US Shipping Date: August 20, 2008

Previous Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #567 Next Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #569

Synopsis
Peter Parker considers his life from when he first became Spider-Man to his current status as being unemployed and suddenly facing down a plethora of new villains… including Menace who is currently flying around the city demanding that people not vote for Hollister! Spidey swings in and clobbers him but Menace shoots exploding balls into a wall around Spidey and detonates them! As Menace makes his escape, Spidey clambers free of the debris and spots dozens of people running from a nearby illegal sweatshop! He snaps a photo and then gets on the phone to Harry Osborn for help. Harry is mysteriously on a rooftop when he answers Peter’s call and advises Peter to sell his photos to a paper that would run his pictures solely to spite Dexter Bennett.

At the offices of Front Line, Ben Urich and Joe Robertson are working together on the paper. Peter turns up with exclusive photos and Sally Field, the head reporter, reveals that the building the sweatshop was in is owned by mayoral candidate Randall Crowne!

Crowne is furious that Front Line is smearing his name so he calls in an old friend to help. He wants this man’s public backing but he’s already given him access to his “Secret Resources”. The man wants a permit and proper zoning. Crowne agrees and Norman Osborn stands as the power behind the Crowne!

At Thunderbolts Mountain Bullseye, Radioactive Man, Venom and Songbird train. They get a message from Osborn – they’re heading to New York!

At The DB!, Bennett takes a call from Crowne and they discuss the city being terrified of Spider-Man and how they will eventually be grateful when Crowne… The conversation is interrupted by Betty Brant who Bennett orders to investigate Martin Li and the “miracles” that have been happening at FEAST.

Betty arrives to be faced down by May who is disappointed in her! Li answers Betty’s questions but can only suggest God as an explanation for the miracles. Suddenly Betty sees Eddie Brock volunteering! Eddie says that having cast Venom out he has accepted his faith. Li says that he discovered Eddie praying and gave him a job so that he may redeem himself. Li got Matt Murdock to represent Eddie in court and got him cleared of charges against Venom, claiming that Eddie was not in control when the symbiote was bonded to him. As Li talks he puts his hand on Eddie’s shoulder, passing unseen white energy into him which bonds with black tissue…!

Peter returns home to finds his spider-sense going off! Several guards burst from his apartment and, having to play his powers down, Peter lets them subdue him. He is dragged into his apartment to be met by Songbird, Radioactive Man, Venom… and Norman Osborn!

Fifth State
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Adi Granov
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Asst. Editor: Tom Brennan
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Executive Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Spidey’s Braintrust: Gale, Guggenheim, Slott & Wells

Synopsis
The poison of Venom still lives in Eddie Brock. He can’t look at his face without seeing the monster inside him. Using faith as a guide, Eddie finds solace in working at FEAST and taking comfort from Martin Li and May Parker. He finds one man hard do deal with; an ungrateful homeless man named Mike. Mike riles him up so much that one day that Eddie lets the monster take over and hits him! Eddie leaves FEAST in shame and feels that he can never show his face again.

Eddie lives in fear, wanting death to end the pain he is in. He doesn’t even want another chance…

At a routine doctor’s appointment to discuss his illness, Eddie is taken to the mirror and forced to look upon his own face. He sees his old face and the doctor announces that Eddie is Cancer-free and in full health! He has been given a second chance… and he intends to take it!

Highlight
The thickness of Dan Slott’s plotting!

Comments
This is a comeback issue but it’s definitely, and thankfully, not a return to the types of stories we were seeing before One More Day.

The first and most heartfelt welcome back needs to go to John Romita Jr. His crisp and dramatic style has been away from the pages of Spider-Man for too long and I have to say that he doesn’t miss a beat this issue. Straightaway he holds all of the characters in the palm of his pencil (from the dark Norman Osborn and desperate Eddie Brock to the deceiving Dexter Bennett and dangerous Thunderbolts), he draws one heck of an action sequence to open the proceedings and varies the perspective, panel layout and depth as only JRJr really can. It’s good to have a familiar style back handling new and old characters alike as this visually ties in the pre and post One More Day Spider-verses. More on this later, but first…

…A mini welcome back to Dan Slott who returns with his balanced plot and expert writing that always seems to capture, advance and add meaning to every character he weaves into his stories. Of all the writers I read there is no-one who can cram a plot into a book like Slott can. Important elements like Norman Osborn’s return, his relationship with Crowne, Crowne’s relationship with Dennett, the altering of Eddie Brock, Menace’s brief appearance, Peter’s new job and the mysterious actions of Harry Osborn on a rooftop all have their own space and each is obvious, teasing or impacting in whatever way Slott wishes it to be! Slott’s dialogue, amid the structure, panel breakdown and actual content of his stories, has always been his strength. In the Bennett/Crowne phone conversation, Slott drops a massive hint of something to come but brushes over it with ease. And that’s what I love about Slott; blink and you miss the glorious little things.

A welcome back to some old and more universal characters – Norman Osborn, Ben Urich, Sally Field, Eddie Brock and The Thunderbolts. These, combined with the new cast, seem invigorated under Slott and Romita Jr.. Norman Osborn is typically manipulative and I’m fairly intrigued about the ending (although I know he doesn’t know Peter is Spidey), Eddie Brock is fresh and given a new direction thanks to a clever use of Martin Li and a flashback that honestly tells a simple route to get Eddie redeemed and back in the action, Peter moves naturally into another photographers job and new and old are combined neatly and with progressive originality (as they are beautifully in the opening three pages!).

Another welcome back to the Eddie Brock of old. Slott’s flashback is acceptable but a little flawed but Mark Waid and Adi Granov’s Fifth Stage is a strong tale that captures Eddie’s mindset during his period of redemption and then his eventual recovery. Waid gets inside the head of Eddie whilst Granov’s painted art fully portrays the range of emotions on the outside, especially when Eddie approaches the mirror in the doctors. I’m not sure yet that this is the right direction for Eddie but I am glad that he has moved on and a brave step has been taken to get him out of the rut he was in.

After all of these welcomes and a strong start, let’s just hope this carries on and the balance remains.

Rating
Cover –
Overall –

Reviewed by Adam Rivett

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Previous Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #567 Next Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #569