Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Mike Deodato, Jr.; Joe Pimentel; Tom Palmer; Matt Milla; & VC’s Cory Petit
Cover Art by Mike Deodato, Jr.
SUMMARY:
Entitled “Unintended Consequences,” Marvel Comics released this issue for August 2005. Encouraged by a skeptical Captain America to keep digging, Peter Parker works the New Avengers database seeking evidence of HYDRA’s latest scheme. For instance, still at large are HYDRA’s fakes of Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, & Captain America. The high-profile premiere of Mary Jane’s new Broadway play sends Peter off after one of its patrons: wealthy pharmaceutical industrialist Edgar Lascombe.
Peter doesn’t realize that Lascombe secretly belongs to HYDRA’s new generation of terrorism Spider-Man thwarts an assassination attempt later that night. Meanwhile, Mary Jane’s inadvertent run-in with a sleazy tabloid photographer takes on startling implications.
REVIEW:
Aside from a few pages of extensively spelling out HYDRA’s scheme (it’s like reading a lecture presentation) writer J. Michael Straczynski serves up an entertaining Spider-caper well worth reading. He has excellent support from the art squad, as their depictions of Mary Jane and Peter are stellar. Their inspired visuals also include Tony Stark’s Timothy Dalton-like look, and, in one panel, giving Lascombe what appears to be John Travolta’s facial features. Overall, The Amazing Spider-Man # 521 is a terrific issue set shortly after he first joins the New Avengers.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Joe Quesada’s half-page “Cup of Joe” column teases Secrets of the House of M, along with developments in Daredevil and Black Panther.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 8 Stars
