Friday, July 8, 2011

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #94 - November 1992


Target Two

Credits: Howard Mackie (writer), Alex Saviuk (penciler), Don Hudson (inker), Dave Sharpe (letterer), Bob Sharen & Renee Witterstaetter (colorist)

The Plot: The Hobgoblin targets the bar owned by Nick Katzenberg’s brother-in-law, torturing him to learn the location of Katzenberg’s secret apartment. Spider-Man and Moon Knight arrive in time to save Katzenberg, but can’t prevent him from setting the building on fire. During the fight, Katzenberg distracts Hobgoblin before he can shoot Spider-Man, leading Hobgoblin to blast him in the chest. Spider-Man places Hobgoblin in custody, as Katzenberg goes into cardiac arrest.

The Subplots: MJ is unnerved by a series of distraught phone calls by Katzenberg. Expecting Katzenberg again, she inadvertently hangs up on Betty. Meanwhile, Doppelganger breaks Demogoblin out of jail, as a Vault transport carrying Venom is attacked by Hag and Troll.

Web of Continuity: The Foreigner has been hired to kill Nick Katzenberg, apparently by Richard Fisk, for the photo he took in the “Name of the Rose” storyline.

*See _________ For Details: Moon Knight #41-45 details the “crisis” he’s experiencing. When Moon Knight mentions finding Reed Richards again, another footnote claims Moon Knight #44 has the details.

Review: “Hobgoblin Reborn” concludes, with Hobgoblin not “reborn” so much as “used again.” Apparently, the new hook for the character is that he carries laser rifles, which strikes me as a lame revamp for a villain who already has a specific gimmick. Oh, but wait. In a few years he gets a cyborg makeover, and everyone’s just gonna love that. I will give Mackie some credit for tying the dangling “Nick took a photo” thread into this story, although I’m not sure why Richard Fisk still wants him dead. Even by the end of the “Name of the Rose,” Fisk didn’t seem to see the point in killing Katzenberg anymore. As for the subplots, we have MJ behaving irrationally, two obscure Ghost Rider villains running afoul of Venom, and Doppelganger breaking Demogoblin out of jail. None of this is very promising, is it?

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