Man, who else writes like Christos Gage? The man is a master with playing emotional notes in a way that feels both familiar and fresh at the same time. I think if you were to ask an avid reader of both Avengers Academy and Spider-Man what would happen when those two books had a crossover, they may not be able to conceive it themselves creatively, but in their heart, this is the story that would take shape, the feeling they’d want to come away with, the beats they’d hope to see hit. This issue plucked every single heartstring and made me grin through the tears welling in my eyes. The couple of issues preceding Gage’s two-parter on ASM left me cold; Spidey’s bumbling missteps at integrating with the FF seemed out-of-character, jokes felt callous and forced, and Carlie continued her trend of annoying what-does-he-even-see-in-her dullness. I wondered if maybe it might be time to take a break and see whether I missed the book. Then the magic words: guest writer Christos Gage! And a special bonus: guest artist Reilly Brown! And just in case you need more: guest characters Avengers Academy! It just doesn’t get better than this.