Priest's genius flowed through this comic. Heart, drive, and laughs. All for an obscure comic that let him do - pretty much whatever he really wanted to do through almost all of this book. Except continue publishing. I still don't know if I completely followed where Magnum was going at the end of the story - nor the entire path of why he got there. And while I wasn't a fan of how the thing really started out, I did enjoy most of the rest of the thing. Dark to show Eric really killing the wolves - I mean, a kill or be killed kind of scenario, really - but still hard. Then War Locke returned, and it felt like a team up and destroy your master, but never got all of the way around to it. Woody shows up - and the comic rolls again. Loved the recollection of the madness of the story - where Woody ended up sitting around for a few days... And of course, Vincent doesn't exactly respond to the commands, or anything... Quick fries reference, In Paris.
There ya go.
Woody's passing through the litany of cliches in the villain world - excellent. And finally, the double-cross trap leading into the reverse double-cross trap. Great. And although the final Michael Jackson joke seems overly harsh now - good way to close the comic. Brilliant. For now. As a side note, the departure from Priest is a heartfelt swan song to both Acclaim - and a bit to these characters. And although, he had kind words on his site for a time - these words were intended for the public - and a joy to read.
What has happened to the Spider-Man I loved?
That title sounds a little wrong. But really, Spider-Man has become a wreck of superficial writing - skipping over most of the story with just jumping around, slinging villains through webs - and a sometimes foe, too. Little depth in any of the story, at all. It did have one moment I liked - the split face like the old Spidey sense - but on the Torch this time. Other than that, most of the story could be flipped by, with very little pause through the entire thing. Not much content at all. It forgot nearly every part of the characterization - including all of the Spider-family, too. Bring some of them back - and soon. This one has gone quickly from the good pile to the junk one.