the plot: Now working as a dishwasher, Peter Parker returns to his boyhood home to visit his Aunt May, unaware that it appears his greatest enemy, Norman Osborn the Green Goblin has returned. While the Goblin attacks Liz Allen-Osborn, the widow of Norman's son Harry, Peter is at May's house where he confronts Mary Jane's Aunt Anna, who is still grieving over Mary Jane's apparent demise. Peter, wanting to do things himself, turns down Aunt May's offer to spend the night and leaves, though he does accept a couple of bucks May gives him on his way out. Arriving quickly at the Bugle with the hopes of finding a photography assignment, Peter accepts some cash to make ends meet from Robbie Robertson, since the Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson has stopped buying pictures of Spider-Man. Peter then heads out for a bite to eat with Robbie's son Randy.

Randy, who has gotten recently divorced talks to Peter about his problems with his father and money woes, though their conversation is stopped abruptly when reporter Betty Leeds runs in to get Peter to take pictures of the Green Goblin, now ferociously tracking Liz down. Now starting to take pictures, Peter has to do decide whether he should help Liz as Spider-Man, or take pictures. Knowing full well that Jamesonm will refuse to buy the pictures if Spider-Man is involved, Peter has no choice and puts on his suit to take on the Green Goblin. Shortly into their fight though Peter notices that this isn't the real Green Goblin, though his curiousity into the Goblin's true identity is short-lived when the Goblin gets away on his Goblin glider. Penniless and homeless, Peter retires for the evening in an alleyway for the night, but if the threat of the new Green Goblin weren't enough, when Peter wakes up his costume, and his webshooters are missing!

the plot: The Green Goblin continues his insane rampage through New York, a homeless Peter Parker seeks shelter from the rain and a young man dons the suit of Spider-Man, a suit he found with Peter Parker in an alleyway last night, leaving Spidey without both his costume and his webshooters. In a washroom at Empire State University Peter cleans himself off, and runs into his old friend Flash Thompson, who's at ESU to apply for a position in the phys-ed department. Peter leaves to go to the Bugle, and Flash, being the good friend he is, tries to cheer Peter up, though he ends up talking more about himself in the end. At that moment, in a shadowy hideout, the Green Goblin shatters a mirror, muttering about how he sees nothing in it, and how he wants answers from Liz. Meanwhile the kid that found the costume and webshooters is having trouble pushing the trigger to release the webfluid from the webshooters and after much strain he finally figures out the way to get the trigger down. With a hammer.

Flash and Peter arrive at the Bugle, Flash going on about how he's going to have to end his relationship with Betty, having realized that no one woman can tie down Flash Thompson. What Flash doesn't realize though is that Betty's been trying to get rid of him for months, but anyway... Flash and Peter walk a little more into the offices when Peter notices Liz Allen-Osborn's bodyguards outside of a conference room with Liz soon exits. Stressed over the incident with the Goblin, Liz blows off Peter who asks if he can talk to her, and Flash quietly admits that he can't blame Liz, that Peter is bad luck around women. Flash begins talking about how he can't believe Mary Jane and Gwen were both in love with Peter when he was around, but is quickly told to shut-up by Randy Robertson. Flash and Randy share heated words until Flash storms off. In Randy's own words, Flash "is... and always has been... a jerk."

Randy's father Robbie approches the two young men then, qith the unfortunate news that the Bugle won't be able to use any of Peter's pictures of the Goblin, even those without Spider-Man out of consideration for Liz and her small son Normie. Robbie promises Peter a kill fee for the pictures taken, but a still distraught Peter heads out of the Bugle offices, when Randy catches up with him to ask him if he'll be his roommate. Peter quickly says yes. Meanwhile, in another part of New York, the young man that found Peter's costume and webshooters is still trying to get the shooters to work, readying his hammer. With a strong blow he manages to get the webshooters to work, but in the process webs himself to the wall behind him.

Back at the Bugle, Liz is preparing to enter her limo when the Goblin attacks. With luck Peter and Randy's elevator arrives on the bottom floor quickly, but even then Peter is still without a costume! Thinking fast Peter finds a painting rag, wraps it around himself and pokes two eye holes. Even the Green Goblin points out how ridiculous Peter looks. As the Goblin takes off into the skies on his Goblin glider, Peter hangs on and manages to knock the Goblin off. Standing over the fallen Goblin, Peter aks him who he is and the Goblin explains he's nothing more than his costume, and that he wants Norman Osborn back and the only way he knows of finding him is through Liz. Realizing that this Goblin is the same one he fought months ago during the "Spider-Hunt" debacle, Peter again asks the Goblin what he wants and is shocked when the Goblin unmasks himself and is revealed to be the deceased Harry Osborn.

But as soon as he is Harry, the Goblin becomes J. Jonah Jameson and then Peter. It turns out the Goblin was looking for Norman to give him his stabilizing formula. The new Green Goblin is falling apart, his Goblin serum is eating away at his body. Peter offers help, but it's too late. With his dying breathe the Goblin warns Peter that Norman Osborn is coming back. Is he ready for the real thing? A short time later Peter returns to the Bugle, wishing to talk to Liz, but again she doesn't want to talk, telling Peter that she understands what he must be feeling with Mary Jane's death, but she doesn't want him in her life, that he's bad luck. Curiously rather than focus on Liz's reaction Peter instead quietly tells himself that Mary Jane isn't dead. And at this very moment two other events of some importantance occur: Anna Watson, Mary Jane's aunt, recieves a delivery from Pan Global Airlines for Peter, something that chills Anna to the bone, and what of the young man with Peter's costume? Well, apparently he's found someone interested in purchasing it, someone very interested... none other than J. Jonah Jameson!

the review: Well, after two years of mystery the identity of the new fifth Green Goblin has been revealed in a tale that had Peter set up in a new apartment, reuniting with old friends and dealing with a world crashing down on him. So, did I like this two-part story? The answer is sadly no. The revelation of who the fifth Green Goblin is should have been done two years before this story saw print, back when people were actually interested in who he was. And on that matter, just who was he anyway? Some kind of weird clone? A shapeshifter? Not only is that not made clear, but it strikes me as a tad too convenient that the new Goblin would appear after all this time with no explanation for his whereabouts in his absense, and then that he would die suddenly. And attacking Liz Allen-Osborn in broad daylight, when she's surrounded by bodyguards, policemen and superheroes makes a lot more sense than attacking her at home when she's asleep by the way.

And yes, that's Liz ALLEN. I don't care if it was spelt Allan in the book, to me it's Liz Allen. But I degress...

But had it only been the Goblin alone I might have over looked the problems with this story, but sadly it did not end there. This issue has to contain the single worst characterization of Flash Thompson that I've ever seen in my entire life. Even when they were in High School, Flash didn't say such things about Peter behind his back. For a guy who was Peter's best man at his wedding, Flash seems to have had little faith in his marriage to Mary Jane. Some people mention the scene at the Bugle as Flash's main bit of mischaracterization, but I feel it goes back to the scene at ESU when Flash mentions what he would've done to the freshman who spilt coffee on him. Uh, I beg your pardon, but hasn't Flash totally outgrown this jerk period in his life, maybe around the time he went to fight in the armed service, or when he became a paramedic perhaps. It just rang false to me.

You know, I could go on about how callous Liz Allen-Osborn was acting considering the support Peter and Mary Jane gave her when Harry died, or how uncharacteristic is was of Peter to be reduced to sleeping in the streets, but I'll stop there.

The artwork was pretty good though. The addition of John Romita inking over John Byrne was a wonderful call, even if they did manage to make Aunt May's hair look like a winter hat, and Graham Nolan's artwork was clear and a definate improvement over his work of Webspinners #13-14. Still, all things considered, it is not hard to see why these issues made the top ten list of worst Spider-Man stories over at the Madgoblin's Ward website, or why they in fact were the top story on the list.

Amazing Spider-Man #18 and Peter Parker: Spider-Man #18 get a poor * out of *****. There's nothing to see here folks, keep right on moving.

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