Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #19

Background

In Spectacular #15 and 16, Spider-Man and Captain America battled the Queen, who at one point during the fight managed to plant a big wet kiss on the wall- crawler. Over the last two issues, Spidey has felt the effects of that kiss, as he has been transforming into a giant spider. Captain America, meanwhile, has told Nick Fury about the Queen's plot to use a bomb to kill millions of people in a six hundred-mile radius...

Story Details

This issue opens with Mary Jane and Aunt May standing on the roof of Peter's building, worrying about him. Peter, meanwhile, has been tromping around the alleys looking like a man-spider, smashing things, wondering where he is, and vomiting. Meanwhile at Veteran's Hospital, Captain America, Nick Fury, and Cap's old war buddy Tommy are going over the facts of the Queen's plan to kill half the population of the eastern seaboard. Cap reveals that the bomb was created as a sort of last resort weapon. The effects of the bomb kill all humans, except those carrying the insect gene. So Cap reveals that the United States' plan during the height of the Cold War was, in the event of a Soviet invasion, to use these bombs to kill everyone on the planet except Americans carrying the insect gene.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man is still stumbling around in an alley when the Queen arrives. She explains that her kiss has caused these changes in him, and when she suggests that he join her, the web-slinger attacks. But the attack is fruitless, as the Queen uses her powers to blast Spidey back into a wall, pounding him into submission and then telekinetically carrying him away. Elsewhere in New York, SHIELD, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and the X-Men have joined the NYPD in the search for Spider-Man and the Queen.

At SHIELD headquarters, a message from the Queen that was intended for the public has been intercepted. The message simply states that nature of the bomb and that it will detonated at 9:30 in the morning on Thursday, thus giving the public a chance to evacuate. Captain America decides to withhold the information, deciding that they still have two days to look for the Queen before an evacuation is necessary. Meanwhile at the Queen's Hive, the Queen goes to look in on Spider-Man, who has completed his transformation and is now a giant spider...

General Comments

This story continues to escalate as Paul Jenkins has crafted yet another solid tale. Jenkins has used his usual cast of characters along with Captain America and Nick Fury and a number of cameos from other Marvel heroes to create what has turned out to be a pretty exciting storyline, and I'm anxiously waiting to see how this turns out. The art by Paco Medina and Juan Vlasco is fairly solid, although Cap once again looks goofy.

Overall Rating

Another very solid issue. Four webs.