![](https://earthsmightiestblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/peter-parker-spider-man-56.png)
We start with Sandman being reborn on the beach…
![](https://earthsmightiestblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/sandman-reborn.png)
Hm. Okay. I thought this arc was titled “Reborn” because it was the final story of the series and we were going to see Spider-Man get relaunched. But no. It’s Sandman.
Also: Gross. How does Sandman have blood? He’s made of sand, man!!
There’s a new Sandman, too: A baby.
![](https://earthsmightiestblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/sandman-baby.png)
Then later a female Sandman appears as well. By now you’ve probably figured it out: Sandman has manifested different versions of himself—a hero, a villain, a baby—and in the end he needs to unite his psyche again.
FINAL PANEL
And that’s how the series ends.
Spider-Man is unnecessary to this story and, frankly, it would have been much better if he weren’t in it at all. Sandman has been a confusing character ever since he joined The Avengers, and this could have been a way to begin explaining why he is sometimes good, sometimes bad, and there’s really no articulated reason for these shifts. Instead, we get a “fractured psyche” story that’s not as good as the many other fractured psyches we’ve seen (e.g., Venom, both Norman and Harry Osborn, etc.).
![](https://earthsmightiestblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/final-sandman.png)
The final story for this series is well-drawn and, sadly, not that well-written. The concept sounds interesting at first, until you realize you’ve seen it before, several times, and done better. Heck, we’ve seen it before several times in actual Spider-Man books. Zeb Wells matures into a very good writer, but at this time he’s still got growing to do.