I really don't even know that much about "Mac" Gargan. I used to be into Venom when he first came on the scene . . quite a while ago, but . . I think they over did him. He was everywhere for a while there . . all the Spider-man books, a whole bunch of mini-series and one-shots, he even had his own annual . .or two. Anyways, I just got burnt out on him. Plus, I really didn't like the Eddie Brock character. But now he's back. He's in the Avengers . . or, at least, Norman Osborn's Avengers . . and he's occasionally an interesting character there. So when I saw this mini-series, I thought . . what the heck? Plus, since it's penciled by Chris Bachalo . . it's a definite selling point for me. I was also rather impressed with Brian Reed's story here. Is it just me, or does it seems like Norman's little happy family is starting to come apart at the seams? It seems like everybody is pushing Norman's buttons these days, especially Bullseye and Gargan. Anyways, Gargan, as Spider-man, is sent out to stop a bank robbery. It's by some d-lister named General Wolfram. Gargan decides that he's going to punish Wolfram a little bit and keep the money for himself. "The Police want to know where the money went. And why some dolt calling himself 'General Wolfram' has one fewer arm than when he was last seen with you.", Norman has to ask him, later on. There's 2 important things that come out of this book . . first, we're dealing a little more closely with JJ's administration. For some reason Gargan decides that he needs to get even with JJ, so he dumps a dead prostitute in his bed at the Mayoral Mansion. Things are probably going to get a little heated between these 2. Secondly, there's a psychiatrist, Dr Shep Gunderson, that's trying to get some funding from his honor, for his plan to reduce crime. He wants to set up a program to rehabilitate 'super-villains'. Of course JJ doesn't go for it, so the Dr decides to take matters into his own hands. Operating under the guise of 'the Redeemer', he's got a collection of some of these d-list villains, and he's decided to change his tactics. "I've come to realize that the Mayor was right. Rehabilitation isn't enough. Not when the real evil is still out there. Namely, the evil that put all of you in here. I speak, of course, of . . the Amazing Spider-man. We must find him. Find him . . and redeem him. Should I laugh menacingly now?" So . . is he going after Gargan, or is Peter going to get caught in the cross-fire? It's an interesting premise . . if not entirely original. But . . it's adding a neat twist in that Gargan is actually posing as Spider-man right now. And . . did I mention I love the art?
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