From Cassius Comics

#324

(Mid-November 1989)
"The Assassin Nation Plot pt. 5- Twos Day"
David Michelinie (writer), Erik Larsen (pencils). Cover by Todd MacFarlane.

Featured Characters- Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Sabretooth (Victor Creed), Silver Sable (Silver Sablinova), Solo (James Bourne), Mary Jane Watson-Parker, U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. (Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind).

Summary- The United States stands on the verge of a major international incident, as Sabretooth has assassinated the Prime Minister of Symkaria, leaving behind evidence that falsely implicates the CIA. Spider-Man frantically searches for the man who really hired Sabretooth, a soldier in the fanatical Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind (ULTIMATUM). Spidey manages to take out an ULTIMATUM squadron, but before he can interrogate any of the terrorists, terrorist hunter Solo teleports in and kills them all.

Meanwhile, Captain America and the Symkarian mercenary Silver Sable travel to Mexico, Sabretooth's last known location. Cap and Sable "convince" a local bandito to take them to the mutant killer, but when their cover is blown, Sabretooth flees into a ruined temple, with Sable in hot pursuit. Quickly outclassed, Sable is beaten and bloodied by Sabretooth, until she tricks him into charging into an unstable wall; it collapses onto Sabretooth and seemingly kills him- yeah, right.

Having reached an uneasy truce, Spider-Man and Solo finally locate their target, an agent named Toler Weil. Though Weil is nearly killed by an explosion that blows him off a skyscraper's roof, Spider-Man manages to save his life with a desperate dive and a quick web-line. Solo sets his sites on Spier-Man and demands that he let Weil die, but Spider-Man refuses. Solo uncharacteristically backs down, allowing Weil to live, for the greater good. They aren't out of the woods yet- Symkaria has broken off all diplomatic ties with the United States, vowing that vengeance will be had, through the retaliatory assassinations of American officials.

Comments- There are several things that bother me about this issue, and The Assassin Nation Plot in general. First and foremost is the way in which Spider-Man is quick to team with Solo, immediately after Solo shoots and kills a half-dozen defenseless victims in cold blood. Admittedly, Spider-Man has a history of putting aside his ethics long enough to team up with Wolverine and the Punisher on a fairly regular basis. Back in 1989 though, even the Punisher had some self-control, often using incapacitating "mercy bullets" in his crossover appearances. By comparison, Solo is a killer with a tenuous mental state, who lacks even the Punisher's sense of restraint. Thus, it's rather bizarre that Spider-Man would team up with Solo, especially since it's not even because he has no other choice- Spidey willingly invites Solo to help him out.

As for the rest of the rather convoluted story, it has the common trapping of many Spider-Man stories of the day, namely that Spidey comes across as a sidekick in his own flagship book. In addition to Solo, Captain America, Silver Sable, ULTIMATUM and Sabretooth, The Assassin Nation Plot also saw appearances by Paladin, and the revelation of yet another mysterious villain who had been running things behind the scenes all along. This proliferation of guest-stars greatly dilutes the ordinarily entertaining Amazing Spider-Man, especially the rather one-dimensional anti-heroes Solo, Sable and Paladin. They're also a rather eclectic group, to say the least; it feels as if the character in this storyline were chosen by picking names out of a hat.

Additionally, the characters in this story just behave...well, wrong. In addition to Spidey playing buddy-buddy with a psychotic murderer, he also spends half the storyline moping about how little faith he has in America. Sabretooth first runs away from a fight he ordinarily would gleefully engage in, then he's defeated by something that would normally barely phase him, let alone leave him without a pulse. Immediately afterwards, Captain America starts behaving just as oddly- not only does he actually think Sabretooth is death, he leaves the body behind and goes on his merry way. It's just sloppy writing- rather than come up with a plot that allows the characters to behave according to their established personalities, Michelinie dumbs everyone down to cover up his plot-holes.

It should be noted that the pencils for this issue were provided by Erik Larsen, whereas the other five parts to The Assassin Nation Plot were all drawn by regular artist Todd MacFarlane. MacFarlane would leave the title he made his name on shortly afterwards, with Larsen eventually becoming his full-time replacement. Though this was unpopular with many fans, who loved MacFarlane with an almost cult-like adoration, I actually preferred Larsen's run.

The Bigger Picture- In the final part of The Assassin Nation Plot, The Red Skull was revealed to have orchestrated the Prime Minister's assassination. Unsurprisingly, Sabretooth recovered from his falling wall-related injuries. Immediately after The Assassin Nation Plot, Spider-Man fell prey to the machinations of the so-called Acts of Vengeance, during which time he temporarily gained the powers of Captain Universe.

Final Rating- 3/10

#529 (April 2006)

"Mr. Parker Goes to Washington pt. 1"
J. Michael Straczynski (writer), Ron Garney (penciler). Cover by Bryan Hitch.

In the aftermath of "The Other", Iron Man gives Spider-Man a brand new suit of high-tech armor and an assignment which will lead into the "Civil War" event.

Awful, just bloody awful. The costume is horrible and unnecessary, the story is bland at best...the only thing this issue has going for it is Garney's above-average art, but that isn't nearly enough to drag things out of what is otherwise a creative cesspool. 1/2* --Cassius