Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #84

Background

Last issue, Spidey has hanging by his webs, until it seemed that he fell to his death! This iss, Peter goes up against the unstoppable Juggernaut for a totally unnecessary adventure!!!

Story 'Nothing Stops The Juggernaut!'

Spider-Man saves himself from squashing on the sidewalk by webbing himself a safety net. Some kids watch in amazement as he hangs there, barely escaping death. One of the kids, Devon Lewis (from the Daily Grind, Ben Reilly's old work place), says he knows Spider-Man, and the other kids dare him to talk to him. Spidey recognizes him, and they start rapping.

Of course, all this nicety is interrupted when Cain Marko, otherwise known as the Juggernaut, arrives on the scene. He stumbles into Spidey's webbing, and thinks that it was put there to stop him! Juggy's been toe-to-toeing with War Hulk (check out the Jade Giant's rag to find out what THAT's all about), and has this great big sword he took from the Hulk. He's going to hand it over to the New World Order for cash to help his buddy, Black Tom Cassidy. Anyway, he thinks Spider-Man is after him, and so he starts to fight!!

Jug changes from his civvies into his big, brown costume (ugly, ain't it?), and starts chasing Spidey. The kids run, but Devon wants to help. While the two tussle, Devon jumps on the Juggernaut and pulls the sword off him, and runs away with it. As Juggy follows, Spider-Man slows him down with an eyeful of webbing. That only enrages him, and he gets even more ticked off. Devon tips the cops, but their car gets pounded by the big, unstoppable, mutant.

Spider-Man, still reeling from his Morbius bite (as if THAT hasn't been done to death), convinces Devon to give him the sword, to stop Juggernaut from taking out the entire NYPD. Spidey gets the big lug's attention, and Devon returns the sword to him. Juggernaut returns to his normal (?) appearance, and walks off. But not, of course, without warning Spider-Man about their *next* meeting.

Spider-Man and Devon swing in on Dev's friends, to impress them (a chance no sane 10-year-old would pass up), and they hang. Peter has another vertigo attack, and one of Devon's friends suggests that he might have a middle ear infection. Seems like the kid's mother is a doctor, and she hooks Peter up with some medication.

General Comments

I don't understand why this is a story. Other than a (sigh) another attempt to get Spider-Man readers interested in the X-Men arena, nothing of note really happened. And they threw in Devon Lewis for kicks! I think that Mr. Mackie needs to take some tips from the other Spider-Writers, and write something that's actually interesting.

I want to see Spidey in action! I want to see a story based around him, not a story that just happens to include him.

And one final note about the Morbius Bite. Talk about your contrived endings. To have Spider-Man dizzy for those many months, swinging around the city (and all four titles) reeling from the vertigo and it turns out to be a middle ear infection?!?!?! Horribly done.

Overall Rating

One measly web. Nothing worth reading here, except maybe the gate-fold cover. I sincerely hope that something of note is done in this magazine soon, because I've lost all interest.