After a nearly year long plot line is tied up, you need a breather issue.  Something with a little action, but not the beginning of a new super-plot; just a little story that lets the reader, well, breathe.  An amuse-bouche.  Or, as the unpretentious call it, a pallet cleanser.  Damn, it’s a sad world when “pallet cleanser” is the unpretentious word.

Most breather issues are dull, forgettable, and usually, an escape from canon.

This issue was none of those things.  It is a self-contained story that has minor ties to the previous year’s worth of events, and seems like it will be tied to future issues as well.  But you could totally skip this issue, and not worry about missing plot developments. 

That said, don’t skip this issue.  A lot of fun with one of the weirder Spidey “villains”.  Well-scripted (as all of the Brand New Day stories have been), and some of the better art going on in the Marvel universe.