Since he began as the regular writer on this title, J. Michael Straczynski has emphasized spiritual themes and supernatural elements oin the adventures of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and this new two-part story, co-written by the writer's protege, is no exception. Avery and Straczynski take the title character a little too far away from his more grounded world. The more cosmic focus is a distracting one. Fortunately, John Romita Jr.'s artwork is as strong as ever. His linework and Matt Milla's muted colors help to foster the mature and tense atmosphere that the script is clearly trying to establish.
As a dark, mystical entity awakens within a human host somewhere in Manhattan, Peter Parker sense something is amiss, unaware of his supernatural connection to the chaos goddess that has arisen in the mortal world. He's not the only one to take note of her resurrection, though, as powerful beings throughout the cosmos feel the energy ripples caused by her return. One in particular decides to investigate, and unfortunately for New York's noted wallcrawler, that entity is the notorious Norse god of evil, Loki.
It was a pleasure to see Romita revisit Asgardian characters and supernatural, Kirby-esque designs that he once handled on Dan Jurgens's Thor. Romita's portrayal of Loki is quite striking. Despite the character's lithe look, he still exudes power and intellect. Of course, the penciller's portrayal of Spider-Man is still without equal. His playful, agile nature comes shining through, but there's also an almost alien quality to the character's appearance and body language as well here.
One of the big problems with this issue is its accessibility. It hinges on events from prior issues and on themes and recurring motifs. It's a safe bet that every issue of this title might be a reader's first exposure to the printed adventures of its title character, so an approach that's friendlier to new readers might be the way to go.
I'll give Avery credit where credit is due, though. Loki steals the show here. It's easy to figure out that his motives are selfish ones, that he covets the power of the Chaos Goddess. That's not the interesting point. What I enjoyed about his appearance here is that the Thor villain comes off as rather likeable. There's a real sense of personality to the character here. There's more to him than the one-dimensional bad guy we've seen in so many other Marvel stories.
What strikes me the most about this issue, though, is that it isn't a Spider-Man story. Though he's somehow connected to the Chaos Goddess, there doesn't seem to be much in this story for the supposed hero of the piece. He comes off as more of a bystander who's being manipulated on two fronts.
