Now if only the Brain Trust would stop acting like the specifics of the Mephisto deal were an enticing mystery… Read Full Review

I enjoyed the artwork tremendously. It was clean, polished, and filled with details. From the initial pages, the artists created a mysterious mood that quickly gave in to the brighter world of Spider-man. Its amazing how they effected this transition so smoothly. Read Full Review

This story certainly has its faults, but it does leave SpiderMan with an interesting new set of problems to deal with, which does have me excited for the next issue. Fred Van Lente's strong character writing and Barry Kitson's solid storytelling efforts kept this one from really bombing and so we are left with an uneven but enjoyable read. It's certainly a good sign for the week when a comic of this caliber is the worst book I read. Read Full Review

Ultimately, though, this issue feels like it exists as much to set up elements of the upcoming "gauntlet" storyline as to bring a close to the current arc, and this unfortunately serves to rob an otherwise strong story of some of its power at the last moment. Read Full Review