Volume Four contains four episodes from the hit TV series, including the introduction of the Sinister Six, Black Cat (Tricia Helfer), the black suit and Venom (Ben Diskin). Intervention features some cool black and white internal struggle that retells Spider-Man's origin in the course of evaluating how he got to where he was in his life and how bad... or good... he actually had it at the time. There are some twists to the way the story is presented here that differ from the original telling I grew up with, but in general, the spirit of the story remains and the version presented here is entertaining and well told.
In Persona, the alien symbiote that Spidey fans know from the Secret Wars events arrives on Earth, piggybacking on the space shuttle. This "living mud" is collected and is taken to Doctor Connors (Dee Bradley Baker) for evaluation. Peter Parker (Josh Keaton) only wants a closer look, but ends up foiling Black Cat's attempt to steal the goo. Later, when the Chameleon sullies the webhead's good reputation by framing him for robberies around town using a guy in a Spider-Man suit and some special effects and teamwork to simulate Spidey's powers, Spider-Man has no choice but to team up with Black Cat in order to clear his name... but what, exactly, is Black Cat's angle?
In Group Therapy, we find that Electro (Crispin Freeman) has been a good boy, and has been let out of doctor's care, so that he can set his life straight. Nice thought, but he's been in contact with Doctor Octopus (Peter MacNicol) and his next act as a free man is to help Doc Ock and a few of their closest friends to escape from the high-security prison they're in. One smooth working plan later, Electro, Doctor Octopus, Rhino, Sandman, Vulture and Shocker are roaming free and planning their first strike as the "Sinister Six" - to destroy Spider-Man. This episode features an interesting take on the "alien-symbiote-taking-Spider-Man-for-a-test-drive-while-he-sleeps" scene, which has been one of my favorite parts of the black suit story, since the first version told.
Intervention is a really neat telling of Peter's struggle to free himself from the alien symbiote, which includes scenes where we get to see Peter's internal struggle, including guidance from Uncle Ben in a sort of It's a Wonderful Life sort of way. Not only this, but Aunt May suffers a heart attack and is in the hospital, leaving Peter feeling a bit helpless and questioning his life as Spider-Man.
Aunt May's on the mend in Nature vs. Nuture, but Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote both are out to settle a few scores with Petey/Spider-Man. The alien has no resistance when trying to convince Eddie that they should team up, becoming Venom. Now, Spider-Man faces his most dangerous foe, a collective entity hell-bent on his destruction and knowing Spider-Man and Peter Parker better than he knows himself.
If you've enjoyed the series on TV or if you've bought the previous volumes, then I would highly recommend The Spectacular Spider-Man: Volume Four. Volume 4 is the best volume of the series I've seen so far.
