When we last left Spidey (
previous issue), he had infiltrated Norman Osborn's Avengers tower disguised as Venom thanks to a special suit designed by Reed Richards (
aka, Mister Fantastic of The Fantastic Four). In the final panel of that issue (
sorry if I'm spoiling it for anyone.. but you should have all read it by now, natch), Harry Osborn puts a gun to Spidey's head and pulls the trigger.
The beginning of this issue is great. We see Norman and Harry in an office. Norman's telling Harry how proud he is of him all the while being covered in blood. But have no fear.. we soon find out that because of Reed Richards unstable molecule Venom suit and Mask, the bullet actually never penetrated into Peter's skull. I thought this was an absolutely great little bit of writing.
The rest of the issues sees Norman trying to convince Harry to become the American Son all the while Bullseye tortures a shackled Spidey to try and take the Venom Mask off.
We get some good internal monologue from Spidey, describing what he's going through. The tension was fairly high in this issue and I really dug it. This is my favorite kind of Spidey story.. the "How is he gonna manage to get out of this one" type. It's fantastic.
We also get a little more unfolding with the Harry/Lily sub plot which should make the final part of this story arc really interesting. I think there will be quite the little Battle Royale going on next issue. I can't wait.
The collaborative art, and the writing are very solid. I couldn't put this issue down.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
4 out of 5 stars