Peter Parker: Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #22

Background

Remember a few months ago, when Venom went on a rampage and tried to kill all the members of the Sinister Six? Yeah, unfortunately, so do I. Well, Venom bit a big chunk out of the Sandman, which 'cause some major health problems for ol' William Baker -- problems that he continues to deal with in this issue...

Story 'Days of Our Lives'

The Sandman is sitting around, watching the soaps and writing out a will, as his sand body continues to fall apart. Fed up with daytime television, Sandy tosses his copy of "Chicken Soup for the Criminally Insane" through the TV. Meanwhile, over at the Parker/Robertson apartment, Pete has just got out of the shower, and is raiding the fridge. Pete steals a tub of Randy's ice cream and is rocking out to classic Queen, when Randy and Glory Grant come into the apartment. Pete pretends not to notice them, and he drops his towel, forcing Randy and Glory to retreat, and allowing Pete to have the place to himself once again.

Sandman, meanwhile, narrates his will (which is actually just a letter to his mother) as he goes to a construction site and eats cement in an attempt to make his body stick together again. It doesn't work, and Sandy swears revenge on Spidey.

Spider-Man, meanwhile, is swinging around and complaining about eating too much of Randy's food, when he's swatted out of the air by the Sandman. Meanwhile, Randy and Glory share a laugh about Peter's display at the apartment. Back on the street, Spidey and Sandy are slugging it out, and the Sandman tells Spidey about how he tried so hard to make things work out in his life, but it just never happened. He talks about how hard he tried to be a good guy, but he just couldn't keep it together. And with that, the Sandman loses control of his punished body, and he melts, drifting away into the sewer.

But this isn't the end of the Sandman, as we find him mixed in with the sand on a beach, pulling himself back together...

General Comments

I've never really cared for the Sandman. I'm not sure why... I think I've always just found him to be rather boring. He's just a dumb crook in a green shirt who turns into sand. And yet I cared about him by the end of this story.

Mr. Jenkins' story is, as usual, funny yet touching. Spidey's quips are the funniest they've been in years, and watching the Sandman slowly fall apart was very sad. But I guess a lot of the credit for the heart-breaking emotions generated by the Sandman's demise should go to Mr. Buckingham, who made the Sandman's decomposing body look both frightening and sad at the same time.

However, I didn't quite enjoy this issue as much as the first two by the new creative team. It must be that I'm getting used to the higher quality. But even if it's not as good, it's still a darn enjoyable read.

Overall Rating

This rating probably isn't fair... I mean, how can I expect these guys to top themselves every single issue?