Spider Island: Deadly Foes gives us a look at some of the nasty players of the Spider Island story arc. In this one shot the spotlight shines on Phil Urich the new Hobgoblin and the cloning madman the Jackal. With Manhattan overrun with folks with spider powers we see the new Hobgoblin taking advantage of the situation to get closer to love interest Norah Winters and cause trouble with Randy Roberts. Dan Slott (The Amazing Spider-Man and She-Hulk) and Christos Gage (Deadshot and Avengers Academy) delivers an enjoyable read, with Giuseppe Camuncoli (Hellblazer and Daken: Dark Wolverine) on penciling.
On the other side of the coin Jackal’s story arc in ‘What I did for Love’ was a less than spectacular read. Most of the story was more of a flash back and tying of loose ends from the 90’s ‘Clone Saga’. In this story by Fred Van Lente (Heroic Age: Prince of Power and X-Men Nior) the Jackal spends most of the time ranting and raving like a bad Bond villain and the art here by Minck Oosterveer (The Unknown and Ruse) is lukewarm at best.
If you’re following the ‘Spider Island’ story arc I say pick this title up and learn a bit about the back story. Especially the Hobgoblin segment, but of course I’m a bit bias as I’ve been a fan of the Phil Urich character from his ‘Green Goblin’ and title.