the plot: As we learn that Alistair Smythe is the mastermind behind J. Jonah Jameson rejecting Spider-Man pictures, and that Jameson didn't learn Spidey's indentity in PP:SM #10, Spidey is attacked by the Spider Slayers, and is forced to fight every one of Alistair and Spencer Smythe's creations. All that plus reprints of Amazing Spider-Man #25, 57 and 192!

the review: I found myself enjoying and disliking this issue for several reasons. First, I'm a big fan of the 100-page Monster books, and I actually read this issue so much that the cover actually fell off. Also I'm a fan of Alistair Smythe, and felt that he and the Spider Slayers were pretty interesting, underused characters. It was also a good idea for Mackie and company to drop the robotic look for Smythe. He seemed more interesting without it, and although I own the issue he actually referred to the "suit" as a organic carapace, I assumed it was permanent look and am glad they did away with it. On the art side Erik Larson puts in nice work, with his trademark penchant for nice layouts and crazy action scenes.

Unfortunatly for all of the enjoyable parts of this issue, it sadly falls short of being perfect. The issue seems a little slow and sluggish, and the mystery of whether or not Jameson peeked under Spidey's mask being answered in a rather uneventful manner was unimpressive. Mind you the books didn't spend enough time building up this arc, but it could have been finished off better. The out of costume scenes are dissapointing as well, with it being basically crammed in your face that Glory Grant likes Peter, that Jill Stacy likes Peter, and that Randy Robertson likes to party.

For all that's offered by Larson's nice layouts, the finished artwork appears blocky and sketchy, and relies too much on shadows for backgrounds or even avoids them completly. And the supposed "Ultimate Spider Slayer" at the end of the book looks pathetic and not once did I think it would actually "slay" Spidey.

On the other hand the reprints included in this issue were a lot of fun. I'm a big fan of the Stan Lee/Steve Dikto issues of Spider-Man, and I really liked seeing Amazing Spider-Man #25 brought back in all of it's glory. The second reprint, ASM #57, is a nice follow up to the first Spider Slayer issue, and Amazing Spider-Man #192, the final Spencer Smythe appearence was a good way of having the Spencer Smythe stories come full circle. Even if the issue wasn't really about Spider Slayers, it was still very enjoyable.

So, while the main attraction wasn't up to par, the back-up acts made things worthwhile.

Amazing Spider-Man #20 gets **** out of *****, with an extra two stars for the reprints.

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