the plot: After Peter is once again fixed up by Randy Robertson with disasterous results, Spidey gets involved in a gang war between the Enforcers and Jimmy-6. Meanwhile Mary Jane's whereabouts are discovered, and she's still being held by the Stalker, who seems to have more to do with Peter than once was thought.

the review: Well, after two years of backlash against longtime Spider-Man writer Howard Mackie, the second to last issue of his run on Amazing Spider-Man has arrived and in my opinion, is a treat in many ways. It's very interesting that Mackie chose to conclude his run with the end of his most controversial storyline, the Death of Mary Jane. Unsurprisingly she is all right, having survived her apparently fatal firey death. Surprisingly though the Stalker has survived his seemingly fatal explosion and is still holding onto MJ, and for reasons unknown feels pain when Peter does.

This is a great story. It really seems like Mackie has made the most out of his swan-song and has crafted an interesting, mysterious story. The inclusion of Jimmy-6 was interesting and made sense given Jimmy's unresolved status earlier in the relaunched ASM, and the use of the classic characters the Enforcers was a nice touch. It's always fun seeing those classic Lee/Dikto guys in Spidey books. Although they do seem a bit more blood-thirsty than usual, and fellow Enforcer Hammer Harrison is missing, it's great seeing guys named Ox, Montana and Fancy Dan in this book.

For all of the great aspects of this book there were a few draw backs, minor as they may be, the Enforcer quibbles excluded. It struck me as a bit odd that a young, hip guy like Peter wouldn't have heard of Wiccans before, not to mention the fact that the Wiccan, Fallon, is portrayed as ditzy and under house-arrest, a poor representation of a large group. But in the grand scheme of things it didn't really affect the main story.

Joe Bennett and Sandu Florea, the art team from Peter Parker: Spider-Man #26 does a great job here, expressing the scenes and emotions of the characters very well. Contrary to the previous issue by the duo, Bennett's pencils seem to include more of his trademark T&A, although once the action begins the story and pencils get more solid and back on track. As was with his runs of Amazing before and in Spider-Man Unlimited, Bennett draws a great Spidey, very sleek and dynamic.

So, despite a few drawbacks, Amazing Spider-Man #28 is a solid read, and a great lead in to Howard Mackie's departure and J. Michael Stracyznski's arrival.

Amazing Spider-Man #28 gets ***1/2 out of *****

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