Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #233
Background
We conclude the Web of Carnage arc, though the background sub-plots make it pretty clear that we're not going to have a tidy ending to anything much.
Story 'Inner Demons'
Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #233
| Editor: | Eric Fein |
| Writer: | Todd DeZago |
| Pencils: | Sal Buscema |
| Inker: | Art Thibert, John Stanisci |
| Cover Art: | Sal Buscema |
In part four, the Seward Trainer mystery deepens (and confirms our suspicions that something sinister is going on here) when Peter goes to the Multivex Corporation to see if he can find Seward. He is denied any information, but the actions of those working for Multivex solidy his suspicions. Meanwhile, we catch a glimpse of Seward Trainer in a darkened room speaking with a shadowy figure, who tells Trainer "I'd prefer you had privacy to continue your work ..." And so it appears that the clone saga is far from over.
Elsewhere, Ben returns to Ravencroft to try to find some answers about the symbiote from its original host, Cletus Kassidy. After a rather long and draining inner battle, Ben frees himself of the symbiote (which a weakened Kassidy finally gets to return to him). Ben is upset that he couldn't control the symbiote within him, but is heartened by the encouraging words of John Jameson, security chief at Ravencroft, and the issue ends with Ben feeling a bit better about his role as Spider-man.
General Comments
The issue itself was done well, and Buscema's art, though often-times rough, worked well with the tone of the story. Best of all, however, were the revelations about Seward Trainer. Before, we could only speculate that something was going on; now, we know.
Since we're here, let's recap the four part arc. As usual, Sensational Spider-man was excellent, Spider-man was a close second with it's well-written stories and dialogue, Spectacular wasn't bad and Amazing, though much better than last month, still lagged a little behind. I have to wonder what the point of the whole Carnage thing was, though; we ended up back where we started in part one--with the symbiote bonded to Cletus Kassidy. The best parts of the story arc involved Peter's search for the truth, both in himself and in Seward Trainer. It will be interesting to where Marvel takes us next.
Editor's note: Of course, years down the track the entire Seward Trainer plot was completely reworked. But this review was written without that cynical hindsight.
Overall Rating 
This is worth a slightly above average three and a half webs.