The Power of…Hate! Credits: Richard Howell (writer & penciler), Keith Williams (inker), Rick Parker (letterer), Janice Cohen (colorist)
The Plot: Peter’s book tour takes him to Shriver Cove, Massachusetts. The locals have an irrational hatred of outsiders, which culminates in a mob attacking Peter’s hotel during the night. While investigating as Spider-Man, he learns that the Hatros Clinic is brainwashing the locals while allegedly treating them for stress. Hank Pym answers Spider-Man’s call for help, and the heroes soon face Nekra, High Priestess of the Hate Cult. Nekra escapes, but Pym is able to chemically counteract the locals’ hypnosis.
The Subplots: None.
*See _________ For Details: Wow, the issues footnoted in this issue include Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol. 2 #11, the West Coast Avengers arc that revived Maria Pym, Avengers #58, Spider-Woman #16, and most impressively, Shanna the She-Devil #5.
Review: Gerry Conway’s run officially begins next issue, so the title’s stuck with another one-off fill-in in the meantime. This is a story about Nekra brainwashing New England suburbanites into turban-wearing cultists as a part of her scheme to resurrect her lover, the Grim Reaper. With the exception of a few corny jokes and puns, this isn’t played for laughs, so we’re left with pure cheese. At the end of the story, Spider-Man and Hank Pym reveal that they actually feel sorry for Nekra since she can’t be with the one she loves, which I guess is supposed to tie in to the alleged theme of the story. If this is supposed to be a “love is stronger than hate” story though, why are the Hate Cultists saved by science, and why does Peter Parker spend the entire issue dealing with his annoying tour guide instead of thinking about his wife? This is all very forgettable, but thankfully this marks the end of the fill-in days.
2 comments:
I'm assuming you probably saw this already, but given the subject matter of this blog, I thought it might be somewhat relevant to mention that Bob Harras was appointed editor-in-chief of DC Comics yesterday!
Personally, I'm very happy for him. I only met him once, at Comic-Con in 1999, but he was very nice and seemed like a good guy. I know there are lots of negative stories out there about his dealings with various freelancers, but he also seems to have a pretty good sized contingent of supporters in the professional community too.
All I know for certain is that the last time I truly enjoyed Marvel comics, line-wide, was when he was their EiC. So in my mind, that counts for something.
P.S.: Sorry I had nothing to say about this particular issue!
I didn't agree with many of the events that happened under Harras, but I think he's far more qualified than Quesada or Didio to run a comics company. Both Marvel and DC have seemed determined to chase away their core audience over the past 10 years. Harras actually seemed to understand, in most cases, how to maintain at least some portion of the audience.
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