“Yesterday’s” Comic> Amazing Spider-Man #384

Luckily they can’t decide on sandwiches to order out.

The Amazing Spider-Man #384

Marvel Comics (December, 1993)

Spider-Man has been captured by Jury and put on trial. Only when we have a “witness” who mentions Venom (when the anti-hero fought some clown and scared her little girl so bad she’s comatose) does he finally figure out why. Drugged out and flashing back to both his and Venom’s origins, Spider-Man accepts their instance of his guilt. Meanwhile, Mary Jane’s character on a soap opera is reduced to recurring status and she has second thoughts about her smoking when a guy confronts her (rather nicely, oddly). Also, Aunt May is arguing with her PI while trying to uncover if Peter’s supposed parents really are.

Personal Comment: I know this is a first but I need to get a bias out of the way before I give my own judgement. I HATE these kinds of stories and they seem to pop up at least once for every superhero. This stupid notion that if it wasn’t for superheroes we wouldn’t have supervillains. That’s like saying we wouldn’t have murders, drug dealers, or sex traffickers if it wasn’t for the police. In this case, they’re blaming Spider-Man for Venom as if (and he’s accused of it at one point) created Venom on purpose! Every time this story comes up I want to punch the accuser the face. I know Venom did something to his son, but the guy in charge of the Jury should be after Eddie Brock, not Spider-Man. That said, I’m going to try to review this objectively.

What they got right: They acknowledged all the events going on in Peter’s life at the time. The Jury makes for an interesting foe.

What they got wrong: But when you get right down to it, there’s nothing really happening in this issue. Most of it is Peter having flashbacks of his origin, Venom’s origin, and Carnage’s origin (for the upcoming “Maximum Carnage” event). Then Marvel throws in some mini-magazine that breaks up the one action scene we get. Why was that a good idea?

Recommendation: This issue really doesn’t stand alone, since it feels more like padding than anything else. Maybe when connected to the other issues in the “Trial By Jury” storyline it would work better but otherwise it’s one to pass on, and considering the writer that’s not easy for me to say.