It's been a hell of a long day, fellow Benophiles! It's currently 1:11 in the morning for 'ole Pav but there's work to be done: posting our thoughts on today's issue featuring Benny Boy, the current Chasm, the former (Scarlet) Spider-Man!
1) We start with NYC being terrorized by all manner of demons. More specifically, a couple and their baby are running from flying goblins and a toothy baby carriage when they're saved by Venom. Despite acting heroically and giving the baby a smooch for good measure, Venom wants to eat Spidey's brains -- likely because of his mind getting messed with by Maddie Pryor and Ben during the initial Dark Web issue.
2) Meanwhile, Peter is on his way to get some help from the person who helped him when he "lost MJ" -- whatever that means. When he reaches Norman, he finds the Gold Goblin at the mercy of Chasm! Peter immediately recognizes him as Ben, saying he knew Ben was still alive -- he could feel it. He asks Ben if he's okay, but Ben doesn't have time for pleasantries: he wants to take back the life that he believes was stolen by Peter, and NYC is going to suffer until he gets what he wants.
3) Peter laments the situation but tells Ben he can't let him terrorize NYC, and Ben says he figured Peter would respond that way, which is why he has the help of Venom, who attacks from behind thanks to the fact that he doesn't set off Peter's spider-sense. With Peter preoccupied, Ben leaves.
4) Peter and Venom fight, while outside of Oscorp, Ben uses the tongues of six liars, some magic chalice thingy, and the "Tome of Bala-Kan" to perform some kind of magic spell. Luckily, Ms. Marvel is there to stop him. Chasm can't be bothered but figures he "needs the practice" and continues using the magic spell book to, I guess, teleport Ms. Marvel to "the Otherplace." Limbo, maybe?
5) We're now back to Peter getting his webs handed to him by Venom, both bantering about Peter's brain's size and taste. Peter decides he's going to run away. Y'know, like heroes do.
5) At the offices of the Daily Bugle, JJJ has everyone working through Christmas to report on what's happening in NYC. He goes into his office, where he finds Chasm sitting at his desk, looking very threatening with his magic book and his glowy hand.
6) Back to Peter again, who threatens to light the demonized Christmas trees on fire, causing them to scream at a high-pitched volume; this, we all know, hurts Venom, and Peter is able to knock out Eddie. It's at this point that Madeline Pryor and Hallows' Eve show up. Peter comments on her looking like Jean; and Maddie tells him to watch what he says or she'll remove his mouth. It's a pretty interesting threat, considering the nightmare that Ben had in the Dark Web: Dusk issue from last week. Anyway, Maddie can't have Peter capturing Venom because he's important to her secret plans, and Chasm shows back up to fight Peter.
And that's the issue!
Was it good? I dunno! That's up to you to decide!
For my money, it was a very quick read in which nothing substantial really happens. Other than the fight between Peter and Venom, we kind of just get these little snippets of other subplots that are going to happen in the other connected issues -- and honestly, I can't say I care much about what happens to Ms. Marvel, for example. As someone who is here to see Ben in action, I gotta say that despite the large amount of panel time he gets in this issue, I didn't enjoy his presence here like I did last week in Dark Web: Dusk. The banter isn't as funny, he's doing magic without any explanation as to why or how, and WE STILL DON'T KNOW IF HE HAS NEW POWERS!!! It's a little ridiculous at this point that what Ben can and cannot do hasn't been touched upon at all.
I think what bothers me most is that Peter shows genuine care towards Ben when they meet face-to-face, but Ben has no time for it. I'd have preferred some kind of... I dunno... some kind of doubt on Ben's part about the path he's taking, whether Peter is really the one to blame, etc. But hey -- as many of us have said, it's not like Ben is being written particularly well, with weak in-story reasoning for why he's had his heel turn.
So overall, while I'm still interested in seeing how this plays out for Ben and Janine, I can't say I found this to be a strong issue -- and certainly not as enjoyable as last week's entry into the Dark Web storyline. It's not egregiously bad; but it doesn't feel like the story has really progressed at all and ended too quickly for me to consider it a legitimately fun read.
-Pav, who looks forward to seeing Janine actually doing something in future issues...