This is the first comic in a recently purchased Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man lot that I have read.
I try to bring myself back to the era when this issue was first published. Things were certainly different in comics then. Frankly, I don’t know how anyone could have enjoyed comic books in the ‘80s if they all resembled this issue. Unlike today’s comics, it seemed like writers didn’t trust the artists or the readers to be intelligent enough to decipher what was happening on the page. It’s a little insulting frankly. The writer, Bill Mantlo, makes sure that every scene and every action is described in letter through dialogue and inner monologue. The artist probably could have left every panel blank and we’d still get the gist of what was going on. This is why I’ve always had a hard time enjoying the more classic stories. I can’t get passed the fact that everything is spelled out for us as if we were children. Oh, wait a second.. that WAS the target audience back then wasn’t it? How times have changed.
The story has a simple plot which is a continuation from the previous issue. The Punisher is on a “punishing” rampage. He even goes as far as gunning down a pedestrian for littering and a cab driver for running a red light. A crime is a crime, I guess. The Punisher casually does this while on route to take on the Kingpin, which he has learned is the mastermind behind all of the crime in New York city. Therefore, he must be punished (it really was a “simpler” time for Frank Castle). Cloak and Dagger, along with Spider-Man are on Frank’s tail, trying to get to the Kingpin before The Punisher does. Cloak and Dagger have their own agenda since learning that the Kingpin is also responsible for the drug crime in New York City. The ebony and ivory duo set out to bring the war on drugs to Kingpin’s doorstep. Seems like everyone wants a piece of Wilson Fisk.
Now Spider-Man has to try and beat Cloak, Dagger & the Punisher to Kingpin’s office. The race is on. Spider-Man manages to make it mere minutes before anyone else, but he is then forced to side with the Kingpin and protect him from the other vigilantes who want him dead. As Spider-Man and Cloak & Dagger battle it out, The Kingpin escapes to a hidden room where the Punisher ambushes him. Once the dust settles on all of the fighting, Cloak, Dagger and Spider-Man find Punisher unconscious in the secret room, and no Kingpin in sight.
The art by Al Milgrom is decent, although the backgrounds lack details in most cases. As mentioned earlier, I wasn’t a fan of the writing. Everything is so cliché and campy, it really makes the story and the characters hard to swallow.
BUT... this is a trip down memory lane. Comic Books in general were simpler then and you can’t deny the morality that marvel was trying to instill onto its young and impressionable readers.
Still, nostalgia isn’t enough to make me like this issue. I give it 2 stars.