Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #504 Review

Amazing Spider-Man #504 (#63)
“Chasing a Dark Shadow” Part Two of Two
Writers: Fiona Avery & J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Scott Hanna
PLOT: In this second and last part of “Chasing a Dark Shadow”, Spider-Man and Loki finally battle it out with Morwen.  We find out that it was no coincidence that Morwen took the body of Tess Black as its host, for she was drawn to this body because she is one of Loki’s many children.  Loki shows emotions towards Tess and does not want to see her hurt.  He first tries to accept the power Morwen wants to give Spider-Man, but when she declines, the battle begins.  Loki has Spider-Man battle Morwen while he tries to draw her out using telekinesis.  They succeed, and Morwen is exorcised from the body.  Loki makes sure Tess does not remember the events and has her move to a different location.  Loki also thanks Spider-Man and tells him that he owes Spider-Man a favor.  He also wants Spider-Man to keep an eye out for Tess, and contact him via a sacred rune if he is needed.
LIKES:

• The cover is one of the best Spider-Man covers that I have seen in a while.  Great penciling, inking, and colors by everybody involved.
• A good two-issue arc by Avery.  It’s rare that you get one of these quality shorter arcs these days.
• Great banter between Loki and Spider-Man.  In where some of JMS’s jokes fall flat, Avery was able to have Spider-Man play off of Loki well.  Never in a million years did I think that these two characters would interact this way.  I wonder if Loki will play another part in Spider-Man future?  It sure set that scenario up.

DISLIKES:

• Loki seemed kind of weak for being a godling that gave Thor a run for his money on plenty of occasions.
• Morwen seemed too easily defeated after being pumped up as a very threatening villain.
• All this chaos magic and spider trickster stuff made no sense to me.  How is Spider-Man a born agent of chaos and who are her masters that have been watching him???  I have no freakin’ clue.

RATING: 3 and ˝ webheads out of 5.  A very solid and entertaining story, but I was left scratching my head on a few occasions.  Maybe JMS will explain some of this magic stuff in words we can understand. 
Reviewed by AC-WEB (Ariel Chaidez)