"You gonna sign that thing?"

"Nope."

"Cause it's crap?"

"Damn straight."

"What are your gonna do?"

"I'm going to go inside and sit in my home. And not bother no one. We're supposed to be allowed to do that, right?"

At 12:01, SHIELD comes after Luke, who is able to escape with the help of Captain America, the Falcon, and the Danny Rand Daredevil.

I'm giving this particular story so much play because this is an example of where resistance to the Registration Act is entirely genuine to the character involved. Luke Cage has always been an outsider, even moreso than Spidey. Peter Parker can stop being Spider-Man. Luke Cage can't stop being black - and there's a whole lot of bitter history that goes along with that very thing, and Cage's background put him at odds with the law many times (Cage was a petty criminal in his younger years). The very idea of the government being able to come into someone's home and take them away because they disagree with a law is a morally repugnant one, and Cage reminds Tony Stark that the law once allowed black people to be owned as if they were cattle. Even though Stark makes a reasonable argument that Luke should join them to work within the system, Luke still refuses. Tony bristles at Luke's suggestion that this is Mississippi in the 1950's, and he is entirely right to do so - because Stark is not racist and the Act is not racist. But, this is a case where well intentioned as he is, he simply cannot see the world through Luke's eyes. Unlike Spider-Man, who always craved acceptance and wanted to be paid to be Spider-Man, for Luke to even consider being an officially sanctioned agent of "the government" is anathema to him.

Another Avengers story, with a lighter tone, was the New Avengers Annual which featured the return of the "other" Black Widow, resolving a subplot from the New Avengers' adventure in the Savage Land, and concluded with the wedding of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. The primary appeal of this issue for me was the family atmosphere in Stark Tower amongst the team, highlighted when Jessica Jones brings baby Danielle into Stark Tower. Most of the ladies, including Mary Jane, ooh and awe over the baby, with the humorous exception of Jessica Drew ("That is a baby - now get it away from me"). Of course, what is completely ignored during the entire thing is the fact that considering that Peter and Mary Jane allegedly "lost" their baby girl years before, the arrival of baby Danielle should be both a happy and profoundly sad moment for them. Here., it's like MJ's pregnancy never occurred (and I guess in our "Brand New Day" era - it didn't!) as Peter asks her if she wants a baby, and MJ responds "no - I want to look at this one and hand it back before it pukes up on me." To which Spidey responds "whew!" I suppose it could be argued that Pete and MJ are putting their "happy faces" on because they don't want to tip anyone off to their very personal grief, particularly in a room full of people, many of them they do not know particularly well.

After the smackdown with the enhanced Black Widow (and we finally learn that it is the combo of Hydra and AIM that approached her in the hospital at the conclusion of the Savage Land story with the offer of revenge for her mutilation), the story ends with the wedding. The final image is a full-page picture of the bride, groom, and baby standing amongst the New Avengers team, all in their civilian clothes (even Logan dressed for the occasion). That is the kind of thing I was hoping to see more of as New Avengers progressed, how these very disparate people, including the iconoclastic Spider-Man come together in good times and bad, supporting each other, and yes, sometimes fighting amongst each other. I don't know what direction Bendis is going to take New New Avengers, and from what I've seen so far, I'm not overly optimistic - but let's discuss that more come the 2007 Review.

A "Sensational" Effort by a guy Who's got a Really Long Name
I didn't know much about Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. On the Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast - we often have to bring in that Latin Lovely, the Black Cat, to pronounce his name because none of us white-bread corn fed country boys can adequately do so. I knew he wrote plays and that he was to be the new author of Fantastic Four when Mark Waid was originally unceremoniously dumped by then-publisher Bill Jemas because Jemas allegedly wanted to turn FF into "suburban comedy." Whether that was true or not, ultimately Waid came back and Sacasa was given the FF spinoff title 4. When Reginald Hudlin wrapped up his less than sensational run on Marvel Knights Spider-Man, the title was changed to Sensational, harkening back to an older run with that name that was originally created for the new "Spider-Ben" Reilly during the Clone Saga. It was subsequently cancelled during the reboot of 1999. Like I mentioned earlier, I knew nothing about Sacasa, but considering how Hudlin never really got his sea legs under him on Spidey, I more than welcomed a new take on the webslinger - and after a rough start, Sacasa didn't disappoint.

His first story arc was an overlong five parter in issues #23-27, called "Feral." This tale focused on a meteor brought to New York by (you'll see later) which emitted radiation causing life in the city to return to a more primitive, more "feral" (hence the title) state. People and animals were both being driven mad, resulting in a sharp increase in vicious crimes. It turns Dr. Curt Connors back into the Lizard, John Jameson into the Man Wolf, brings back one of my faves (sarcasm) - Vermin the Cannibal Rat Man, as well as Puma, the Black Cat, and at the center of the madness - Stegron the Dinosaur Man, the one responsible for bringing the rock to Manhattan. I've never been too keen on Steggy, but he's a favorite C-Lister of many, and always good for a thumping where Spidey doesn't have to hold back. Naturally, when you're a walking reptile, the thing you want to do is create a world in your own image and rule over it. However, with the Iron Spidey suit, our hero is able to use part of it to cover the rock and cut off the radiation emissions - returning everything to normal - well, as "normal" as Spider-Man's life could be before Civil War. The art duties, which were split between Angel Medina and Clayton Crain, were different, but something I could get used to. I thought that Medina's "Pebbles Flintstone" Mary Jane was actually kind of cute.

As I mentioned earlier, although the story was overlong, there were several good character moments. In issue #22, where Mary Jane asks May if she is happy living in the tower - and begins to pine for more privacy and a place where they can live together as a family under the name "Parker" and not Spider-Man. And as I mentioned before, the Black Cat made her first of several appearances in Sacasa's run, as a regular supporting character. I usually enjoy seeing Felicia, particularly when the writer seems to "get" her personality. Although she's not quite as morally ambiguous as I prefer (see Millar's Marvel Knights Spider-Man run), I think Sacasa does a very good job with her. She has several good lines in issue #22, taunting Spidey's haggard appearance asking if "Red caught you with another woman, and after tangling with the Lizard telling him "I like a nice piece of tail as much as the next girl." Although augmented by the meteor, we definitely see that Felicia has a natural ferocity that is at the same time attractive and frightening to Spider-Man.

When John Jameson as the Man Wolf attacks Mary Jane and May in Avengers Tower, good old Aunt May proves to be very resourceful, including clobbering John over the head with a teapot, and activating the tower's defense systems. After all "I don't just wander these halls delivering sage advice." She also makes another reference to that "handsome Tony Stark" bringing to mind the fact that she used to video tape Iron Man's appearances on TV just as she did Peter's, because Stark reminded her of an old movie star (MK Spidey #1).

The next issue, #28, was the first one in this title to deal with the unmasking. "My Science Teacher is Spider-Man," is from the point of view of young Jordan Harrison, one of Peter Parker's biology students who is very much like the high school pre-spider bite Peter Parker (sans glasses, however). Jordan has confided to Mr. Parker that he really wants to be a marine biologist, since he happens to like octopi and squid, and Peter has offered his help in mentoring him. However, Jordan realizes that Mr. Parker's outing as Spider-Man is going to change his world as well (in a couple of humorous little panels).

Speaking of octopi, the world's deadliest, Otto Octavious, learning of the unmasking, is even more furious at his old foe than usual. Humiliated by the fact that when they first fought, Spider-Man was only 15 years old, Ock realizes that he had him at his mercy in the past and let him go, in the famous Amazing Spider-Man #12. To compound it, his deadliest enemy had been under his nose the entire time he was hanging out with Aunt May! He shows up at Midtown High looking for Parker, and finds Spider-Man. During the battle, Jordan arrives and distracts Doc Ock long enough for Spidey to level him with a knock out punch. At the end, we're allowed a little peek into Jordan's future, after he obtains a scholarship and receives his Ph.D. for work with squids, he gets the nickname "Doctor Octopus." Not the greatest nickname, but one he could live with. Oh, and he gets the girl, too. Speaking of the girl, she has a humorous line stating that Mr. Parker showing up to class with bruises makes sense now, because before she was wondering if his wife abused him.

This was a nice little one-part story (you don't see many of them anymore). Oh, sure, Jordan's distracting Doc Ock by actually engaging him in conversation (you think Doc would know better than to turn his back on Spider-Man) is a little convenient, and I don't like it when Doc Ock, who I believe is second only to Norman Osborn as Spidey's greatest villain, is used as a fill-in punching bag when almost any other villain could have served the story - but this was better than never seeing Ock's reaction to the unmasking at all, which is what likely would have happened considering how quick Marvel decided to zip through the stories in a helter skelter rush to get to "One More Day" and Reboot Redux. Of course, as we hard core fans know, Doc Ock already found out Spidey's secret identity once, during the Clone Saga, but was then killed off by Killer Klone Kaine in probably the second stupidest move of the entire Saga.

After this story, I began to feel pretty comfortable with Mr. Sacasa.

The next story arc, the three-part "Deadly Foes of Peter Parker," is another winner, and at its core is the reaction of one of the oldest long-time supporting characters of the titles, Liz Allan Osborn, to the unmasking. Of course, Liz isn't just Pete's old high school crush, but the widow of Harry Osborn, Peter's best friend and the second Green Goblin (well, she was a widow all those years that Harry was dead).

Spidey's oldest costumed foe, the Chameleon, is putting together his own "Deadly Foes" (a tip of the hat to an old mini), including the Molten Man, Will of the Wisp, Swarm, the Scarecrow (yes, Spidey has one too, and observation used for comedic effect more than once). Raxton, though supposedly reformed, is blackmailed by the Chameleon, who threatens young Norman Osborn (that old plot again), into joining his motley crew, and forces Liz to call Peter to her home so that he can be ambushed. While Spidey is distracted by the Wisp, the Scarecrow, and Molten Man, Swarm goes after Mary Jane and the Chameleon, in the guise of Peter himself, sneaks himself into Avengers Tower along with Aunt May, planning to snap her neck when the opportunity provides. However, the ladies in Peter's life prove to be rather formidable on their own. Mary Jane dowses Swarm with the sprinkler system at the theater where she's performing (water weighs the bees down), and the Black Cat provides capable backup at the Osborn residence. Aunt May, that crafty old gal, figures out right away that someone is impersonating Peter, and drugs the Chameleon by feeding him oatmeal raisin cookies laced with sleeping pills!

There are a number of good moments in this story - the characterization of the Chameleon, for one. In a nod to the convoluted continuity of his "death" and "rebirth," he reflects back on his fall from the bridge in Paul Jenkins' Webspinners #11. Then, we see his incarceration in a mental ward in the best forgotten Ron Zimmerman epic "You can Call me Al," (which ran as a backup feature in Get Kraven back in 2002). However, he doesn't explain it, which, continuity fanboy whore than I am, this is one instance where things are best left unexplained because it's not worth the effort. As mentioned, he's Spidey's oldest costumed foe - and I for one do not believing in killing off the old Lee/Ditko villains. The Chameleon is angry because his knowledge of Spider-Man's secret identity, which once gave him an edge, is now irrelevant. However, the statement that "Osborn" told the Chameleon what he'd long suspected seems a bit out of whack, since the Chameleon, who had been trying to discover Spider-Man's identity, found out on his own back in Spectacular Spider-Man #242 (January 1997).

Another moment that I liked was with Mary Jane and her fellow cast members in the "MacBeth" production. The rest of the cast overhears MJ lecturing Peter over the phone (Peter doesn't want her to leave Avengers Tower, MJ tells him he needs to support her in her endeavors as she has supported him). Their response is what is she doing arguing with Spider-Man - because -well, he's Spider-Man! Of course, to Mary Jane, he’s also the guy who leaves the seat up, who squeezes the toothpaste from a different spot than she does, etc. but the others only know him as a self-sacrificing superhero.

We also see Felicia Hardy's reaction to the unmasking, which is throwing a remote through the television screen (she has taken up with Thomas Fireheart since "Feral"). She is disappointed in some of the same ways as the Chameleon is, because in her case, her knowledge of his identity made everything mysterious and alluring, since she was one of the few who knew, and now that's all gone…

But it's the characterization of Liz Allan that is the most complicated. Unlike Flash, who's reaction was initially disbelief, then grudging acceptance, or Betty's which was relief now that so many weird things in her life now made more sense, Liz is downright angry, bitter, and resentful. Rather than express outrage to the villains over their plans for Peter, she merely tells them not to make him suffer. She tells Peter that "After today, I pray I never see Spider-Man, or you, again" and proceeds to tell him that she felt that he was laughing at her behind her back all of these years. Strangely enough, Harry is never mentioned during this exchange, although Liz is seen sadly looking at a picture of her, Peter and Harry together and references "all of the death" that Pete has brought into their lives.

I think it’s apparent that by her behavior in recent years that Lizzie has issues, dating back to Harry’s death, if not before, then exacerbated by losing her husband. To be fair, Liz has been through a lot in her life. When we talked about Liz in my Goblin Prince series, although her pre-Amazing Fantasy #15 life is a mystery to us, it's apparent that there was probably some family trauma while she was young. Just the presence of a "step" brother in Mark Raxton indicates that there was either a death or a divorce in the family. She sacrificed her college-age years to take care of Raxton while her compatriots were all going to school. Of course, he went nuts and supposedly died in a blaze of glory (but as you know, a good supervillain never really stays dead). She fell in love with, and married, an emotionally troubled man whom she thought she had helped nurse back to wellness, but it wasn't until later that she realized just how horrifying that skeleton in his closest was. And she discovered that her father in law was the evil Green Goblin, and as a result of that, the lives of her family have been in constant jeopardy ever since. She was threatened by two separate HobGoblins and how many times has little Normie been kidnapped over the years? (not counting the current story, I can think of 3 off the top of my head; the Legacy of Evil one-shot, the Spider-Hunt storyline pre-reboot, and the 2000 Amazing Spider-Man Annual.). In the Legacy story, Harry took control of her mind from the grave and almost caused her to condemn their son to the Osborn legacy of insanity by dumping him in Harry's revised, and fatal, Goblin Formula. She watched her husband go irrevocably mad and die (until "One More Day" that is). And then her evil father-in-law returned, slapped her around and tried to blow her up with the rest of Peter Parker's acquaintances (Peter Parker #75), booted her out of Oscorp, and took control of her child away from her (Spectacular Spider-Man #250). Norman finally got tripped up by his own sloppiness in committing a series of murders and was incarcerated - but he's always there in the background, always a threat to her and her son. So, we might want to cut Liz a little slack.

Still, her anger at Peter in the Sensational storyline seems to run a little deeper than just him being Spider-Man and her son being threatened to lure him into a trap. After all, she blames Peter for all of the death that has come to her doorstep – but anyone with any sense would realize that the man really responsible is Norman Osborn. It was because of Norman that Harry was a troubled young man, and inevitably went mad and died (o.k., I'm not even going to bother to mention it anymore). It was because of Norman's legacy and criminal past that two different HobGoblins came looking for his secrets. And Harry would never have become the Green Goblin if Norman had not originated the part. Peter Parker and Spider-Man are as much victims of Norman Osborn as she.

Interestingly enough, there seems to be some nagging anger and resentment dating back to high school, when Peter spurned her advances (this is something that Flash Thompson commented on in Web of Spider-Man #11 that angered even him and made him bully Peter even more). We know that Peter was in love with Betty Brant at the time, and Liz was always messing with his and Flash’s heads anyway and sometimes a little tease get's what's coming to her. Was Liz even deeper in love with Peter than she realized? And was she more than a little infatuated with Spider-Man as well – and resents that Peter knew that she liked Spider-Man and still didn’t clue her in – now believing that he was laughing at her behind her back? Is she angry at herself for not seeing the secret that was staring right in front of her for years? If she had pushed herself onto Peter a little more (wait a minute – I don’t like the sound of that either – sometimes I wish our hero’s name was something a little less suggestive – like Bart or something) would she have wound up with Spider-Man as a grand prize (“You could have had me” she tells him)? Or is it that Liz – whom we already established in Goblin Prince as a person who seems to desperately need to be needed – takes Peter not sharing his secret with her far more personally than we could imagine? She seems oblivious to the fact that not only was Peter not telling anyone, even his Aunt May, but that she herself was not nearly mature enough at the time to handle a secret of this magnitude.

At the end, Peter tells Liz not to hang around when the cops come because "she wouldn't want to be mistaken for a villain," after she pleads with him to understand because she had no choice. At first glance, this seems rather harsh of Peter. Normally, you would think he would understand what a horrible Hobson's Choice she was given - her son's life or his. And he's known her forever, longer than he's even known Mary Jane - is there something else at work here?

Remember the comment I made earlier about how strange it was that Harry was never brought up during their conversation? Peter probably noticed that not once did Liz mention Harry. It was all about her, her feelings of being made fun of, of being lied to, of betrayal - and nothing about what happened to her husband. It's interesting that for one woman (Betty), the revelation of Spider-Man's identity brought a clarity to her life - for another - it brought even more chaos and despair.

Liz is clearly a very emotionally troubled person in need of help – but that’s not a tale for this time.

Sacasa's last 2006 tale was a three part arc, which was really three standalone stories about the women in Pete Parker's life - MJ, Aunt May, and the Black Cat. It's interesting that in the story of Spider-Man, there have always been three women - "Mom," the "good girl," and the "bad girl." Of course, "Mom" has always been Aunt May. At first Betty and Liz were the "good girl/bad girl" combo (although to call Liz the "bad girl" might be a stretch, but she was a tease who messed with our hero's mind), then Gwen and Mary Jane, and finally Mary Jane and Felicia Hardy. These stories take place after Peter's inexplicably stupid decision to turn on Tony Stark and join the resistance to Registration movement, and the Parker family is currently hiding out in a fleabag motel.

Issue #32 is the first, featuring Mary Jane, and begins with her dreaming about being in the middle of the Roman Coliseum, being judged by the Emperor in the form of Tony Stark, and his Queen - Gwen Stacy, with all of Spidey's supervillains in the crowd jeering her. She imagines Madam Web offering her a choice of two doors, behind one, her man, and the other - a spider, and death. Reality proves a little more mundane but no less frightening as she tries to reconcile the choices she has made to stand at Peter's side in more ways than one, and how much it has cost her. It's not just the physical danger she has been placed in, but the fact that Peter's life has overshadowed hers. She lost the role in her play because of the "undue attention" she brings, and a woman on the street recognizes her, but not as herself, even though she had her own career as an actress and a model, but as Mrs. Spider-Man. It's a harsh reminder that compared to the life that her husband has led, hers seems so inconsequential by comparison. She even briefly contemplates running away, taking note of the train schedule. She turns to Susan Richards for some comfort and perspective, but Susan tells her to grow a set and reminds her that she knew exactly what she was getting into when she married Peter Parker. Sue reminds her that at one time she made a choice to tie her life together with his, and when the going gets rough, to go back to that moment of choice and remember the certainty and the strength that she had at the time. After some contemplation, Mary Jane remembers exactly when it was - and Spider-Man fans remember the moment full well - the end of Amazing Spider-Man #122 after the death of Gwen Stacy. Although in his grief he tries to throw her out of his apartment, she stays. At that moment, she realized that she was in love with him. So, she comes back to the motel, flings the door open (harkening back to her earlier dream) - only to find a disturbing reality - Peter bloodied and broken, with Aunt May tearfully at his side, after losing a devastating battle with the Rhino.

Of the three stories, this is probably the weakest, not because it's bad, but simply because it really doesn't give us anything new about Peter and MJ's relationship. Basically, Mary Jane is feeling sorry for herself and has to be reminded that she chose to marry Peter Parker, and to remember when she made that fateful choice. It is interesting that when she imagines Tony Stark as a malevolent emperor enjoying the blood sport, it's Gwen that she imagines as his queen, when by all rights, Gwen shouldn't come up in this at all. However, it's another reminder of the baggage that she carries, the fear that for all that she has given and done for Peter Parker, no matter how much he professes his undying love for her - she will always come in second to the memory of a dead woman.

I'm going to skip issue #33, which is from Aunt May's perspective, for the moment and jump right into issue #34, Felicia's story. After Spider-Man’s savage beating by the Rhino, Felicia is determined to exact a little payback in her ex-boyfriend’s name. After all, it’s not like she doesn’t have experience in this sort of thing (see Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 and Spectacular Spider-Man #119) – although the Rhino would be her toughest customer yet. While searching for the Rhino (he ultimately doesn’t prove to be very hard to find – figure that), she runs through a boatload of memories she shared with Spider-Man, and being the huge fanboy wanker that I am – I remember them all! In fact, considering how heavily loaded this issue is with references to past events, it may be a perfect example of the type of writing that certain comic book pros who relentlessly criticize the modern superhero comic book style rail against – ones that make the fanboys feel all warm and gooey inside but do nothing for the “new reader.” I don’t know that I really want to get into that debate because yes, you definitely appreciate this issue more if you remember the events as they happened, particularly the references to those great Bill Mantlo issues Spectacular Spider-Man #75-76, where during the Owl/Doc Ock crime war, Felicia gets thrashed to within an inch of her life by Ock, and Spidey rips his mechanical arms off in a delicious and furious moment of revenge. Despite the fact that their relationship ultimately collapsed, to Felicia the events of those times linked her and Spider-Man forever – and she’s probably right.

By the time Felicia finds the Rhino, the poor guy is hopelessly wasted after chugging kegs of beer (literally) and about to mop Battery Park with a bunch of drunken sailors who are taunting him (frankly, it’s a shame that he couldn’t have just crushed one – they really did deserve it). He expected to be paid by the Chameleon for beating the hell out of Spidey, but what rotten luck – the Chameleon got busted before the Rhino came to collect. But rather than picking a fight with him, Felicia she chooses to talk to him and settle him down, recognizing two things (1) down deep, the Rhino is just a marginally educated, sad thug who was doing another man’s bidding and (2) her own motives for going after him were skewed – wanting to take him down in order to regain the love and approval of a man who doesn’t want her anymore. It’s actually a rather sad moment, but something that Felicia has to face if she’s to move on with the rest of her life.

As I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed Felicia’s revisiting the past moments of her and Peter’s relationship, but probably my favorite moments of this story were the bookends – both of which featured Felicia meeting with MJ and Aunt to inquire about Peter’s health, and then to let them know the Rhino was no longer a threat. May Parker doesn’t even make an attempt to hide her contempt for Felicia, feeling that she’s the definition of Bad News in a catsuit, and, like the overprotective, worrisome mother that she is, thinks Felicia is a bad influence on her boy. When Felicia asks about Peter – May sharply responds “Fine. We - his family took care of him.” Mary Jane’s feelings are more complicated (twice she has to chide May for taking nasty shots at Felicia) since, of course, this is her husband’s ex-lover, a former romantic rival, and probably the first woman he’d take up with if their marriage went sour (that is, unless, of course, Peter just forgot the whole marriage thing to begin with). While MJ considers the Cat crazier than a rat in a drainpipe, she also knows that underneath all the overt sexuality and flighty behavior, Felicia deeply loves Peter Parker, and has more than once demonstrated that she is willing to risk her life for him. I like this scene because while we understand May’s and MJ’s feelings toward Felicia, we still have sympathy for the Cat because all of us at one time or another know that sinking feeling when people are passing judgment on you behind your back when they don’t know the real you. After all, these are the most important people in Peter Parker’s life – and they want nothing to do with her.

When a new writer, particularly one we’ve never heard of, takes the helm of a Spider-Man title, we all take a deep breath and hope that not only will he be a good writer, but that he will “get” the character and his supporting cast. Fortunately, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa fulfilled both objectives.

NEXT TIME: We visit Peter David's Friendly Neighborhood.

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Copyright © 1998-2008 by J.R. Fettinger. All rights reserved. All original content is the exclusive property of J.R. Fettinger. Spider-Man, the Green Goblin, and everyone else who appears in the Spider-Man comics is the property of Marvel Entertainment, and are used in these articles for the purpose of analysis and commentary. The Spider-Man message board banners are used courtesy of The Spider-Man Crawlspace.