Hello again to all Ben-izens of the One, True, Sensational Spider-Man Fan Club! We fiind ourselves with another new issue of Dark Web, featuring Ben's villainous turn as Chasm. I can tell you: having stayed away from any spoilers, but still seeing some of the comments ABOUT those spoilers on these boards, I went into this issue with some serious trepidation.
But I've read it now, and I gotta say: I find it pretty inoffensive -- because, honestly: what even is this?
Let's take a walk through it.
1) We start off with Madelyne Pryor having decided to team-up with the X-Men, which happened over in the X-issues which has really been the only consistently enjoyable part of this story. She tells the X-Men she's going to clean up her mess, and that means informing Ben and Janine that the demon invasion of NYC is over.
2) Having been informed that JEAN GREY GAVE MADDIE THE MEMORIES SHE WANTED, Ben decides not to intelligently ask FOR THE SAME HELP TO SOLVE HIS ESSENTIALLY SAME PROBLEM and instead storms off like a petulant child who has been bathed in psycho-reactive quantum polymers. We do get a decent line about the "betrayal" just feeling like "home" to Ben but then, we've already had a story where Ben (as the Jackal) has been reduced to and motivated by only his most painful memories -- so it's like, is this the House of Ideas, or the House of One Idea?
3) Next, we move to Peter dealing with Rek-Rap the Bizarnage Demon Spider-Man. The weird verbiage from last issue continues with Spidey and Rek-Rap "web-wanging" the Insidious Six, with Orb Ock proclaiming, "No one web-wangs the Insidious Six!" I chuckledwhile shaking my head. The fight is full of one goofy moment after the next...
4) And then TONE SHIFT because now we're back to Maddie and Janine, waxing poetic about heads and crowns. Maddie tells Janine that she believes in her, and that whatever she chooses to do next "will be mighty and terrifying." And it's here that we get maybe the only good moment of the issue, because it's a legitimate swerve that I didn't see coming: Janine, using her Frankenstein strength powers, attacks Maddie, pushes her off the balcony, and steals her magic scythe -- the key to ruling Limbo!
PAUSE: If this run has done anything good for the characters of Ben and Janine, I'll admit that I like the "ride or die together" commitment that the two have generally displayed for each other, even back into Beyond. While the modern Janine isn't written exactly as she was under the pen of JMD, I do like that their love for each other has made it into the modern era. That being said, it's unfortunate that Janine is no longer the level-headed lover of Ben that she has been in past issues. You'd think she, of all people, would ask Maddie to continue helping them rather than betray her for more power, like a petulant child that had the finger of a demon magically inserted into her person.
5) Elsewhere, it's a "bad time to be a giant face," because Spidey and Rek-Rap have teamed-up even though Marvel has no room another Spider-Man and are kicking butt, helping themselves, Jonah, and Robbie get to the NYC portal -- and every character is portrayed more cartoonishly than Dan Slott ever did. It's so silly!
6) And then TONE SHIFT: we're back with Janine and Ben, who provides the only legitimate moment of pathos in the issue with his confession that he was about to beg Peter to help him. But, without Maddie, Ben's plan will no longer work. Fortunately, Janine has the answer: handing Ben the scythe and leadership of Limbo. With a touch, Ben transforms into the giant KING CHASM, who looks NOT COOL AT ALL.
7) Finally, we're back with Peter and his ragtag team of escapees who are still dealing with the Insidious Six in their way of getting to NYC, but the appearance of KING CHASM and Hallows' Eve stops everyone dead in their tracks. Both Peter and Rek-Rap attack KING CHASM, but they're both swatted away like bugs. He teleports himself and Janine and the demon army to NYC with a promise that he'll "never stop."
8) But don't worry about that serious moment because we then get the silliness of Peter, on the ground, asking Jonah and Robbie if the bad guys have left. Peter gets up and Maddie asks if he'll join "us" -- with the issue ending on the group of Spider-Man, Rek-Rap, Jonah, Robbie, Maddie, Jean, Cyclops, Iceman, Forge, and... wait... is that Ben Urich? Has he been down here the whole time?
So, yeah. That's the issue.
I'm not worried about King Chasm being a thing for more than another issue, honestly. I don't think the answer to, "What do we do with Ben Reilly?" is "Make him the ruler of a hell-dimension that rarely factors into the stories of Spider-Man comics." I imagine our heroes will somehow defeat him, with he and Janine remaining in their villainous roles. I know people have speculated that something must happen to Ben considering Janine's upcoming solo miniseries, but I don't think that's necessarily true; it certainly could be the case, but it could also be the case that Ben merely plays a supporting role in her miniseries. That being said, I wouldn't be shocked if Ben somehow gets lost between dimensions or something like that. It'll certainly be interesting to see where the characters end up at the end of this story. Frankly, at this point, I'd kill for an ending that provided some hope of brotherly reconnection between Peter and Ben, and my hope is that the always-intelligent Jean Grey will JUST FIX BEN.
Someone get Chris Cantwell on the Spidey books.
-Pav, who just can't stop shaking his head in good-humored disbelief at this ridiculous story...