In this issue of The Spectacular Spider-Men #13, the Spider-Men rescue the Electros?
THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MEN #13
Writer: Greg Weisman
Art and Main Cover: Emilio Laiso
Variant Cover: Carmen Carnero
Page Count: 22 pages
Release Date: March 5, 2025
This review contains spoilers
After defeating the Spider-Men, Elementary, and Anna (by accident), The Spectacular Spider-Men #13 begins as the Electros’ celebration is interrupted by the arrival of the lizard. The Lizard grabs the original Electro’s arm in his jaws, and Dr. Connors appears to tell them that if they don’t lead him to his son, he will make the Lizard rip his arm off. They agree and lead him away.
As they leave, Rickie runs out to check on Anna, only to find she isn’t breathing. Max has already called 911 and begins CPR, continuing until the ambulance and paramedics arrive. The Spider-Men wake up as they do, and they get Anna breathing and stable again before loading her into the ambulance. Max gets the Spider-Men caught up and they race after The Lizard, Doctor Connors, and the Electros.
On the advice of the Spider-Men, Max gives the puddle that Juliet turned into her favorite coffee flavor, which rouses her and brings her back to her human form. She sees them loading Anna into the ambulance and offers to help by flying them to the hospital, but Rickie tells her no, to stay away from Anna, and that everything that happened is Juliet’s fault. They leave her behind as the ambulance speeds away and Juliet, distraught, flies off in a ball of flame.
Meanwhile, the Electros take Doctor Connors and the Lizard to the warehouse where they kept Billy, only to find that he is no longer there. They convince Doctor Connors that he must have escaped and beg him to call and see if he’s returned home, but there is no answer.
Just as the Lizard is about to rip off Electro’s arm, the Spider-Men appear, catching them by surprise and freeing Electro. Peter asks Doctor Connors why he didn’t come to him to help him with Billy, but he says he already betrayed Peter, and Peter promises they’ll talk about that later.
At the hospital, Anna is rushed into the trauma center, with Rickie being told to stay behind in the waiting room. The fight between Spider-Men and the Lizard continues in the warehouse, and when Doctor Connors tries to tell the Lizard to stop fighting the Spider-Men and focus on the Electros, they shock him into unconsciousness.
The Spectacular Spider-Men #13 ends with the Spider-Men and the Lizard still fighting, Juliet sitting on a pier, Rickie in the waiting room, Anna fighting for her life, and Doctor Connors unconscious on the warehouse floor.
Analysis
The Spectacular Spider-Men #13 brought me back into this arc. For starters, it feels as though the Spider-Men are back in the spotlight. Peter has a personal history with Curtis Connors. It would have felt odd for Elementary to swoop in as the hero of the hour when it comes to him and the Lizard, especially considering that Peter is already feeling the sting of his betrayal.
Though Elementary didn’t shine much as a hero in this issue, she had just enough going on that it kept me interested. I loved how she was in motion as she called out, hoping to help the paramedics take Anna to the hospital. I felt like I could feel how desperate she was to be useful to Anna. The fact that she was crying in the following panel before Rickie even yelled at her was also a nice touch. Even before Rickie blames her, you know that she feels guilty for her part in Anna’s injury and wants to make it up to her any way she can.
I’d like to see more of Rickie in the future. It feels like they’re trying to make her the bad guy for being Anna’s current girlfriend and make the reader wonder why she is still dating her and not Juliet, as we’ve yet to see her in a positive light. Even so, both of her outbursts in the recent issues are completely understandable.
Anna promised to be at her performance, but she wasn’t. Instead, she chose to hang out with Juliet. And while Juliet tried to be helpful, her emotions still controlled her powers in random moments. While Rickie’s outburst was undoubtedly carried over from the frustration she was already feeling, I can’t blame her for wanting Juliet to stay away.
From how she begged to be in the ambulance and tried to enter the trauma center, it’s clear Rickie cares a lot about her girlfriend. I just wish we’d get to see more of her positive sides. Even if the reader should want Juliet and Anna together, we should still understand why Anna and Rickie are together in the first place, and I don’t feel like I get that quite yet.
I felt like the dialogue really stood out in The Spectacular Spider-Men #13. The pages were filled with fighting and serious moments, yet they still managed to sneak in small quips and lines that made for moments of levity. These moments stop the issue from feeling like the plot is suddenly dumping the seriousness on the reader, making the story smooth and the characters more realistic.
That being said, I wish it gave us a bit more. The Electros suddenly feel like caricatures in the background. Some of their actions or words suddenly feel confusing or out of place. And, other than one specific moment, it feels almost as though the Spider-Men are working independently of each other while still being at each other’s sides. I would have liked to see more of them as they chased after the Lizard instead of the back and forth between the Electros and Connors.
The final line in The Spectacular Spider-Men #13 is text advertising the next issue that says Next: Love is Pain,” and shows images of the four characters currently injured or in emotional pain from incidents involving people that they care about. For the first time in several issues, we were reconnecting with some themes from the Arcadium arc of this run.
Peter, Miles, and Juliet are still dealing with the consequences of the fantasies shown in the Arcadium, which involved people they loved. While the fantasies were fake, love and pain are real. Juliet is still chasing after her Arcadium fantasy with Anna in reality, and the outcome has left her in a similar state of pain.
Final Thoughts
The Spectacular Spider-Men #13 brings back some of the feeling that the Arcadium arc left us with, balancing character and dialogue to prepare the reader for the next piece of the story.
