Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #98

Background

Through issues Web of Spider-Man #84 to Web of Spider-Man #89, we were introduced to a mystery new Rose character – Blood Rose. The Kingpin's son Richard knows who he is but the last we saw of him was him falling into a river.

Story 'Uneasy Alliances'

Blood Rose tells Robbie to go, which he does, while Spidey has to battle BR and the Foreigner's henchmen. Spidey looks like he's been cornered when Robbie throws himself back into the mix and saves him. Blood Rose then does NOTHING but run off with his men. Elsewhere, Foreigner tells his men to get Blood Rose.

On the island where Fisk was washed up, he is being trailed by a guy named Trench. He is in training before he returns to New York.

Pete's at the Bugle and gets chewed out by a completely out of character Robbie for not covering the Fisk Tower fire incident properly. Pete says he was there but just didn't want to run into a burning building armed only with a camera. On the way out, he runs into MJ. He's not too pleased because her smoking makes her kisses taste nasty. Meanwhile, Betty sneaks into Robbie's office not wanting people to find out about her 'secret rendezvous with the boss'.

Elsewhere, Blood Rose storms Foreigner's office wanting to know who put a price on his (BR's) head.

General Comments

It's crucial to remember that about this time in comics history the populace at large was undergoing quite a nostalgia trip about old comics. Early issues of Amazing Spider-Man were shooting up in value, and Marvel capitalized on this with a flood of "#1" titles. Looking back now, it's quite clear to see that while fan hysteria was going up, the quality of material was crashing through the basement.

Overall Rating

Half a web. Even that is too kind!