Peter David and Sal Buscema craft a sequel to one of Spider-Man's most acclaimed stories. How does it hold up to the original? Read on and find out!
Even though it was deemed a conflict of interest at Marvel for marketing personnel to write comics, he nevertheless successfully pitched The Death of Jean DeWolff, which was one of his very first Spider-Man stories. The conflict-of-interest controversy eventually got him booted off Spectacular Spider-Man, but his writing talents led to a lengthy run on The Incredible Hulk, which went over quite well with fans, as did his work on Aquaman for DC. Plus, he also came up with the fan-favorite series Young Justice, that I need to get my lazy butt around to reading, as well as a Captain Marvel series. I'm barely scratching the surface of his comic book work, not to mention his novels, including the Star Trek novel Imzadi and other Trek books featuring the character Q. Long story short, David's one of those writers that when I see their name on a comic, I can be assured it'll be well-written.
A year after Spider-Man captured the Sin-Eater, a remorseful Stan Carter has been granted a clean bill of mental health and released. He attracts no shortage of publicity, including a self-appointed publicist who seeks to cash in on Carter's notoriety. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Spider-Man, who has neither forgiven nor forgotten the Sin-Eater's past crimes and thinks Carter's actively looking for the limelight. He goes to confront Carter, but is horrified to learn that Carter is permanently crippled and partially deaf...as a result of the injuries he received from Spider-Man during their last fight. Horrified by what he's done, Spider-Man becomes afraid of his own strength, to the point where it impedes him as a crime-fighter.
That being said...I personally liked this story even better.
I've come across lots of "justice vs. vengeance" stories over the years in a wide variety of mediums, and while The Death of Jean DeWolff was...well...spectacularly executed, it still was familiar territory. But Stan Carter - a serial killer - sincerely attempting rehabilitation, combined with Spider-Man dealing with the consequences of maiming a man when he lost control...I don't see that kind of story get told anywhere near as often. David plays fair, representing both sides of the dilemmas faced by our principled cast evenly. Even the doctors evaluating Carter's mental state and debating the merits of keeping him locked up vs. letting him go make good points on both sides, rather than David taking the easy way out and making one side a strawman. (Said debate also serves to concisely summarize the previous Sin-Eater storyline for the benefit of new readers.) Best of all, I like how David doesn't let Spider-Man off the hook for crippling Carter. Nobody's mind-controlling or emotionally manipulating Spider-Man into thinking he was responsible for something he didn't actually do. He did what he did, and now he must take responsibility for it.