A therapy session … with Queen Goblin? Chasm, Hallows’ Eve, and Queen Goblin versus … a competent Spider-Man? And the day is saved by … Betty Brant??? Plus the Sinister Six’s plan is revealed and … it kind of makes sense?
(It’s raining Spider-Men! Hallejuliah!)
CREDITS
Writer: Zeb Wells
Guest Artist: Todd Nauck
Guest Color Artist: Sonia Oback
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Variant Cover Artists: I’VE RUN OUT OF THINGS TO PUT HERE. NEXT TIME THIS LINE IS GONE.
PREVIOUSLY IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …
Chasm, free from his Limbo-prison, is reunited with Hallows’ Eve. Aunt Anna set Peter up on a date with Shay, her nurse from Ravencroft, and the date was going kind of well, but Peter was called away because Betty was in trouble. She finally found the Winkler Device that Roderick Kingsley used to brainwash her husband Ned into thinking he’s the Hobgoblin, and prove his innocence. Meanwhile the Living Brain is still at Oscorp, but due to incompetent employees who keep using devices around it, it has been “spamming restaurant promotions” (hmm). Spider-Man and Betty find the Winkler Device, but they also discover Chasm, Hallows’ Eve, and Ben’s therapist … Queen Goblin???
SUMMARY
We flashback to Ben and Janine having a therapy session with Queen Goblin, who says that everything that Ben has lost could be returned to him. She ensures them that she can do this because she has “a miraculous machine”.
(“Uh, Doctor Queen Goblin? This is your secretary calling. Your 3:30pm is here, should I tell them you’re busy?”)
Cut to the present, where Chasm and Hallows’ Eve tell Spider-Man and Betty that Queen Goblin is going to make Ben whole again by using the Winkler Device on him.
Betty assumes that Queen Goblin stole the WD(1) from Kingsley, explaining that he used it to brainwash her husband Ned into thinking he was the Hobgoblin. Queen Goblin reveals that she was the one that brainwashed Kingsley with it – so that everything Kingsley did to Ned was her idea – and that the WD is actually hers. Betty does not take this well.
(Betty, I think someone else did that a long time ago – look in the mirror. I have some articles written by someone named Josh Bertone I could send to you.)
Queen Goblin diagnoses Betty as suffering from “irrational anger” and is about to hit her with her maces when, in a rare moment of competence (at least in this run) for Spider-Man, he webs her hand to the mace and flings her across the room.
(In this panel, Queen Goblin represents Zells and Marvel, and Spider-Man – yelling “That’s enough!” – represents the readers.)
Spider-Man tells Chasm that he and Betty are leaving with the WD, and Ben is surprisingly fine with this, as long as he gets to use it first. He jumps into the chair and tells Kafka to “tune me up”.
(“There is is! (Come on, y’all)”)
Spider-Man tells Chasm that the WD will let Kafka “turn you into a goblin” (more on this later). Queen Goblin tells Ben that his relationship with Spider-Man is toxic (sounds right to me) and tells Hallows’ Eve to keep Spider-Man busy while she works on Chasm. Hallows’ Eve puts on a hockey mask(2), transforms into Jason Voorhees a generic hockey mask wearing, machete-wielding killer who Marvel could not be sued for copyright infringement by Paramount, who attacks Spider-Man while Betty runs away.
Meanwhile Chasm is thanking Queen Goblin for helping him. She reveals that the last time she helped him was when they both worked at Beyond – that event was erased from Ben’s mind, but it went poorly and that’s why he lost some of his memories as Spider-Man. She says that she tried to warn Ben back then about Beyond and they turned her into Queen Goblin. As Chasm is clamped into the WD chair he realizes that Queen Goblin blames him for that.
(Gob: “I’ve made a huge mistake.”)
Spider-Man is trying to convince Hallows’ Eve that the WD turned Ned “into a goblin” (again, we’ll get to this) and asks how it will make Ben better? Hallows’ Eve says that Spider-Man used the WD last and there’s still a piece of him in it that can make Ben whole, and that Kafka told them this. Spider-Man is surprised to hear this (as are the readers) and tells her that he’s never used the WD in his life, but she does not believe him, saying that Queen Goblin said that he’d say that.
Meanwhile Queen Goblin explains to Ben how she was strapped into a similar machine and corrupted by the sins of Norman Osborn (remember those tangible things?) and turned into her current form, and that this is Ben’s fault. She says that she got rid of the sins but she “remains condemned”, and that someone must pay.
Betty decides that enough is enough and interrupts Spider-Man’s fight with Hallows’ Eve, telling her that the WD destroyed Ned’s life, taking him away from her and their son(3). She says it destroys people and can’t heal anyone, and that if she loves Ben she’ll help them get Ben out of it now. Hallows’ Eve believes Betty, removing her mask, giving Betty the chance to punch her.
(When I saw this I couldn’t help but think of Olivia Colman in Hot Fuzz hitting that female supermarket employee saying “Nothing like a bit of girl-on-girl.”)
Spider-Man runs back to save Chasm, while Betty tells Hallows’ Eve that they’re a lot alike.
(Is Betty talking about pre-Hobgoblin Ned, 1980s Hobgoblin Ned, current Ned, or all three?)
Queen Goblin has started using the WD on Chasm, but Spider-Man shows up and uses her mace to knock the device off of Chasm’s head. He tells her he’s taking her back to Ravencroft and she attacks him saying that she wants “someone else to hold my pain”.
Meanwhile Hallows’ Eve arrives and frees Chasm, who tells her that Kafka was lying to them. They take this opportunity to run away (smartest thing they’ve done in a long time).
Queen Goblin is still attacking Spider-Man, saying that “someone has to pay for what was done to me”. Spidey reminds her of her involvement in the “Sinful Spider-Man” story and knocks her down with her mace.
(“With a dry, cool wit like that, I could be an action hero.”)
As Queen Goblin passes out, she mumbles that she wasn’t lying about Spider-Man having used the WD. Betty returns, and Spider-Man tells her to call the police, but then sees that Ben and Janine are gone.
Across town, Chasm and Hallows’ Eve (Ben literally calls her “Eve” which just seems wrong) are wondering what the hell they have been doing to try to get Ben’s memories back. Ben wonders if the way he acts without Peter’s formative memories means that he’s “just bad”. Janine says that them being together is enough for her, and as they hug, Ben says that the WD showed him “some terrible things” (wait, we’ll get to this) and “Spider-Man is in a lot of trouble”.
(Aw! I was always rooting for those two crazy kids. They probably killed a lot of people when they caused the recent Inferno event, but they’re so adorable!)
Elsewhere, the Sinister Six are meeting again (or maybe it’s the same meeting?). Doc Ock is explaining that their enemy is at Oscorp, under Norman Osborn’s protection, but it’s time they made their move. Electro, Vulture, Mysterio and “Kraven” all agree (Sandman is curiously quiet), and things don’t look so good for their target … obviously Spider-Man, yadda-yadda-yadda. And that’s it, the issue’s over.
No wait, there’s one more page – I’m sure there’s nothing on this last page that matters, right? … Sacre bleu! Zut alors! The Sinister Six’s target is not Spider-Man but … THE LIVING BRAIN!
(Now THIS is how you do a last page of an issue!)
To be continued!
INITIAL RESPONSE
Like the Aunt Anna story, this feels like a writer trying to wrap up all of their subplots before they leave the book very soon. I have no idea when Zells is leaving the book, but it feels like he wrapped up the “Aunt Anna goes crazy” story, and now it’s the “Chasm wants Spider-Man’s memories” and “Ned Leeds is brainwashed into being the Hobgoblin” stories. While there are some things in this issue that I don’t like, I think I kind of liked this issue? And that last page may have changed my opinion of this “The Sinister Six reforms” story – don’t tell me I have to go back and increase some previous issues’ grades? Stick the landing, Zells!
WHAT I LIKED
Spider-Man is effective in this issue! He’s competent. He doesn’t make any dumb decisions.(4) He is able to defeat Queen Goblin, he reasons with Chasm and Hallows’ Eve because, deep down, he wants to help Ben instead of fighting him.
Betty is a long-maligned character, but she’s pretty good here. While maybe she should be home taking care of her newborn baby, she is also an investigative reporter, and she’s searching for proof that her husband is innocent. And she finds it! And she’s able to “defeat” Janine by talking to her instead of fighting her (although that punch was pretty great).
While I don’t like the idea of Chasm and Hallows’ Eve, I kind of like them here (or don’t hate them as much as I have in previous appearances). They’re not twirling their moustaches while they do evil things, or trying to kill Spider-Man, or unleashing literal hell on New York. They just want to heal Ben’s mind without stealing stuff from Spider-Man’s mind, and when Spidey shows up, at first they’re like “Sorry, we’ve got this other thing going on, we’ll talk to you later.”
(Ben’s quick aside to Spidey here made me like him more than any other moment when he’s been Chasm.)
Ben and Janine finally realize at the end that all of the evil stuff they’ve been doing has not been a good idea, and they decide to … I wouldn’t say “be good from now on” but at the very least “not be completely evil from now on”. I have no interest in following them in their new (mini?)series, and Ben should not be Chasm at all, but this is (a tiny bit of) … I want to say progress?
I am not a fan of Queen Goblin. Ashley Kafka should never have been killed, she should not have been brought back as a clone, and she definitely should not have been transformed into a supervillain. But she is also a (clone of a) therapist. So I kind of like the idea of using her professional skills to manipulate Chasm and Hallows’ Eve into thinking that she wants to help them. A therapist should be a terrifying villain since they know how people think, how to manipulate them, and what makes them tick. Still don’t like Queen Goblin, but this was a good use of her Kafka-skillset.
And of course, the art by Todd Nauck is great. I love me some classic-hair Betty.
(But come on Nauck, would it have killed you to add some curls at the end of her hair?)
Like the Aunt Anna story, we get more closure on some subplots. Chasm and Hallows’ Eve no longer want to kill Spidey, steal his memories, or take over New York. Queen Goblin is captured (for now). Betty found the WD and this will (apparently) prove her husband is innocent.
(“I should warn Spider-Man about this trouble I just learned … oh wait, I already forgot what the trouble is. Curse my selective amnesia!”)
The introduction of the idea that Peter has had the WD used on him in the past but has no memory of it is … intriguing. We’re meant to believe Queen Goblin here, which means at some point in the past *someone* used this device on him. Who? When? Why? How? (Which?) Will this be part of undoing the entire Zells run and revealing that this has all been a Perfect World(5) simulation? Or just a part of the return of the Green Goblin story? Or something either infuriating or pointless? For right now, I am intrigued.
(Always believe a villain when they say something just as they’re about to fall into unconsciousness. Why would they lie?)
The Sinister Six. Oh man, this may be my biggest “like” of this issue. I mentioned in previous reviews that I didn’t like how the Sinister Six was reforming here, how Doc Ock said that it had to be the original members, why people like Mysterio and “Kraven” would be down for this when recently they’ve had character growth that would make doing this illogical. But the reveal that their target is not Spider-Man but The Living Brain totally worked for me. I did not see this coming at all, and it makes perfect sense. They were all captured by TLB in #900 and used for its plan to study Spider-Man(6) – this would be something they would want revenge on – especially Doc Ock. And even reformed (?) villains like Mysterio and “Kraven” would want revenge on TLB for this, so it makes sense for them to be in on this plan. This also explains why Doc Ock was so adamant that this Sinister Six had to be the original members – because it has to be the ones that TLB used in #900. I almost feel like I have to go back and revisit my previous reviews, because I was so hard on those issues for why the Sinister Six was doing this. But this actually makes sense!
(I’m actually rooting for The Sinister Six in their battle against The Living Brain.)
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
(Gerhard Winkler, the inventor of the Winkler Device, and therefore … one of the most important people in Spider-Man’s history?)
First introduced in the 1960s, the WD is a brainwashing device. Kingpin used it to mind-control people (including Captain Stacy), and Roderick Kingsley used it on Ned Leeds in the 1980s to convince him that he was the Hobgoblin to be a patsy. It controls people’s minds – that’s all. But multiple times in this issue various characters say that the WD turns people into “a goblin”. This is not true, nor has it ever been true.(7) Yes, it made Ned think that he was the Hobgoblin, but that was brainwashing him into thinking he was the Hobgoblin – it did not “turn him into a goblin”. It has been used on many other people and did not turn them into the Green Goblin, the Hobgoblin, or any other type of Goblin-themed villain.(8) It’s just mind control. But now we’re meant to believe that it turns people into “goblins”. I was going to dock it points for telling us that it can also be used to make Ben “whole again”, but that was a lie by Queen Goblin, and Ben and Janine were dumb enough to believe that, so good on Queen Goblin. Am I nitpicking here? I don’t think so, but if I am, that’s what Brad pays me to do.
(Narrator: “This is not what the Winkler Device does.”)
Queen Goblin’s motivation is that she was transformed into this form and that “someone” has to pay. Why not Beyond and Maxine Danger – the people who actually did this to her? Why Ben, who was her ally during the Beyond arc? I like how Zells tries to explain her motivations for blaming Ben, but it doesn’t make sense. She literally knows that it’s Maxine and Beyond who did this – she should go after them. Well, at least she’s off to Ravencroft, where Whirlwind and the rest can convince her to reform and do plant therapy.
How is finding the WD going to prove that Ned is innocent? How will Betty prove that it was used on Ned to make him think he was the Hobgoblin? Does it have a log showing every time it’s been used and what it was used for? It’s like the story just wants us to believe “If Betty finds the WD then Ned is automatically exonerated.” (then again this is the same book that told us that a law on the books could not be easily gotten rid of, and then it was gotten rid of almost immediately) I’m assuming the next time we see Betty and Ned they will be a happy couple again with Ned cleared and out of prison, with no further explanation as to how that happened other than “Once Betty found the WD it proved Ned’s innocence.”
While I kind of like Ben and Janine getting a “fresh start” at the end, deciding that they don’t have to be evil, this story wants us to forget all of the villainous things they have done. They literally unleashed another Inferno on New York – you can’t tell me they’re not responsible for multiple deaths during that. But look, they’re in love and happy, so all is forgiven!
WHAT THIS ISSUE/EVENT MEANT OVERALL
This (apparently) wraps up the whole “Chasm/Hallows’ Eve are villains” storyline, and the “Betty wants to prove Ned is innocent” storyline. I’m kind of copying/pasting from my previous review about the Aunt Anna story, but this really feels like Zells wanted to wrap these storylines up quickly, almost like he’s wrapping up all his subplots because he knows he only has so many issues left on this book? (cut to years later when Zells has written hundreds more ASM issues)
GRADE
B
For having three villains that I really don’t like, plus more about The Sinister Six which I have not been liking the past few issues, this issue was pretty good. A competent Spidey, wrapping up some subplots, and it actually may have changed my mind about this Sinister Six story. Who knew?
NEXT TIME, IN AN ALL-NEW ISSUE OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …
Hey, everyone loves vampires, right? They’re so hot right now.
BEHIND THE SCENES
I just noticed that this is my twelfth (12) review on this site. And they said I wouldn’t last. Who’s “they”? Oh, they know who “they” are.
FOOTNOTES
(1) I’m just going to call the Winkler Device “WD” from now on so I don’t have to type it out every time (yes, I know how copy/paste works, leave me alone).
(2) Ch-ch-ch, ha-ha-ha.
(3) Oh yeah, Betty has a son. I completely forgot about that. But don’t worry, I bet Zells did too for awhile.
(4) It’s kind of sad that with this run, this is the baseline for what makes a good issue.
(5) Amazing Spider-Man volume 2 issues 7-8
(6) I can’t remember exactly why The Living Brain captured The Sinister Six in that issue. Best we don’t try to remember and just ignore the details of that story.
(7) If I’m wrong and it has done this, let me know in the comments.
(8) I need someone to make an image of Captain Stacey as an unmasked Green Goblin riding a Goblin glider.
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*checks in* Yep, ASM still sucks…I’m glad Hornacek is covering reviews, otherwise we have to listen to Mark wine.
@Aqu@:
“IMO, the ‘behind the scene’ bit was in bad taste; it’s also unnecessary, since actions tell more than words. It didn’t feel as an attempt at humor, if that was the intention.”
Are you talking about the BEHIND THE SCENES blurb I added at the end of my review saying that this was my 12th review? I didn’t think that was in bad taste, I just noticed as I was finishing my review that it was my 12th one (and I later realized I had miscounted, it was actually my 13th one), and that I hadn’t realized I had done that many. I was joking that “some people” said that I wouldn’t last that long. Sorry if that offended anyone, that was not my intention.
IMO, the “behind the scene” bit was in bad taste; it’s also unnecessary, since actions tell more than words. It didn’t feel as an attempt at humor, if that was the intention.
Hornacek: “All of the people that the Kingpin brainwashed with it back in the 1960s didn’t become goblins.”
Wells: “Didn’t they, though?” *big grin*
Next: more Goblins than you can fathom! The return of a character you’d never expected! Beware the Captain Stacy’s corpse Goblin!
A bit of hope in them mentioning that Ben almost seems to lack a soul: maybe finally a writer will acknowledge the fact that he lost his soul, something no scientific cloning by Doc Ock could fix, and that all his erratic and villainous behaviour since the PAD series has been caused by that. We only need a serious and good writer for the job now, someone able to respect continuity while building on it; someone like Ewing.
@Hallows Evan:
I agree about Chasm’s whole attitude about the situation. He was fine with Betty taking the WD but he just wanted to use it first. His first instinct when Spidey showed up wasn’t to attack him yelling “YOU STOLE MY MEMORIES!” This was progress for him.
It just makes no sense for characters to say that the WD “turns people into goblins” like a goblin is an actual thing you’re transformed into. Ned wasn’t turned into a goblin – he was brainwashed into thinking that he was someone he wasn’t. It’s just dumb.
I’d like to say that the WD was named for Henry Winkler but the original Brainwasher Saga came out 6 years before Happy Days started. Henry Winkler would have been alive and acting before HD but it’s fair to say that his fame came from that show.
I forgot to mention one thing about this issue that I’m really impressed by: If you look at my comment (and Aqu@’s response) on the previews post before this issue was released, you’ll see that it made the most sense to me that Ben/Janine and Peter/Betty could just share the Winkler device. Given the cover and the solicit, I was completely expecting a big confrontation and fight about it, as I’m sure many people were. As frustrating as it is to see yet another cover that doesn’t represent the story, I’m glad to see that Peter and Ben behaved like human beings with at least a full brain between them and approached the situation constructively. As Aqu@ said facetiously, there’s no drama in that, sure, but like you said, what a great character moment it made for Ben. Maybe as long as the drama promised by the cover helps to sell the book, that’s all that matters to Marvel.
I guess “turning into a goblin” is Wells’s shorthand for “brainwashing someone into thinking he’s someone he’s not, and given that Queen Goblin fancies herself a goblin person now, she’ll want goblin minions, so that’s the most likely and worst possible thing that she could do with Winkler Device.”
I, for one, would like to see the Winkler Device used to brainwash someone into thinking he’s Arthur Fonzarelli.
@Dark Mark:
Brad only pays us in “Crawlspace Bucks” so I’m not worried about mentioning it. I can’t even get a Crawlspace tshirt even though I’ve been a patron for years.
“I liked the issue too, surprisingly.” Great (?) minds think alike.
I forgot all about Slott saying that Peter and Betty have movie night every Friday, which was a ridiculous thing to establish. I guess they never watched any Friday the 13th movies in that run, but even so, Peter would not say this to her if this routine was true. It’s almost like (gasp) Slott made stuff up that makes no sense for the characters!
The WD brainwashes people – it has nothing to do with “turning people into a goblin”. And yet, in this issue:
– Spidey tells Ben “I’m not going to let Kafka turn you into a goblin!”
– Spidey tells Janine/Jason “That machine turned Ned Leeds into a goblin!”
– Chasm tells Janine “Kafka lied to us. She wanted to turn me into a goblin.”
Spidey thinks that Kafka is going to use the WD device on Chasm, but he has no idea what she’s going to do to him. He should just think that she’s going to brainwash him – like the machine does to everyone it’s used on. He should not jump to the conclusion that she’s going to use it to make him think he’s the Hobgoblin/Green Goblin/any goblin.
As for the number of my reviews, I have a folder with all my review images for each one:
– 1) ASM #28 (Legacy #922)
– 2) ASM #30 (Legacy #924)
– 3) ASM Annual #1 (2023)
– 4) ASM #32 (Legacy #926)
– 5) ASM #34 (Legacy #928)
– 6) ASM #36 (Legacy #930)
– 7) ASM #38 (Legacy #932)
– 8) ASM First Strike #1
– 9) ASM #40 (Legacy #934)
– 10) ASM #42 (Legacy #936)
– 11) ASM #44 (Legacy #938)
– 12) ASM #46 (Legacy #940)
– 13) ASM #48 (Legacy #942)
Oh wait, I was wrong, it’s actually 13! (you were right, it *was* more) When I started this review I copied the “12)” folder and renamed the issue numbers but I forgot to change “12” to “13”. So that means … this review is bad luck!
Great review, Hornacek! Better be careful mentioning that Bread pays you. We got away for years without paying Chi-Town and would like to keep it that way.
I liked the issue too, surprisingly. It’s by far the best Chasm story out there and it felt like I was reading an ASM book. B from me as well.
When Peter says to Betty, “You must not watch many movies”, I was thinking, “Wait a minute! It was clearly established in Slott’s run that Pete and Betty have movie night alone every Friday regardless of their personal relationship status with others at the time.” But then, maybe that’s just more evidence that he’s been getting into the WD-40 and having certain memories erased…
Speaking of, I was wondering about that whole turn someone into a goblin thing as well. But maybe it’s not a turn someone into a goblin, and more along the lines of he is being brainwashed to forget what Norman is doing him that is telling him into a goblin. I’m not going to reread it just for this comment, but wasn’t it only Betty saying that it turned people into goblins?
Only 12 reviews? That’s it? I’m sure it’s more. Maybe, if you are lucky, I’ll let you take some of mine to pad out your numbers.
@Sthenurus:
I am here for the long haul … or until Brad replaces me with a non-union equivalent reviewer.
I agree about the bar being low, but I reread this issue and thought “Ok, Spidey is competent here, there’s nothing I can really complain about vis a vis his performance as a hero – which I have not been able to do for a lot of Zells issues.
Even if I didn’t know that Ben and Janine are going off to team up with Kaine in another book/mini-series, the end of this issue really feels like that’s what’s happening. Like a long-running show focusing an episode on a side character and greatly changing their character enough so that they will move away and start their own adventures on a spinoff show.
“Kafka is insane, doesn’t make sense (both in story and out), but hey, that’s wells, what do you expect.” I guess I’m still transferring my thoughts of the original Ashley Kafka character on to this one, but she’s not the same person. I have to learn to let go.
“I think Peter being in the WD is a red hearing. I don’t see when it could have happened.” I mean, we never saw when Otto took over Peter’s body before Superior. We just opened up ASM #698 and Peter was “SpOck” (although we didn’t know it until the end of that issue). We were told that the switch happened sometime after the end of the previous issue in “off-panel land”. If Peter has had the WD used on him, I assume it’s happened in the same mysterious land sometime in the past. No idea where, when or by whom. Queen Goblin seems to know that it *was* used on Spider-Man but it doesn’t sound like she had anything to do with it. So if the WD belongs to her, did she loan it out to someone that used it on Spidey? So many questions.
“Genuinely curious to see a SS VS brain fight. It’s literally brain vs brawn. I love it.” I have to admit that the SS appearances in the past few issues made me feel like Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek film on The Simpsons (Star Trek XII: So Very Tired):
Sulu: “Captain, Klingons off the port bow.”
Kirk: (sighs) “Again with the Klingons.”
But that final page has turned me around, explains why these particular six are forming here, and has me interested in their fight with TLB. Bring it on!
@Evan Berry says:
“Happy Twelfth Review, Hornacek!” Thanks.
I wasn’t even thinking about that Harrison Ford meme but now that you mention it, it perfectly apt. I must have been subconsciously thinking about it.
Yeah, I guess since the WD was last used on Ned (that we know of) and it made him think he was the Hobgoblin, now everyone is saying “it turns people into goblins”. But the WD could just of easily been used to make Ned think he was the Kingpin, or Tombstone, or anyone else. Just because it made him think he was the Hobgoblin doesn’t mean that whenever it’s used on anyone it makes them think they’re the Hobgoblin too. The WD has many uses!
Oh boy. Lot of unpacking to do!
First of all: great review. Hopefully you will stick around after the wells nonsense and will get to review actually good comics (a man can dream).
Now for the issue at hand! It’s was… Ok. It’s sad when the bar is low to clear that “the hero not being a complete ineffective moron and his antagonists not being complete idiot” is the standard. But at least it cleared it.
Ben story will continue with Kaine. I’m genuinely excited to see where this is going. Kaine went through the exact same thing, and him.coaching his “little brother” could be great.
Kafka is insane, doesn’t make sense (both in story and out), but hey, that’s wells, what do you expect.
I think Peter being in the WD is a red hearing. I don’t see when it could have happened. I think it’s more likely that the device could have been used to transfert the leftover sins into him, kind of like a magnet. The machine seems to have been destroyed anyways.
Genuinely curious to see a SS VS brain fight. It’s literally brain vs brawn. I love it.
Happy Twelfth Review, Hornacek!
As I was reading this, I could hear Harrison Ford in my head saying, “That’s not how the Winkler Device works!”
I guess the faulty logic goes
a) The Winkler Device was used on Ned.
b) Ned became a goblin.
Therefore, the Winkler Device caused Ned to become a goblin.
Sounds like correlation to me, not causality. Peter’s too smart for this, but maybe Zeb Wells isn’t. Maybe he’s getting the WD confused with WD-40, which can do anything.
@Michael:
“What she obviously meant was that it had been hers since the start of Wells’ run and she brainwashed Kingsley into brainwashing Ned.” Yes, that’s how I understood it.
“But a lot of people seemed to think that she meant it had been hers since before Kingsley first possessed it- which makes no sense since Kafka hadn’t died and been cloned when we first saw Kingsley with the Winkler Device.” Wait, really? Do people actually think she means that she owned the WD back during the Brainwasher Saga in the 1960s?
“I was pleasantly surprised when Ben pointed out they could do both.” Yeah, this is the most I have liked Ben in a long time. And I still don’t like Chasm.
“Norman worked on the cure for the drugs Orchis used on Aunt Anna so Norman’s plan probably involves the Brain and/or the Orchis drugs.” The less said about Orchis drugs, the better. I’d be happy if they are never mentioned in ASM again.
“Incidentally. the Winkler Device definitely explains what happened with Michele. We were wondering how someone could have found out about Peter’s date with Michele and impersonated him since the only people who knew about Peter’s date with Michele were Peter, Michele and Felicia. But now, we know- nobody impersonated Peter! Peter DID call Michele and then forgot about it.” I think it’s more likely that the Living Brain made the date for Peter with Michele. Last issue told us that it was spamming restaurant promotions – that feels like a hint that it made the date.
The whole “the WD turns people into goblins” thing is ridiculous. It does not do that. It brainwashes people. All of the people that the Kingpin brainwashed with it back in the 1960s didn’t become goblins.
A lot of people were confused when Queen Goblin said the Winkler Device has always been hers. What she obviously meant was that it had been hers since the start of Wells’ run and she brainwashed Kingsley into brainwashing Ned. But a lot of people seemed to think that she meant it had been hers since before Kingsley first possessed it- which makes no sense since Kafka hadn’t died and been cloned when we first saw Kingsley with the Winkler Device.
I was worried that Peter and Ben were going to get into a pointless fight over using the Winkler Device to cure Ben vs. using the Winkler Device to prove Ned’s innocence. I was pleasantly surprised when Ben pointed out they could do both.
My guess is that Norman used the Winkler Device to turn Peter into a Goblin. And Peter doesn’t realize what’s happened to him. We know that the arc from issues 50-54 will feature Peter being turned into a Goblin. What’s probably going to happen is that Norman will reveal he’s turned Peter into a Goblin and use him against the Sinister Six while Norman tries to implement whatever evil plan he has in mind. (Wells reminded us that the Living Brain is at Oscorp and Norman worked on the cure for the drugs Orchis used on Aunt Anna so Norman’s plan probably involves the Brain and/or the Orchis drugs.) Then at the conclusion Peter will fight Norman Goblin vs. Goblin and win.
Incidentally. the Winkler Device definitely explains what happened with Michele. We were wondering how someone could have found out about Peter’s date with Michele and impersonated him since the only people who knew about Peter’s date with Michele were Peter, Michele and Felicia. But now, we know- nobody impersonated Peter! Peter DID call Michele and then forgot about it.
The only thing that bothered me about Betty’s portrayal is that she seemed unable to make the logical leap that Spider-Man had been turned into a Goblin and didn’t realize it. Janine was insistent that the machine had been used on Spider-Man. Spider-Man said the machine turns people into Goblins. Therefore… (Admittedly, she could have assumed Kafka was lying.)
The letters page claimed that John Romita Jr. will be doing the arc that will resolve Wells’ Tombstone plot after the Goblin story is over. My guess is this will be Wells’ final arc and will remove Janice and Randy and get Peter and MJ back together.
@Geiseric – At this point I have no idea what the WD might have been used on Spidey for. Scratch that – I have a bunch of ideas but they’re all equally wild. I really don’t know. I doubt they’ll use it to retcon Paul entirely, but hey, we can dream, can’t we?
People have been speculating that the WD device has something to do with the spider who gobbles stuff, but I can’t see why that would be. Thing. Why would he need to erase his memory after being an ineffective asshole for like 2 hours.
I wonder if the WD has to do with the Paul stuff, because so far that’s the only plot of Wells that hasn’t had any definitive movement towards its end. Because they did say Paul has a story but I’m still waiting on one to start