is experimenting on Freak, who is held captive in an Oscorp basement. Osborn uses Freak’s blood to create a poison that will kill Anti-Venom’s poison, and he uses it to cure Gargan-Venom. The symbiote is still weak, though, so to protect it Osborn gives Gargan new armor.
Okay.
After Spider-Man flees, Osborn finds Peter Parker’s automatic camera, snapping away. He and his team regroup and Osborn gives them “Spider-Man seeking bullets” using the tech from Peter Parker’s automatic camera that is apparently specifically designed to focus on Spider-Man (don’t ask how that works scientifically or how Peter invented it).
Anti-Venom and Spider-Man finally realize they are on the same side.
They head out to take down Osborn and the big final fight under a tribute cover.
Meanwhile, Norman and Harry have some father-son time.
It turns out, Harry himself was performing the experiments on Chinese immigrants in something called “Promethean Trials.”
In the end, the Songbird realizes that Norman Osborn is an a-hole and lets Spider-Man escape, telling officials that he must have died–crushed under a building destroyed in battle. And Anti-Venom escapes as well.
What a great arc! Norman Osborn and Romita Jr. both return to this title, we get huge fun fights and also several plot and character developments that will have impact for years to come.
Steven Colbert also gets a back-up feature.
In it, he bashes Grizzly in the head with a concrete American eagle and runs for President.
English (US) · 