Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #89

Story 'A Rose By Any Other Name'

The Stunning Conclusion to "Name of The Rose". Well, more like stomach-churning than stunning, but let's leave that be for now. Richard Fisk (who has put on even more weight since yesterday) is the new Kingpin of Crime. He calls a meeting of the city's most evil crimelords. They don't show. Just a few cut-rate crooks. Oh well. Richard has them all killed.

Richard has learned that Nick took the photo of him and Blume together. All that fuss over a little photo. Fisk Senior would have had his lawyers sort it out, but Richard decides to go to war. Not a very good sense of judgement really. But Richard is after Katzenburg, and of course Spidey has to go help.

Meanwhile, The Rose (III) has become Blood Rose, just in case you were confused. I sure am. Hobgoblin finds Spidey, offering to lead him to Richard (who didn't pay Hobgoblin for his services last issue, never stiff a mercenary super-villain). Richard is striking out with his fiancee, having stood her up for the third time in a row because of business.

Blood Rose confronts Richard Fisk and his goons. They fight. Spidey and Hobgoblin turn up. Richard recognises Blood Rose's voice, they were once friends. That pretty much seals it, Alfredo is Blood Rose. More fighting, The Praetorian Guard are in it too, and plenty of guys with guns. Flick, flick, flick through the pages. More fighting. Richard almost escapes, but Blood Rose shoots him in the back, Fisk crashes through a window and sinks into the harbour, never to be seen again... for a while. Blood Rose escapes, never to be seen again, please!

Everybody else escapes too. It's like nothing really happened... although in fact, if nothing had happened, perhaps that would have been better for everybody concerned. I would be $7.50 richer, for starters!

General Comments

Tthe chronicles of civilization offer more wide-spread and long-lasting examples of man's inhumanity to man than this storyline, but in its own small way, I believe that the pain and suffering inflicted by this cruel drama should not be so lightly overlooked by society as perhaps they have been until now.

Perhaps when Milosovic has finished, there might be a spot open for the enlightened among us to seek justice for the persecution Howard Mackie has so carelessly inflicted on us all with The Name of The Rose. We can but dream it so.

Oh, the art was crap too.

Overall Rating

Half a web. My compliments to the type-setter.