the review: When I first heard of the plot of Amazing Spider-Man #19 I was turned off. I mean I was not going to buy it. Admittingly as a loyal Spider-fan I put up with a lot. I bought the early Mackie/Byrne issues for at least six months before calling it in and even then I started buying them again three months later. So what was so bad about the plot of this particular issue? Well, let me explain...

When I had first read of the plot of Amazing Spider-Man #19 it seemed to read like this: Eddie and his ex-wife Ann were bonding when Spidey in his black costume swings by and a fight ensues.

Right.

That's really worth two bucks. Four bucks in Canada.

I only bought the issue when, months later, I was reading Wizard magazine and its summary of the issue and it said that at the issues end Ann Weying killed herself.

Now THAT was interesting. I'd read Venom: Sinner Takes All, and was familiar with Ann, a character who had been an important cog to Venom's character from the get-go. So, while on a road trip in July I went to a store across the street from a hotel I stopped at which I saw sold comics the night before. So with my two bucks in tow I bought the issue that I'd once swore never to buy.

And guess what? It wasn't really all that bad. Sure it has the usual problems any Mackie scripted book suffers from, and some of Larson's art isn't all that clear (Like on page eight when Venom spears a mouse...At least that's what I think he does), but on the whole I liked it and the fact that contrary to what I had read Ann doesn't act badly out of character like I'd thought and something does happen in the issue.

There's some nice things done with Aunt May in the issue and the continuing story of Peter's denial with Mary Jane's death is handled nicely as well.

While hardly perfect its better then some of the other issues of it's time, and not the mess I thought it was going to be. *** out of *****

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