Review: Amazing Spider-Man 695-697 "Danger Zone"

Now that THAT joke is outta the way, on to the actual review.

Danger Zone is the 3 parter that leads up to the insanity that is the end of Amazing Spider-Man and it's... OK. There are some good beats here (and some awesome characterization) but really, this is the calm before the storm, and it shows.

The story revolves around a suitcase, which has...something... in it that everyone wants. Spidey's trying to stop the Hobgoblin (Phil Urich) from getting it, and is successful in stealing it. But that's when Tiberius Stone, the "shady guy" of Horizon, activates a device that ramps up Spidey's spider-sense. At first it's a nice bonus, until, well... Tiberius jack it up all the way, puts Madame Web in the hospital for an overload of "the web of life", and leaves Peter incapacitated. That brings Max Modell into the picture, as well as the original Hobgoblin (the real one this time, good to see you again Kingsley!), all of them getting mixed up into this whole stew of a mess.

Overall, the three issues are OK. The story itself is pretty easy reading, and while some of the stuff have some nice gems of characterization (particularly for Kingsley!), this story comes off as a distraction play. I'm betting we'll look back on this story after Superior Spider-Man 1 a bit more fondly, but without the context about what exactly we're being distracted from the story's a bit flat...

(And NOW with the knowledge that it was a distraction story I can say "brilliant job, Slott! This was a pretty well-executed in betweener!")