Prologue, Chapters 1-2
Written by Diane Duane
The Plot:
At Cape Canaveral, the Lizard attacks a barge and steals a mysterious
substance labeled “fourteen-eighteen.” In New York, Peter Parker is
lonely, now that MJ is spending two weeks in Miami. To his surprise, he
receives a photo assignment from Kate Cushing that sends him to
Florida. Kate pairs Peter with reporter Vreni Byrne to investigate
NASA’s heightened security, which could be tied to the Lizard.
After connecting with MJ and Aunt Anna, Peter visits the Connors family
as Spider-Man, leaving William with a spider-communicator. At a press
conference inside Kennedy Space Center, Vreni Byrne questions if NASA is
sending an atomic reactor into space as a power source for the space
station. Later, after testing out his telescopic lens, Spider-Man
overhears a Lizard sighting on a police scanner. Following an inconclusive
battle, the Lizard escapes, leaving behind a small container.
Spider-Man opens it and discovers a tiny “piece of smoke.”
The Subplots: MJ is in Miami to visit Aunt Anna, and to pursue modeling opportunities now that her acting career has stalled.
Web of Continuity:
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This story is set a few weeks after Duane’s first Spider-Man novel, The Venom Factor. That places it shortly before the Clone Saga.
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I believe Vreni Byrne is a new creation for the novels. She’s described as a tough, yet beautiful, blonde.
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The Lizard is described as a mindless beast, and not semi-intelligent, drawing upon his more recent appearances in Web of Spider-Man.
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Billy Connors is referred to as “William” in this story, which happened a few times in the early ‘90s when Marvel seemed willing to age the character a bit.
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Peter is able to drive a car without problems, even though at this point in continuity he shouldn’t have a driver’s license.
I Love the ‘90s: Peter has to make sure he gets a longer answering machine tape before leaving town.
Review:
I enjoyed Diane Duane’s first Spider-Man novel, and thought it held up
very well upon rereading, so I’ve decided to review the second
installment in her Spider-Man/Venom trilogy before moving on to any more
of the Marvel prose novels. Unfortunately, while The Venom Factor had a strong opening, dropping you into Peter’s somewhat mundane but still entertaining daily life, The Lizard Sanction
just doesn’t draw the reader in as quickly. The character work is
still there, as Duane does an admirable fleshing out everyone from Kate
Cushing to random Bugle employees to NASA security guards, but there’s
nothing in the book so far that compares to the fun banter between Peter
and MJ in the first novel. I also wonder if Duane’s attention to
detail is slowing the book down a bit in the beginning, as we receive
copious information on the interior of Kennedy Space Center, how space
stations are powered, the exact details of mounting a Questar telescope
on to a camera, and even how the Daily Bugle’s travel arrangements are
handled internally. The book opens with a fairly generic guards vs.
Lizard scene in the Prologue, then goes without any action until the end
of the second chapter. The novel’s eighty pages deep before Spider-Man
has his first confrontation with the Lizard.
Peter
and his supporting cast remain likeable, appealing characters,
thankfully. Duane has a fantastic handle on MJ, refusing to write her
as a nag or jealous spouse. She actually likes Vreni Byrne, a character
you might assume has been introduced as a rival love interest, and is
consistently portrayed as someone who supports her husband, even if she
needs the occasional break from his insane life. I don’t think any of
the comic stories at this point even had MJ considering going to Florida
to visit Aunt Anna, which is odd in retrospect. It’s a perfectly
logical way to shift the setting of a story out of New York, and not
much of a stretch for introducing a new Lizard story since his family
lives in Florida.
The
Lizard at this point in continuity needs some rehabilitation after
“Torment” (the comics couldn’t decide if they wanted to keep him
as a mute monster or not.) The prose format could offer more insight
into his thought process than a traditional comic could, so he’s not an
unreasonable choice of a villain. Duane understands the importance of
the Connors family in a good Lizard story, so I’m glad she’s bringing
them into the novel early. Admittedly, Martha and Billy, um, William
aren’t given a lot of personality yet, but Peter’s inner monologue
effectively gets across what the family’s life has been like since Curt
became the Lizard. Peter’s sympathetic towards them, of course, which
works as a reminder of how empathetic he is when properly written, so at the very least the
reader knows that the Connors are important to him. My main issue at
this point, aside from the pacing, is the casual way Peter’s traveling
to Florida and
appearing as Spider-Man with no cover whatsoever. Peter just outright
tells William that he’s going to be seeing him in Florida, and
Spider-Man just might
be coming as well. If we’re to believe that William is any older than
eight at this point, it’s hard to imagine the kid’s not suspicious.
It’s amusing that some writers go out of their way to have Peter
provide some excuse for why Spider-Man’s suddenly appearing in the town
Peter Parker’s traveling to, and others just plow ahead.
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