First of all, I think the Powers That Be behind Spider-Man finally need to decide on a key aspect of his character - is he funny, or is he just a big lameo who thinks he's funny? Personally, I think it's great that Peter thinks he funny but is nowhere near as witty as he believes he is. Problem is, I think Waid and all other Spidey writers just try to be as funny as they can be, yet fail miserably. I mean, come on, the baseball references wouldn't let up - it was like the baseball banter had all of the tenacity and fortitude of Lou Gehrig, but none of the finesse. And speaking of The Iron Horse, Spidey's parody of his famous speech felt forced and not funny. But on the other hand, maybe it's perfect that writers like Waid try their best to be funny, ignorant of their lameness, because, as I said, that's exactly how I think Peter should be. But if The Gauntlet is going where I think it is, then Spidey will be making fewer jokes and taking things a lot more seriously. I'm hoping the writers take Peter past the brink of insanity - just like J.M. DeMatteis, the greatest ASM writer of all time, did back in the 90s. 

Moving on, I thought that Vulture's origin was terribly clichéd and that Jameson was portrayed as too much of a down-to-earth, good guy. And how suggestible is the new Vulture? First someone tells him it's Jameson's fault he's a monster and off he goes on a revenge hunt. Then, within the space of a single sentence, Spidey convinces him that the mob is to blame and off he goes. Pretty dumb. But not to be outdone, the dumbest part of the story was still to come.

Some people are at odds with Peter doctoring that photo - saying it was out of character. But regardless of whether Parker would or wouldn't do this - the plot holes that this direction punctures in the story are unforgivable. As cubman987 described, the hows and whys that are raised in this issue couldn't possible have logical explanations. Or maybe Mephisto just made some magic stuff happen and we don't need to know how things link up so just shut up and go with it!

This issue wasn't too bad, for the most part. I like that there will be some lasting effects from its events. It's just a shame that things went pear-shaped by the end.