Sensational Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #18
Background
The Vulture is after the fake Prowler, and Spidey's dizzy spells mean he's in no condition to stand in the way.
Story 'Powerless And Responsibility'
Sensational Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #18
| Editor: | Ralph Macchio |
| Writer: | Todd DeZago |
| Pencils: | Jason Armstrong |
| Inker: | Ron Boyd |
| Cover Art: | Mike Wieringo |
The Vulture guts the fake Prowler while Spidey gets his head together. Spidey freaks, and webs up Vulture while he takes the creep in the Prowler costume back to the hospital (where he survives, in case you were worried). Spidey also learns that Hobie is so happy about having a pal like Spidey, that he's gonna recover from his Paralysis. A little strange, but that's comics for ya.
Divert to a happy scene with MJ and Peter getting some quality time in the Darkroom at the Parker house hold. Oh, and Aunt May (still living with them) is worried about the wierd little girl who just moved in next door. The girl has a strange habit of just standing in the back yard and staring at the Parker house. More on that later, I guess.
Meanwhile, here's where the 'B-side' story which was at the back of the last two issues of Sensational gets linked in. In the Brother's Keeper 2 story, the decaying sludge-monster D.K. decided he was ready to die. He escapes from Ravencroft and heads to Central Park, where he gets ready to decay himself. Spidey turns up, and D.K. says 'Thanks' to him and then melts just like, like... well, just like a clone.
OK, Vulture then attacks Spidey, but the melting D.K. grabs him - and before you know it, The Vulture has decayed too. Spider-Man, being a hero, drags Vulture to safety before he dies - BUT...! The Vulture has AGED! He's back to his ancient withered self, just like before the events of Lifetheft.
Yep. As the song goes... 'Everything old is new again!' or in this case 'Everything new is old again'.
General Comments
I rather enjoyed this three-part arc. There was plenty of action, and a varied cast of well-motivated characters. Maybe Todd DeZago isn't an earth-shattering writer, but this time he came up with a pretty good tale.
Also, Vulture is rightfully returned to his decrepit agedness. As it should be! What's that silliness about a young Vulture? The Vulture is supposed to be an old guy, end of story.
Overall Rating 
I'm going to give this four webs. Everything is relative, and relative to the preceding story arc, this Vulture/Prowler stuff is just fine.