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Classic Spider-man story of Peter "Parker Luck" Parker (although he doesn't use that exact phrase). ( )

I wish they might have gotten into fake Spider-man’s whole deal more, but the concept was interesting on its own, I guess. A lot goes wrong for Spider-Man and his friends in this one, so it was a good setup for future developments. ( )

In the previous comic, Harry has been sent away when Norman supposedly died. But now he's back and Harry has no memory of anything. Norman comes to Peter and tells him that he is no longer Spider-Man but that he works for him or he will hurt Aunt Mae and Mary Jane. Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. tells Peter that Norman wants Peter to kill him and one night on a bridge they have a confrontation with Mary Jane in the balance who falls and is rescued by Peter. Mary Jane is having nightmares nearly daily about that night.

The Rhino is terrorizing New York and Peter is stuck trying to sneak out of school to race to the rescue. On his way out he runs into Gwen Stacy who is crying in the dumpsters because her parents are likely getting divorced. Wishing he could offer her comfort he tells Mary Jane to go down to her instead and finally rushes off to the rhino only to have Iron Man beat him to it.

But that won't be his biggest problem. There's a Spider-Man going around robbing places and giving him a bad name. And when he shows up to defend himself he gets shot by the police. His healing factor only works so fast and he needs help so he calls Mary Jane who takes him to the hospital where he disappears once they treat him. He's still hurt and he has an imposter to deal with.

This is an interesting comic in that it doesn't really have one of the typical bad guys from the Marvel Universe. It isn't often that a superhero has to deal with someone pretending to be him and doing bad things. Bendis, as usual, has written a good story that also wraps in Mary Jane's jealousy over Gwen Stacy and Gwen's problems at home with her dad who imposes rules on her and her mom who seems not to care at all for her. I still think the color is off and the art is a little odd with the eyes. But it's only enough to take this book down a half a star and giving it four and a half stars out of five. ( )

As if Peter Parker's life isn't already a mess, this story arc makes things even worse for him. Someone is masquerading as Spider-Man when committing crimes, he's having troubles with Mary Jane, and there are some significant changes in his world.

I thought that the arc was interesting, but it felt rather superficial at times. The art also felt rushed and sketchy for some reason. Still, a couple of members from the Ultimates made an appearance here, which always wins points in my book. ( )