the plot: In the first of four parts, Spider-Man still reels from having his parents being revealed as cyborgs, and finds himself falling more into the role of Spider-Man, than Peter Parker. Meanwhile, Malcolm McBride, formerly Carrion, is undergoing treatments at Ravencroft, until he and Ashley Kafka visit Shriek who recognizes McBride and kidnaps him. As an added bonus with this issue, a sixteen page insert covering the then in-production Spider-Man animated series, along with an extra animated cel like print featuring Spider-Man and Venom.

the review: This issue, while at a time most detested by fans, almost makes up for the terror that is Maximum Carnage (See the Web of Spider-Man #102 review for more). In a recent interview with the Superman creative teams, writer Jeph Loeb said that an upcoming crossover would be interesting because rather than showing mindless violence, the story would focus on the aftermath of mindless violence. This issue, by writer J. M. Dematteis, does just that. It tells you the results that the violence depicted in Maximum Carnage, from Malcolm McBride's perspective, the unwitting host to the Carrion virus. McBride's inner torment with having been responsible for thousands of deaths is nicely shown, although showing the effects that the murder rampage from the viewpoint of the family of a victim would have been better. At least we get this story anyway, considering the mindlessness of Maximum Carnage.

Dematteis also takes time to flesh out Shriek as well, taking her from a mindless psychotic to a woman so betrayed and tortured by her past she needs to find a family even if its a group of maniacs. The only slight problem with Shriek's appearence in this issue is the fact that her name, revealed as Sandra Deel in Maximum Carnage has been changed to Frances Louise Barrison here. Given Shriek's questionable past one of them, or both, could have been aliases mind you though. Aside from that, her character shown in this single issue is more interesting than fourteen parts of Maximum Carnage.

On the art side, Mark Bagley, now more popular than ever due to Ultimate Spider-Man, turns in great artwork here. Bagley's artwork is top notch here, and it's not surprising that he's regarded as one of Spidey's greatest artists after looking at this issue. His Peter, Mary Jane and Aunt May are some of the best of the last twenty years. Not only an inventive and stylistic artist, Bagley makes even the more dundane scenes interesting; witness his scene with Mary Jane fighting her cigarette addiction. Truly excellent art by Bagley here, to compliment DeMatteis' excellent work.

This was a nice issue, and despite the fact it's the first part of a four part story it's a complete story. I'm interested in picking up the other issues mainly due to the level of quality shown in this issue, but I don't feel driven to really. I actually just picked up this issue for my Shriek bio listing and found myself enjoying it. And the booklet on the Spidey cartoon I loved, was just icing on the cake. This was an excellent issue, all around.

Amazing Spider-Man #390 gets **** out of *****

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