More than two decades ago I read Spider-Man: Midnight Justice for the very first time.
I have wanted to read the rest of the series ever since, but I was never able to find them.
Now, thanks to the existance of the internet and a podcast-a-roonie co-host, I have finally gotten a couple of the others and I am more than ready to finally take the plunge.
Will this hold the same quality as the first in the series?
Or, after all of these years, am I in for a big bad does of disappointment?
Time we swing in and find out, gang!
This is your official motherthwippin’ ***SPOILER ALERT***
Dr. Aron Esterhazy, Professor at Empire State University, has developed a serum to ratchet up and perfect the human body, but this serum was secretly funded by Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. The Kingpin, and as it nears completion the big man is coming around to collect it.
The plot thickens though when Spider-Man swings by and sees his old Professor in the middle of the shakedown.
Word has also begun to spread as Daredevil and Hobgoblin have been made aware of this serum as well.
Esterhazy injects himself with the solution and goes on the run with these 4 super powered forces soon in hot pursuit of the highly valuable cure all.
And those 4 forces in pursuit bring about my only problem with the story.
I said in my review of Midnight Justice that I liked that it was economic and focused on one storyline.
And I stand by that, for the original book and for this one, but this one is a bit too focused and I feel it sacrifices a bit of just who the hell Peter Parker and Spider-Man are.
Aunt May has fallen ambiguously ill and the doctors don’t know what they can do to help her, so Pete must get this serum to help get her back on her feet.
Spidey’s motivation for wanting this serum is 100% dead on balls accurate to his character, but the handling of it left me wanting because the pursuit almost overrode the actual reason and I think an additonal five or ten pages could have helped this along a bit.
After Daredevil and Spidey have teamed up to beat Kingpin’s goons to Esterhazy, MJ calls and tells Pete May is sick.
And throughout the story, Pete’s internal monologue references the situation a few times.
But I would have liked to see him check in more or even go visit her.
But he doesn’t, he stays on the hunt and that just feels a bit off.
Even the ending leaves her sick as he just swings toward Forrest Hills to see her.
So there’s really no resolution to that in this story.
A missed opprotunity.
Now, let’s get to the positive…literally everything except that minor nitpick.
Every single character that’s trying to get their hands on that serum has incredibly well drawn motivation.
Kingpin: He wants to help his wife, Vanessa, get back all of her faculties, that’s why he funded the research in the first place.
Daredevil: Sure, he wants to stop Kingpin from having it, but he’s also hoping to restore his sight.
Spidey: He wants to save Aunt May.
Hobgoblin: He wants to upgrade his abilities and finally destroy Spider-Man once and for all.
It’s simple, but so fuckin’ effective character work.
Another thing I really dug, and it’s made even better because of the previous book, it’s made clear that Daredevil and Spider-Man are NOT the best of friends.
If after Midnight Justice, where Spidey teamed up with his old pal The Human Torch, Spidey & Daredevil had met up and been super best pals, it would have felt a little cheap and a bit paint by numbers.
But that’s not at all an issue.
Daredevil makes it clear he doesn’t love Spidey’s jokey and impulsive nature.
Damn, it works so well.
It’s a bit sad that Bill McCay hasn’t written anything else for Marvel.
He clearly has a good understanding of the universe.
And this book confirms that Midnight Justice was not just a one off fluke.
I really like this series, I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to find any more of these 25 years ago, as they released.
But I am glad that I was able to get ahold of them now, to start closing the loop from all of those years ago and pay off a long time curiousity that started when I was just 5 years old.
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As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.
