The Spectacular Spider-Man: Volume 7

The Spectacular Spider-Man: Volume 7, like Volume 6, is still three episodes long and even somehow a couple of minutes shorter, but there's a lot more action and the pace is much better. The general story arch of Volume 7 is a general power struggle in the crime world in New York. The "Big Man" aka Tombstone (Kevin Michael Richardson) has been running New York for a while, now but his predecessor, Silvermane aka Silvio Manfredi (Miguel Ferrer) is getting out of prison and wants his city back. Tombstone's right-hand man, Hammerhead (John Di Maggio), is fighting for his interests in a game to gain an advantage in the coming gang war, while Silvermane's daughter, Sable Manfredi aka Silver Sable (Nikki Cox) is fighting to secure the same advantage for her father's return to the throne. Other interested parties include Doc Ock (Peter MacNicol), of course, and Norman Osborne (Alan Rachins), who works somewhat on the sidelines, but is definitely up to something. What are they all fighting to secure? The specs and research data that would allow for the creation of an army of Rhino-suited soldiers. Spider-Man (Josh Keaton) fights to get his hands on the intel so that he can destroy it, since that particular army could be a bit destructive to New York. Not surprisingly, Rhino (Clancy Brown) also dislikes the idea of this army. As he puts it, he doesn't need the competition. In an unlikely (and fairly brief) team-up, Rhino and Spidey fight Silver Sable and Hammerhead (oh, and their respective drivers) to destroy the plans. At the end of this fight, Rhino and Spidey manage to destroy the plans... or do they?

The Enforcers are back, this time with power enhancement suits, thanks to the Tinkerer (Thom Adcox-Hernandez), making Montana into the Shocker (Jeff Bennett), Fancy Dan into Ricochet (Phil LaMarr) and, well, Ox still goes by Ox, but is a lot stronger now. In what turns out to be a fairly decent scheme, the New Enforcers rob a bank to cover a theft of something instrumental in pulling off a much more ambitious heist, all under the direct instruction of Tombstone. Hammerhead asks why he's going directly to the hired help, rather than having him handle it and is snubbed for previous failures.

In the final episode in Volume 7, Gangland, it's Valentine's day, and Peter Parker tries (unsuccessfully) to have a decent, uninterrupted date with Liz Allan (Alanna Ubach), but gets called away to cover a story on a fight between Silvermane, Doc Ock, and Tombstone. It seems that Hammerhead has set up a "Valentine's Summit" in order to get all sides in a room at the same time, then sparks off a fight between them and sits on the sidelines, letting them take each other out. By the end of this fight, Spidey manages to disable all three potential crime lords and they are taken away to jail. Captain Stacey (Clancy Brown) points out that this leaves a power vacuum in New York as brief foreshadowing and when Tombstone makes bail and arrives at his office, it is revealed who was actually behind the entire coup... and who is the new crimelord of New York.

All in all, Volume 7 had a nice story arch and was action-packed and entertaining. If you pick and choose specific story archs to add to your collection, The Spectacular Spider-Man: Volume 7 is a good addition to your collection. If you are a die-hard fan of the series, you might want to wait and pick up the entire season.

The Spectacular Spider-Man: Volume 7

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