Roger Stern was the author of what is for me the best run on Amazing Spider-Man, and within that run were issues #229-230, titled: “Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut.” 

When I first read those issues I wasn’t well-versed in Juggernaut, and I’m pretty sure it was the first time I’d read a story with him.  I don’t think I was alone in that.  The story catapulted Juggy into fan-favorite status, where before he was virtually unknown.

With this brief arc, Stern returns to ASM and to that story.

Tracking a mysterious crash landing in Central Park, Spider-Man finds an unconscious Juggernaut and reminisces about his past adventures.  Seeing no imminent threat, he backs off and allows the special metahuman NYPD unit, Code Blue, do its job while he turns into Peter Parker and snaps photos.

Juggernaut is taken to a medical lab where he is secured and examined, and Pete’s girlfriend, Police Officer Carlie, works there.  She tells him that Juggernaut has resumed consciousness, so Spider-Man slips in to talk with him.

And finds himself face-to-face with Captain Universe.  Captain Universe explains that Juggernaut has “ruined his life” as Spider-Man tries to bond with him (since Spidey, too, was possessed by the Enigma Force).  But Cap U ain’t havin’ it.

So, we won’t be seeing a reprise of Spidey vs Juggernaut.  Instead, it’s Spidey vs. Captain Universe–a much more powerful foe.  Stern offers some conscious references to ASM #629-630.  The two fight at a construction site, e.g., and we learn that the man possessed by the Enigma Force lost his job, his girlfriend, and his home after that classic story because one of the building Juggernaut destroyed was the one that housed the man’s business.  He then tried to kill himself by jumping off a bridge, but the Uni-Power possessed him before the point of impact.  Thereafter, he tracked down Juggernaut.

That’s a long time for a guy with cosmic power to be searching for Juggernaut, but whatever.  That’s a minor quibble, I suppose, but it’s noticeable.

The ending is a bit unsatisfying, too.  Turns out, the Enigma Force doesn’t like revenge (see above panels where Spider-Man tells the man he will offend the power through his actions) and switches to Juggernaut.  Juggernaut then stops a major earthquake (caused after his fight with Captain Universe damaged tectonic plates(!)) and then the Enigma Force leaves the scene.

In the epilogue, the man writes a book called “How I Survived the Juggernaut” that makes his money back and also donates the proceeds to survivors of Juggernaut’s first attack.

Roger Stern’s clever writing and character work elevates the far-fetched plot to above average.  I’m going to say that this story is displaced in time and takes place recently after ASM #629-630 (notwithstanding that Spider-Man’s back-up cast is all modern) because it’s the only way the tale makes sense.  Plus, Mark Waid, Tom Peyer and Todd Nauck provide a short back-up feature with Absorbing Man and Iron Man that looks like it takes place in the ’80s.

Issue #630 also has a back-up, which serves as a prelude to the next story, Shed–one of the best Spider-Man stories of this era.

So, with the two backups, this really is just a two-issue arc.