A bunch of Spider-Man’s foes join together (some of them are broken out of jail by Kingpin first) and form the “Sinister Syndicate.”
The story focuses on the villains’ stories and not on Spider-Man, which is interesting. Marvel doesn’t do this very often. It also feels very “1980s,” in the sense that it’s not all steroidal action sequences.
It starts with Shocker having nightmares about a venomized Spider-Man hunting him. Shocker spends most of this story cowering and hiding–afraid that Scourge is going to get him. It’s pretty funny.
Then Beetle, after the jailbreak, calling the Sinister Syndicate back together–but they all don’t want to go back to crime. Boomerang tries to make a play for the leadership position, which is something he will do again in Superior Foes of Spider-Man, one of the best Spider-Man books of the last 20 years.
But with all the master planning, their best idea is still to just rob a bank. Spider-Man intervenes and captures Boomerang, but the rest get away with the loot. Leila Davis is introduced as Boomerang’s girlfriend, and she wants Beetle to break her boyfriend out of prison.
Does the last name Davis sound familiar? Well, it should. Anthony Davis was the first Ringer, and Leila Davis is his widow (he was killed by Scourge).
She uses her dead husband’s rings to on Beetle. Remember, it was Beetle who forced Ringer into a life of crime to fight Spider-Man, back in PPTSS #58.
There are several villain capers and multiple double/triple-crosses as Spidey tracks them and, of course, ultimately defeats them.
Oh, and remember how Shocker was so afraid of Scourge? Well, he eventually does get targeted but…
He is not killed.
Along the way, Rhino kidnaps some scientist’s kid and forces the doc to break him out of his costume. So, he is no longer trapped inside his costume at the end of this book.
Code Blue make an appearance as well.
Very well done. Also, it’s direct-sale so the back-cover can have pictures like this one:
In 1993, Marvel will do a sequel miniseries, The Lethal Foes of Spider-Man.