Synopsis & Review by RachelGrey:
Synopsis: Two men stand idly by and discuss the finer points of the musical “Wicked” when they see something falling from the sky. The men run as an injured Spider-Man crashes to the ground. Iron Man lands and angrily asks if this is how Peter repays him for helping him and taking him under his wing. Spider-Man gives Tony a quick punch to the chin and says that’s how he repays him before pouncing towards Tony. But Tony yells an override and Spider-Man crashes to the ground. Iron Man stands up and tells him he built an override into his fancy Iron Spider suit so it could never be used against him. Tony leans down to Spidey and tells him they’ll just forget about this little event if he just comes with him. Peter murmurs something and Tony leans closer and asks what he said. Peter replies “I said…Passcode…Surprise!” and webs up Iron Man’s face while telling him he figured out about Tony’s override and built in one of his own. As Iron Man tries to remove the webbing, his suit tells him it’s lost tracking of Peter. When Tony removes enough webbing to see, all he finds is an open manhole cover. Down in the sewers, Spider-Man runs and figures Tony won’t come after him since the close quarters would make it hard to his suit to maneuver and his firepower could cause some bad explosions. But that’s not Spider-Man’s concern right now. With his identity common knowledge and the law now after him, Peter asks himself the important question, “Where do I go now?”

Sometime Later (You need to read Civil War #5 and 6 to fill in the gaps): In PS 106, Mary Jane puts a cover over a sleeping Aunt May in the school gymnasium. MJ then leaves to find Peter waiting for her. The two hug and try to figure out their next move. MJ says Peter is already registered so they aren’t in trouble for that and figures the only way they’d really be in any trouble is if Peter joined the resistance. Peter remains silent and MJ realizes Peter has already joined Captain America and the resistance. Peter says he’s not going to sit in the sidelines, which is why he thinks MJ and May should take all their money and leave until things get better. MJ begins to protest, but Peter insists, saying the two of them will be on the run and the stress will be high, which could be very detrimental to May. Peter continues to insist on this, saying he’ll be able to move faster without them and not worry as much and that the whole mess is his responsibility when he is interrupted by Aunt May. May says he’s wrong. It’s all their responsibility since it was May and MJ who convinced Peter to unmask. May says the will have to deal with the current bad times just like they enjoyed the moments of happiness with the Avengers. May then says Peter should rest while she and MJ go and buy supplies. Peter protests, but the two women win out and tell Peter to just relax.

As the sun rises, Peter sits outside the school by the volleyball field and remembers his time as a student and how he was always lousy at gym. The imaginary Peter, complete with geeky sports goggles, sits down next to Peter and asks if it ever gets easier. Peter says it does in some but not in others. The imaginary Peter begs Peter to give him something to keep going on. Peter sadly smiles and says savor everything, both the good and bad. As the imaginary Peter gets up, Peter asks if he really wants to know what life really is. The imaginary boy says, “No, I think I’d rather not know” as he rejoins the other boys, leaving Peter to say to himself “Yeah. Me neither.”

The next night, Peter checks into a motel. After passing a weird man who heckles MJ and May, the three look at the dump they will be staying in. As MJ unpacks, May hands Peter a bag with something she managed to grab before they left Stark Tower. Peter goes into the bathroom and looks at what May brought: his old Spider-Man costume. Peter stares at it and decides it’s time to get started.

As Spider-Man swings through the city, he again asks himself “Where do I go now?” and decides he needs to pick and fight and clarify some things. At a local news station, a man prepares to give the local weather forecast, when he is interrupted by Spider-Man. Spider-Man stands in front of the camera and tells everyone he made a mistake. He says he’s seen the Pro side operate first-hand and it destroys the concept of justice. Spidey says it’s just to want to go to sleep without fearing a costumed hero will blow up a building, but the ends do not justify the means. Spider-Man then removes his mask and says the price of the registration is too high. He announces he will not stand for it and support the Act anymore. He admits he was wrong and will, from here on out, oppose it and anyone enforcing it. All manner of people watch Spidey’s announcement, from people passing by a TV to MJ and May. Iron Man also watches his former right-hand man’s announcement and angrily says, “You heard him. Bring him in.”

Review: First off, this issue establishes a very important point. Tony did actually put an override in Spidey’s suit! A lot of people were complaining about this, since it seems like an obvious thing Tony would do, especially after some of the things he’s done. It’s just refreshing to see he actually did and Marvel didn’t skip over something like that. While it may come off as another “Iron Man is a jerk” thing, I actually think it was a decent decision that doesn’t reflect Tony’s more villain-like attitude. Tony has had problems with his Iron Man armors being used against him before and adding a failsafe seems like an obvious thing. As seen in New Avengers #25, he even had a shutoff override in his own suit. It really seems like the shutoff override is a standard failsafe he includes in all his armors, just like an airbag is to a car.

But the rest of the issue isn’t that great. We finally see some the scheduling problems of Civil War to take effect, as the latter part of this issue requires some reading from Civil War #6. While May and MJ make a decent case for sticking around, it really puts Peter at more of a risk. The conversation with the imaginary Peter is just kind of weird. It doesn’t really serve much purpose to the issue either. It shows Peter reflecting on his life a bit, but it took up way too much time. The next section is also filled with corny jokes and the man asking May and MJ is just creepy and wrong. But the issue does end on a high note with Peter’s speech. While long-winded and a few saying thrown in for dramatic effect, it is written pretty well and makes a nice statement for Peter against the SHRA.

Ron Garney’s art is actually starting to wear thin on me. The same problems show through here. The spread of Peter back in his original costume could have been really good, but instead comes off as very static and even blocky. Plus, the feet are just drawn wrong. But again, the biggest problem is the coloring. Everything is really a few shades too light. Again, while not terrible art, it really isn’t to my liking.

As a whole, this issue isn’t that great. It has two standout moments with Tony’s override just for the logical standpoint and the end with Peter’s speech to really make that statement he’s Anti now. Everything in between seems like filler and causes a bit a caution with the meaning since Civil War #6 is not out yet. But also as a whole, the Amazing Spider-Man tie-ins have proven to be some of the better Civil War related issues and this issue does continue that trend. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing though. Marvel has promised big things ahead for Spider-Man and that leaves a lot of excitement for these last few Civil War tie-ins, which will no doubt build towards that.