This miniseries fills in the gap after New Avengers #2, when a ton of villains broke out of The Raft. It’s told very much in the style of Brian Michael Bendis, with complex subplots unfolding gradually through flashbacks/flashforwards, and that’s not a bad thing, really. Bendis rocked the world of Marvel when he signed on to write Daredevil and then did it again by completely reinventing The Avengers franchise. It makes sense that editorial would (a) want to capitalize on that and (b) do it in a way that attempts narrative consistency.
Storywise, it starts by reminding us that Jigsaw was able to break Spider-Man’s arm during the New Avengers story…
After the escape, The U-Foes and Crossfire are hiding in New York City, and the tale establishes a “prison gang beef” between them that they now take to the streets. So, we have a full-fledged streetfight with the citizens of the city kept in the middle—mind controlled by Crossfire’s allies, Mr. Fear and Controller.
Basically, then, we’ve got a 5-issue streetfight. But, as noted above, the story ties into New Avengers continuity and does it well. Like this scene, where Captain America scolds Spidey for not asking for help…
It’s not all fighting, though. The villains get quite a bit of screen time with backstories and intrigue—something that has truly never been done with the U-Foes before. We get a fairly detailed backstory about Vector, for example.
Overall, it’s still a Spider-Man story. In the end, after getting help from Cap and Iron Man, he seems to recognize the value of teamwork…
Dude. You had 150 issues Marvel Team-Up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and you’re JUST learning that?!?
Really good writing, fun plot, lots of action, great villain choices, and very good art….Well done!