Broken Frontier

Can Spider-Man and Sandman find out the truth behind the parallel Uncle Ben’s murder before Sandman’s innocent father is executed for the crime?

While the convoluted time-travel mysteries behind the alternate reality Ben Parker and the recently-deceased Spider-Man 2211 continue this month, the real crux of this story is Spidey’s team-up with the Sandman as the two try to prove that the villain’s father is not guilty of any wrongdoing before it’s far too late.

Marvel’s use of the Sandman in recent years is a particular bugbear of mine. Back in the 80s in Marvel Two-In-One #86, writer Tom DeFalco started the Sandman off on the road to redemption. This provided years of memorable stories as the readership watched Flint Marko struggle to prove a man really could atone for his past and culminated in a brief membership in the Avengers.

Sadly though this was rather ineptly undone some years back and the Sandman returned to out and out villainy. While it was eventually revealed he’d been brainwashed against his will by the Wizard and his reformation had been genuine it was still a disappointing move.

All of this brings me to the point that there are some promising signs in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #18 that Peter David is returning the character to a more complex portrayal than we’ve seen for a while. This Sandman is a more reasonable individual in his dealings with Spider-Man than we’re used to of late and there is almost a grudging respect between the two. Dare I say it, they even seem to be bonding in certain scenes in this issue!

This all bodes well for David’s examination of the villain’s "Year One" in the upcoming Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual. David’s intelligent and multi-layered characterization of the Sandman is a most welcome development.

Elsewhere, subplots with Flash Thompson dating Betty Brant are interrupted by the schemings of the mysterious Ms. Arrow. Spider-Man’s unmasking has, thankfully, put an end to the supposedly comedic Flash-as-bully storyline. Given that Flash’s reversion to his high school persona was due to brain damage this was a fairly dubious plotline to be used as light relief in the first place. It’s pleasing to see a shift of emphasis for this long-term Spidey supporting player.

Nauck and Campanella on the art chores are perfectly competent but there’s no real Wow Factor to the interiors. There are one or two nice renditions of the Sandman’s shape-changing moments and Nauck conveys the characters’ emotions well in an issue that has a lot of talking heads, but a Spider-Man book needs something a little more spectacular than we’re seeing here.

With its use of classic villains, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is the perfect complement to Sensational Spider-Man’s use of more obscure Spidey villains. Peter David continues to surprise month after month with his clever use of continuity and inventive plot twists.