Well folks, the year is coming to a close and Spencer doesn’t want to go out on a whimper! This is no Gog issue or minor villain backstory, this is all out in your face (quite literally, actually) Kindred vs Spider-Man! Harry vs Peter! Folks, we are in the title match of this Pay-Per-View, and it doesn’t disappoint!
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Story Title: Last Remains part 4*
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga
Cover Artist: Patrick Gleason
Asst. Editor: Lindsey Cohick
Editor: Nick Lowe
Published: December 30, 2020
Remedial ASM 101
The places are set and Kindred dinner party from hell is underway. We’ve replaced the corpses with guest a little fresher – Peter, Harry, and the Order of the Web. All that remains is for Mary Jane to arrive (fashionably late, ‘natch!). But what Kindred doesn’t know, Norman and Fisk have plans to crash this little grotesque gala.
The Story – Pay Attention, This Will Be on the Test
Harry drones on and on about how wronged he was, pretty much pissing everyone off (well, everyone who is conscious, that is). Mary Jane arrives and Peter shows the exact wrong way you should treat your hospitable host. Just when Harry goes to kill Mary Jane, in comes Norman to save the day! Or not…
What Passed and Failed
PASS – Peter’s attitude – you give this story to fifty writers and they are going to have Peter apologetic, but not Spencer. Peter is talking trash to Harry all the way through. He’s had enough of Harry’s crap.
PASS – The Punch – which punch? The one where Peter punches INTO Harry’s face, shoots webbing through the back of his head, and then throws Harry across the room. THAT punch!
FAIL – The Faces – again, we are getting great art in the book for everything EXCEPT the faces. The only thing that makes the faces better than the last two times I mentioned this is at least they are consistent and it is not like a different person for every panel.
PASS – Gwen Stacy’s attitude and Harry’s response to it
OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)
On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), THWIP rates a 10. Why such a high score for such a traditional sound? Well, despite the angles of those arms being WAY off, we get the THWIP sound as the webbing EXITS THE BACK OF HARRY’S SKULL!
Analysis
Harry’s Problems with Peter – Harry makes some good points and he has a flawed argument. Please note that I am not saying that Spencer is wrong. Spencer is giving us Harry’s take on the situation and let’s be honest, anyone who has read Harry’s stories back in the day know that Harry has never been the brightest crayon in the box. Just so, his take on things is a bit flawed, just like it was back in Spec Spidey #200 and back then it took MJ to tell him he was full of it.
- He blames Peter for dragging the Order of the Web into this lifestyle for his own glory. This is blatantly false. Jessica Drew’s story has NOTHING to do with Peter’s and why she is even here is only because she has the word “Spider” in her name. Hot Madam Web became Spider-Woman on her own as well, to the point where she was an Avenger (OK, only a West Coast one) before she even MET Spider-Man. Miles and Gwen got their starts on completely different earths. Silk was bitten the same time as Peter and the only thing that Peter did to drag her into this was letting her out of captivity. That only leaves the other one that I really know almost nothing about and don’t care too, but can say with some conviction that she chose her own path as well.
- Peter negatively impacts all those he comes in contact with. OK, Harry’s got a point on that one to some degree. Being in Peter’s circle is not good for your health and well being, but to be fair, Harry had his own problems before entering Peter’s life. In fact, for those of you old school types that remember when JR Sr came on, it was because of those problems that he was drawn to Peter as a friend to begin with.
- Peter failed to get Norman the help he needed. Great point on that one, Harry. We’ve mentioned that before here. Peter let his friend go on living with a psychopath and didn’t even give him the heads up on it. Now, one could argue that Peter was trying o find a way out of that benefitted everyone and it just didn’t work out that was, but at least it was for noble reasons. Harry, however, says it was because Peter was more concerned over his secret identity. If only we could know for sure. Luckily, one of our editors (I’m betting Cohick) dropped us a note on what old issue to read. Of course I stopped reading immediately and checked out the old issue before continuing. Using Norman’s old machine that allows me to project mental images, let me project what I saw that will settle this question once and for all:
Not looking good for old Pete here. Sure, it’s nuanced. Peter was also concerned all issue about the shock it would have on Aunt May, and in that issue she nearly died because Peter was late coming home, so there’s that.
- There is still something else, though. And it is something that Harry knows, but Peter can’t remember. Another nod to the deal with Mephisto (with the Brand New Day flashback to help those who haven’t been paying attention thus far to figure it out). Once again, I want to point out that while the deal with Mephisto is important, and will be addressed in some way (though I thought it would be this issue), Harry was already breaking Mysterio out of hell and interacting with Kingpin BEFORE the deal with Mephisto was made. I just think it was something that caused Harry MORE pain or caused him to have to reset his plans which is why it has taken him so long to spring this trap. But then again, it could be that it just took quite a bit of time to decorate that dining room with all those bones and arrange them in the big web and all.
Norman not affected by the Sin Eater – He doesn’t go into how or why, but really, do we need it? Norman saw Kindred in action, took steps, and was not affected by the cleanse. I don’t need to know how he did it. I would like to know what is going one with all the others that Sin Eater shot, but not enough to make Spencer stop this story to tell us.
Mary Jane – she is about to die. Sure, she is talking tough here, but I believe that is just talk. We know what Peter did to Kingpin when Kingpin shot Aunt May. Can you imagine what he is going to do to Norman for this? And props to MJ for stepping up and handling this like she does. She’s not one to cower in the corner and she doesn’t here. If you’ve read those old comics (and with Marvel Unlimited out there, why haven’t you?), she was never subtle about flirting with Peter in front of her current boyfriend Harry). She owns it and calls Harry out on his hypocrisy. She willingly lays her life down for Peter’s. For those keeping score, that’s TWO for Norman.
The Darkness – The darkness is coming and Kindred knows it for what it is.
So what is it? I think Mephisto or some entities of hell are coming. Why? We can speculate. My first thought here is that maybe with MJ’s death, someone is approaching with another deal to be made.
Not done? From the checklist we were being given, it seemed as if this issue were going to be the climatic ending, but I’d rather this go on than to wrap it up so quickly that it felt rushed.
Final Grade
The faces were a little off-putting, but everything else was awesome!
A
Your Turn
What grade do YOU give it?
What’s Next?
“LAST REMAINS” TAKES ITS TOLL!
-
- You will never look at Norman or Harry Osborn the same again.
- We know SPIDER-MAN won’t.
Oh man! That looks good!
Nick Lowe has asked people to let the Spider office know how they are doing by sending an email to spideyoffice@marvel.com and to make sure you mark it “OK to print”. If you get published, make sure to draw our attention to it!
*OK, Aqu@, it’s part 6! But in my heart, we will ALWAYS be on part 4!
‘Nuff Said!
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Pandora
Amazon Music
iHeartRadio
Podbean
Amazon Alexa
Player.fm
Listen Notes
Stitcher
I literally LOL’d at how inconsequential the Spider-friends were to this issue. They show up at the dinner and are tied up (and appear unconscious), Gwen speaks to Harry once, and Spider-Woman (?) says “What’s that?” when everything gets sucked into darkness at the end. That’s it. Just looking at the Last Remains story by itself, did they add anything at all?
Lowe has mentioned that the .LR issues are additions to the main story and don’t have to be read to understand the main story. But if you went from #54 to #55 and skipped #54.LR you would be confused because Norman had been “cleansed of his sins” and was acting like a good guy, but in this issue suddenly he’s evil again and working with the Kingpin. If you didn’t read 54.LR you’d be saying “Wait, when did *this* happen?”
@aqu@
Sorry if I wasn’t particularly clear there, let me explain further…
You are correct that in ASM638, MJ tells Mephisto to leave Peter alone for the rest of his days if she gets Peter to accept Mephisto’s deal.
However…
What I’m suggesting is that that is not all that was said. When Kindred has Peter pinned down and about to be killed in ASMV6-55, MJ tells Harry that “he doesn’t remember.” With the preceding panel coming directly from the beginning of BND. This suggests that Peter doesn’t remember their reality (for lack of a better word), the reality which existed before BND.
We know after the OMD deal with Mephisto Peter basically goes into an alternate universe, with no one remembering the ‘old world’ they left behind. From an editorial standpoint that meant no more unmasking, no more marriage (and eventually no more pregnant MJ). Of course, we were all told the books still worked with just those slight tweaks, but there’s no way that could possibly work.
Books like Spec200 are especially difficult to appreciate if Peter and MJ aren’t married. And Spencer is honing in on that book in particular.
And, yes, in OMIT MJ and Peter discuss how he f’d up their wedding day. What I’m suggesting is that MJ remembers both realities and it’s possible she made that as part of her ‘accepting’ Mephisto’s offer. All off-panel until now.
Again…just a guess, but there’s a reason why Spencer replayed Spec200 in the prior issue. A book that reads incredibly different in light of OMD/no marriage. The theme of love/marriage/family runs throughout that whole story, and becomes spoiled if Peter and MJ gave up that love to please Mephisto.
Unless I misread that line in ASMV6-55, it sounds to me like MJ/Kindred remember the true pre-OMD world, even though Peter does not.
One of the things that has been a bit of a disappointment with the “Kindred is Harry” reveal is that Harry, of late, has been perfectly reasonable, no signs of a descent into madness. But if the ‘dead’ Harry from Spec200 was still around, he could have an axe to grind with Peter’s BND world. Again, we have to see how this next issue pans out, but I feel like that may be where this is headed.
It’s been an enjoyable read and, frankly, anything that can erase that god-awful mess that was OMD/BND, i’m all in for!! haha
Ok, now that I’ve read all the comments, I can elaborate a little more.
I see many of us aren’t satisfied with this lack of an ending of sorts. I don’t know if it’s a mistake from the editorial department or if Spencer just changed his mind mid-way and lengthened the story, but surely I didn’t like the final result, especially with the .LR issues.
I didn’t say anything before, but being one of the few (I think?) who read all of Ben Reilly Scarlet Spider by PAD (and actually liked it, thinking it was ruined by complaining fans and editorial mandate), I would really appreciate if they addressed the fact that all those deaths and resurrections damaged Peter’s soul, like it happened for Ben.
But seeing as even that one storyline was quickly shrugged off and “solved” with another cloned body for Ben (in Spidergeddon), I’m not holding my breath.
@Doc Folsome: I think we already saw that in OMIT: basically she said to Mephisto to accept her part of the deal, because she knew Peter would have accepted only if she did.
About the new costume: I expected more buzz about it here, maybe even a post.
I personally don’t like it: it’s not the color scheme, which I think is ok (better than mixing white with the usual red and blue, at least! *cough*PS4*cough*), but the details. I have never been one for too much detailed and technological costumes, I prefer something simpler. Mind you, I’m not a fan of spandex either, because it feels silly nowadays. For me the perfect costume would be something cool, characteristic (of course) but also like common clothes, a la SpiderWoman of some years ago.
And those eyes… My God, the eyes! They seem a car’s frontal lights! Really hoping it’s just a one-time thing.
@Mark: Hat off to you, you seem a fantastic teacher, and that’s coming from one who had been both, student and colleague.
And yeah, even being younger than you, I too miss the good times when story arcs were just a couple of issues.
Been a while since I’ve posted here, it’s funny because I had spent a lot of time at CS back when we were knee deep in OMD/BND…
Nice review Mark!
Two quick thoughts.
First, clearly Nick is rewriting OMD/BND (thanks for that!), it reads to me like this Harry is some demented version of the pre-BND Harry. And that we may finally get some details around what MJ whispered to Mephisto way back during OMD…
Second, back in ASM30/31 during Absolute Carnage, Kindred slipped a centipede into Norman’s ear. My guess is that is why Norman was not cleansed by the Sin Eater. Of course that suggests that Harry didn’t want him cleansed for some reason. And that i’m not 100% certain of as to why he would do that…we shall see perhaps.
Keep up the good work!
Ahaha, you know, after reading the story I too am starting to think it’s part 4. Because that’s clearly NOT an ending.
@marc
I guess a closer analogy would have been going to see harry potter and the deathly hallows… And only at the end of the movie is the part 1 shown! You know it’s supposed to be over but turns out the twist is that you will have to come back (and pay again) later!
Also, I wish I had a cool teacher like that in high school…
@Evan & @AdamBParker
Evan – I was able to do that for all three of those movies. There was a movie theater that opened during the day just for my class to come in and watch the movie and it was a blast. The first movie we did it with The Hobbit, the second movie I had an honors class and they bought and read The Two Towers, and I forget how I did it with the third movie. I ran into one of those students a few months back and she told me that she’s not a fantasy fan, but whenever she can, she watches those movies because of what we did with the books in that class!
AdamBParker – I never take people’s differing opinions as argumentative. We all have different likes, dislikes, and incidental things that impacts our like or dislike of a story. I completely get the irritation over the fact this was billed as the end and if was not that at all! If I had read this on a different day, perhaps I would have held it against the comic myself! It was a good day and I enjoyed what I got from it and since I read that interview and knew that Kindred wasn’t going away with this arc, I wasn’t expecting a full closure (though I did think we would have gotten something a little more concrete than what we got). Plus, Brad is making me buy and review the next issue anyway, so as long as it is continuing a good story, have at it. I do miss the days of arcs being over in two to six issues, though.
@Mark
The LOTR’s analogy is a good one. The difference being I knew I was getting into a part one of three. I don’t generally read creator interviews so all I have to go off is solicits and the information editors give me through the pages of the book itself. This was billed as THE Spider-Man/Kindred fight to end all fights. I think if the marketing had said this is the Absolute Carnage to Spencer’s King in Black coming later in the year, I’d have gone in with more managed expectations. Or have included the next three issues on the checklist at least.
Please don’t take this as argumentative – I like the work you do for the site, and enjoy spirited debate on Spidey.
I have nothing substantial to add to this unfolding conversation just yet, other than to say that I wish I’d had a teacher who would give me a day off for getting an A on a test. Also, nice touch with the green and purple headings/sections! Most importantly, I hope everyone at the Crawlspace has a safe and prosperous New Year! Now I’m off to read next issue’s preview.
@ac, @Franz29, & AdamBParker
ac – I’m 100% with you on Kindred just being a pawn to Mephisto’s plans the same way Sin-Eater’s disciples were pawns to him that he discards when convenient and then again the same way Sin-Eater was a pawn to Kindred to be sacrificed when no longer needed.
Franz29 – Spencer mentioned in an interview that Kindred would be around for a while. I was expecting some sort of closure here, but not final closure. What we got, though, was a complete opposite of closure! I’m just going to look at it like Tolkien. Several years ago, when the Fellowship of the Ring movie was just coming out, I had my class read The Hobbit and anyone who made an A or B on the test could skip a day of school and go to the theater (which was just opened for my classes) and watch the big movie. None of these kids were fantasy fans and were just in awe of what they were seeing on screen. Then, after the big battle, Frodo and Sam walk off toward Mordor and the credits rolled. My students erupted! They were so mad! It caught me off guard because I thought they knew this was just part 1 of 3, but they thought the movie was supposed to have an ending! That’s what this comic felt like!
AdamBParker – I think we need a series of possible arc titles to keep this story going – Last Chance, Last Call, Last Name, Last Gasp, Nice Guys Finish Last, then in the penultimate arc – Last Word, followed by the final actual ending in a 20 part arc complete with in between issues – Last, but not Least.
@Mark – yep, she was for sure going to say died then changed it at the last. She remembers everything from the true, pre-deal continuity, that’s pretty much now a given. I did wonder whether she caught herself for harry or Peter’s benefit.
@Strenurus, @Mario, & @ Gabriel
Sthenurus – Not particularly jazzed by the new costume, but not upset. I’m fairly certain that it will be a temporary fix. Looking at what the Crawlspace put up on their FB page about it, it seems that he needs it to go after the Kingpin. So my big thought is – why? Does Peter lose his powers in this Kindred arc? Does Kingpin get some power upgrade? That is more intriguing to me. Also, on one cover, he is outlined in green and the other one is red. I wonder if he glows with this costume? Funko Pop – Ha!
Mario – The One More Day Darkness would have been cool! I try to stay away from the previews as much as possible, which is a little hard sometimes.
Gabriel – I really like that theory that this will eventually come down to Kingpin and Peter trying to resurrect their loved ones with Kingpin failing and Peter succeeding. Now let’s go one further – Kingpin fails BECAUSE Peter succeeds. Kingpin is denied his love because Peter got his his. How does that intensify their connection for future stories! You know, I remember thinking I needed to cover that MJ seemed like she was going to say that Harry died, but changed it last minute to “went away” but once I got going on the article, I completely forgot to mention it. What did you think about that?
@Sthenurus, @Mario, Franz29, @AdamBParker, and everyone else irritated by the lack of closure
I completely understand. I was expecting some sort of closure myself and was not pleasantly surprised to have it end in the middle of the big fight between Kindred and Green Goblin. However, there are a few things that kept me from letting it affect the grade on this issue:
1. The story is getting good! Sure, it is taking Spencer WAY TO LONG to get anywhere, but now we are at least SOMEWHERE and moving forward. I hate the decompression that writers use today, but that is probably a lot more to me being older and remembering when big arcs were just a few issues (like Frank Miller’s Daredevil vs Kingpin in the ’80s). As long as he is giving me stories like this, I’m OK with a few more issues. That punch!
2. I would rather keep getting this than to have it rushed to an ending that is anticlimactic. Think of the number of times that we were irritated in past major arcs that there was all this build up and then the story ended suddenly!
3. The checklist clearly implies to expect some sort of resolution, even if it isn’t the final end, to Kindred. That is a legitimate argument there. I’m trying not to hold that against Spencer because I don’t think he came up with the checklist. I’m betting editorial did that and I’m not a huge fan of Nick Lowe (though I have seen a few things I like since Cohick started being listed). I’m guessing editorial figured this would be a good “ending” to hype since Kindred is now outed and is going to be sent running back to the shadows with this Kingpin and Norman alliance. That and we are done with the .LR, so I think editorial thought this is a good “ending”.
4. The marriage – I know many of you have hopes that this arc would bring the marriage back. I never thought that was going to happen. But, there is hope. I think Spencer is not wanting to just put them back together quickly just to have another writer tear them apart later. I think he is building a clear foundation that removes any argument that these two are meant to be together. I know and you know that there is already a foundation there, but there are plenty of others who think that there was never a real reason for them to get married other than Stan Lee’s whim. So Spencer is going to use this to build their relationship so rock solid that noting in the future will shake it.
I don’t know if that changes anyone’s attitude toward this issue or not. It’s just my take. I certainly agree with all complaints I’ve heard so far, but I’m sticking with my A for this issue and am so looking forward to the next one! If that stupid checklist had included that one, I think a lot of people’s attitude toward this issue would be different.
When will this story end? This is the last book on the tick sheet for this storyline, you can understand why people expected this was going to have some big reveals and some sort of conclusion (satisfactory or otherwise). Now Marvel have updates the covers for the next three issues to include “last rites post mortum. I assume the story after that will be Last Rites Funeral, Last Rites Wake etc. I thought Marvel were brave to draw attention to One More Day now I’m afraid they don’t have an out. Harry is going to keep flashing back to the Brand New Day scene until issue 100/101.
That being said, I agree with the review Peter’s response to Harry is perfect. He’s tried the “I’m sorry Harry blame me approach” unsuccessfully and he’s move to “oh just shut up” makes sense. You can give your friend sympathy for a while but eventually you just have to tell them to get over it.
Oh and Mark, do you really think MJ will actually die? As in for real and gone like Gwen? I don’t think Spencer would do that to us. would he? Not after all the teasing we’ve had in 2+ years. That would be vilified more than Hydra Cap ever was.
I have to give it a B. It was good but it wasn’t the promised finale in any way, shape or form. Very little from the previous 50+ issues was resolved and it left me with more questions than answers, NOT what I want from the supposed end of a story.
As you said, Harry’s premise is flawed. Literally NONE of the Spider people in the group were dragged in to the super-hero life by THIS Peter parker. Gwen and Miles are from alternate realities, Jessica and Julia were Spider-Woman before even meeting Peter and Anya got her powers in a totally unrelated way and has little in common beside the Spider in her name. The only Spiders I could see being included were those notably lacking in their presence, Ben and Kaine since they literally ARE Peter Parker.
Did Peter make some bad decisions in the past, especially regarding Norman? Sure, but who didn’t make dumb decisions when they were younger, some they regret in hindsight? It’s not like Harry is squeaky clean at this point in time either.
Have to be honest, I probably would have felt better about this issue if it wasn’t promoted as the end of the tale, with a checklist and everything; now we need to look at the “post mortem” for answers which is just stringing it out.
I think the deal is what turned Harry into this. Someone else mentioned that harry was basically planted as a failsafe by mephisto to make sure Pete and MJ never get back together,, and i think this is true, Mephisto forced this path on Harry, and naturally blames Pete. But ultimately he’s just a higher minion of Mephisto, and Mephisto is the one who resurected Mysterio originally getting ready for his move on Pete and MJ, that’s why it happened before the deal.
At least that’s my latest theory… I’m like 1 for 19 on these, but here’s hoping…
Oh, and it’s weird to me that you didn’t touch on this in this reveal. In this issue, we got a “confirmation” that MJ remember the pact.
I believe MJ is going to die in the next issue, something always was so off puting to me about Spencer run, you have this kindred story arc, all this nod to the marriage, all this stuff, and you are going to end this with a Kingpin story with Vanessa? Why? Then this issue hit me more hard then anything else, Kingpin lost his wife, and Peter will lost MJ, but Kingpin will find a way to bring Vanessa back with the lifeline tablet, but will not work, and Peter will bring MJ back, this is my theory now.
This was not a last part of a story im upset how this continues to drag and hint at something that is not!! (undoing one more day) this is starting to get silly to me and i feel dissapointment is on the horizon and this 13 year hell now going to 14 is gonna continue. the order of the web need to go away now. there aren’t needed here. why arent all the ladies called spiderwomen if miles is also spiderman? i digress. this story is between peter and harry and norman outside of MJ the rest really need to go away. somesort of wrap up shouldve taken place instead of having parts in “last remains” what the hell was the last remains? what was the purpose? and having a checklist for what? lutside of some cool moments and peter being badass and MJ! whoa i love her and hope she is all good. the preview of next issue ruined the ending for me. here i thought it was the same darkness as one more day after the deal. nope more psych out!
Great review. And congrats to Michael for figuring it out (mostly)!
However, to me, it’s a big fat F. That was supposed to be the end of the story. They even made a big deal of giving us a freaking CHECKLIST at the end of each issues. But there is no resolution. That arc was hyped up and nothing happened at all since the end of sins rising. Hell you can have harry kidnap Peter at the end of sins rising, cut the entire arc (including the .LR issues) and make a single issue with MJ being brought into the mix, Harry confronting Peter and just be at the same point.
Maybe it is because of the delay due to covid, or just the fatigue but… it feels like NOTHING significant happened in ASM in the entire past year.
Side note: Mark, what is your toughts on the new Spider-man costume? Looks like an old Funko pop mold from the amazing spider-man movie was used as a prototype for the ps4 spider-man suit funko pop XD
@Michael and @Chi-Town
Michael – Man, I was sure you were right about Peter hiding Norman’s identity. It definitely part of it and I think we can chalk up a point or two in your favor for it. I really do not know anything about Darkforce other than Neil was going on about it to me as soon as he read this comic and I didn’t understand what he was meaning. I thought he was being funny when he mentioned Spot. To be fair, though, I rarely understand anything Neil says to me. It’s all that young people drivel that makes no sense. If it is not the hiding of Norman’s identity, I don’t know what THE sin is. It can’t be the deal, Harry was already in motion before that happened. Maybe it isn’t something that specifically impacts Harry, but started the whole process, which ripples into affecting Harry? Maybe the original sin of neglecting Uncle Ben’s killer? But it seems that Peter has already confessed that so many times. I just don’t know.
Chi-Town – one good turn deserves another, buddy! Do you think MJ is dead? I thought the darkness coming was in conjunction to her death, but if it is Spot, then that goes out the window. It could still e that she dies and Kindred uses his resurrection powers to bring her back, maybe?
I’m with ya. I gave it an A-. When I saw Kindred about to kill MJ, I felt a lump in my throat, then I saw the pumpkin bomb explosion near MJ, my heart stopped. I felt like Peter was kind of like us. “Just tell us what you are ticked about already! How did I do this to you?!” Standing by itself, it’s good. Part of this arc, I felt it dragged a bit and didn’t get to the OMD references resolution that most fans wanted to see. I think Dr. Strange will show up in ASM 60 and confront Peter and MJ. Good review Mark. Did you get this one out right away just for me? Awwwee.
“brightest crayon in the box”…I would have gone with “sharpest crayon in the box.”. 😛
The preview for issue 56 is up:
https://monkeysfightingrobots.co/amazing-spider-man-56-exclusive-preview/
It turns out that the darkness is Darkforce, channelled through the Spot. Am I the only one that thinks this is an Ass Pull? I mean, I understand why Fisk and Norman thought it would work- there’s precedent in the MU for Darkforce affecting mystical creatures. And the Spot did get his powers while working as a scientist for Fisk. so it makes sense that Fisk would think of him. But the fact that Spot hasn’t appeared in Spencer’s Spider-Man for a while and that Harry in particular has never shown a vulnerability to Darkforce makes this come out of left field.
So I was partially right and partially wrong- Peter hiding Norman’s identity from Harry does play a role in Harry’s motives but it’s not THE sin.