"I Hate a Mystery Part 1 of 3"
Writer: Peter David
Artists: Todd Nauck (p), Robert Campanella and Rodney Ramos (i), Lee Lughridge (colors)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Plot: Peter Parker heads to his teaching position amid the controversy of the revelation that he is Spider-Man. A new Mysterio uses this to launch an attack on Peter at the high school.
Commentary: Let's hear it for Peter David and Todd Nauck working together again. It makes me all nostalgic for their days on Young Justice.
(The reviewer will now ask for a moment of silence in honor of a comic that passed before it's time. I don't care what Dan DiDio says, it was a fantastic comic and as much as I dig Teen Titans, I don't know if it was worth losing Young Justice.
And if you think I'm going to make a "but I digress" joke, you are sadly mistaken.)
Anyway, I enjoyed the heck out of this issue. As always, the strength of this title is Peter David's ability to write engaging and humorous dialogue. There is a lot of heart to his writing. Take Aunt May's reversal on what Peter did to Flash Thompson. I mean, here's Flash Thompson, someone who made Peter's (her nephew that she raised like a son) life miserable (in a sixties sort of way) in high school. Of course she would feel the way she did. Then there's the principal. Here's a man who obviously feels strongly in his position to back Peter all the way, but he's still nervous about the situation so at the first opening that would allow him to back out with dignity, he takes it. Yeah they're funny scenes, but there's more them than simple gags and one-liners.
Of course they could, in fact, be gags and one-liners. You never know. At least the scenes were well written.
Another aspect of this issue that I liked is that Peter David explores yet another part of Peter Parker's life that got completely screwed because he decided to reveal his identity. It's a smaller part of his world, but I think it is just as important. The idea that Peter would want to teach at his old high school because good teachers were needed was a great concept and now he has to give it up. The problem is, as Peter David has pointed out in several interviews, even if he quits, there are no guarantees that villains won't do what the new Mysterio did in this issue. The scene where Jeremy calls Peter out on leaving was great and showed that even though he is doing the right thing and quitting because of how it would affect his teaching and students, he is still going to end up hurting those who depend on him.
Which is why this was a quintessential Spider-Man story; he's screwed no matter what he does.
In The End: A little romance between Flash and the school nurse? Interesting. Interesting. Not as interesting as the original Mysterio supposedly showing up at the end of the issue but close. I love this kind of cliffhanger ending. This was a great issue, made all the better by Todd Nauck's artwork. His art in this issue sold all of the emotional beats, humorous and otherwise, that Peter wrote, and as I mentioned in the beginning of this review, it is fantastic to see these two working together again.
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