the plot: Following the events of Amazing Spider-Man #148 and 149, an alternate reality is created where instead of the Spider-Clone "dying" in battle against Miles Warren, he is knocked unconcious and placed in suspended animation. Meanwhile the other Spider-Man reenters his life, and is shocked by some of his discoveries, only to discover that he is in fact the clone. He releases the other, real Spider-Man to help defeat the Kingpin and the two decide to both be Spider-Man on alternating days. Plus an untold tale of the Inhumans set in the 1950's and a "now-classic" Hostess Fruit Pie ad featuring the Hulk and the Phoomie Goonies!

the review: This issue is at once both a good, interesting book, and as well a fun look into a similar, yet different reality. The idea of the Clone returning from the dead is made more belivable here, and it is actually a lot of fun reading a book from a time when the clone was dead. As in deceased, charred and not coming back. An interesting take on things in this story is that it's revealed that the clone is actually much younger than the then-modern Peter Parker, and some of the interest in this issue stems from seeing the young clone interacting with people, unaware of what they have been up to (like Betty Brant and Flash Thompson), to even who they are (like Glory Grant).

It's painfully obvious from the first mention of how the "clone" appears to be older than the Peter we're following in the story, that the main Spidey is in fact the actual clone. The fun is not in the guessing though, it's in seeing old time Spidey events, with old style artwork. The writing is great, very classic Spidey as is the artwork. The transition between Buckler and Mooney is noticable, but Buckler is able to pencil the better half, which is fine since I prefer his work over Mooney's.

The Inhuman back-up story harkens back to the old time Marvel days when books featuring a character like Iron Man would have an odd back-up story like this. It struck me as a little odd that the Inhuman's looked exactly the same in the 1950's though. Just reading this one story it has me wondering how the Inhuman's age, or are they immortal then? The story is fine otherwise, and not much of a bother since it is seven pages. Finally, the book caps itself off with a Hostess Fruit Pie ad featuring the Hulk and the Phoomie Goonies, revolutionary government radicals. You just can't help but laugh at this sort of thing. It's just classic that way.

So, What If? #30 is an interesting story, with nice artwork. It gets ***1/2 out of *****, an extra 1/2 going for the Fruit Pie ad.

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