Since the Queen was introduced and this storyline began, I've been asking one main question about this series: "What's the point?" A generic villain comes from out of nowhere to plague the title character, and for what? Well, it seems the ultimate answer is that this was writer Paul Jenkins (and Marvel's, I assume) way of introducing new powers for everyone's favorite friendly neighborhood wallcrawling hero. The story doesn't work at all, though, not only due to its generic qualities, but because the main character's reactions to being controlled, mutilated and forever altered aren't plausible at all.
Poor Spider-Man. He's been mind-controlled by the World War Two super-villain known as the Queen and mutated into a giant spider. And that wasn't enough, he's pregnant (albeit in his monstrous new form). The only way this day could get any worse was if he was to die. Check. Heroes surround a Manhattan park above and below ground, trying to find the Queen's hive before she detonates a bomb to wipe humanity off of the map so her new children can rule the Earth. Fortunately, Spider-Man's death isn't all that it seems.
Paco Medina's art is detailed and fairly clear, for the most part, but it just doesn't suit the tone of the story. At its heart, this is a horror story mixed in with a generic super-hero plot, so some darker visuals are really called for here. We don't get them. There's nothing menacing about the way the Queen looks, for example, and the Spider-Monster isn't nearly as scary and grotesque as it needs to be.
Spider-Man casts off his monstrous form in this issue because... well, the plot demands it. The other super-heroes never find them because... well, the plot demands it. Spider-Man develops new powers because... who the hell knows why. The thing is that the storytelling here isn't natural at all. The hero has essentially been tortured by a madwoman, yet there's no anger. There's no concern about being biologically altered for the rest of his life. He takes everything in stride, and the story would have been much more effective if the characters acknowledged the horrors occurring around them and to them.
On the surface, the developments revealed at the end of this issue are good ones, because they alter the status quo of this iconic character. That's something this comic has in common with this week's issue of Fantastic Four, actually. The problem is that the changes here bring the title character more in line with his more widely known incarnation: the big-screen Spidey. So really, the status quo isn't shaken up; Marvel just opts for a different status quo over another. It seems that this story is more about marketing, about allowing a more profitable medium dictate what's going on in the original one to handle this character.
Ultimately, the audience for this comic book won't be those looking for a good Spidey story, but speculators who will bet on the introduction of new spider-powers making for a sought-after comic with an inflated value. 2/10
