Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #409

Background

Kaine found himself captured by James Johnsmeyer, a wealthy sponsor of The Great Game. Johnsmeyer's assistant, Shannon Fitz-Patrick, (aka Muse) greeted him and intended to make him the greatest player in the Game. Johnsmeyer was bored with life and got excitement from sponsoring combatants against the combatants of other sponsors. He had resurrected Kaine and expected gratitude, which he didn't get. Kaine refused and left the mansion and was stopped by Johnsmeyers guards. Muse showed up and used her hypnotic power of persuasion to let them go. Meanwhile, a factory was being demolished and the workers found a human skeleton wearing a Spider-Man costume in the smokestack.

Story 'Of Wages And Wars'

At Ben's apartment, he put away the skeleton that had been found in the demolished smokestack. He had stolen it from the city morgue after it was reported in the media. He hated that a new mystery of who was the real Peter was emerging, as he thought that he had been the one dropped into the smokestack five years ago. He didn't have time to think about the skeleton or spending time with Jessica, as he had previously come across Kaine battling the Rhino.

At James Johnsmeyer's Beverly Hills mansion, he was discussing adding Spider-Man to The Great Game as a wildcard against Kaine. The other ultra wealthy sponsors agreed to the idea.

Hiding in a lower westside warehouse, Kaine and Muse hid from the Rhino. She said that they had lost him but Kaine wanted to know how he had found them in the first place. She said that Johnsmeyer had vast resources and wouldn't appreciate him declining his offer to join The Game. Kaine wanted to know why he should trust her, and she replied that she hadn't helped her career by aiding in his escape. The Rhino smashed into the warehouse, saying that he was getting a bonus to kill both of them before any of the other players arrived.

At the Daily Bugle, Jameson needed a headline for the Spider-Man skeleton story. Ken Ellis suggested "Spider-Man: Impostor and Killer!" Ben Urich was more skeptical of the whole story, saying the only thing connecting the skeleton to Spidey was the costume and anyone can fake that. Ellis didn't care who Spider-Man was, he was a ghoul for stealing a skeleton from the morgue. Jameson corrected him that his identity does matter but they would cover that in a future edition. When Robbie asked Jonah if releasing Ken Ellis to report the story before Ben Urich gathered the facts was wise, Jonah replied that they reported facts, not truth.

Spider-Man searched the city for Rhino and Kaine, wishing that there was an online service to find them. He noticed news helicopters moving in a hurry and hitched a ride on one of them.

Kaine and Rhino were fighting it out, with Kaine saying he refused to dance to someone else's tune. He called the fight pointless and tried to escape with Muse but was stopped by Joystick and a new player called Polestar. Polestar explained that his armored suit lets him create a magnetic field that attracted and repelled surrounding debris. All of the players wanted to earn the bonus by scoring first blood on Kaine. Polestar was briefly hypnotized by Muse's persuasion abilities, but Joystick stopped her with a kick to the head. Kaine was distracted by the attack on Muse, letting Rhino hit him and say he was going to buy a big screen TV for his mother.

Spider-Man arrived and joined the fight against Rhino, saying he hoped that his mother got cable channels. She wouldn't want to miss his trial on Court TV. He dodged an attack from Polestar, whose magnetic aura protected him from webbing. Spidey got kicked by Joystick, who said it was an honor to fight him. Spidey remembered how he had actually faced her before as the Scarlet Spider. Rhino was angry that no one had told him about the points for Spider-Man being double but was going for the bonus and two big screens.

At a hospital, a nurse was attending to Seward Trainer when Caroline arrived. After she left, Caroline said smugly that judging by his pale, fragile state, he wouldn't live much longer.

Kaine was tired of the fight, crumbled a nearby wall onto the Rhino and then beat him into unconsciousness. Joystick was flirting shamelessly with Spider-Man as they fought and he stopped her by crushing her wrist conduits. She promised to remember that tactic the next time they met and retreated. Polestar attacked Spidey but flew into a building and was knocked out by the webhead. Looking around, Spidey was annoyed to see that Kaine and Muse had escaped.

In Beverly Hills, Johnsmeyer spoke with Muse over the phone, pleased with Kaine's performance. He offered Muse the winter palace, the pagoda or the Aegean mansion. Kaine was busy looking for a hideout for them so she cut short the conversation with Johnsmeyer.

Spider-Man watched as the Rhino was taken away by the police, thinking that he's one of his strongest foes but still went down more easily than Kaine. He was happy to have at least attached a spider tracer to Muse. He hoped to stop his clone forever, and stop The Great Game.

General Comments

I can't help but think about what a turning point the world was going through in the mid 90s. The internet and cyberspace were brand new in the mind of the public and it's interesting to see that new consciousness being shown in comic books. Caroline Trainer was an expert in cyberspace, Spidey wished that bad guys carried cell phones and the ultra-rich James Johnsmeyer was playing golf on an electronic screen. All of these things are so commonplace these days. Ah, my age is showing.

Again, maybe it's my age but the fights were the least interesting part of the story. I never liked armored villains, they're just so much less interesting when they are zooming around blasting things. (The Goblins are the exception.) High tech villains are much less satisfying to fight, the fights are less personal when they are hiding behind a metal mask. Then again, Polestar is just a note bad guy. He shows up, zaps things, gets beaten and is never seen again. At least Joystick had appeared in enough former issues to be recognizable. (I wonder if her hair was based on "The Rachel." I keep seeing Joystick being modeled on Jennifer Aniston. Again, the mid 90s.) She flirts with opponents to distract them just like Spidey uses jokes to annoy enemies. Rhino being a mama's boy was entertaining.

I liked the discussion that Jonah had with Robbie, where he explained that the news reports facts, not truth. Truth is in the eye of the beholder.

I always like Mark Bagley's art but he made a pretty glaring error on the first page. Ben is kneeling over the body bag holding the skeleton and his left arm is much longer than the right one. I don't know how he didn't notice that when even I did. Oh well, he's the professional and I can't even draw a stick figure.

Overall Rating

Pretty much a piece of candy. Fun and sweet but shallow. You forget it as soon as you read it.