Okay, I've never really given a rip about the Gathering of Five storyline either, but one of our many gripes about "The Final Chapter" was confusion over who got what gift. If Norman cracked up, what happened to the bald geezer, and so on. Mackie is at least addressing that issue by bringing back Matt Franklin, the old guy, Override/Shadrac/Whatever-the-heck-his-name-is and setting down once and for all what happened to each of them.
Also, by the end of PP:SM Vol. II No. 3 it looks like they're all heading away for awhile to do whatever super-powered Marvel beings do when they're not showing up and destroying personal property. I could be wrong but I don't think they'll be making an appearance any time soon. To his credit, Mackie's at least trying to tie up a few loose ends from that travesty that was "The Final Chapter." Whether he's doing a good job at that is another story. Hey, I didn't think the ending was all that bad, but maybe that's just me. (Overall, though, I'd still much prefer getting someone else to write the books. But I'll probably get hit by lightning first.)
Al, I'm with you on Aunt May 110%; the less of her these days the better. Everyone keeps saying that she needed to come back. I'm still waiting for a decent explanation WHY???!!!
P.S. Notice that Marvel hasn't run a single letter that is directly responding to "The Final Chapter" or "The Gathering of Five?" You don't suppose there are people who actually DISLIKED these storylines, do you? Nahh, couldn't be.