Synopsis:
Norah Winters & Phil Urich are interviewing Dr. Elias Wirtham, who is intent on reopening Mr Negative's old homeless shelter, rechristening it as the H.E.A.R.T clinic, for New York's ill and infirm. Behind closed doors however, it is revealed that the clinic is a front to allow Wirtham, as the vigilante Cardiac, to heal the ill using medicines not approved by the F.D.A. Cardiac is informed by one of his Doctors that her patient, Amy Chen, who is suffering from severe brain damage, needs a specific device in order to be properly treated. Cardiac replies that he shall do all in his power to "procure" it.Meanwhile, at Peter Parker's apartment, Otto Octavius is asleep, blissfully unaware of Ghost Peter's presence. Peter decides that this situation has to end and concentrates, managing to move his right hand. He grabs his pen and tries to write a note, but quickly realises that he doesn't have access to the language center of his brain. All of a sudden, Otto's patrol app starts to ring. Acting quickly, Peter uses his left hand to knock the pen and notepad into the bin (even though the narration specifically says he uses his left hand?) before Otto awakes. He suits up and heads out to deal with the threat.
The threat turns out to be Cardiac, who is breaking into Yardyale Storage (also known as The Boneyard) to steal the device needed to save Amy Chen, tossing aside any police officers who attempt to stop him. SpOck arrives on the scene, telling the cops to stay out and secure a perimeter while he deals with Cardiac, who is growing frustrated at his inability to find Crate 113. SpOck then attacks Cardiac, giving him until the count of three to put his hands up "before things get decidedly unpleasant". As he prepares to kill Cardiac, Peter yells at Ock to stop. Surprisingly, Otto hears this and looks around for whose there, taking his mind off Cardiac, who takes the opportunity to fight back. After a brief tussle, Cardiac finds Crate 113 and attempts to make off with it. SpOck however, has other ideas and fires off a webline, snagging the crate away from Cardiac, which SpOck discovers to be one of his inventions, the Neurolitic Scanner. Enraged at this attempt to steal his invention, Spock immobilises Cardiac with a single punch and grabs him by the throat. Peter once again intervenes and causes SpOck to let go of Cardiac's neck, allowing the vigilante to avoid having his face pulverised by SpOck's fist. Cardiac zaps SpOck with his Beta Energy, giving him time to grab his staff and escape with the Neurolitic Scanner, though not before SpOck tags him with one of Peter's Spider Tracers.
Later, at Horizon Labs, Otto is interrupted from his work by a Priority One alert from his Avenger's I.D card. He heads for Avengers Tower where Captain America, Thor, Wolverine, Black Widow & Spider-Woman are all waiting for him, assuming the fate of the world is at stake. Upon his arrival, Cap informs him that, due to his violent nature in dealing with criminals, they're going to run a full battery of tests to see if he is really Spider-Man (he isn't). SpOck attempts to leave, saying he doesn't have time for this. Cap places a hand on his shoulder, replying that it wasn't a request. In response, SpOck throws Cap to the floor. Obviously this pisses the rest of the Avengers off. Peter looks on in eagerness as SpOck prepares to throw down with the Avengers...
Thoughts:
Again a more solid issue compared to what we've seen before. Slott seems to be steering this series in an interesting direction, though I'll reserve my judgement until #9. I was pleased to see that Cardiac was included in this issue. He's a good way of showcasing the difference in the way Otto & Peter deal with criminals. SpOck still lacks any decent characterisation and is still as unlikable as ever. The moment with the Neurolitic Scanner didn't help eitherThe scene with the Avengers left me with very mixed emotions. Otto comes off as a complete idiot during these sequences, he can't honestly expect to win against a Thunder God, can he? On the other hand, a part of me got very excited on the closing page as the Avengers seem to realise now that Spider-Man isn't really Spider-Man. Let's face it, the real Spidey would NEVER call Captain America a "flag-waving fool". Of course, we need to wait and see if SpOck's arrogance against the Avengers is justified in the following issue.
Aside from the blip I mentioned earlier, Humberto Ramos is actually on good form here, I enjoyed the fight scene and Cardiac looks as good as ever. Ramos seems to be fading away from the disproportionate look also, as everyone looked much better in this issue. Like I siad before, it's hard to judge this issue given the cliffhanger it ends on. I'm interested to see where Slott takes things next issue. I do have to agree with Spidey though. Otto IS a tool...
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